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Drew Sudell @asudell.bsky.social · 12/12/2025

Listening to the discussion with @somevelvetblog.bsky.social @jmcgnn.bsky.social and Joey Sweeney about covers and it hit me. No songs from Shelby Lynne's Just A Little Lovin' album of Dusty Springfield songs. And she toured that album at XPN fest.

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Drew Sudell @asudell.bsky.social · 11/12/2025

The only cover that matters -The Clash, I Fought The Law Now 5/10 for my votes and pretty confident that at least two more are to come on #XPNCountdown

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Drew Sudell @asudell.bsky.social · 11/12/2025

It's unclear to me that anything Shatner does counts as "song."

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Drew Sudell @asudell.bsky.social · 11/12/2025

Greatest Hits was the first album I owned. It was entirely premature. There was more/better yet to come.

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Drew Sudell @asudell.bsky.social · 11/12/2025

So that's 12 covers for Linda Ronstadt, the most of any artist in the #XPNCountdown and we still haven't gotten to my vote. Back in the USA is still to com. Her covers are a master class in pop music. I learned about a lot of artists from her.

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Drew Sudell @asudell.bsky.social · 10/12/2025

One of the Back to Backs for the Talking Heads was also a back to back for the song. Shaw Colvin and Iron and Wine covered This Must Be The Place at numbers 386 and 387. #XPNCountdown

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Drew Sudell @asudell.bsky.social · 10/12/2025

There were previous back to backs for original artists Talking Heads and Grateful Dead have have two back to backs as original artist, as did Boffalongo once. #XPNCountdown

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Drew Sudell @asudell.bsky.social · 10/12/2025

If I'm not mistaken those two from Linda Ronstadt were the first back to back covers from the same artist. #XPNCountdown

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Drew Sudell @asudell.bsky.social · 10/12/2025

Townes doing Dead Flowers. That's 3/10 for me now in #XPNCountdown

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Drew Sudell @asudell.bsky.social · 10/12/2025

It's just that will all this Bob, it needs some "Bob"

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Drew Sudell @asudell.bsky.social · 10/12/2025

Please tell me that Weird Al's "Bob" counts as a (very loose) cover of "Subterranean Homesick Blues" and that people thought to vote for it. It needs to be in the #XPNCountdown.

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Drew Sudell @asudell.bsky.social · 10/12/2025

Nice. Lucy Dacus didn't really register in my head when I was voting. But that's number two and I'm glad enough other people did think of her. Part of #XPNCountdown is the "oh, wish I'd thought of that" effect

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Drew Sudell @asudell.bsky.social · 10/12/2025

Good catch. Didn't think Different Drum was a cover, but there was a release by The Greenbriar Boys in 66. Stone Poneys wasn't till 67. There are so few Linda Ronstadt tracks that are not obvious covers, though they are almost always better than the originals.

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Drew Sudell @asudell.bsky.social · 10/12/2025

It's kind of a fine point but "covers", at least for the #XPNCountdown and, I think, generally are recording a song that someone else released a recording of. Contrast recording a song someone else wrote. Audrey sang it in the recording, Henry wrote it. But she wasn't covering him.

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Drew Sudell @asudell.bsky.social · 09/12/2025

Who wrote Wagon Wheel, is complicated. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wagon_W... If nobody can say who wrote it, it's a folk song :) #XPNCountdown

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Drew Sudell @asudell.bsky.social · 09/12/2025

697 Bette Midler Hello In There John Prine 606 Kurt Vile How Lucky (with John Prine) his is a re-recording of a John Prine song 592 Viagra Boys In Spite Of Ourselves (ft. Amy Taylor) John Prine & Iris Dement 548 Nanci Griffith Speed Of The Sound Of Lonliness John Prine How do you score this? 3.5?

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Drew Sudell @asudell.bsky.social · 09/12/2025

That is the catch. Do you vote for best, most favorite, or most likely to make the playlist by my one added vote? #XPNCountdown

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Drew Sudell @asudell.bsky.social · 09/12/2025

Do check out Blaze Foley. Great Singer-Songwriter who died tragically and too young. The movie "Blaze is a good intro. He's the subject of Lucinda Williams' Drunken Angel /cc @ennasirk.bsky.social #XPNCountdown

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Drew Sudell @asudell.bsky.social · 09/12/2025

John Prine covering Clay Pigeons makes me rethink my votes, and all sorts of life choices. There have been a few "how could I have not voted for ..." events but this wins. Voting is hard. #XPNCountdown

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Drew Sudell @asudell.bsky.social · 09/12/2025

Dar Williams Comfortably Numb. I wasn't sure if i'd be the only vote for this. I guess not. Currently 2/10 for #XPNCountdown

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Drew Sudell @asudell.bsky.social · 09/12/2025

Nice. One of the challenges of doing stuff with data for #XPNCountdown is having to react under the gun, which it counted. Even the older multi-week A-Zs were challenging.

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Drew Sudell @asudell.bsky.social · 09/12/2025

Nice! I missed Dave Bromberg at 6, went to site and what's streaming but a replay Dave Bromberg doing Mr Bojangles. His commentary alone is worth the price of admission. #XPNCountdown.

