Readers Recommend
The Complete Index

Readers Recommend Trivia Answers

1. When was the first Readers Recommend column published? - Sept. 16, 2005

2. What was the topic? - Change

3. Who was the very first person to contribute to a Readers Recommend blog? - Malcolm J who recommended a song called If You Saw Thru My Eyes by Ian Matthews

4. There was a mistake made in the list of Songs Named After Women. What was that mistake? - The song Allison by The Pixies is about jazz and blues artist Mose Allison. It was not named after a woman.

5. Although there is an A-Z list and the writers declare they will not use the same song twice, 21 songs were used twice, each for two different topics. What were the songs and what were the topics? - The songs were Burn Hollywood Burn by Public Enemy and made the list for both the Fire topic and the Inspired by or About Films topic. The next song is Promised Land by Joe Smooth which first made the A List for Optimistic Songs and again for Fictional Places. Then there was 3030 by Deltron 3030 which first made the A List for Dates and then made the list again for The Future. No Children by The Mountain Goats made the A List for Arguments and then again for the Truth. An Ending by Brian Eno made the A List for Instrumental Soundtracks on Feb. 2, 2008 and again for the Moon on Nov. 6, 2009 while Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend by Marilyn Monroe made the A List for Anti-Love on Jan. 23, 2009 and again for Reckless Consumption on Dec. 4, 2009. Another Girl, Another Planet by The Only Ones made the A List for Sci-Fi and Space on Jan. 27, 2006 and again for Impressive Intros on Dec. 18, 2009. Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In) by Kenny Rogers & the First Edition made the A List for Songs Redefined by Film on Nov. 25, 2005 and again for Hangovers on Jan. 8, 2010. B Movie by Gil Scott-Heron first made the A List for Actors on April 17, 2009 and again a year later for Great Opening Lines on April 2, 2010. Coal Miner's Daughter by Loretta Lynn made the A List for Social Class on March 27, 2009 and again for Manual Labour on July 23, 2010. The Seeker by The Who made the A List for The Truth on Sept. 11, 2009 and again for Hunting on August 6, 2010. For the first time ever, two previously A Listers made the A List again on August 13, 2010 for Old Age. It Was a Very Good Year by Frank Sinatra previously made the A List for the very similar topic of Getting Older on September 15, 2006 and When All is Said and Done by Abba previously made the A List for Autumn on September 30, 2005. Star Sign by Teenage Fan Club made the A List for Star Signs on March 13, 2009 and again for Fate & Destiny on September 24, 2010. Vitamin C by Can made the A List on Oct. 23, 2009 for Wealth and again almost a year later on Oct. 1, 2010 for Vegetables. Teardrop by Massive Attack first made the A List for Crying on Sept. 1, 2006 and again for Special Guests on Oct. 22, 2010. For the second time in RR history, two previously listed songs made the A List again on December 3, 2010. I Luv U by Dizzee Rascal first made the A List for Songs With Dialogue on July 10, 2009.  And She Said She Said by The Beatles first made the A List for Actors on April 17, 2009. Both made it again for Heated Arguments on Dec. 3, 2010. 2011 started off on January 14th with a repeat of two songs - Corner Store by Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers for Modernity. The song had originally been listed for Shopping on June 5, 2009. And Losing My Edge by LCD Soundsystem had originally appeared in the Getting Older playlist on Sept. 15, 2006. And a week later, on January 21st, Grits by RZA made the playlist a second time for Austerity. It had first made the A List for Vegetables on October 1, 2010. And Run DMC's King of Rock first made the A List for Royalty on Dec. 17, 2010 and less than two months later it reappeared for Showing Off on February 25, 2011.  I Am the Resurrection by The Stone Roses made the A List for I Am Songs on Jan. 25, 2008. Three years later it popped up again, also on the Showing Off list of February 25, 2011. This is the third time two zedded songs made the A List for the same topic. And Mr. E's Beautiful Blues by The Eels first made the A List for Joyous Songs on Feb. 10, 2006 and again for Mr. and Mrs. Songs on April 7, 2011. Soul singer Marvin Gaye made the A List for the first time with When Did You Stop Loving Me, When Did I Stop Loving You on Oct. 21, 2005 for Hatchet Jobs and again on May 12, 2011 for Divorce. Chase the Devil by Max Romeo first made the A List for God and the Devil on October 14, 2005 and again for Space on August 18, 2011. And 2012 started off with a repeat of New Year's Resolution by Lootpack which first made the Playlist for New Resolutions on Jan. 2, 2009 and again for New Year Songs on Jan. 12, 2012.

6. The rule about the same song not being used twice applies to covers as well. So two different versions of the same song will not be playlisted. But it has happened on five occasions.

   1. This happened jnadvertently once because the cover had a different title and a different tempo, which made it sound like a different song rather than a cover. What were the two songs and what playlists were they in? - The first song making the A List was I Come and Stand at Every Door by The Byrds which made the A List for Songs about Nuclear War on May 5, 2006. The cover song that made the A List was I Unseen by The Misunderstood for Songs about Ghosts on Jan. 30, 2009. Listen to them both on Youtube to compare. First The Byrds then The Misunderstood. (Thanks to Mark68 for pointing this out in the blog for Songs about Luck.)

