Top 100 Acts Of All Time - 360-351

by **spacelord** » Tue Mar 05, 2013 2:29 am

I neither like Barbra nor Shirley. But great to see Franz Ferdinand and Talking Heads somewhere in there. Pink ist great.

by **matthew_dixon** » Thu Mar 07, 2013 12:26 am

Score: 316.16 points
Singles Rank: 23
Albums Rank: 135
Biggest Decade: 70s

So here we are, at 53, with one of the most veteran names to make the top 100. Back in the 1950s, Perry Como was one of the biggest chart stars around. Hits like "Don't Let The Stars Get In Your Eyes" (which is currently on "Sixty Years Gone" in the Retro forum) and the classic "Magic Moments" really made Perry Como a big chart name. However, whilst he was a huge name, he wasn't anywhere close to Frankie Laine - who barely made this top 100 - and was even outcharted by Pat Boone, who surely stands no chance of this top 100. So - just how does Perry Como make it in here this high?

Well, the first answer is he had a comeback in the 1970s. Hits like "And I Love You So" and "For The Good Times" were incredibly long running chart successes. However, they were backed up by enormous album chart success - and that's what's really made Perry rank so high on here - and bemusingly make the 1970s his biggest decade in the UK! Yes, he might be best known for his "Magic Moments" and songs like the gorgeous "Catch A Falling Star" and the puntastic "Delaware", but it's the 1970s which moved Perry Como from a 50s icon to an all time legend.

Biggest Singles:
1. And I Love You So
2. Magic Moments
3. For The Good Times
4. Don't Let The Stars Get In Your Eyes
5. Idle Gossip

Biggest Album: And I Love You So

530-521
530. Sky (74.47 points)
529. Kelly Rowland (74.87 points)
528. Elbow (74.95 points)
527. Elaine Paige (75.07 points)
526. Fugees (75.12 points)
525. Eddy Grant (75.14 points)
524. ABC (75.79 points)
523. Joe Brown and the Bruvvers (75.83 points)
522. Supergrass (76.09 points)
[url]521. Kids From 'Fame' ( points)[/url]

Electronic act Sky starts this off - best known for an electric version of JS Bach's Tocatta and Fugue. There's X Factor judge and Destiny's Child member Kelly Rowland and 00s band Elbow, followed by musicals legend Elaine Paige. 90s R&B group Fugees feature, just before two 80s acts - reggae star Eddy Grant and classic 80s band ABC. Joe Brown and the Bruvvers were a big name in the 60s, and they're followed by an impressive showing for Britpop stars Supergrass. Finally, we have the Glee of their day - from the early 80s, it's the Kids from Fame!

by **Wayne** » Thu Mar 07, 2013 12:39 am

I know Perry quite well, an old favourite of my Grandad's!

by **JSparksFan** » Thu Mar 07, 2013 4:17 am

I didn't expect to see P!nk above Bey and Brit Brit, but her ranking is deserved! I don't know if I'd go as far as to call her the most talented act of her generation, but she is undeniably a tremendous live performer! She and Kelly are the best Pop/Rock artists since the turn of the millennium, in my opinion.

by **matthew_dixon** » Sat Mar 09, 2013 12:45 am

Our next act is quite simply... the best!

Score: 316.63 points
Singles Rank: 126
Albums Rank: 49
Biggest Decade: 90s

Yes, she's simply the best, better than all the rest, better than anyone... but alas not quite as successful as 51 other acts! Tina Turner has an incredibly impressive rock voice that very few female singers can match. She started her career back in the 60s with husband Ike - and frankly the less said about that the better. Someone on YouTube I saw called them "the Chris Brown and Rihanna of their day". Tina came through it though, and went on to have a hugely successful solo career - as can be seen by this position here.

She had some massive rock anthems in the 80s, with "We Don't Need Another Hero" and of course "The Best", but the biggest of all is actually "What's Love Got To Do With It". Just how many more female soloists remain, and just who are they?

