Readers Recommend Trivia Answers

1. When was the first Readers Recommend column published? - Sept. 16, 2005

2. What was the topic? - Change

3. Who was the very first person to contribute to a Readers Recommend blog? - Malcolm J who recommended a song called If You Saw Thru My Eyes by Ian Matthews

4. There was a mistake made in the list of Songs Named After Women. What was that mistake? - The song Allison by The Pixies is about jazz and blues artist Mose Allison. It was not named after a woman.

5. Although there is an A-Z list and the writers declare they will not use the same song twice, many songs were used twice, each for two different topics. What were the songs and what were the topics? - The songs were Burn Hollywood Burn by Public Enemy and made the list for both the Fire topic and the Inspired by or About Films topic. The next song is Promised Land by Joe Smooth which first made the A List for Optimistic Songs and again for Fictional Places. Then there was 3030 by Deltron 3030 which first made the A List for Dates and then made the list again for The Future. No Children by The Mountain Goats made the A List for Arguments and then again for the Truth. An Ending by Brian Eno made the A List for Instrumental Soundtracks on Feb. 2, 2008 and again for the Moon on Nov. 6, 2009 while Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend by Marilyn Monroe made the A List for Anti-Love on Jan. 23, 2009 and again for Reckless Consumption on Dec. 4, 2009. Another Girl, Another Planet by The Only Ones made the A List for Sci-Fi and Space on Jan. 27, 2006 and again for Impressive Intros on Dec. 18, 2009. Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In) by Kenny Rogers & the First Edition made the A List for Songs Redefined by Film on Nov. 25, 2005 and again for Hangovers on Jan. 8, 2010. B Movie by Gil Scott-Heron first made the A List for Actors on April 17, 2009 and again a year later for Great Opening Lines on April 2, 2010. Coal Miner's Daughter by Loretta Lynn made the A List for Social Class on March 27, 2009 and again for Manual Labour on July 23, 2010. The Seeker by The Who made the A List for The Truth on Sept. 11, 2009 and again for Hunting on August 6, 2010. For the first time ever, two previously A Listers made the A List again on August 13, 2010 for Old Age. It Was a Very Good Year by Frank Sinatra previously made the A List for the very similar topic of Getting Older on September 15, 2006 and When All is Said and Done by Abba previously made the A List for Autumn on September 30, 2005. Star Sign by Teenage Fan Club made the A List for Star Signs on March 13, 2009 and again for Fate & Destiny on September 24, 2010. Vitamin C by Can made the A List on Oct. 23, 2009 for Wealth and again almost a year later on Oct. 1, 2010 for Vegetables. Teardrop by Massive Attack first made the A List for Crying on Sept. 1, 2006 and again for Special Guests on Oct. 22, 2010. For the second time in RR history, two previously listed songs made the A List again on December 3, 2010. I Luv U by Dizzee Rascal first made the A List for Songs With Dialogue on July 10, 2009.  And She Said She Said by The Beatles first made the A List for Actors on April 17, 2009. Both made it again for Heated Arguments on Dec. 3, 2010. 2011 started off on January 14th with a repeat of two songs - Corner Store by Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers for Modernity. The song had originally been listed for Shopping on June 5, 2009. And Losing My Edge by LCD Soundsystem had originally appeared in the Getting Older playlist on Sept. 15, 2006. And a week later, on January 21st, Grits by RZA made the playlist a second time for Austerity. It had first made the A List for Vegetables on October 1, 2010. And Run DMC's King of Rock first made the A List for Royalty on Dec. 17, 2010 and less than two months later it reappeared for Showing Off on February 25, 2011.  I Am the Resurrection by The Stone Roses made the A List for I Am Songs on Jan. 25, 2008. Three years later it popped up again, also on the Showing Off list of February 25, 2011. This is the third time two zedded songs made the A List for the same topic. And Mr. E's Beautiful Blues by The Eels first made the A List for Joyous Songs on Feb. 10, 2006 and again for Mr. and Mrs. Songs on April 7, 2011. Soul singer Marvin Gaye made the A List for the first time with When Did You Stop Loving Me, When Did I Stop Loving You on Oct. 21, 2005 for Hatchet Jobs and again on May 12, 2011 for Divorce. Chase the Devil by Max Romeo first made the A List for God and the Devil on October 14, 2005 and again for Space on August 18, 2011. And 2012 started off with a repeat of New Year's Resolution by Lootpack which first made the Playlist for New Resolutions on Jan. 2, 2009 and again for New Year Songs on Jan. 12, 2012. After the transition to participant written columns in 2012, a zedded song showed up for Embarrassment on Oct. 25, 2012. The Streets' Fit But You Know It previously was listed for Holidays on Aug. 14, 2009. Harry Nilsson's Coconut first made the A List for Futility on Oct. 13, 2011 and again for Fruit on March 28, 2013. Tricky's Suffocated Love first made the A List for Jealousy on May 12, 2006 and made it again almost exactly seven years later for Breathing on May 2, 2013. And on May 9, 2013, Girl From Mars by Ash was listed for the second time for Aliens. Its first appearance was for Space back on Aug. 18, 2011. And in that same playlist, O Superman by Laurie Anderson made a repeat appearance for Aliens as well, after first showing up for Spoken Word on April 13, 2007. Billie Holiday's Strange Fruit made the list for Murder on June 26, 2014 after previously A Listing for Protest Songs on Nov. 11, 2005. And Yo La Tengo's Nuclear War (Version 2) made the A List for the first time for Nuclear War on May 5, 2006 and again for Children Performing on Oct. 9, 2014. Ella Fitzgerald's I'm Beginning to See the Light also made the A List twice. First time was for Light on Dec. 5, 2008 and the second time for Falling in Love on Oct. 30, 2014. And Jimmy Radcliffe's Long After Tonight is All Over made the list the first time for Devoted Love on Mar. 30, 2007 and again for Falling in Love on Oct. 30, 2014. Roadrunner by Junior Walker and the All Stars made the list the first time for Vim on Nov. 2009 and again for Saxophone on Nov. 6, 2014. Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia) by Us3 also made the A List twice, first for Best Bass Lines on Oct. 11, 2012 and then two years later for Sampling and Recycling on Nov. 27, 2014. I'm On My Way to a Better Place by Chairmen of the Board first made the playlist for The Afterlife on May 26, 2011 and again for Leaving on Dec. 13, 2014. Rio by Mike Nesmith first made the A List for Escape on Oct. 27, 2011 and again for Aviation on Dec. 18, 2014. And Enola Gay by OMD first made the playlist for Nuclear War on May 5, 2006 and again for Aviation on Dec. 18, 2014. And a third rerun the same day was for International Jet Set by The Specials which first appeared for Flying on July 20, 2007 and again for Aviation on Dec. 18, 2014. Joan Armatrading's The Weakness in Me also appeared in two lists, first on Oct. 29, 2010 for Uncertainty and again on Jan. 29, 2015 for Secrets and Secrecy. And James Carr's The Dark End of the Street first made the A List for Night and Darkness on Oct. 26, 2007 and again for Secrets and Secrecy on Jan. 19, 2015. Beck's Where It's At first made the playlist for Musical Instruments on Oct. 19, 2007 and again for Two (Part 2) on March 4, 2015. And Your Hand in Mine by Explosions in the Sky also made the list a second time for Two - Part 2. It first appeared for TV Theme Songs on Sept. 1, 2011. Lesley Gore's You Don't Own Me made the A List the first time for Arguments on Aug. 22, 2008 but reappeared for Control on March 12, 2014. A Lady of a Different Age by The Divine Comedy also appeared twice, first for Songs About Getting Older on Sept. 15, 2006, and again for Songs About Glamour and Style on Nov. 12, 2015 (I no longer track this.)

