DRC Madness #41: Best #1 Song of the 70s

IdRatherBeSkiing · Wednesday at 2:30 PM

Another 3 today ....

--> lowest 7 liker.
--> another unmadness over-achiever or a madness underachiever

9

1974

Bachman-Turner Overdrive: "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet"

7

0

1557

Madness: #37
Liked by:

@IdRatherBeSkiing (17)
@scotchandcigar (94)
@Madison (29)
@sadchild (29)
@HecticArt (11)
@Wolf (8)
@JHDK (33)

Disliked by:

Nobody

--> @Aaron 's #1 song:
--> a bit of an unmadness underachiver or a madness over-achiver.

8

1979

Blondie: "Heart of Glass"

7

0

1673

Madness: #3
Liked by:

Disliked by:

Nobody

--> @HecticArt 's #1 song:

7

1973

Stevie Wonder: "Superstition"

7

0

1689

Madness: #11
Liked by:

Disliked by:

Nobody

Top 6 tomorrow .... any guesses?

Channel98 · Wednesday at 2:47 PM

I was considering making some guesses but I think I'll just let it be. (See what I did there?)

IdRatherBeSkiing · 2026-06-04T20:31:24-0400

Here are the next 3 ....

--> When we all voted we all selected a song at the top of the list. 10 of us voted. 6 of us provided unique #1 songs. 4 of us duplicated. This is the lowest ranked multi-#1 vote. Even with 2 votes @ #1 at 300 points, it only made #6. If it had another first place vote ..... it would have been third.
--> @IdRatherBeSkiing 's #1 song
--> @scotchandcigar 's #1 song
--> highest ranking 7 liker.

6

1977

Eagles: "Hotel California"

7

0

1751

Madness: #10
Liked by:

Disliked by:

Nobody

Unvoted by:

--> Lowest ranking 8 liker.

5

1977

Stevie Wonder: "Sir Duke"

8

1

1784

Madness: #8
Liked by:

Disliked by:

@Madison

Unvoted by:

@Listener

4

1979

The Knack: "My Sharona"

8

0

1813

Madness: #6
Liked by:

@IdRatherBeSkiing (24)
@scotchandcigar (63)
@Madison (17)
@sadchild (13)
@HecticArt (2)
@Wolf (4)
@JHDK (84)
@Listener (12)

Disliked by:

Nobody

Unvoted by:

more to come ....

IdRatherBeSkiing · 2026-06-04T22:34:25-0400

Now it comes to the moment of truth. 3 songs remain. 2 involve singers from The Beatles. 2 have dislikes. One song was liked by 9 people .....

Before we start a reminder for the top 3 of the Madness ....

1	The Beatles: Let It Be
2	Don McLean: American Pie
3	Blondie: Heart of Glass

Without further adieu ....

3

1974

Paul McCartney and Wings: "Band on the Run"

8

1

1866

Madness: #4
Liked by:

Disliked by:

@Wolf

Unvoted by:

@Madison

--> This song is the #1 song of 2 persons. It's lowest rank on those who ranked and liked it was 18. But that was not enough to put it to the top ....
--> @Channel98 's #1 song
--> @JHDK 's #1 song

2

1970

The Beatles: "Let It Be"

8

1

2064

Madness: #1
Liked by:

Disliked by:

@Wolf

Unvoted by:

@Aaron

--> This song was nobody's #1 song. But it was the ONLY song that was liked by 9 people. The closest we got to a universal choice.

1

1972

Don McLean: "American Pie"

9

0

2162

Madness: #2
Liked by:

Disliked by:

Nobody

Unvoted by:

@Madison

And as a bonus since I think of this song every time I hear "American Pie" now .....

Wolf · 2026-06-04T23:04:12-0400

IdRatherBeSkiing said:
Now it comes to the moment of truth. 3 songs remain. 2 involve singers from The Beatles. 2 have dislikes. One song was liked by 9 people .....

Before we start a reminder for the top 3 of the Madness ....

