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On 8 July 1998 Ian Chippett sent this message to the Procol Harum mail-list:
This generated a gratifying amount of interest, and brought a good few lurkers out of the woodwork! Over the next two weeks the message list received responses from contributors all across the world [recorded by Ian as ALEX, Jacksbj, WRES, Larry Eskridge, Mirek, Scatter, Mcdermott, Terry, Procolhrum, Robert Moselle, Jl Austin, Greg Smith, Hydroelectrica, Mikael Werkelin, Sam, Pj Hayes, Jorge, M Chassman, Pat Larson, John Grayson, J Earle Weave, Jens, Jon Tso, Alan Semok, T Bren, Eric Van, ISO, Greg Panfile, Hydro 2, Cerdes, Wilfrid, J Sander, Kristina, Roland, Ian, Chris, Dennis, Frank Matheus, Lobo Brooks, Normand Despins, Linda Clare, Saltyscott and John O] in addition to the occasional closely-reasoned denial of the worth of the whole enterprise! Some people voted for more than ten tracks, some sent in amended estimations, and nobody said that they had found choosing easy (mail archive here).
However, on 21 July the jury retired and, once Ian had struggled with his midnight sums, he sent the following message from his Paris headquarters:
Fans' Top Thirty Procol Harum Tracks, July 1998 |
|||
1 |
A Salty Dog | 2 |
A Whiter Shade of Pale |
3 |
In Held 'Twas in I | 4 |
Homburg |
5 |
Shine on Brightly | 6 |
Repent Walpurgis |
7 |
Whaling Stories | 8= |
Grand Hotel |
8= |
Pilgrims Progress | 10 |
Fires (Which Burnt Brightly) |
11 |
Rambling On | 12 |
Broken Barricades |
13 |
Piggy Pig Pig | 14 |
A Rum Tale |
15 |
Cerdes (Outside the Gates of) | 16= |
A Strong as Samson |
16= |
A Christmas Camel | 18 |
Salad Days (Are Here Again) |
19 |
Quite Rightly So | 20 |
Nothing But the Truth |
21 |
Wreck of the Hesperus | 22 |
The Devil Came from Kansas |
23 |
Conquistador | 24 |
The Dead Man's Dream |
25 |
Pandora's Box | 26= |
Still There'll be More |
26= |
Fools Gold | 28= |
Nothing That I Didn't Know |
28= |
Magdalene (My Regal Zonophone) | 29 |
In The Wee Small Hours Of Sixpence |
30 |
Something Magic | ||
It might be illuminating, perhaps, to follow up Linda's interest in the overlap between the songs highly-rated in this fans' poll and the band's own selection for the Redhill party.
For those who relish detail, the number of points received for each song in the Harum canon is tabulated below, with the number of people voting for each song in parenthesis. Top thirty in red.
Certain songs seem to have fared bewilderingly badly, those written by guitarists in particular: organists less so! There's a heavy bias towards the material on the early albums (perhaps we've had longer to make up our minds?) with only six songs un-voted for from the first five albums (half of those being Robin Trower numbers) whereas, later on, six tracks from one single album (Ninth) get no endorsement whatever.
