Teenbeat Mayhem launch date......

[Michael W]

But would this not also be a weakness in the rating process? Surely one get's a bit jaded along the way and may not hear what, on repeated listenings, would be a standout track after all? I've certainly re-discovered songs within my own collection that I at first were very disappointed with. (not talking about the Carter track now)

There is some truth in that, but if you take it to its logical conclusion we would never bother with ratings as there would always be that uncertainty as to whether you might later change your mind. I tried to be fair with the ratings, generally didn't listen to more than twenty or so at a time without a break and often had a second or third listen if uncertain. As a general rule, the killer and great songs are pretty obvious from the start as are the dogs. The hard bit is sorting through the songs in the 3 to 5 range to get them right. And of course Mike's idea of having a panel comes into play here.

 

[Michael W]

I don't think Mike will mind me posting this here as I believe it was also publicly posted on the Kopper forum back in the day. This was something he sent out quite early in the piece (my file is dated 26 August 2004) advising how the rating scale was structured. I referred to this many times if I was in doubt how to rate, or just to keep reminding myself of the scale. Probably the most important thing to note is that 4 and up is already regarded as good garage that most collectors would want to own and listen to often.

A few guys wanted to have some sort of rating value guide, so I came up with this outline, so that we all operate from the same page
1- for diehards/completists, JUST crosses the nebulous line of garage, depending on your personal opinion.

2-3 decent, average in instrumentation/effort, or an uninspired cover version that might be dull to some, good to others

4-6 good garage, typical elements, inventive/interesting...a record most collectors and fans would want to own/listen to repeatedly

7-8 Great! Offers a better / stronger quality..energetic/inspired performance whether on the crude side, or a 'pro' recording effort. sought after examples of the genre

9-10 Out and out Killer...only the most exciting/stunning 45s receive this high rating. As Chuck Cleaver would say, "Worth your rent and half your food bill. A "10" would be the type of monster that gives you a heart attack after the first 20 seconds!

 

[bosshoss]

The most useful part about the ratings, must be the ratings of the obscure discs which are not available to audition, for example on youtube or comps. That includes a lot of flipsides of well-known discs, as well as lesser-grade or very rare 45s which are unlikely to be comped soon.

I trust the ratings cabinet well enough to know that if a disc receives a rating of 3 or more, then it's something I probably need to get. And if it rates 5 or more, I need to get it fast.

 

[Lee de Parade]

Is there a fast copy-pastelist of unissued cuts that is rated 7 and over!?

Btw, I placed the TBM next to the new Acid Archives. After some initial hissing and growling, the two were sniffing each others butts and now seems to get along fine. Who'da thunk?

 

[Frantic]

And to those of you stiffing Wandering kind by Dean Carter, are you f*cking deaf!? 3? Really?

I think you meant WANDERING SOUL? Alec said if he releases DEAN CARTER on vinyl he'll drop some songs and add WANDERING SOUL. It's one of my faves. I was really disappointed that that one got left off
I love his version of Sixteen Tons also.

 

[Mr.Segment]

I think you meant WANDERING SOUL? Alec said if he releases DEAN CARTER on vinyl he'll drop some songs and add WANDERING SOUL. It's one of my faves. I was really disappointed that that one got left off
I love his version of Sixteen Tons also.

Yes! That is indeed good news. Yes, Wandering Soul:oops:

 

[nachete_888]

Hey, Mike, I have found that Denims - White Ship is repeated. Numbers 741 and 892. Could you check the right ranking.

 

[last_heard]

892 is Denims - I'm Your Man.

 

[MopTopMike]

#741 is supposed to show "I'm Your Man" by the Denims. Books have gone out with a replacement label scan sticker affixed to the page.

 

[Manos E. Brazos]

How do you get a replacement label scan sticker to affix to the page?

 

[MopTopMike]

I hope to be able to mail a list of corrections along with a label scan sticker to buyers who purchased the book early. When ready, I'll post details on the blog and here.

 

[pfft]

I just noticed a small typo in TBM:
Jungo Partner has become "Junco Partner".
I know that "Junco" is the 'correct' spelling, but the label says "Jungo", and the Nobody's Children guys clearly sing it with a 'g'.

 

[vinyl01]

I did not see Mike and the Ravens on Empire-1 ''I've taken all I can'' in the book...is it too old for consideration? I think it was released in 1962.

 

[troggy]

The most useful part about the ratings, must be the ratings of the obscure discs which are not available to audition, for example on youtube or comps. That includes a lot of flipsides of well-known discs, as well as lesser-grade or very rare 45s which are unlikely to be comped soon.

I trust the ratings cabinet well enough to know that if a disc receives a rating of 3 or more, then it's something I probably need to get. And if it rates 5 or more, I need to get it fast.

I would agree with the 5 or more. There are quite a few 4's that I don't think that much of. Then again, there are a lot of 3's that I absolutely love.

 

[vinyl01]

Well, I found one 5 that I disagree with is the Stained Glass ''My Buddy Sin'' should be a ''1'' if the Distant Cousins ''She Ain't lovin you no more is a ''1''. This cut made #102 on the Billboard charts which means thousands of people liked it enough to pay good money to listen to it. Also, If they rate the Music Machine as a ''10'' I would rate the first two Myddle Class 45s a "10" too. They were #1 in this area.