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Drew Sudell @asudell.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

Haters can hate, but I'm quite pleased that Emmylou's Poncho and Lefty came in higher than the one by Willie and Merle on #XPNCountdown

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Drew Sudell @asudell.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

Just hacked this real quick. Pairs that happened twice: Angelique Kidjo,Talking Heads Devon Gilfillian,Marvin Gaye Nina Simone,Bob Dylan Phish,Talking Heads The Cardigans,Black Sabbath Willie Nelson,Hoagy Carmichael

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Drew Sudell @asudell.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

Me neither. But I'm coming to grips with finding out the 70s aren't ten, fifteen years ago any more.

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Drew Sudell @asudell.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

Can't nominate songs you don't know are covers. The only reason I might suspect that was a cover was that I knew June had written it.

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Drew Sudell @asudell.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

I had a hard time not nominating the entire Saturday Morning Cartoons Greatest Hits album. Come on, Liz Phair doing the Banana Splits song, you can't miss. #XPNCountdown en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturda...

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Drew Sudell @asudell.bsky.social · 07/12/2025

Changed? I saw the meta data on the car radio list the title and I wasn't even sure for a few lines if that was right. It was cool, but I could not have named that tune in 3 notes.

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Drew Sudell @asudell.bsky.social · 07/12/2025

Heard Willie's cover of Rainbow Connection lead off #XPNCountdown today while in the car. Had to check the status page when I got home. ASCAP may disagree, but that is the correct original artist to list. Gotta credit the frog.

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Drew Sudell @asudell.bsky.social · 07/12/2025

3/3 If you're not familiar with Jackson C Frank, look him up. He lead a tragic life worthy of Job and only put out one real album. Paul was only second most talented musician in that apartment.

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Drew Sudell @asudell.bsky.social · 07/12/2025

2/n ... And Al thinks "this guy sings and plays guitar ever worse them me, but he can tell a story, maybe that's enough. Al went on to tell a lot of stories in song. But being the third most talented singer-songwriters in the apartment wasn't an easy thing. ...

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Drew Sudell @asudell.bsky.social · 07/12/2025

1/n There's a funny story about Dylan's singing. Al Stewart credited Dylan for "saving his life." Al had the self-esteem damaging experience of rooming with an Paul Simon and Jackson C Frank. He was about to give up. Than Paul came home with a Dylan Album ...

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Drew Sudell @asudell.bsky.social · 07/12/2025

I think the fact that Wikipedia has an entire category for "Bob Dylan tribute albums" means we're likely to see at least a few more covers of Bob. #XPNCountdown en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Categor...

en.wikipedia.org

Category:Bob Dylan tribute albums - Wikipedia

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Drew Sudell @asudell.bsky.social · 07/12/2025

All taxonomies are wrong. Some are also useful.

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Drew Sudell @asudell.bsky.social · 07/12/2025

That's kind of the catch for many of the countdowns. Any category: covers, songs by women, road songs, ends up with arbitrary rules. Are Linda Ronstadt songs covers? Yea, but they are not homages in the way say Cat Power plays Dylan is. Are Blondie tracks songs by women?

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Drew Sudell @asudell.bsky.social · 07/12/2025

I'd love to get a dump of anonymized raw #XPNCountdown votes. I usually waffle between vote for favorites, vote where I think I can get them across the line, and vote for dark horses I'd like to see make it. But I've no idea what the vote distribution is.

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Drew Sudell @asudell.bsky.social · 07/12/2025

I could live with excluding it (rules are rules), I could live with including it (I really like it), but listing the original artist as a disclaimer "this is a re-recording of a John Prine song" feels like a compromise that pleases no one. #XPNCountdown Mostly I'm sad I missed hearing it.

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Drew Sudell @asudell.bsky.social · 06/12/2025

It is the only Prine cover so far on #XPNCountdown, but certainly not the last. If Bonnie Raitt's Angel From Montgomery doesn't show up I'm demanding a recount.

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Drew Sudell @asudell.bsky.social · 06/12/2025

Thanks. Love that song and love Phoebe, but hadn't run into her doing Summer's End.

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Drew Sudell @asudell.bsky.social · 06/12/2025

Go listen to the original by Townes and Emmylou's cover.

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Drew Sudell @asudell.bsky.social · 06/12/2025

2/2 2 Bob Dylan,Don't Think Twice, It's Alright 2 Britney Spears,...Baby One More Time 2 Dolly Parton,Jolene 2 John Lennon,Working Class Hero 2 Mamas and Papas,California Dreamin'

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Drew Sudell @asudell.bsky.social · 06/12/2025

1/2 I haven't done anything formal / published yet. Might if I have time this weekend, but using cheap unix one-liners, 5 songs have been covered more than once so far ...

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Drew Sudell @asudell.bsky.social · 04/12/2025

Interesting. 847 is Mindy Smith covering Jolene. But at 784 it's Jolene~ covering Jolene~ Not sure why there are tildes. But it was enough for me not to catch the match First appeal to the #XPNCountdown data elves?

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Drew Sudell @asudell.bsky.social · 04/12/2025

And that's the first "two covers of the same song" Britney Spears' ... Baby One More Time covered by Bowing for Soup (no 857) and Fountains of Wayne (no 759) #XPNCountdown

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Drew Sudell @asudell.bsky.social · 04/12/2025

Was that the first back to back original artist, with Talking Heads cover on #XPNCountdown

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