ADMIN: A Philosophical Disquisition: What's A Single? incl. links to Chuck's Best Singles Of 2020
Here courtesy me are two new YouTube playlists:
Chuck Eddy's 11 Best Singles Of 2020
Chuck Eddy's Best Singles 2020 Numbers 12 To 33 alphabetical by artist
And Chuck's writeup of same.
And here's a provisional list of my Top 8 Nonsingles for 2020:
Top nonsingles tracks
1. Semi Tee "Reverse"
2. Die Antwoord ft Bukhulubakhe, Gqwa! "Zonke Bonke"
3. AZ "Hustla"
4. AZ "True"
5. Kabza De Small ft. Kelvin Momo & Mhaw Keys "Lala Ngoxolo"
6. Ashley McBryde "Shut Up Sheila"
7. MC Dricka "Empurra Empurra 2"
8. Arre! Arre! "Last Night
- Frank Kogan (@koganbot) January 2, 2021
And here's a revised provisional list of my Top 8 Nonsingles for 2020 as of 1/1/21 that wedges in some baile funk:
Well, not anymore. As of 1/1/21:
1. DJ Guuga "Aquele Momento"
2. AZ "Hustla"
3. MC Daninho & MC Teteu "Batendo O Bundão No Chão Dim Dim Dom"
4. DJ Guuga & MC Pierre "Japão"
5. Arre! Arre! "Last Night"
6. AZ "True"
7. Semi Tee "Reverse"
8. Ashley McBryde "Shut Up Sheila"
- Frank Kogan (@koganbot) January 2, 2021
As you can see, I still distinguish between singles and nonsingles, the latter being album tracks and other tracks that I decide are not singles, and someday I'm going to create a philosophical admin post where I explain what a single is. Okay, here it is: a single is something that acts like a single in some way, say the artist or record company says "here's the new single" or creates an actual video for it as opposed to a mere live video, lyric video, or audio video except those can also be considered "singles" by me if they get enough streams or if the artist etc. has already said "this is my new single" or if it's a talent show performance that a lot of people got excited about; also if an act just creates a knockoff that he/she/they posts somewhere themselves, that IS nonetheless a single because it's singular enough no matter if it only gets a few streams, but if the artist is taking the same basic track and redoing it every week for twenty-one weeks with a different singer or different mix and title (I'm thinking of you, DJ Will DF) those are not singles though one could become a single by getting a lot of streams; but a track is a single if it's a radio hit or streaming hit no matter what the artist or label intended, also is a hit if some big enough communities act like it's a hit or make it a big subject of attention, so Sault's "Wildfires" is a single, as back in the day were Jay-Z's "Takeover" and the Rolling Stones' "Sympathy For The Devil"** and Led Zeppelin's full-length "Stairway To Heaven" even though there'd been no physical single or official designation as a "single." For what it's worth, I've got Semi Tee's "Scooter" on my Nonsingles list (so far), though Chuck's got it on his singles list.* And my favorite of Hyuna's live TV versions of "Just Follow" featuring Zico (as opposed to the EP track which featured Dok2 who wrote it) made my singles list for 2011 (iirc) but is on my Top 5 Nonsingles Of The 2010s 'cause that's where there was room for it (I've not gotten around to posting here about that list but here's the playlist). Btw Qri, the member of T-ara I never paid attention to, managed to get two solo shots on that list!
*[UPDATE: Chuck tells me that "Scooter" is on neither of Semi Tee's albums and was uploaded as a stand-alone single on Rhapsody/Napster in May of 2020. That does seem definitive, though there’s no vid and not a lot of streams; approx 50,000 on Spotify and fewer on YouTube. But several people have posted videos of themselves dancing to it, PLUS there’s a Chipmunks version, which are both single-y type behavior on the song’s behalf; so I guess I'll move it over to my singles list. I mean, a Chipmunks version would seem to decide the question once and for all in favor of its being a single! (Interestingly, it was uploaded all the way back last January.)]
**[CORRECTION: Damn, I should've checked this. There actually was a physical single for "Sympathy For The Devil," though I can't tell from Wikip if it was ever released in America: the song got no AM airplay or chart action; it was played to death on FM back when FM still had few listeners. I wouldn't be surprised if all the sales went to the album. But anyway, there was no physical single for "Gimme Shelter" and I'd sure count that as a single.]
Oh, and I haven't decided what to do about TikTok which I haven't paid much attention to though if something's a hit there it's surely a single but then you have to figure out which version to link as the "single," but anyway I've got on my 2020 singles list someone's YouTube compilation of a bunch of TikTok kids lipsyncing the same fragment from Life Without Buildings, because linking them all together creates an amazing repetitive track in itself, sorta like Baauer's great "Harlem Shake." (Also, check out the latest version of my Ongoing Singles list for 2020; new additions towards the bottom which I'll eventually distribute upward.)