Biggest Singles:
1. What's Love Got To Do With It
2. The Best
3. We Don't Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)
4. Let's Stay Together
5. I Don't Wanna Lose You

Biggest Album: Private Dancer

520-511
520. Eddie Fisher (76.56 points)
519. Billy Idol (76.61 points)
518. Jose Carreras (76.71 points)
517. Busta Rhymes (76.81 points)
516. Catatonia (76.85 points)
515. Matt Monro (76.95 points)
514. Example (77.19 points)
513. LeAnn Rimes (77.57 points)
512. Brotherhood Of Man (77.73 points)
511. Jimmy Nail (78.09 points)

Tomorrow, I attend a wedding. Therefore, it's highly coincidental that the first two songs in this list are wedding songs! First up 50s crooner Eddie Fisher, whose biggest hit was the turgid cheesy "I'm Walking Behind You". Then, rock legend Billy Idol - whose biggest hit is of course "White Wedding"! Classical tenor Juse Carreras is followed by Busta Rhymes, and due to just how much bigger "Don't Cha" was than any of his own hits, he rather cruelly gets a link to a Pussycat Dolls song he rapped a short intro for! Giving a slight break from male soloists, we have late 90s Britpop stars Catatonia, and then it's back to the male soloists with 60s crooner Matt Monro and current star Example. Busta is joined by another member of the Rhymes family in this set (or should that be Rimes?) - country singer LeAnn Rimes! I have to say that neither Busta nor LeAnn rhyme with all that much. Finally, we have the UK answer to ABBA, 70s band and Eurovision winners Brotherhood of Man, and Geordie TV star and singer Jimmy Nail!

by **JSparksFan** » Sat Mar 09, 2013 9:25 pm

Tina Turner is one of my favourite pre-2000 female artists! "What's Love Got To Do With It" is an all-time favourite and her live performances are what cement her as a true Rock & Roll legend! Her impact is sometimes understated but it's easy to look at contemporary female acts, most notably Beyoncé, and see the influence she's had on them.

by **CrazyCrazy** » Sat Mar 09, 2013 9:26 pm

Tina is great, still don't get the influence on Beyonce, so she copies her stage movements sometimes...ok.... :lol:

by **Wayne** » Sat Mar 09, 2013 9:28 pm

As I said in her general artists topic, she's the most important female artist certainly in rock history, maybe in music history?

She's so widely influential - you can see aspects of her performance and vocal style in everyone from Celine to Beyonce, to Madonna to Lady Gaga.

Everything she put out after Private Dancer was immense.

by **jszmiles** » Sat Mar 09, 2013 9:34 pm

Goldeneye is best Tina's song and BEST Bond song ever ever ever and in the whole universe.

by **matthew_dixon** » Mon Mar 11, 2013 12:53 am

Score: 320.87 points
Singles Rank: 66
Albums Rank: 63
Biggest Decade: 80s

It's a well known fact that I just don't get Prince. Not quite sure what it is - maybe largely because he is largely focussed around beats rather than around lyrics or tunes. Anyway, he was an absolute legend in the 80s, and had a very classic album in "Purple Rain". Tracks like "Purple Rain", "1999", "When Doves Cry" and "Little Red Corvette" are all classic.

However, in the 90s it all changed. He teamed up with the New Power Generation, and had a string of more raunchy hits - such as "Sexy MF". "Diamonds and Pearls" and "Cream". Then he ditched his name, and became "The Artist Formerly Known As Prince", which was written as a totally unpronounceable symbol. Indeed for one random flop hit he was simply "The Artist". Alas, it's a ballad from his 90s career which actually beats all the 80s classics in this list. I'll let his fans wax lyrical over why he's so great.

Biggest Singles:
1. The Most Beautiful Girl In The World
2. When Doves Cry
3. Batdance
4. Little Red Corvette
5. 1999

Biggest Album: Purple Rain

510-501
510. Ace of Base (78.26 points)
509. Bing Crosby (78.41 points)
508. Lemar (78.46 points)
507. Karl Denver (78.50 points)
506. Tony Bennett (78.51 points)
505. Nancy Sinatra (78.74 points)
504. Jack Johnson (78.84 points)
503. N-Dubz (78.90 points)
502. Streets (79.07 points)
501. James Taylor (79.14 points)

It's 90s pop stars Ace of Base who start of tonight's batch. There's two classic crooners on the list, Bing Crosby, and Tony Bennett - plus the rather less remembered Karl Denver. We've got 00s music galore as well with R&B-soul from Lemar, Hawaiian guitar-pop from Jack Johnson, and British urban music from the critically acclaimed Streets and the not so critically acclaimed N-Dubz! There's also Frank Sinatra's daughter Nancy, and last but by no means least 70s singer-songwriter James Taylor!

by **Wayne** » Mon Mar 11, 2013 12:56 am

Prince is...an odd one. He's higher than some might think.

I like a handful of his songs.

by **CrazyCrazy** » Mon Mar 11, 2013 1:10 am

I like Jack Johnson.

