http://www.amiright.com/parody/votingresults.shtml

Hmmm. I thought these had been dismantled. I'm happy to see I was a high vote getter last month for Meet Pope Benedict XVI. Nice to see it in place. Thanks for pointing this out, 10 Speed. 8)

(who's this Dave guy with the overall votes?  :o ::))

Wow, i've entered the chart this month at (roughly) number 26 with "It's Not A Funeral". I can now die a happy man

I've left them running the entire time, I just don't advertise it

I've left them running the entire time, I just don't advertise it


Which is probably all for the best.  8)

cool, top five in all catagories overall!  ;D

The way I understand it, the lists were de-linked to take away peoples incentive to use a product like WINDOWS WASHER to eradicate their tracks from the website, allowing them to vote for themselves as many times as they wished. Take a peek at some of the top vote getters of all time and compare the votes to the number of comments for that song and there is a great discrepancy. Most people who vote, especially the ones voting high marks, always leave a comment. When you have songs with hundreds of votes and twenty comments, you can tell what happened....it might not even be the author doing it, but somebody else with an agenda, good OR bad. Some of the top vote getters have high '1' totals also, when they didn't deserve them....meaning somebody in a contest, weekly or monthly, repeatedly '1'd them. Now that the weekly and monthly contest links are gone, this rarely happens, and that is a good thing. As the SOTM contest is now run, only Authors in the contest are allowed to vote, and only once. This is WAY better than having idiots sit at home and vote over and over for themselves, or against other authors.

Take a peek at some of the top vote getters of all time and compare the votes to the number of comments for that song and there is a great discrepancy.

Don't jump to conclusions: nearly all the top-10 songs have few (or no) comments because they predate the time when there were comments.  The songs in the top 10 (make that top 12) aren't necessarily the best around - they're simply ones that happened to strike a chord with the general public at some point, or get highlighted in one of the well-frequented on-line magazines so that hundreds (or even thousands) come and look over a very short period.

It's fairly obvious in a voting record when someone's deleting their cookies and voting again - and there's usually enough other authors to bring Chucky's attention to check

Phil, you may have a valid point, but if I had to bet my life on one of the two theories, I would go with the deleted cookie theory. Take Napster Pie, for example, the # 1 overall in the records. I thought it was excellent, and yet it recieved over 60 1's in each category, and I don't believe there are 60 people in the world, voting with their conscience, could give this lower than a 4 in ANY category. To think 60 random people logged on here and voted 1's on that song is not in the realm of believability for me. I don't believe there are 60 '1' men on this site, either. I prefer to believe one or two people repeatedly voted 1 by dumping their cookies and re-voting. I know you have been here much longer than I have and know much more about what went on before, so I may be completely  wrong, but this was explained to me by someone like yourself, who asked to remain anonymous, and it made sense to me.. I haven't noticed any increase in votes since Amiright was mentioned in SPIN, either, though Lord knows I could use some more votes lol. Also, why have the vote totals gone from the 200-500 range early, to what is prevalent today? A 10 vote total is above average, 15 votes is excellent, and anything over 20 is usually reserved for a spectacular parody by Spaff, Claude, you, or the other great writers here. I believe that Claude and Spaff in particular write better parodies than anything in the top 10 overall....and even they rarely get over 30 votes at a time.And the great reduction in vote totals happened after the de-linking of the Voting Results, which further enforces in my mind that there was a whole lot of monkey (cookie ) business going on back in the day. It would sure be interesting to hook up all the authors to a lie detector to get the truth out in the open...DID YOU OR DID YOU NOT DUMP YOUR COOKIES? YA?!!!!!  VE HAF VAYS OF MAKING YOU TALK!!! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA lol. Anyway, those days are gone, and it seems the SOTM voting system now in place works really well, with all votes being accredited by song entry authors only. I believe it is a much truer indication of parody worth, and prevents great songs such as Napster Pie getting 1'd 60 times, bringing that author's average way down.

Brilliantly put, Dee - you covered all my (newbie-ish) musings on that issue, and more. 

I was interested and grateful to read Phil's comments, as I now know much more about the process and the history of amIright, and the (legitimate) explanation for why some old songs have 400-500 votes, but your comprehensive logic hits home with me.