6. The rule about the same song not being used twice applies to covers as well. So two different versions of the same song will not be playlisted. But it has happened on six occasions.

   1. This happened jnadvertently once because the cover had a different title and a different tempo, which made it sound like a different song rather than a cover. What were the two songs and what playlists were they in? - The first song making the A List was I Come and Stand at Every Door by The Byrds which made the A List for Songs about Nuclear War on May 5, 2006. The cover song that made the A List was I Unseen by The Misunderstood for Songs about Ghosts on Jan. 30, 2009. Listen to them both on Youtube to compare. First The Byrds then The Misunderstood. (Thanks to Mark68 for pointing this out in the blog for Songs about Luck.)

   2. It happened a second time because of the topic and the writer said he would consider covers. What were the songs and topics on that occasion? - The writer said he would consider covers of previously A Listed Songs because the topic was Unlikely Cover Songs and the song is Sweet Child of Mine by Taken by Trees. The song was originally done by Guns 'n' Roses whose version made the A List for Children.

   3. Muleskinner Blues by The Fendermen made the A List for Indecipherable Songs on May 14, 2010. Two and a half months later, the original song the Fendermen covered, Blue Yodel No 8 (Muleskinner Blues) by Jimmie Rodgers made the A List for Manual Labour on July 23, 2010.

   4. Moby Dick by Dread Zeppelin made the A List for Hunting on August 6, 2010. The original by Led Zeppelin made the A List for Showing Off on February 25, 2011. (I think at this point, the prohibition against A Listing covers was informally discarded but I'll keep listing them as an interesting note.)

   5. I Started a Joke by The Bee Gees made the A List on Smiling and Laughing on Nov. 16, 2007. The cover by Low made the A List for Fools on August 11, 2011.

   6. The original and a cover made the same playlist for the first time with Bridges on Nov. 14, 2013. The song was Bridge Over Troubled Water with the list sporting both the original by Simon and Garfunkel and a cover by Aretha Franklin.

7. How many artists have made the Readers Recommend playlist five times or more? And who are they? - 348 have made the list five or more times. Number of times indicated in brackets.

