Problem: iTunes lists artists alphabetically. For my playlist, this makes Abba “Gold” the first thing listed. And while I do enjoy Abba very occasionally (as do you!), it’s not the first thing I want people to see when they glance at my music collection.
Solution: Find an artist with a name that comes before Abba. This pretty much limits the options to guys named Aaron and a few other names. I thought I solved the problem with Aaron Copland, but classical CDs are listed by conductor.
So who’s an artist worth listening to and whose name would knock Abba off the top of my list? I’m open to suggestions.
(I know I could change the names or sort by a different field, but that would be cheating.)
Update 3/26/07: Some good suggestions so far. Numbers and punctuation marks are the key. Thanks, guys!
Update 3/29/07: Success! Er, partially. One of my favorite music blogs, I Guess I’m Floating, posted an .mp3 today of !!! covering the Magnetic Fields’ “Take Ecstasy With Me.” It’s a pretty good track, but more importantly it shows up before Abba on my iTunes playlist. It’s only one song, but it’s a start!
The IGIF post also includes the Arcade Fire covering the Magnetic Fields, so check it out here.
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Jacob Grier is a freelance writer, barista, mixologist, and magician in Portland, OR. He writes, eats, and drinks a lot. His articles have appeared in The Washington Post, Reason Online, The Oregonian, and other publications.
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4 Non Blondes! 4 Non Blondes!!
Numbers… good call. Didn’t think of that.
I say - forget about trying to find something to put before abba -leave abba there and be an utter dork and have aha following abba. That’s what I would do
:).
who would want to take abba out of the spotlight while there’s this in the world:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKr0gDNUn-U
There’s a band called !!! that I guarantee would be first on just about anybody’s list.
I don’t have iTunes on this computer, but I can think of several on mine that come before where Abba would be.
!!!
+/-
10,000 Maniacs
13 & God
A Tribe Called Quest
And, it isn’t on my iTunes, but Aaliyah, although I would say that has the same problem of misrepresentation as Abba. Aaliyah, followed by Abba would be even worse than just Abba.
It’s time for you to enter the rap genre Jacob:
2 Live Crew
2Pac
50 Cent
A Tribe Called Quest
Or, in the spirit of Abba:
a-ha
A-Teens
.38 Special leads off my list…
There’s also The (International) Noise Conspiracy. ( comes before A.
I also have abba on my itunes. Before Abba, I’ve got 2Pac, a perfect circle (not sure why but i guess the space after a puts it above), a.c. newman, and aaliyah. not all rap, but a little.