The contest-dominated voting does have it's strong points but one problem is that it encourages wrriting parodies of old songs. Check the sotm winners thread - almost all parodies of old songs. The old top ten lists were a lot more balanced. Of course, most people seem to think that parodying old songs all the time is ideal and there's no convincing them otherwise. Or maybe i'm just frustrated again because i posted three songs recently and got a total of 8 votes (i think 7 555s and 1 455)

Ethan, I can empathise with your frustraton, when you feel you have written a good parody and don't have many votes or comments. I thought my parody of Luchenbach Texas was decent, and it got only a few votes, 5 or 6, but this is usually a function of doing a song not many people on this sight know. I get lots of laughter in the bars in Texas when I play it, but there are few Country Music fans at Amiright. A lot of the authors here are older than you and write parodies to the songs they know the best. In my case, I grew up listening to my dads Classic Country from the 60's and my mom's Classic rock from the 60's-70's, and to this day I listen to classic rock and country stations, if I listen to radio at all. I would no more know how to write a rap parody than a chimp....I wouldn't even try. My point being, I don't write older songs for the contest, it is just the only music I know well enough to write parodies about. Maybe a separate contest for songs less than 4-5 years old would work, I don't know. Has it been tried? Or rap contests? Anyway, keep on writing, if only to make yourself happy.

I tried a separate SOTM for parodies of new songs and there was very little interest. Luke did a rap parody contest once but i think  was too busy at the time to enter. Reading entrries is not a problem for me, but having to leave a comment on everything is.

And the great reduction in vote totals happened after the de-linking of the Voting Results, which further enforces in my mind that there was a whole lot of monkey (cookie ) business going on back in the day.

One thing that I used to do when I had a song that I thought "deserved" to be top-10 material was advertise it around a lot more... but I think the biggest reason I stopped pointing out parodies to friends and colleagues was sheer volume: it's OK for a few, but once it becomes hundreds, you could lose friends that way ;)

The contest-dominated voting does have it's strong points but one problem is that it encourages wrriting parodies of old songs. Check the sotm winners thread - almost all parodies of old songs. The old top ten lists were a lot more balanced. Of course, most people seem to think that parodying old songs all the time is ideal and there's no convincing them otherwise. Or maybe i'm just frustrated again because i posted three songs recently and got a total of 8 votes (i think 7 555s and 1 455)


Ethan, you're probably going to disagree with me vehemently here, but.....the reason "old" songs get more votes is not only because they're more well known,but (I can hear the youngsters sharpening their knives already) because, IMHO, there is generally a lot more going on lyrically in older songs. Rap is probably the exception, but generally new songs are lyrically pretty barren. Take R&B, for example. (I'm really gonna get it now)...what can you do parody-wise with variations on a theme of "ooh baby, get ur freak on" etc etc?...I may be talking out of my asterisk...but that's what I think.

The old songs seem better for parodying than new ones basically because there are so many of them. There are plenty of repetitive new songs, and many more of the same from long ago. I think songs nowadays are actually a lot longer than they were back in the day... and that's a big part of why some of the older authors are able to have such ridiculous parody totals. If someone had the time and ability to determine the average word count in john a barry or alvin rhodes' parodies, and then compared them to mine or luke's, they'd see a huge difference. Which isn't saying that those authors don't have talent - i know i couldn't do what they do if I tried - i'm just saying that the brevity and relative simplicity of older songs that helps them accomplish what they have. I know that there are very simple new songs and very lyrically complex older ones, but I'm  just making an observation about what the general trend seems to be.

Dee...definitely possible that votes on the older songs, both good and bad, are a bit inflated.  But, another reason they are higher is that "back in the day", there were fewer updates (not necessarily daily), MUCH fewer songs per day, and with the top 10/100 lists on the front page, much more exposure for these songs.  A casual web surfer would be much more likely to see/vote on these songs than they would now for even the best SOTM songs. 

That said, your point is also well taken, and likely true to some extent.

Dee...definitely possible that votes on the older songs, both good and bad, are a bit inflated.  But, another reason they are higher is that "back in the day", there were fewer updates (not necessarily daily), MUCH fewer songs per day, and with the top 10/100 lists on the front page, much more exposure for these songs.  A casual web surfer would be much more likely to see/vote on these songs than they would now for even the best SOTM songs. 

That said, your point is also well taken, and likely true to some extent.