1
The Beatles: Let It Be
2
Don McLean: American Pie
3
Blondie: Heart of Glass

Without further adieu ....

3
1974
Paul McCartney and Wings: "Band on the Run"
8
1
1866

Disliked by:

@Wolf

2
1970
The Beatles: "Let It Be"
8
1
2064

Disliked by:

@Wolf

1
1972
Don McLean: "American Pie"
9
0
2162

Did my dislike dethrone the Beatles. :roflmao:

Thanks for hosting the unmadness IRBS!

Channel98 · 2026-06-05T00:15:02-0400

Thank you, IRBS, for compiling the list – and thank you for not sharing Madonna's horrible remake of American Pie.

IdRatherBeSkiing · 2026-06-05T00:23:34-0400

Channel98 said:
Thank you, IRBS, for compiling the list – and thank you for not sharing Madonna's horrible remake of American Pie.

That was horrid wasn't it!

Channel98 · 2026-06-05T00:49:49-0400

Greg, Peter, Bobby, Marcia, Jan and Cindy Brady recorded American Pie for their Meet The Brady Bunch album, released in April 1972. In his 1992 memoir Growing Up Brady, Barry Williams (who played Greg Brady on the series) said the Brady kids' version is "wretched" and "extraordinarily awful." A Rolling Stone review called it "bizarre" and "mangled." The album reached #108 on the Billboard 200 album chart in August 1972.

scotchandcigar · 2026-06-05T08:54:16-0400

Thanks for all the work Doug!

Aaron · 2026-06-05T09:09:10-0400

Great work IRBS!
Did the madness and unmadness really end up with a lot of the same songs near the top?

IdRatherBeSkiing · 2026-06-05T09:13:24-0400

Aaron said:
Great work IRBS!
Did the madness and unmadness really end up with a lot of the same songs near the top?

The top 10 is reasonably close. Some other ones that did well in Madness did not fare well in unmadness. And some faired better in unmadness. Here is the top 50 Madness with their Unmadness rank:

MR#	Artists : Songs	UMR#
1	The Beatles: Let It Be	2
2	Don McLean: American Pie	1
3	Blondie: Heart of Glass	8
4	Paul McCartney and Wings: Band On The Run	3
5	George Harrison: My Sweet Lord	19
6	The Knack: My Sharona	4
7	Fleetwood Mac: Dreams	13
8	Stevie Wonder: Sir Duke	5
9	Elton John: Philadelphia Freedom	16
10	Eagles: Hotel California	6
11	Stevie Wonder: Superstition	7
12	Bee Gees: Stayin' Alive	31
13	Elton John: Bennie and The Jets	31
14	M: Pop Muzik	26
15	Chic: Good Times	22
16	Simon & Garfunkel: Bridge Over Troubled Water	12
17	Carly Simon: You're So Vain	36
18	Carole King: It's Too Late	59
19	Elton John: Crocodile Rock	11
20	Johnny Nash: I Can See Clearly Now	14
21	Paul McCartney and Wings: Listen to What The Man Said	62
22	Rod Stewart: Maggie May	156
23	Wings: Silly Love Songs	42
24	Gordon Lightfoot: Sundown	14
25	Steve Miller Band: Rock'n Me	43
26	The Beatles: The Long and Winding Road	75
27	Herb Alpert: Rise	67
28	Paul Simon: 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover	37
29	Manfred Mann's Earth Band: Blinded By The Light	61
30	Chic: Le Freak	40
31	Elton John and Kiki Dee: Don't Go Breaking My Heart	20
32	Daryl Hall and John Oates: Rich Girl	35
33	Wild Cherry: Play That Funky Music	17
34	Yvonne Elliman: If I Can't Have You	77
35	ABBA: Dancing Queen	51
36	Average White Band: Pick Up The Pieces	84
37	Bachman-Turner Overdrive: You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet	9
38	Steve Miller Band: The Joker	31
39	The Four Seasons: December 1963 (Oh, What A Night)	29
40	Harry Chapin: Cat's In The Cradle	10
41	B. J. Thomas: Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head	28
42	David Bowie: Fame	27
43	Janis Joplin: Me and Bobby McGee	24
44	Michael Jackson: Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough	57
45	The Rolling Stones: Brown Sugar	30
46	Wings: With A Little Luck	38
47	Bill Withers: Lean On Me	55
48	Paul McCartney and Linda McCartney: Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey	165
49	Bee Gees: Night Fever	118
50	Nick Gilder: Hot Child In The City	18

scotchandcigar · 2026-06-05T10:12:33-0400

There seem to be a bunch of songs at #31 in Un-madness.