On to the Bosshoss comment on buying records that were rated a 3 means to me that they were under rated for a reason other than sound. I picked one out by random..Dick Doherty and I could not find it on utube or the web to listen to...Why. This must be very rare and the description given for it makes me think its a great sounding record, so why the low rating of 3 ???? If I was using this book to possibly buy a 45 using the ratings given without knowing what it sounded like I would stay away from those rated lower(3,4 or less) vs ones rated higher.
If someone have a mp3 for me to listen to on the Dick Doherty I'd love to hear it to make my own rating...too bad we can't get the chance to hear them like the team had. It's frustrating on these ratings as most of the 45s listed I have no Idea what they sound like and by judging the rating with the ones I do know I've kind of lost confidence in them, except the ones that I do know and agree with, but they are too few of those to my dismay. Hope that makes sense to the readers. I think it does by reading some of the other posts about the ratings.

On another dislike is that image of the 45 at the beginning of every letter that covers the first name. I can not read most of the first record listed. Too late now, but I would think something could have been done to prevent that. There's more, but I'm tired of venting now. I'll wait for the return comments venting my statements.

 

[MopTopMike]

Sorry, vinyl 01, about the printer error. Nothing could be done; my proof looked fine. Read the insert I enclosed for details and corrections. I'd like to think I'm doing my best for compensating typos and printer errors. What other author would take the time to affix a note inside the cover, and hand-correct every book?

It now seems that most of the complaints are from people who want their own favorites to be rated higher than the number shown. Newsflash: one person does not a consensus make. The only people makin' a fuss are a handful of G45 folks. No one else takes an issue. Please read Michael W's comments about the rating process, if you did not do so. A 2 or 3 is an average / decent song, not a terrible tune.

Your take on the ratings process is incorrect. Hit singles were rated just the same as obscure ones. No preference or bias. Only on the PERSONAL TASTE of the voters. "Talk Talk" rated as a 10 because the majority of the team rated it highly. And found it to be better than the Myddle Class sides.
"She Aint Lovin' You" , well, the majority found it below average, regardless of "chart stature". If you disagree, so what? The consensus vote process proves you will find more people (those who already know what kind of music we are dealing with here) who side with the 1 or 2 rating than your higher rating.

 

[vinyl01]

Hi Mike, yes, your are right, my comments are based on my tastes, but I would think they would only be off by 1 or 2 points and not 5. Going by your garage-o-meter I would have rated the Distant Cousins a 6 as it is one I play often. Rating that one as a ''1'' must have meant that someone in the team gave it a zero or possibly less? Can you tell me how that rating was scored?

I almost bought the Stained Glass based on the rating of 5 until I heard it. It did nothing for me, so I did not buy it. I think buyers of your book might use it as a buying guide based on those ratings, no?

I would like to have seen the exact ratings as you computed them(8.468) for each one. However, I think you said that's going to be in the next release, right?

Any comments on my post of Mike and the Ravens above?

 

[Michael W]

If someone have a mp3 for me to listen to on the Dick Doherty I'd love to hear it to make my own rating...too bad we can't get the chance to hear them like the team had. It's frustrating on these ratings as most of the 45s listed I have no Idea what they sound like and by judging the rating with the ones I do know I've kind of lost confidence in them, except the ones that I do know and agree with, but they are too few of those to my dismay. Hope that makes sense to the readers. I think it does by reading some of the other posts about the ratings.

It's funny that you are complaining about the ratings, yet in your comment you give the reason why they were necessary - the fact is that most of these songs are not able to be heard easily. Imagine if the book had gone out without ratings as was the original plan. Then Mike would be flooded with complaints from people saying there should have been a rating system.

 

[MopTopMike]

The Distant Cousins "She Ain't Lovin' You rated a 1.900 3-2 2-5 1-3
(Two voters rated it a "3", five voters rated it a 2 and three people rated it as a 1 (myself included)
The Nomadz version of the song rated much higher 5.200 8-2 7-1 6-1 5-2 4-2 3-1 2-1


My Buddy Sin = 5.400 7-2 6-3 5-2 4-3

Mike and the Ravens 45 was not included because it pre-dates the time period. I didn't have room to namedrop it on pg 178.

 

[chas_kit]

The Distant Cousins "She Ain't Lovin' You rated a 1.900 3-2 2-5 1-3
(Two voters rated it a "3", five voters rated it a 2 and three people rated it as a 1 (myself included)
The Nomadz version of the song rated much higher 5.200 8-2 7-1 6-1 5-2 4-2 3-1 2-1

My Buddy Sin = 5.400 7-2 6-3 5-2 4-3

Mike and the Ravens 45 was not included because it pre-dates the time period. I didn't have room to namedrop it on pg 178.

I would have given My Buddy Sin a 10.

"She Ain't Lovin' You" is catchy but way annoying, with the steel drums et al. 1 may be harsh, I could've seen a 2.