Hard to believe, but most of those all-time parodies went up at a time when there were days when I didn't post new parodies due to a lack of submissions!  5-10 parodies a day wasn't the norm until about six months after I began accepting them on amiright.  Currently it seems to be around 40 new parodies per day.  I like the idea of being able to see what has the most votes on the site, but between the vote loss last summer, and the sheer number of the oldest parodies, it takes a year or so before a parody scratches the bottom 500 or so at best.  A little too exclusive.

I don't doubt for a moment that a vegenful 1's guy could be wiping his cookies in order to multi-spike vote a parody.  Of course I do a little more than check just the cookies too, so they have to be real motivated.

The contest-dominated voting does have it's strong points but one problem is that it encourages wrriting parodies of old songs. Check the sotm winners thread - almost all parodies of old songs. The old top ten lists were a lot more balanced. Of course, most people seem to think that parodying old songs all the time is ideal and there's no convincing them otherwise.

Wow - Ethan on a rant about "old songs"? I'm shocked. SHOCKED!

There are other posts on this thread that suggest one era of songwriting is simply better or more worthwhile than another. Horse hockey. Good and bad popular music has always existed and always will.

What I believe is that the music a person listens to the most in adolescence - when identity and individuality are being established - is the music that will always resonate the most for that person. No amount of new-music activism will change that.

And then you've got the zeitgeist factor. Tom Jones' "What's New, Pussycat?" has had FORTY YEARS to establish itself in our pop-culture consciousness; The Killers' "Somebody Told Me" has only had a few months. So, while I think the latter song is infinitely better than the former, there are far fewer people who know it. I've also got a Keane parody on the drawing board, but I already know it won't generate a lot of response; most people DKTOS. That doesn't bother me; it's reality.

Anyhoo. People know what they know, and the longer something's been around, the more it is known by the people who know what they know. You know?

xoxox
Spaff

P.S. Top Ten lists? Good riddance. May all the gods bless Claude Prez for coming up with the Song of the Month contests. Everyone should participate in them. Yes, dear reader, this means you.

What I believe is that the music a person listens to the most in adolescence - when identity and individuality are being established - is the music that will always resonate the most for that person. No amount of new-music activism will change that.  BINGO, Mr.Spaff!...although I have made some effort to pick up some more recent stuff...since there really are SOME fine current performers and artists out there...still, the stuff I know best and find the easiest/most fun to work with usually can be found in the late-60's/early-to-mid-70's era.

And then you've got the zeitgeist factor. Tom Jones' "What's New, Pussycat?" has had FORTY YEARS to establish itself in our pop-culture consciousness;  Oh, yeah...I know this song...sure wish I didn't, though...

xoxox
Spaff




See comments above

thanks,

prob

Horse hockey.


I gotta use that one...LOL!
As for the rest of your comment...Jeez, you're an articulate bass turd, Spafford.... ;)

I gotta use that one...LOL!


Feel free. I stole it from Col. Potter on MASH.

As for what I said "horse hockey" about, I just reread my post and feel morally compelled to add a big HOWEVER. Ahem...

Whether one whole era of music is better than another is subjective, with most of the subjectivity based, I believe, on that whole coming-of-age thing. HOWEVER, there are inarguably a few spikes of creativity along the pop music timeline. One obvious example is 1965-69, when the Beatles really raised the bar for everyone.

We now return you to you to your regularly scheduled topic.

xoxox
Spaff

P.S. Top Ten lists? Good riddance. May all the gods bless Claude Prez for coming up with the Song of the Month contests. Everyone should participate in them. Yes, dear reader, this means you.


Obviously not having YOU in them makes them seriously flawed. ;)
PS. LOL on 'horse hockey'.

1.What Spaff said. The best parody ever written, to a song nobody has heard, is the proverbial tree falling in the forest with nobody around to hear it.<BR><BR>

2. What Spaff said. Music in adolescence is the biggest factor in what I write, and probably holds true for 90% of all parody writers I know<BR><BR>

3. That being said, I wish I COULD find new songs to parody, that are immensely popular. Because all the old songs I know have been done to death. I just don't like much rap, hip hop, pop/county, grunge, alternative etc....and you run the very real risk of wasting a lot of time and effort doing songs nobody will read anyway. :\'(

1.What Spaff said. The best parody ever written, to a song nobody has heard, is the proverbial tree falling in the forest with nobody around to hear it.<BR><BR>

2. What Spaff said. Music in adolescence is the biggest factor in what I write, and probably holds true for 90% of all parody writers I know<BR><BR>

3. That being said, I wish I COULD find new songs to parody, that are immensely popular. Because all the old songs I know have been done to death. I just don't like much rap, hip hop, pop/county, grunge, alternative etc....and you run the very real risk of wasting a lot of time and effort doing songs nobody will read anyway. :\'(


In an effort to expand my horizons, I've been trying to listen to current songs on the radio to/from work.  Then I come across Gwen Steffani's latest song with these lyrics:

The sh** is bananas.  B-a-n-a-n-a-s.