IdRatherBeSkiing · 2026-06-05T10:20:41-0400

scotchandcigar said:
There seem to be a bunch of songs at #31 in Un-madness.

There was a 3 way tie @ #31.

scotchandcigar · 2026-06-05T10:32:47-0400

It would be interesting to look at the biggest discrepancies, like these.

scotchandcigar · 2026-06-05T10:39:18-0400

scotchandcigar said:
It would be interesting to look at the biggest discrepancies, like these.

View attachment 12102

Sorry for answering my own question, but I looked up the 2 that tanked in this game - Maggie May and Uncle Albert. Both were only liked by me, and very highly ranked at that. One was even disliked. I'm not sure how this happens. Taking Maggie May for example, it won many head-to-head rounds in Madness, yet none of the people who voted for it included it on their lists (except me, of course). Odd.

IdRatherBeSkiing · 2026-06-05T11:45:22-0400

scotchandcigar said:
Sorry for answering my own question, but I looked up the 2 that tanked in this game - Maggie May and Uncle Albert. Both were only liked by me, and very highly ranked at that. One was even disliked. I'm not sure how this happens. Taking Maggie May for example, it won many head-to-head rounds in Madness, yet none of the people who voted for it included it on their lists (except me, of course). Odd.

I think it came down to who it was seeded against for me. That one for example, I do recognize and I like although I did not rank it. I cut off my sorting at a level where I didn't like enough to worry about ordering. But "Maggie May" would beat a lot of other unranked songs for me.

The other thing that I think affects the order is the second chance stuff and the 3 way matchups. There were lots of good songs which I could not vote for because they were in a 3 way split.

The other wildcard in the madness is that kingchuck did not participate in the unmadness so his effect on the voting is not known.

Another observation, individual positioning of the song on the list had far less of an effect in the unmadness as number of votes. With only a couple of exceptions the ordering was primarily 9 likers, 8 likers, 7 likers , etc. with the positioning affecting only the ordering within those groups. Also dislikes had bearing only in a couple of cases.

IdRatherBeSkiing · 2026-06-05T11:47:00-0400

The cases where the song overachieves in unmadness are far more interesting. If I get time this weekend, I will go back to the voting and see how they met their pre-mature doom that they should not have.

Aaron · 2026-06-05T12:19:26-0400

I like far more songs that I listed. Probably could have ranked 100 songs but I only submitted 30

sadchild · 2026-06-05T13:01:19-0400

Thanks IRBS!

Madison · 2026-06-05T13:13:48-0400

Yes Thanks IRBS! Great Unmadness

And Congrats to "American Pie" In honor, I will go out this weekend and indulge in a piece of American Pie

DRC Madness #41: Best #1 Song of the 70s

Sherbert is NOT and NEVER WILL BE ice cream.

Don't yell or hit.

Sherbert is NOT and NEVER WILL BE ice cream.

Sherbert is NOT and NEVER WILL BE ice cream.

AI is here, time to obey our robot overlords!

Don't yell or hit.

Sherbert is NOT and NEVER WILL BE ice cream.

Don't yell or hit.

All I wanted was some steak

Moderator

Sherbert is NOT and NEVER WILL BE ice cream.

All I wanted was some steak

Sherbert is NOT and NEVER WILL BE ice cream.

All I wanted was some steak

All I wanted was some steak

Sherbert is NOT and NEVER WILL BE ice cream.

Sherbert is NOT and NEVER WILL BE ice cream.

Moderator

Dude

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