   Artists making the RR Playlist five or more times with number of times in brackets: 10,000 Maniacs (9), A Tribe Called Quest (5), Abba (8), AC/DC (10), Alice Cooper (6), Marc Almond (5), Arab Strap (7), Arctic Monkeys (9), Joan Armatrading (8),  Louis Armstrong (17), Kevin Ayers (6), Johann Sebastian Bach (5), Joan Baez (8), The Band (9), The Bangles (7), Barenaked Ladies (9), The Beach Boys (24), The Beatles (30), Beck (5), The Beautiful South (12), The Bee Gees (5), Harry Belafonte (6), Belle and Sebastian (110), Chuck Berry (9), Big Star (6), Björk (10), Black Box Recorder (7), Black Uhuru (5), Black Sabbath (6), Blackalicious (5), Blondie (11), Blur (7), Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band (11), David Bowie (25), Al Bowlly (5), Billy Bragg (19), The Breeders (5), Jacques Brel (7), British Sea Power (6), Benjamin Britten (5), James Brown (14), Tim Buckley (5), Kate Bush (25), The Byrds (13), John Cale (16), Calexico (5), Terry Callier (6), Glen Campbell (5), Captain Beefheart (14), Johnny Cash (22), Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds (27), Ray Charles (8), Chemical Brothers (6), Chic (5), The Clash (18), Eddie Cochran (6), Cocteau Twins (8), Leonard Cohen (19), Shirley Collins (6), John Coltrane (7), The Congos (5), Ry Cooder (9), Sam Cooke (7), John Cooper Clarke (7), Julian Cope (5), Cornershop (5), Elvis Costello (16), Cowboy Junkies (8), The Cramps (7), Creedence Clearwater Revival (7), Culture (6), The Cure (17), The Damned (6), Miles Davis (11), De La Soul (7), Dead Kennedys (9), Death Cab for Cutie (6), Decemberists (9), Deep Purple (5), Sandy Denny (6), Depeche Mode (7), Dexys Midnight Runners (7), The Divine Comedy (10), Fats Domino (8), Donovan (10), Doors (6), Dr. John (6), Nick Drake (11), Drive-By Truckers (11), The Dubliners (8), Ian Dury & the Blockheads (11), Bob Dylan (34), Steve Earle (8), Echo and the Bunnymen (5), The Eels (10), Elbow (6), Duke Ellington (6), Eminem (5), Brian Eno (13), Everything But the Girl (5), Fairport Convention (10), Marianne Faithfull (8), The Fall (15), Feist (5), Ella Fitzgerald (22), Fleetwod Mac (8), Ben folds (6), The Four Tops (5), Aretha Franklin (14), Funkadelic (7), Peter Gabriel (6), Serge Gainsbourg (15), Rory Gallagher (5). Gang of Four (6), Marvin Gaye (16), Gentry, Bobbie (6), Ghostface Killah (7), The Go-Betweens (7), Gorillaz (5), John Grant (5), Grateful Dead (18), Al Green (6), Woody Guthrie (6), Half Man Half Biscuit (16), Peter Hammill (10), Happy Mondays (6), Emmylou Harris (8), PJ Harvey (11), Screamin' Jay Hawkins (8), Hawkwind (7), George Harrison (7), Isaac Hayes (5), Jimi Hendrix (14), The Hold Steady (5), Billie Holiday (12), Howlin' Wolf (5), Husker Dü (7), Iggy Pop (5), Iron Maiden (7), Isley Brothers (6), Jackson 5 (5), Joe Jackson (6), Michael Jackson (6), The Jam (12), Jesus and Mary Chain (9), Jethro Tull (7), Billy Joel (5), George Jones (7), Grace Jones (9), Janis Joplin (8), Louis Jordan and his Tympani Five (5), Joy Division (9), Judas Priest (6), K'naan (5), Katzenjammer (8), Paul Kelly (10), Killing Joke (5), The Kinks (19), Mark Knopfler (6), Kraftwerk (16), Alison Krauss (6), Fela Kuti (18), LCD Soundsystem (7), Led Zeppelin (12), Peggy Lee (6), Tom Lehrer (6), Jens Lekman (8), John Lennon (12), Jackie Leven (6), Jeffrey Lewis (7), Little Richard (5), Love (5), Low (5), Corb Lund (5), Kirsty MacColl (5), Madness (9), Madonna (5), The Magnetic Fields (11), The Mamas and the Papas (5),Manic Street Preachers (8), Aimee Mann (5), Bob Marley & the Wailers (12), John Martyn (6), Massive Attack (5), Curtis Mayfield (9), Paul McCartney (8), Kate & Anna McGarrigle (6), Memphis Minnie (5), Metallica (5), Charles Mingus (5), Mischief Brew (5), Joni Mitchell (19), Modern Lovers (6), The Monkees (8), Ennio Morricone (9), Van Morrison (17), Morrissey (9), Mos Def (7), Mountain Goats (5), Nas (5), New Model Army (8), New Order (10), Willie Nelson (8), Neu! (6), Randy Newman (12), Joanna Newsom (8), Nico (8), Nirvana (8), Laura Nyro (7), Phil Ochs (6), Okkervil River (9), Roy Orbison (5), Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (6), OutKast (8), Amanda Palmer (5), Dolly Parton (5), Pavement (5), Pearl Jam (5), Lee "Scratch" Perry (8), Pet Shop Boys (14), Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers (6), Pink Floyd (21), The Pixies (17), The Pogues (16), Karine Polwart (8), Elvis Presley (15), The Pretenders (5), Dory Previn (7), Prince (15), John Prine (6), Public Enemy (13), Public Image Limited (6), Pulp (16), Queen (12), Radiohead (11), Ramones (11), R.E.M. (16), Otis Redding (8), Lou Reed (16), The Replacements (8), Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers (12), Paul Robeson (5), Smokey Robinson and the Miracles (6), The Rolling Stones (23), The Roots (5), Roxy Music (11), Run-DMC (5), Todd Rundgren (5), Rush (7), Saint Etienne (7), Buffy Sainte-Marie (7), Santana (5), Gil Scott-Heron (16), The Sex Pistols (5), The Shangri-Las (7), Shonen Knife (6), Show of hands (5), Sigur Ros (6), Simon & Garfunkel (10), Paul Simon (9), Nina Simone (19),  Frank Sinatra (16), Siouxsie and the Banshees (9), Sly & the Family Stone (11), The Small Faces (7), Bessie Smith (7), Elliott Smith (6), Patti Smith (9), The Smiths (22), Smog (9), Soft Cell (6), Sonic Youth (12), The Specials (14), Regina Spektor (8), Dusty Springfield (13), Bruce Springsteen (34), Steely Dan (5), Stereolab (5), Cat Stevens (5), Sufjan Stevens (12), Al Stewart (15), The Stone Roses (6),  The Stranglers (7), The Streets (13), Donna Summer (6), Super Furry Animals (6), The Supremes (7), T. Rex (6), June Tabor (5), Talking Heads (11), The Temptations (6), Jake Thackray (10), Sister Rosetta Tharpe (5), They Might Be Giants (9), Linda Thompson (6), Richard Thompson (17), Tindersticks (7), Tricky (6), The Triffids (5), U2 (8), The Unthanks (6), Van Der Graaf Generator (7), Townes Van Zandt (6), Sarah Vaughan (5), Suzanne Vega (6), Velvet Underground (13), Gene Vincent (6), Violent Femmes (5), Loudon Wainwright III (13), Rufus Wainwright (6), Tom Waits (25), Scott Walker (16), The Waterboys (5), The Wedding Present (5), Gillian Welch (5), Kanye West (6), The White Stripes (9), The Who (19), Wilco (10), Hank Williams (6), Amy Winehouse (5), Wire (11), Bill Withers (9),  Stevie Wonder (18), Robert Wyatt (13), X-Ray Spex (6), XTC (9), Yes (5), Yo La Tengo (13), Neil Young (21), Frank Zappa (9), Warren Zevon (10)