This entry was originally posted at https://koganbot.dreamwidth.org/378935.html. Comments still welcome here, there, and anywhere.
Chuck Eddy's 11 Best Singles Of 2020
Chuck Eddy's Best Singles 2020 Numbers 12 To 33 alphabetical by artist
And Chuck's writeup of same.
Click to viewAnd here's a provisional list of my Top 8 Nonsingles for 2020:
Top nonsingles tracks
1. Semi Tee "Reverse"
2. Die Antwoord ft Bukhulubakhe, Gqwa! "Zonke Bonke"
3. AZ "Hustla"
4. AZ "True"
5. Kabza De Small ft. Kelvin Momo & Mhaw Keys "Lala Ngoxolo"
6. Ashley McBryde "Shut Up Sheila"
7. MC Dricka "Empurra Empurra 2"
8. Arre! Arre! "Last Night
- Frank Kogan (@koganbot) January 2, 2021
And here's a revised provisional list of my Top 8 Nonsingles for 2020 as of 1/1/21 that wedges in some baile funk:
Well, not anymore. As of 1/1/21:
1. DJ Guuga "Aquele Momento"
2. AZ "Hustla"
3. MC Daninho & MC Teteu "Batendo O Bundão No Chão Dim Dim Dom"
4. DJ Guuga & MC Pierre "Japão"
5. Arre! Arre! "Last Night"
6. AZ "True"
7. Semi Tee "Reverse"
8. Ashley McBryde "Shut Up Sheila"
- Frank Kogan (@koganbot) January 2, 2021
As you can see, I still distinguish between singles and nonsingles, the latter being album tracks and other tracks that I decide are not singles, and someday I'm going to create a philosophical admin post where I explain what a single is. Okay, here it is: a single is something that acts like a single in some way, say the artist or record company says "here's the new single" or creates an actual video for it as opposed to a mere live video, lyric video, or audio video except those can also be considered "singles" by me if they get enough streams or if the artist etc. has already said "this is my new single" or if it's a talent show performance that a lot of people got excited about; also if an act just creates a knockoff that he/she/they posts somewhere themselves, that IS nonetheless a single because it's singular enough no matter if it only gets a few streams, but if the artist is taking the same basic track and redoing it every week for twenty-one weeks with a different singer or different mix and title (I'm thinking of you, DJ Will DF) those are not singles though one could become a single by getting a lot of streams; but a track is a single if it's a radio hit or streaming hit no matter what the artist or label intended, also is a hit if some big enough communities act like it's a hit or make it a big subject of attention, so Sault's "Wildfires" is a single, as back in the day were Jay-Z's "Takeover" and the Rolling Stones' "Sympathy For The Devil"** and Led Zeppelin's full-length "Stairway To Heaven" even though there'd been no physical single or official designation as a "single." For what it's worth, I've got Semi Tee's "Scooter" on my Nonsingles list (so far), though Chuck's got it on his singles list.* And my favorite of Hyuna's live TV versions of "Just Follow" featuring Zico (as opposed to the EP track which featured Dok2 who wrote it) made my singles list for 2011 (iirc) but is on my Top 5 Nonsingles Of The 2010s 'cause that's where there was room for it (I've not gotten around to posting here about that list but here's the playlist). Btw Qri, the member of T-ara I never paid attention to, managed to get two solo shots on that list!
*[UPDATE: Chuck tells me that "Scooter" is on neither of Semi Tee's albums and was uploaded as a stand-alone single on Rhapsody/Napster in May of 2020. That does seem definitive, though there’s no vid and not a lot of streams; approx 50,000 on Spotify and fewer on YouTube. But several people have posted videos of themselves dancing to it, PLUS there’s a Chipmunks version, which are both single-y type behavior on the song’s behalf; so I guess I'll move it over to my singles list. I mean, a Chipmunks version would seem to decide the question once and for all in favor of its being a single! (Interestingly, it was uploaded all the way back last January.)]
**[CORRECTION: Damn, I should've checked this. There actually was a physical single for "Sympathy For The Devil," though I can't tell from Wikip if it was ever released in America: the song got no AM airplay or chart action; it was played to death on FM back when FM still had few listeners. I wouldn't be surprised if all the sales went to the album. But anyway, there was no physical single for "Gimme Shelter" and I'd sure count that as a single.]
Oh, and I haven't decided what to do about TikTok which I haven't paid much attention to though if something's a hit there it's surely a single but then you have to figure out which version to link as the "single," but anyway I've got on my 2020 singles list someone's YouTube compilation of a bunch of TikTok kids lipsyncing the same fragment from Life Without Buildings, because linking them all together creates an amazing repetitive track in itself, sorta like Baauer's great "Harlem Shake." (Also, check out the latest version of my Ongoing Singles list for 2020; new additions towards the bottom which I'll eventually distribute upward.)
This entry was originally posted at https://koganbot.dreamwidth.org/378935.html. Comments still welcome here, there, and anywhere.