Prince...is growing on me very very slowly, I think it's the subject matter of his songs that don't appeal to me really, he likes to sing about women and sex a lot

which is fine but it's just not something I have any interest in listening to regularly.

I'm still exploring him though so my mind may change yet.

by **NothingFails** » Mon Mar 11, 2013 2:02 am

#51 is pretty respectable considering Purple Rain wasn't exactly the phenomenon in the UK it was in the US (13 million copies sold and 24 weeks at #1).

"The Most Beautiful Girl In The World" is one of his worst, still baffled how that one was his sole UK #1... it was a big hit in the US too, but #3 was more apt considering he had far better #1 and #2 hits stateside.

by **JSparksFan** » Mon Mar 11, 2013 2:47 am

My sister's favourite song of all-time is "Purple Rain" so I've heard that track a fair few times but I don't know much else from him. I've heard "Kiss" and that one was nice too but I get the sense that Prince isn't really my cup of tea.

Website · by **Shorty** » Mon Mar 11, 2013 4:44 am

Wow at P!nk being so high

She deserves it though, she's really talented!

Also woo for B*Witched in that section!

I like Prince, his music is really creative and cool. 1999 is my favourite song from him though!

by **jszmiles** » Mon Mar 11, 2013 9:09 am

I saw Price live, I can not argue with his attitude and talent but somehow I found his music boring. Nevertheless, he's got huge fanbase.

by **MatheusCiccone** » Mon Mar 11, 2013 5:11 pm

Prince is THE ARTIST. Speaking of solo acts, he is the most talented of music IMO.

by **madfan22** » Mon Mar 11, 2013 5:14 pm

NothingFails wrote:#51 is pretty respectable considering Purple Rain wasn't exactly the phenomenon in the UK it was in the US (13 million copies sold and 24 weeks at #1).

"The Most Beautiful Girl In The World" is one of his worst, still baffled how that one was his sole UK #1... it was a big hit in the US too, but #3 was more apt considering he had far better #1 and #2 hits stateside.

I love Prince and I share your thoughts ! He had far better songs ! Especially in the 00´s even though the majority of people doesn´t even know about that ! :cry:

by **biscuits** » Mon Mar 11, 2013 5:38 pm

'The Most Beautiful Girl In The World' is my favourite Prince song.

by **NothingFails** » Mon Mar 11, 2013 8:29 pm

madfan22 wrote:
NothingFails wrote:#51 is pretty respectable considering Purple Rain wasn't exactly the phenomenon in the UK it was in the US (13 million copies sold and 24 weeks at #1).

"The Most Beautiful Girl In The World" is one of his worst, still baffled how that one was his sole UK #1... it was a big hit in the US too, but #3 was more apt considering he had far better #1 and #2 hits stateside.
I love Prince and I share your thoughts ! He had far better songs ! Especially in the 00´s even though the majority of people doesn´t even know about that !

Yes, I hate when people think he stopped making good music in the early 90s because that's where his hitmaking period ended. 3121 had four or five songs that could've been hits if Prince wasn't seen as a vet by 2006.

by **NothingFails** » Mon Mar 11, 2013 8:30 pm

MatheusCiccone wrote:Prince is THE ARTIST. Speaking of solo acts, he is the most talented of music IMO.

+1. It's baffling to think of just how much energy the man had in the 1980's. He was putting out 3-4 albums a year when you consider he pretty much did everything for all his protege acts (The Time, Sheila E, Vanity 6, etc.....), yet his own music was still always phenomenal.

by **matthew_dixon** » Mon Mar 11, 2013 11:50 pm

So - time for a quick recap I think now we've reached halfway!

Just so you're aware, as this countdown gets higher and higher, it takes longer and longer to write up about the big name acts, so for the top half, I'm going to be posting the 10 lower entries on a different day to the big entry - potentially with some more images and links and things for the missed entries as we get closer anc closer to the top 100. You never know, I might just post the acts that have missed the top 1000 as well - but you'll see that a handful of them might be unpicked up duplicates that give next to no impact to the final result!

by **CrazyCrazy** » Mon Mar 11, 2013 11:51 pm

Janet Jackson totally slayed!!!!

Biscuits will be pleased! :lol:

by **matthew_dixon** » Mon Mar 11, 2013 11:53 pm

Edited

Blame Excel for being set to manual calculation!

by **Skoolio** » Mon Mar 11, 2013 11:57 pm

CrazyCrazy wrote:Janet Jackson totally slayed!!!! Biscuits will be pleased!

I saw it before it was edited.