   2. It happened a second time because of the topic and the writer said he would consider covers. What were the songs and topics on that occasion? - The writer said he would consider covers of previously A Listed Songs because the topic was Unlikely Cover Songs and the song is Sweet Child of Mine by Taken by Trees. The song was originally done by Guns 'n' Roses whose version made the A List for Children.

   3. Muleskinner Blues by The Fendermen made the A List for Indecipherable Songs on May 14, 2010. Two and a half months later, the original song the Fendermen covered, Blue Yodel No 8 (Muleskinner Blues) by Jimmie Rodgers made the A List for Manual Labour on July 23, 2010.

   4. Moby Dick by Dread Zeppelin made the A List for Hunting on August 6, 2010. The original by Led Zeppelin made the A List for Showing Off on February 25, 2011. (I think at this point, the prohibition against A Listing covers was informally discarded but I'll keep listing them as an interesting note.)

   5. I Started a Joke by The Bee Gees made the A List on Smiling and Laughing on Nov. 16, 2007. The cover by Low made the A List for Fools on August 11, 2011.

7. How many artists have made the Readers Recommend playlist five times or more? And who are they? - 133 artists have made the RR Playlist five or more times. They are listed below with the number of times in brackets.

   Artists making the RR Playlist five or more times with number of times in brackets: 10,000 Maniacs (5), Abba (5), Air (5), Arctic Monkeys (5), Lily Allen (5), Aphex Twin (5), Louis Armstrong (5), The Beach Boys (12), The Beatles (20), Captain Beefheart (5), Chuck Berry (6), Big Star (6), Björk (5), Blondie (8), Blur (7), Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band (6), David Bowie (16), Billy Bragg (7), James Brown (5), Tim Buckley (5), Kate Bush (13), The Byrds (8), John Cale (7), Johnny Cash (12), Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds (11), The Clash (7), Leonard Cohen (9), Elvis Costello (9), Creedence Clearwater Revival (5), The Cure (5), Miles Davis (6), De La Soul (6), Dead Kennedys (6), Death Cab for Cutie (5), Depeche Mode (5), The Divine Comedy (5), Fats Domino (6), Donovan (6), Nick Drake (8), Drive-By Truckers (5), Bob Dylan (17), The Eels (7), Elbow (5), Brian Eno (9), Fairport Convention (5), Marianne Faithfull (6), The Fall (11), Ella Fitzgerald (7), Funkadelic (5), Serge Gainsbourg (12), Marvin Gaye (10), Gentry, Bobbie (5), Ghostface Killah (5), The Go-Betweens (5), Half Man Half Biscuit (7), Jimi Hendrix (7), Jesus and Mary Chain (5),  PJ Harvey (6), The Hold Steady (5), Billie Holiday (8), Jam (5), Joy Division (6), The Kinks (13), Kraftwerk (9), Fela Kuti (10), Led Zeppelin (7), Jeffrey Lewis (5), The Magnetic Fields (6), Manic Street Preachers (6), Bob Marley & the Wailers (5), Curtis Mayfield (6), Charles Mingus (5), Joni Mitchell (10), Modern Lovers (5), The Monkees (5), Van Morrison (7), Mos Def (5), Nas (5), Randy Newman (9), New Order (5), Nico (5), Phil Ochs (5), Roy Orbison (5), OutKast (8), Lee "Scratch" Perry (5), Pet Shop Boys (9), Pink Floyd (9), The Pixies (11), The Pogues (6), Elvis Presley (9), Prince (10), Public Enemy (10), Pulp (10), Radiohead (7), R.E.M. (8), Lou Reed (8), The Replacements (6), Jonathan Richman (5), The Rolling Stones (14), Roxy Music (8), Saint Etienne (5), Gil Scott-Heron (10), The Shangri-Las (6), Simon & Garfunkel (7), Nina Simone (11), Frank Sinatra (9), Sly & the Family Stone (7), Bessie Smith (5), The Smiths (10), The Specials (12), Dusty Springfield (9), Bruce Springsteen (11), Sufjan Stevens (7), The Stone Roses (5), Regina Spektor (5), The Streets (7), Talking Heads (6), Richard Thompson (5), Velvet Underground (9), Gene Vincent (5), Loudon Wainwright III (8),Tom Waits (16), Scott Walker (10), The White Stripes (5), The Who (10), Wilco (6), Hank Williams (5), Wire (7), Stevie Wonder (12), Robert Wyatt (9), XTC (5), Yo La Tengo (9), Neil Young (16)

Click here for detailed list of artists making the A List ten times or more!

8. It's not uncommon to see two song recommendations by the same person make a playlist but what is the most songs recommended by one person that has made a playlist? There is a tie in this category as there are two people who have achieved this. Who are they and what were the topics? - The most songs making a playlist nominated by the same person is four. This was first achieved by fourfoot for the topic Cocaine & Heroin on Dec. 8, 2006. The feat was repeated by steenbeck on July 11, 2008 for songs about Prisons. There are quite a few triples so I won't list all those except to note there was a triple by Mr Mustard for the cocaine & heroin topic which means that between them, fourfoot and Mr Mustard accounted for seven of the ten songs in that playlist.

