The Rolling Stones Top 75 Countdown (#60-58) & This Week's Statistics

Hello everybody! Here are today's entries in our Rolling Stones Top 75 countdown.

At #60 we find Silver Train. It's the opening track of the second side of the Goats Head Soup LP from 1973. It was also the B-Side to the single Angie, which went to #1 in the US and Top 5 in the UK. The lyrics deal with the singer's relationship with a prostitute.

Rolling Stone critic Bud Scoppa had this to say of the song: "Side two begins modestly with Silver Train, a Rock & Roll song with a pre-Rock flavor. The Stones' approach is like their treatment of Stop Breaking Down, one of Exile's sleepers: lots of whiny slide guitar and harp. They also emphasize, with their ragged ensemble shouts, the song's appealing chorus. Silver Train is the best of the album's secondary songs."

May I just add that it's insanely catchy? Here it is:

... And here's Johnny Winter's version:

At #59 is one of the few songs where Keith Richards takes over lead vocals. The song is Happy and is found on Exile On Main St (1972). It was released as the second single from the album in July 1972, and peaked at #22 in the US Hot 100.

Credited to Jagger/Richards, Happy was written primarily by Keith Richards in summer 1971, over the course of a single afternoon. According to Richards, "We did that in an afternoon, in only four hours, cut and done. At noon it had never existed. At four o'clock it was on tape." Jagger's vocals are featured during the chorus.

... And here's an unexpected (and very good) version by the Pointer Sisters in 1979:

At #58, we find this list's first #1 hit: Miss You was the first single off the album Some Girls (1978) and the Stones' last #1 in the US. It also made #1 in Canada, where it eventually became the 5th biggest hit of 1978. It made #2 in the Netherlands, #3 in the UK, Ireland and Belgium, #4 in France, #6 in Sweden, #8 in Australia and New Zealand, #11 in Norway and Switzerland, #12 in Germany, #13 in Austria, #18 in Italy, and #19 in Finland. Many fans at the time were enraged with the fact that the song was a Disco hit: it offended their Rocker sensibilities and were very vocal about what they called "the Stones' sellout". The Stones, however, laughed all the way to the bank, the song being their biggest hit in 5 years. To top things off, In 2010, Rolling Stone magazine rated Miss You number 498 in its list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Here it is:

Now, on to this week's statistics: nothing spectacular happened this week, save from the complete absence of visits from Ireland. It seems that last week's flurry of activity was a one-time thing. Which leads to the interesting situation where the week's 9 Top 10 entrants are also all-time Top 10 entrants. Taking the place of Ireland in the weekly Top 10 is current host of the Olympics and a country that I would love to visit, Brazil. Welcome!

The full Top 10 is as follows (there is a 3-way tie at the bottom end of the chart):

1. the United States

2. Greece

3. Germany

4. Russia

5. France

6. the United Kingdom

7. Cyprus

8. Canada

8. Portugal

8. Brazil

Here are the other countries that graced us with their presence this week (alphabetically): Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Egypt, Ghana, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Italy, Kenya, Latvia, Lebanon, Mexico, the Netherlands, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Taiwan, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, Venezuela. Happy to have you all!

As far as the all-time list is concerned, no changes there. Canada has inched closer to Ireland, while France and Cyprus have slightly increased their distance from the UK and Portugal respectively. I have also decided that from now on, in the all-time Top 10, next to the country's name I will add the percentage of the country's visits to the total number of visits. I think that you will find this more informative.

1. the United States = 47%

2. Greece = 20%

3. Russia = 12%

4. Germany = 3.2%

5. France = 2.1%

6. the United Kingdom = 1.9%

7. Ireland = 1.13%

8. Canada = 1.08%

9. Cyprus = 0.57%

10. Portugal = 0.48%

A final word: we have talked about entries gaining a second wind, a while after their initial presentation. Some can be explained (Domna Samiou, George Michael) by their appearance on the Facebook pages of friends, others, like Labi Siffre, can't. A recent member in the second category is Iggy Pop: during the last few weeks, this very early entry has shown unexpected vitality, climbing very high indeed. When we reach the 200 entries mark, in less than a month, I will present all the entries in order of popularity. Would you like that to happen?