44 |
A Christmas Camel (9) | 7 |
A Dream In Every Home (1) |
0 |
A la Carte | 0 |
A Robe of Silk |
49 |
A Rum Tale (8) | 183 |
A Salty Dog (27) |
164 |
A Whiter Shade Of Pale (21) | 0 |
About To Die |
0 |
Albinoni's Adagio | 3 |
All Our Dreams Are Sold (2) |
22 |
All This And More (6) | 9 |
Alpha (1) |
44 |
As Strong As Samson (9) | 0 |
Backgammon |
20 |
Barnyard Story (4) | 19 |
Beyond The Pale (4) |
0 |
Blue Danube | 0 |
Boredom |
16 |
Bringing Home The Bacon (2) | 51 |
Broken Barricades (7) |
9 |
Butterfly Boys (1) | 47 |
Cerdes (Outside The Gates Of) (8) |
33 |
Conquistador (6) | 0 |
Count Your Blessings |
7 |
Crucifiction Lane (1) | 34 |
Dead Man's Dream (5) |
9 |
Drunk Again (2) | 0 |
Eight Days a Week |
59 |
Fires (Which Burnt Brightly) (11) | 27 |
Fools Gold (5) |
14 |
For Liquorice John (2) | 0 |
Fresh Fruit |
3 |
Good Captain Clack (2) | 71 |
Grand Hotel (13) |
22 |
Holding On (6) | 125 |
Homburg (20) |
0 |
I Keep Forgetting | 0 |
I'm a Reader not a Fighter |
141 |
In Held 'Twas in I (25) | 23 |
In The Wee Small Hours Of Sixpence (3) |
0 |
Into the Flood | 0 |
Juicy John Pink |
18 |
Kaleidoscope (4) | 4 |
Last Train to Niagara (1) |
0 |
Learn To Fly | 0 |
Lime Street Blues |
6 |
Long Gone Geek (2) | 5 |
Luskus Delph (2) |
0 |
M Armand / Monsieur R Monde | 0 |
Mabel |
0 |
MacGregor | 25 |
Magdalene (My Regal Zonophone) (4) |
0 |
Man With A Mission | 2 |
Memorial Drive (1) |
0 |
Musical Fish | 22 |
New Lamps For Old (7) |
38 |
Nothing But The Truth (9) | 25 |
Nothing That I Didn't Know (4) |
0 |
One Eye on the Future | 0 |
One More Time |
32 |
Pandora's Box (6) | 11 |
Perpetual Motion (2) |
50 |
Piggy Pig Pig (9) | 71 |
Pilgrim's Progress (11) |
3 |
Playmate Of The Mouth (1) | 4 |
Poor Mohammed (1) |
6 |
Power Failure (2) | 40 |
Quite Rightly So (6) |
52 |
Rambling On (11) | 94 |
Repent Walpurgis (15) |
12 |
Robert's Box (2) | 41 |
Salad Days (Are Here Again) (6) |
0 |
Sayonara | 0 |
Seem To Have The Blues Most All The Time |
16 |
She Wandered Through The Garden Fence (4) | 98 |
Shine On Brightly (17) |
20 |
Simple Sister (3) | 2 |
Skating On Thin Ice (1) |
8 |
Skip Softly (My Moonbeams) (2) | 0 |
So Far Behind |
18 |
Something Following Me (15) | 23 |
Something Magic (4) |
0 |
Song for a Dreamer | 0 |
Souvenir Of London |
27 |
Still There'll Be More (5) | 3 |
Stoke Poges (1, for 'Chelsea's Tune') |
7 |
Strangers In Space (3) | 0 |
Taking The Time |
35 |
The Devil Came From Kansas (7) | 0 |
The Final Thrust |
10 |
The Hand That Rocks The Cradle (1) | 10 |
The Idol (3) |
8 |
The King Of Hearts (1) | 22 |
The Long Goodbye (4) |
0 |
The Mark Of The Claw | 11 |
The Milk Of Human Kindness (20 |
3 |
The Piper's Tune (1) | 5 |
The Pursuit Of Happiness (1) |
11 |
The Thin End Of The Wedge (3) | 8 |
The Truth Won't Fade Away (30 |
5 |
The Unquiet Zone (1) | 17 |
The Worm And The Tree (3) |
0 |
This Old Dog | 20 |
Too Much Between Us (4) |
6 |
Toujours l'Amour (4) | 1 |
TV Ceasar (1) |
0 |
Typewriter Torment | 87 |
Whaling Stories (13) |
7 |
Whisky Train (1) | 0 |
Wish Me Well |
0 |
Without A Doubt | 0 |
Wizard Man |
36 |
Wreck Of The Hesperus (7) | 0 |
You Can't Turn Back The Page |
21 |
Your Own Choice (4) | ||
No surprise to find that nobody voted for some of the titles which, as far as we know, no fan has ever heard!