Click here for detailed list of artists making the A List ten times or more!

8. It's not uncommon to see two song recommendations by the same person make a playlist but what is the most songs recommended by one person that has made a playlist? Ravi Raman made the A List an unprecedented six times for the topic of Crowns on Nov. 19, 2015. Megadom made the A List five times for Krautrock on June 21, 2017 at the Song Bar. And Uncleben made the A List five times for the topic of Fighting at the Song Bar on June 15, 2016. BeltwayBandit made the A List five times for the topic of Smuggling and Stealing on December 19, 2013.  Until then there had been a tie with four songs in one list as there were three people who had achieved this. This was first achieved by fourfoot for the topic Cocaine & Heroin on Dec. 8, 2006. The feat was repeated by steenbeck on July 11, 2008 for songs about Prisons. And it was repeated a third time by Fuel on Sept. 5, 2013 for the topic of Shyness! Wilemena had four A Listers for the topic of Shadows on Mar. 13, 2014. Makinavaja made the list four times for the topic of Taxis on June 12, 2014. Pairubu got four A Listers (and three B Listers) for the American West on Nov. 3, 2016. And ParaMhor got four A listers and a B lister for Dynamic Volume Changes on May 24, 2017. There are quite a few triples so I won't list all those except to note there was a triple by Mr Mustard for the cocaine & heroin topic which means that between them, fourfoot and Mr Mustard accounted for seven of the ten songs in that playlist.