9. What was the first RR column Maddy Costa wrote? (She was subbing for Dorian Lynskey at the time.) - Maddy's first RR column was on Sept. 29, 2006. The topic was Lies.

10. Although the idea of a B List didn't really get going until 2007, Dorian issued two B Lists in 2006. What topics were they for?
    - The very first ever B List (though it wasn't called a B List at the time) was for Storytelling Songs on July 21, 2006. The second one was for Mammals on Oct. 20, 2006.

11. The two B Lists in 2006 weren't the only alternative lists that year. Dorian published three "Favorites" lists - that is lists of the songs that were the most popular with RR bloggers. What topics were those lists for? - The three "Favorites" lists were for Cover Songs on Jan. 13, 2006, London on June 23, 2006, and Long Songs on Aug. 25, 2006.

12. A song that has made the B List may someday make the A List for a different topic but a song that has already made the A List is usually dismissed for consideration for future lists as "already zedded". However, on a number of occasions, an A Listed song curiously made the B List. What were the songs and what were the A and subsequent B Lists they made?  - The Mariner's Revenge Song by The Decemberists made the A List for the topic of Storytelling Songs on July 21, 2006. It later made the B List for Songs about Revenge on Sept. 19, 2008. America by Simon & Garfunkel made the A List for the topic Songs about America on June 30, 2006. It later made the B List for Songs about Adventure on Jan. 30, 2009. (Thanks to magicman for pointing out the former in the blog for Songs about Luck and to ShivSideCar for pointing out the latter in the blog for Songs about Secret Vices. The other four songs: Hospital by The Modern Lovers made the A List for Buildings on March 14, 2008. It made the B List for Hospitals just over a year later on March 20, 2009. The Art Teacher by Rufus Wainwright made the A List for School on Sept. 23, 2005 and made the B List for First Love on April 24, 2009. Ingrid Bergman by Billy Bragg made the A List for Famous People on Feb. 3, 2006 and made the B List for Actors on April 17, 2009. Heartbeats by Jose Gonzalez made the A List for Covers Better Than the Originals on Jan. 13, 2006 and the B List for Unlikely Cover Songs on Aug. 21, 2009. Back in the USSR by the Beatles made the A List for Places in Europe on May 19, 2006 and the B List for Coming Home on Sept. 4, 2009. Paris 1919 by John Cale made the A List for Dates on Jan. 5, 2007 and later made the B List for Great Middle Eights on Sept. 18, 2009. O Superman by Laurie Anderson made the A List on April 17, 2007 for Spoken Word Songs and later made the B List on Oct. 2, 2009 for songs about Victory. And on Oct. 23, 2009, this happened twice. Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend by Marilyn Monroe made the A List for Anti-Love on Jan 23, 2009 and made the B List for songs about Wealth on Oct. 23, 2009. Running the World by Jarvis Cocker made the A List for Politicians on Mar. 4, 2007 and made the B List for Wealth on Oct. 23, 2009. We Gotta Get Out of This Place by The Animals made the A List for Rallying Cries on June 1, 2007 and made the B List for songs of Desperation on Nov. 20, 2009. Excellent former A Listers are being B Listed with increasing frequency so I am no longer tracking them.

13. There are a lot of regular contributors to the RR blog and some have had their recommendations A Listed many times. Who are the top ten recommenders? - The top ten recommenders for making the A List as of July 3, 2009 are:
     

    New Rank	Rank June 30	Change	Submitted By	Oct. 1, 2010	to Dec. 31, 2009	in 2010
    1	1	0	steenbeck	125	93	32
    2	2	0	BeltwayBandit	106	82	24
    3	3	0	ejaydee	103	89	14
    4	4	0	DarceysDad	61	50	11
    5	6	1	catcher	55	46	9
    6	5	-1	TonNL (Ton Bukkems)	54	51	3
    7	7	0	gordonimmel	49	47	2
    8	8	0	jasonaparkes	49	49	0
    9	9	0	May1366	43	36	7
    10	11	1	magicman	39	30	9

    
     

    Complete Top Recommenders List

14. What is the longest song title to make the A List? - While  I Just Got Back (From the Final Fantasy Ahead of Our Time in the Four Lands of Ellet) by Parliament for the topic Fictional Places has the most words in the title with 18, it falls short in terms of number of letters and spaces by the fifteen word title This is How You Spell, "HaHaHa, We Destroyed the Hopes and Dreams of a Generation of Faux-Romantics" by Los Campesinos which has only 17 words but has a combination of 100 letters, spaces and punctuation marks compared to only 85 for the Parliament number. Not surprisingly, it made the playlist for Long Titles on Dec. 1, 2011. And on January 28. 2011, a song made the B List with a title longer than either of those two. A Normal, Suburban Lifestyle is a Near Impossibility Once You've Fallen in Love With an International Spy by Casiotone for the Painfully Alone has 17 words and 105 characters including punctuation marks and 16 spaces.