In case we don't get it the first time, she repeats it 3 more times.  I'm profoundly touched everytime I hear it.  I don't understand how people can say there's no deep music like Floyd, Beatles, etc  ;D

(So of course I bought the album to try to parody it)

3. That being said, I wish I COULD find new songs to parody, that are immensely popular. Because all the old songs I know have been done to death. I just don't like much rap, hip hop, pop/county, grunge, alternative etc....and you run the very real risk of wasting a lot of time and effort doing songs nobody will read anyway. :\'(


You are SO right, buddy....I seriously doubt that I'll come up with anything new and different for AmPie and BoRhap, so I probably won't even try. On the other end of the spectrum, the latest release from Nine Black Alps, as good as it is, will provide diddlysquat in way of feedback, and it's the proverbial bear s***ing in the woods scenario, again. I have, however, found that movie musicals provide a rich vien of source material; most people will recognise one song from most major musicals, and there's so many of 'em, you're set!

In an effort to expand my horizons, I've been trying to listen to current songs on the radio to/from work.  Then I come across Gwen Steffani's latest song with these lyrics:

The sh** is bananas.  B-a-n-a-n-a-s.

In case we don't get it the first time, she repeats it 3 more times.  I'm profoundly touched everytime I hear it.  I don't understand how people can say there's no deep music like Floyd, Beatles, etc  ;D

(So of course I bought the album to try to parody it)


I've heard parts of her solo album, enough to know that she should have stuck with No Doubt.

It's dance music, so I guess it's supposed to be repetitive and annoying though.  Which makes it great dance music, because it's really friggin' annoying.

While I try to NEVER disagree with Mr. Spafford, and in turn, Mr. Range...

I spent my adolescence in the mid-80s to the mid-90s...and the majority of my parodies are of original songs that were "before my time." 

While I was always a fan of "current" popular music growing up... (YES I loved the New Kids on the Block, darnit) ...and I still keep up with today's "banana-y sh**..."  (Gwen's CD is FAB!)

...I have also always LOVED the music of the 60s and 70s...and find that era of music ideal for parodies....

I just happen to be more well rounded than most folks, though... ;)

I just happen to be more well rounded than most folks, though... ;)

Oh, no... I bet I'm much more well-rounded than you are.  But I am trying to lose weight ;)

I'm always surprised which parodies are overlooked, though: my recent bit of satire on GWB's speech in the capital of Georgia "I love Tblisi" (to "I love to Boogie", by T-Rex - a song that I thought fairly popular) got just the one vote...

In an effort to expand my horizons, I've been trying to listen to current songs on the radio to/from work.  Then I come across Gwen Steffani's latest song with these lyrics:

The sh** is bananas.  B-a-n-a-n-a-s.

In case we don't get it the first time, she repeats it 3 more times.  I'm profoundly touched everytime I hear it.  I don't understand how people can say there's no deep music like Floyd, Beatles, etc  ;D

(So of course I bought the album to try to parody it)

Jeff, listening to current songs on radio...Isn't that kind of painful?  I have tried on occasion and there ARE SOME good songs out there now...and some of them I've found useful in parodies...and some have added to my overall enjoyment and enrichment...some...but most that I've heard are...execrable!...And, yes, Gwen Stefani is just fine in No Doubt -  sometimes a lot better than that - "Tragic Kingdom" album, for example...but DANCE MUSIC?  UGH...and that goes for all the dance music from the late 70's-early 80's that I have tried SO hard to forever forget...

PRob

Jeff, listening to current songs on radio...Isn't that kind of painful? 


Yes.  But these are the lengths I go to for my adoring fans.

Yes.  But these are the lengths I go to for my adoring fans.

Oy, such a mensch...

pr

I just happen to be more well rounded than most folks, though... ;)



theres you go, bragging about your boobies again.

theres you go, bragging about your boobies again.


LOL!!  I love you, Olaf!!