9. What was the first RR column Maddy Costa wrote? (She was subbing for Dorian Lynskey at the time.) - Maddy's first RR column was on Sept. 29, 2006. The topic was Lies.

10. Although the idea of a B List didn't really get going until 2007, Dorian issued two B Lists in 2006. What topics were they for?
    - The very first ever B List (though it wasn't called a B List at the time) was for Storytelling Songs on July 21, 2006. The second one was for Mammals on Oct. 20, 2006.

11. The two B Lists in 2006 weren't the only alternative lists that year. Dorian published three "Favorites" lists - that is lists of the songs that were the most popular with RR bloggers. What topics were those lists for? - The three "Favorites" lists were for Cover Songs on Jan. 13, 2006, London on June 23, 2006, and Long Songs on Aug. 25, 2006.

12. A song that has made the B List may someday make the A List for a different topic but a song that has already made the A List is usually dismissed for consideration for future lists as "already zedded". However, on a number of occasions, an A Listed song curiously made the B List. What were the songs and what were the A and subsequent B Lists they made?  - The Mariner's Revenge Song by The Decemberists made the A List for the topic of Storytelling Songs on July 21, 2006. It later made the B List for Songs about Revenge on Sept. 19, 2008. America by Simon & Garfunkel made the A List for the topic Songs about America on June 30, 2006. It later made the B List for Songs about Adventure on Jan. 30, 2009. (Thanks to magicman for pointing out the former in the blog for Songs about Luck and to ShivSideCar for pointing out the latter in the blog for Songs about Secret Vices. The other four songs: Hospital by The Modern Lovers made the A List for Buildings on March 14, 2008. It made the B List for Hospitals just over a year later on March 20, 2009. The Art Teacher by Rufus Wainwright made the A List for School on Sept. 23, 2005 and made the B List for First Love on April 24, 2009. Ingrid Bergman by Billy Bragg made the A List for Famous People on Feb. 3, 2006 and made the B List for Actors on April 17, 2009. Heartbeats by Jose Gonzalez made the A List for Covers Better Than the Originals on Jan. 13, 2006 and the B List for Unlikely Cover Songs on Aug. 21, 2009. Back in the USSR by the Beatles made the A List for Places in Europe on May 19, 2006 and the B List for Coming Home on Sept. 4, 2009. Paris 1919 by John Cale made the A List for Dates on Jan. 5, 2007 and later made the B List for Great Middle Eights on Sept. 18, 2009. O Superman by Laurie Anderson made the A List on April 17, 2007 for Spoken Word Songs and later made the B List on Oct. 2, 2009 for songs about Victory. And on Oct. 23, 2009, this happened twice. Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend by Marilyn Monroe made the A List for Anti-Love on Jan 23, 2009 and made the B List for songs about Wealth on Oct. 23, 2009. Running the World by Jarvis Cocker made the A List for Politicians on Mar. 4, 2007 and made the B List for Wealth on Oct. 23, 2009. We Gotta Get Out of This Place by The Animals made the A List for Rallying Cries on June 1, 2007 and made the B List for songs of Desperation on Nov. 20, 2009. Excellent former A Listers are being B Listed with increasing frequency so I am no longer tracking them. I don't keep track of this any longer.

13. There are a lot of regular contributors to the RR blog and some have had their recommendations A Listed many times. Who are the top ten recommenders? - The top ten recommenders for making the A List as of July 3, 2009 are:
     

    New Rank	Rank June 30	Change	Submitted By	Oct. 1, 2010	to Dec. 31, 2009	in 2010
    1	1	0	steenbeck	125	93	32
    2	2	0	BeltwayBandit	106	82	24
    3	3	0	ejaydee	103	89	14
    4	4	0	DarceysDad	61	50	11
    5	6	1	catcher	55	46	9
    6	5	-1	TonNL (Ton Bukkems)	54	51	3
    7	7	0	gordonimmel	49	47	2
    8	8	0	jasonaparkes	49	49	0
    9	9	0	May1366	43	36	7
    10	11	1	magicman	39	30	9

