Shiver me TBMbers! The Great Comp Showdown Thread!

Off The Wall #2 gets a solid 7,3750.
Chosen Few #2 gets a whiff of BFTG 5's candy but falls short (if Brain Train woulda get a more well deserved 7 instead of a 6, things would've looked differently..) and ends up with 7,5294.

I have to say THANKS FOR THE MISTAKES/MISPRINTS and such, MTM! Each time I see that black ball pen correcting an OH to FL, or a '66 to a feb '67...it feels like autographs or something. Like a living document.
I bet the third press (and prob flawless) won't feel this personal. :)

Alrightee, solid info right up my alley. If MTM recalculates the comp averages from his exact scores (rather than TBM book integers 7, 8, 9...) there may be some minor adjustments although statistically it should even out. There is a reasonable chance that no (vintage) comp is going to top Chosen Few #1, since even the mighty BFTG #5 and Pebbles #5 couldn't. One scenario I see is where some retro comp like I Was A Teenage Caveman or Teenage Shutdown #10 may rank even higher, since they're cherry-picking from earlier comps for the most part. Ditto for the Mayhem & Psychosis series. Therefore those are not truly vintage comps IMO, more like "best of".

EDIT: to fend off the cherrypickers, I would add a factor that awards bonuses for the number of "firsts" and "uniques" in the track list. In other words, a truly groundbreaking comp where all tracks were previously non-comp gets a ratings boost. Or conversely, one might punish the cherrypicking comps for their lack of creativity :-). Personally I would simply disqualify any comp where more than 50% of the tracks were already comp'd at the time of release.

Yeah, Mike's handwritten corrections contribute to the realness of the experience for sure.
 
Funny, I was just going thru I Was A Teenage Caveman! Was that a precursor to the TS series?
It totally DESTROYS all competition with a whopping average of 8,9411. But as you say - it is kind of unfair. Should one count IWATC as 2n wave comp, and thus place it in another division? Hmm..
 
I Was A Teenage Caveman WAS a precursor to Teenage Shutdown. However, it was like the "Best Of" tracks culled from other compilations which came before it. Therefore, it scores very high, but that raw score is not a fair representation.
What I am doing for my own listings is adding a "repeat track useage" factor into the scoring, which reduces the score via an applied algorithm. Think of it as a detraction score for "stealing" a photo published elsewhere and then using it. The comps which featured a track the first time should have the advantage, not the recycled comps, no matter how good those later comps line-up with their track listings.
 
I'm at work right now so can't check but just out of interest how does the psych comp 'World Of Acid' score?
 
Don't own a book.... yet. Working on that. Piggy bank saving takes its time.

Long time favourites of mine with good presentation and some nice info, worthy of the Lee's Parade of Comps research and statistical voodooery?

Root 66
Attack of the New Jersey Teens (shit, I sold this towards rent a few years back, how fucking stupid of me, thought those songs were etched into me but those scratchings are getting dim now, I miss it so much)

Sure those BFTG and Peebles are great but I'd take an outside bet on Root 66 to cut a few corners and bump a few odds on favourites off their pedestals.
 
Think something like the Best of Pebbles comps should very score highly ...well they are "Best ofs"...... (anything with a Human Expression track could win in my mind) but MTM is proposing penalisation for repeatages but they are far superior recordings of the tracks than the "pebbles" versions.....
 
Repeat track listings present a distorted result. If you want to factor in "sound quality" and better packaging, the result would obviously be much different than just trying to ascertain the "musical impact factor", which is just what Lee is trying to do.
 
Musical impact is the main thing. When we were listening to Pebbles and Moxie in the early '80s we didn't really notice the sound quality, we were just floored by tracks by the Dovers, Wilde Knights, Green Beans, Zakary Thaks, Mustangs, Starfires, etc etc etc. BFTG was admired for the music as well as being the first comp series to have photos and credible group info.
 
<<Not really surprised about Psychedelic Disaster Whirl; I'm sure the garage guys like most of it but not in the reverential way that us acidp*nks do.>>

I've always liked this comp bu what sticks out in my mind is when, about maybe 10 years ago, at a WFMU record show, before it was repressed, I saw some guy selling a copy for around $50. And one of the Off the Wall volumes had a similar asking price.
 
TBM in a nutshell: Chocolate Tunnel's unique, satirical and atmospheric "Ostrich People" gets a "3". Chevelle V's routine frat-garage rocker "Come Back Bird" gets an "8". :cool:

That's a nutshell way too tiny to attempt to stuff TBM into.
Witness unique atmospheric sounds such as Remaining Few (Askel), Runaways (Alamo Audio) and Human Expression (Accent) rating 8's, 9's and 10's. And for the satirical touch you're after, check the Barons (Brownfield), Gonn's Blackout Of Gretely or the Lost Agency "One Girl Man", all highly rated by the TBM panel. Satirical, but also fun, cool.

Routine garage rockers are routinely rated 3 and 4 stars. Even the mighty Sonics are not spared.

But I agree the Chocolate Tunnel deserves more. Maybe 5 and a half. Or 4 and three quarters.
 
Most of these were being comped for the first time surely?
Edit: I get 6.59 - Imagine hearing this in 1981 !!