Finally - if anyone has read thus far - here is the same material organised in numerical order of scores:
1 |
183 |
A Salty Dog |
2 |
164 |
A Whiter Shade Of Pale |
3 |
141 |
In Held 'Twas in I |
4 |
125 |
Homburg |
5 |
98 |
Shine On Brightly |
6 |
94 |
Repent Walpurgis |
7 |
87 |
Whaling Stories |
8 |
71 |
Grand Hotel, Pilgrim's Progress |
10 |
59 |
Fires (Which Burnt Brightly) |
11 |
52 |
Rambling On |
12 |
51 |
Broken Barricades |
13 |
50 |
Piggy Pig Pig |
14 |
49 |
A Rum Tale |
15 |
47 |
Cerdes (Outside The Gates Of) |
16 |
44 |
A Christmas Camel , As Strong As Samson |
18 |
41 |
Salad Days (Are Here Again) |
19 |
40 |
Quite Rightly So |
20 |
38 |
Nothing But The Truth |
21 |
36 |
Wreck Of The Hesperus |
22 |
35 |
The Devil Came From Kansas |
23 |
33 |
Conquistador |
24 |
34 |
Dead Man's Dream |
25 |
32 |
Pandora's Box |
26 |
27 |
Fools Gold, Still There'll Be More |
28 |
25 |
Magdalene (My Regal Zonophone), Nothing That I Didn't Know |
30 |
23 |
In The Wee Small Hours Of Sixpence, Something Magic |
32 |
22 |
All This And More, Holding On, New Lamps For Old, The Long Goodbye |
36 |
21 |
Your Own Choice |
37 |
20 |
Barnyard Story, Simple Sister, Too Much Between Us |
40 |
19 |
Beyond The Pale |
41 |
18 |
Kaleidoscope, Something Following Me |
43 |
17 |
The Worm And The Tree |
44 |
16 |
Bringing Home The Bacon, She Wandered Through The Garden Fence |
46 |
14 |
For Liquorice John |
47 |
12 |
Robert's Box |
48 |
11 |
Perpetual Motion, The Milk Of Human Kindness, The Thin End Of The Wedge |
52 |
10 |
The Hand That Rocks The Cradle, The Idol |
53 |
9 |
Alpha, Butterfly Boys, Drunk Again |
56 |
8 |
Skip Softly (My Moonbeams), The King Of Hearts, The Truth Won't Fade Away |
59 |
7 |
A Dream In Every Home, Crucifiction Lane, Strangers In Space, Whisky Train |
63 |
6 |
Long Gone Geek, Power Failure, Toujours l'Amour |
66 |
5 |
Luskus Delph, The Pursuit Of Happiness, The Unquiet Zone |
69 |
4 |
Last Train to Niagara, Poor Mohammed |
71 |
3 |
All Our Dreams Are Sold, Good Captain Clack, Playmate Of The Mouth, Stoke Poges, The Piper's Tune |
76 |
2 |
Memorial Drive, Skating On Thin Ice |
78 |
1 |
TV Ceasar |
79 |
0 |
A la Carte, A Robe of Silk, About To Die, Albinoni's Adagio, Backgammon, Blue Danube, Boredom, Count Your Blessings, Eight Days a Week, Fresh Fruit, I Keep Forgetting, I'm a Reader not a Fighter, Into the Flood, Juicy John Pink, Learn To Fly, Lime Street Blues, M Armand / Monsieur R Monde, Mabel, MacGregor, Man With A Mission, Musical Fish, One Eye on the Future, One More Time, Sayonara, Seem To Have The Blues Most All The Time, So Far Behind, Song for a Dreamer, Souvenir Of London, Taking The Time, The Final Thrust, The Mark Of The Claw, This Old Dog, Typewriter Torment, Wish Me Well, Without A Doubt, Wizard Man, You Can't Turn Back The Page |
If you want to find out how close your taste was to the consensus, you might try finding the songs you voted for, and adding up their chart positions (first column, above). If your top ten was the same as Ian's final chart you'd score 55 or so; if you happened to vote for the ten least popular songs here you'd be way over 700: the lower the score, the more typical you were. (By this method Jens scored 192 and Roland 144; but doubtless statisticians can show the whole reckoning to be built on sand.)
So, hearty thanks to Ian for providing this entertainment.
And finally, High Fidelity by Nick Hornby (ISBN 0 575 40018-8) is a best-selling novel that makes unflinchingly hilarious fun of the male predilection for compiling rock & roll lists. Recommended!
RC
PH on stage | PH on record | PH in print | BtP features | What's new | Interact with BtP | For sale | Site search | Home |