    Complete Top Recommenders List

What is the longest song title to make the A List? -

Something unusual happened on Jan. 25th and January 26th of 2017. The previous record for longest song title by number of words and the longest song title by number of characters and spaces were both broken - twice. On the 25th at the Song Bar, A Complete History of the Soviet Union Through the Eyes of a Humble Worker, Arranged to the Melody of Tetris by Pig With the Face of a Boy beat both records with 20 words and 108 characters and spaces. The topic was Russia. It also set the record for the shortest time a song title held those records as both were broken the next day by The Son of an X-Postal Worker Reflects on His Life While Getting Stoned in the Parking Lot of a Winn Dixie Listening to Metallica by Alice Donut. It has 24 words, and 129 characters and spaces. That was for the topic of Doom.

The previous records were held by I Just Got Back (From the Final Fantasy Ahead of Our Time in the Four Lands of Ellet) by Parliament for the topic Fictional Places. It had the most words in the title with 18, it fell short in terms of number of letters and spaces by the fifteen word title This is How You Spell, "HaHaHa, We Destroyed the Hopes and Dreams of a Generation of Faux-Romantics" by Los Campesinos which has only 17 words but has a combination of 100 letters, spaces and punctuation marks compared to only 85 for the Parliament number. Not surprisingly, it made the playlist for Long Titles on Dec. 1, 2011. And on January 28. 2011, a song made the B List with a title longer than either of those two. A Normal, Suburban Lifestyle is a Near Impossibility Once You've Fallen in Love With an International Spy by Casiotone for the Painfully Alone has 17 words and 105 characters including punctuation marks and 16 spaces. But even that was beat by a B Lister for Control on March 12, 2015. The song by The Faces had the incredible title of You Can Make Me Dance, Sing or Anything (Even Take the Dog For a Walk, Mend a Fuse, Fold Away the Ironing Board, or Any Other Domestic Shortcomings) which has 28 words and 148 characters including punctuation marks and 27 spaces.

15. There have been 87 instances of classical music making the A List if you include George Gershwin as a classical composer (which is disputed by some who regard him as a popular composer) and Gilbert & Sullivan as well. Classical music follows a slightly different listing than regular pop, rock, blues listings. Pop songs list the artist, but classical pieces generally list the composer rather than a specific version of a piece. The pieces making the A List so far are:

Note: The Bonnie Earl o' Moray features Britten and Pears as artists, not as composers. The song is traditional.

16. Four songs called Bicycle made the A List for Bicycles. The songs were performed by St. Vincent, John Cale, Mark Olsen & Gary Lewis, and Kath Bloom.  Interestingly enough, if we count foreign languages, there would be a fifth - La Bicyclette by Yves Montand.

17. There have been many related topics and topics that have overlapped, but has the same topic ever been used more than once? - Yes. Arguments was the topic on August 22, 2008 with Maddy Costa as our guru. The topic was resurrected two years later as Heated Arguments by Rob Fitzpatrick for the column of December 3, 2010.

Change was the first ever topic when Dorian Lynskey launched the column on September 16, 2005. It was resurrected by Rob Fitzpatrick for his column of Dec. 24, 2010 to mark the transition from a newspaper column to a web only feature.   Heat was the topic for Dorian on Aug. 17, 2007 and resurrected on April 11, 2013 for a column written by our own sonofwebcore. Two was a topic on two consecutive days by two different gurus. Two - Part 1 appeared on March 3, 2015 with barbryn doing the honors and Two - Part 2 appeared on March 4th with Mnemonic in the guru's chair. Books first appeared on March 1, 2012 in a column by Jon Dennis and again on June 25, 2015 with our own flatfrog in the chair. I am no longer tracking this but you can check Related Topics.