Boulders #3 - LP

Side 1
1 The Topsy Turbys - Hey Tiger (TBM 6)
2 The Good Feelins - Shattered (8)
3 The Spats - She Done Moved (6)
4 The Red Dogs - Open Up (6)
5 The Sounds Like Us - Clock On The Wall (6)
6 The Sounds Like Us - Outside Chance (6)
7 The Checkerlads - Baby Send For Me [Canadian]
8 W.C. Fields Memorial Electric String Band - Hippy Elevator Operator (5)
9 The Beaux Jens - She Was Mine (8)

Side 2
1 Evil - Whatcha Gonna Do About It (8)
2 Evil - Always Running Around (7)
3 The Mustangs - That's For Sure (8)
4 Mr. Lucky & The Gamblers - Take A Look At Me (6)
5 The Gentlemen Wild - You Gotta Leave (6)
6 Dave Myers & The Disciples - Come On Love (7)
7 The Wyld - Lost One (7)
8 The Myddle Class - Don't Let Me Sleep Too Long (6)
9 The Sheep - Thinkin' About It (6)
 
Most of these were being comped for the first time surely?
Edit: I get 6.59 - Imagine hearing this in 1981 !!

Boulders #3 - LP

Side 1
1 The Topsy Turbys - Hey Tiger (TBM 6) 6.888
2 The Good Feelins - Shattered (8) 8.035
3 The Spats - She Done Moved (6) 6.800
4 The Red Dogs - Open Up (6) 6.200
5 The Sounds Like Us - Clock On The Wall (6) 6.230
6 The Sounds Like Us - Outside Chance (6) 6.071
7 The Checkerlads - Baby Send For Me [Canadian] not rated
8 W.C. Fields Memorial Electric String Band - Hippy Elevator Operator 5.000
9 The Beaux Jens - She Was Mine (8) 8.713

Side 2
1 Evil - Whatcha Gonna Do About It (8) 7.813 - should show in TBM as a 7

2 Evil - Always Running Around (7) 7.285
3 The Mustangs - That's For Sure (8) 8.200
4 Mr. Lucky & The Gamblers - Take A Look At Me (6) 6.500
5 The Gentlemen Wild - You Gotta Leave (6) 6.583
6 Dave Myers & The Disciples - Come On Love (7) 7.100
7 The Wyld - Lost One (7) 7.300
8 The Myddle Class - Don't Let Me Sleep Too Long (6) 6.000
9 The Sheep - Thinkin' About It (6)6.000

Side 1 - 8 tracks rated = 53.937 sum; mean = 6.7421
Side 2 - 9 tracks rated = 62.781 sum; mean = 6.9756

Boulders Vol 3 "Musical Impact Factor" = 6.8588
 
You might as well just give up trying to like 60s garage as it's obviously not for.
I've just checked the tracklist for both comps and I'm sorry to tell you that you've got NO taste if you don't like them much.

PEBBLES – VOLUME 9

1. The Free-For-All - Show Me The Way not rated - Canadian
2. Byron & The Mortals - Do You Believe Me 8.463
3. The Endd - Out Of My Hands 7.642
4. The Knaves - The Girl I Threw Away 7.300
5. The Bugs - Pretty Girl 6.000

6. The Bucaneers - You're Never Gonna Love Me Anymore 7.392
7. The Beckett Quintet - No Correspondence 6.800

8. The Outsiders - I'm Not Trying To Hurt You 5.111

7 tracks rated = 48.708 sum; mean = 6.9582

1. The Gestures - Run, Run, Run 6.818

2. Bold - Gotta Get Some 8.428

3. The Banshees - Project Blue 9.071

4. New Colony Six - At The River's Edge 7.550

5. Beethoven's Fifth - Come Down 6.700

6. It's All Meat - Feel It not rated - Canadian
7. The Bad Roads - Too Bad 8.856
8. The Bad Roads - Blue Girl 12.142

8 tracks rated = 59.565 sum; mean = 7.4456



PEBBLES – VOLUME 10

1. The Next Five - Talk To Me Girl 4.600

2. The Moonrakers - You'll Come Back 5.600
3. Peter Wheat & The Breadmen - Baby What's New 7.545
4. The Marauders - Since I Met You 6.800
5. The Ides Of March - Roller Coaster 5.600

6. The Foggy Notions - Need A Little Lovin' 8.208

7. The Ugly Ducklings - Just In Case You Wonder not rated - Canadian
8. Raga & The Talas - My Group And Me 6.400
7 tracks rated = 44.753 sum; mean = 6.3932


1. Leo & The Prophets - Tilt-A-Whirl 8.350
2. The Human Expression - Love At Psychedelic Velocity 12.000

3. The Wig/Wags - I'm On My Way Down The Road 6.300

5. Things To Come - I'm Not Talkin' 6.700

6. The Five Americans - Slippin' And Slidin' 5.100

7. The Groupies - Primitive 9.071

8. The Brogues - Don't Shoot Me Down 8.035
8 tracks rated = 55.556 sum; mean = 6.9445

Pebbles Vol 9 Musical Impact Factor = 7.2019
Pebbles Vol 10 Musical Impact Factor= 6.6688
 
Psychedelic Unknowns Vol. 1 (EP) ends up with a pretty weak 6,8. And this has MONSTERS like I'm A Living Sickness, Psychedelic Siren, Rich With Nothin' and Feeling Bad. The original ep itself feels magic, with its folded sickly green folded A4 and shit. And it feels classic. As a whole. But the lack of "musical impact" of individual 45s tells another story.
I find this interesting.
 
Flashback Vol. 5 Musical Impact Factor = 7,0625

Actually pretty good score for this otherwise boring release. The music is simply kick-ass enough.
 
Ok are you ready for the results? Can you handle the truth? Back From The Grave Vol. 1 getsssss (drumroll)

7,6667 and snatches the 3rd position!

The reason for its somewhat disappointing results could and should be blamed on the Rats 45.