Happy New Year! We hope that 2008 is treating you well so far. We’ve had a terrific time reading everyone’s responses to the 2007 Shining Heads Poll, and we know you will too. Thanks again to everyone who submitted questions; we got tons of compliments on the poll’s spirit, its humor, and its look. We’re thrilled that so many of you elected to take a run through it — we got more than double the number of responses than we did last year.

If you read the results from the 2006 poll, you may remember that we wrote a big, long summary. Luckily, in the last year, they’ve made a lot of improvements to the software we use to create the poll, so this year we’re going to be able to provide you with a link to look at all the answers to each question, complete with all kinds of cool bells and whistles like pie charts and bar graphs. However, we’ll still sum up a few things here for those of you who don’t want to delve into the nitty gritty. We do recommend that you at least take a quick look at the link, though — it’s really pretty neat. You’ll get dozens of great tips about terrific restaurants, as well as books you might want to spend your Borders gift cards on. And of course, you don’t want to miss out on the chance to find out whether anyone wants you to sleep with them.

So, without further ado:
The Shining Heads Poll 2007 results!

Most of us are happy that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame exists, and feel that the Beastie Boys should definitely make it in, but the Monkees should not. Almost as many of us paid more than $5 for the new Radiohead record as waited for record company service or paid nothing. A whopping 52% of us chose the New England Patriots to win the Super Bowl — how surprising is it that their opponent will be the New York Giants?

It’s a Cormac McCarthy kind of year. No Country for Old Men won the “best movie you saw this year” question by a long shot, but Into the Wild, Once, Juno, Knocked Up, Michael Clayton, The Departed, and American Gangster all got multiple mentions too. And McCarthy’s brilliant post-apocalyptic novel The Road was the book that moved the most of us this year, though several other great books got a handful of votes.

Some cool surprises: We are more excited about the prospect of a Talking Heads reunion than a Led Zeppelin one. There are positive signs that we’re finally getting with the program; at least two-thirds of us use social networking sites for something, and most of us are using podcasts and downloaded content more than any other source to get our news.

Don’t be alarmed if the prospect of Sean Coakley running the country terrifies you, or be terribly disappointed if you were convinced that The Eagles would win the “artist retirement” question hands-down. While the bar graphs at the link show them coming away with small victories, it turns out that a lot of people also added funny editorial comments that confused the tabulation system a bit. Bruce Warren actually got the most votes for President, and The Eagles won our derision by a landslide.

The final question was one of the last that we thought of, but we’re glad we did, because some of the answers were hilarious. (As a reminder, the question was “This Friday, every company in the world is having their Christmas party. You get to go to whichever one you want, and anyone will agree to be your date. Where do you go, and who do you take? [Sean’s taking Penelope Cruz to the Victoria’s Secret Holiday Bash, so don’t pick that unless you’re cool with running into him.]”) Here are some of our favorites:
“The Maker’s Mark holiday party. And I’m bringing another liver as my date.”
“the Oceans Thirteen Holiday Reunion with George Clooney”
“I’d be at the Oprah Christmas party, where there’s a new Prius under the tree for each guest. And I’d bring Courtney Love; I figure she puts out on the first date.”
“Melanie Shrawder and Grace Potter to the Last Unicorn cast reunion holiday party.” (Okay, so that one’s kind of an inside joke from Boulder. But trust me, it’s hilarious.)
“No date, and the party is the one in Eyes Wide Shut”
“I’d take Salma Hayek and George Clooney to whatever Mario Batali is throwing for his employees. Debauchery will abound.”
“Grace Potter to the Jim Beam Xmas Spectacular”
“I’d take Miss Scarlet to the Conservatory Christmas Party with a candlestick.”
“Eddie Vedder to the Cabot Cheddar annex in Stowe, VT. All the free cheese you can eat!”
“the Songlines Christmas party with Melanie and Julia on each arm”
“Mrs. Coakley to the Victoria’s Secret Bash and Ms. Cruz home from there”

Here were our favorite photo captions:

Drunk with power after mastering his underwater breathing technique, Nick Attaway declared, “I can now visit the stations in Atlantis, adds nobody else will get! And trust me, our artists need ‘em!”
Baby from cover of Nirvana’s Nevermind finds new career as sideshow freak.
Nick: “Help me, Please Help Me… I’m trapped in a bucket of water!” Radio Guy: Enough already, and let me guess it’s all over Hot AC with amazing callout. You’re not getting a ’sympathy add’ just because you’re trapped in a bucket of water!” Nick: “New Music Spin then?”
Merman Found Off the Coast of Three Mile Island
That record’s got no legs.
I figure if I stay under the water there’s no chance of accidentally hearing that new Eagles record.
This week, SpongeBob, Patrick and the gang unite against merciless destroyer of pineapples, The Unflushable.

The secret to working with Coakley is starting your day with a little nip!
That’s right Officer, I just had two.
Is a shot for breakfast frowned upon by the Triple A community?
Help, save me from these dreadful singer-songwriters with more booze!
Body shot?

I really wish they hadn’t served me in a frosted glass.
This convention was a lot more fun before the drug testing.
Ego Protector
I used to buy shirts with a little alligator but this is cooler.
“I’m just not sure the judges are going to get the whimsy of your design. I like the color you’ve chosen, but beer pockets are not New York. They’re very Midwest. –Tim Gunn, Project Runway
Who put me in this creepy guy’s pocket?
Man Lactating Urine Invents Colostomy Bra
Yeah, well, you should see where I keep my chocolate cake.
===============

And now, time for the link!

A footnote: The answers to the “put your iPod on shuffle” question were SO cool to look at, but they didn’t print up in a particularly readable way at the link, so we’re pasting them here.

1 2 3 This American Life TV Guide.com Podcast Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me Ice Cream Song - The Dynamics Conversation - Danielle Howle & The Tantrums Sandy Denny - Mark Olson (no lie!) Charles Mingus-Moanin’ Edwin Starr-War Nick Cave-Fable of the Brown Ape Spirit - “Ground Hog” Replacements - “Happy Town” Morphine - “You Speak My Language” Goldfrapp - “Ooh La La” Matthew Dear - “Hands Up For Detroit” Belle & Sebastian - “A Century of Fakers” I don’t have an iPod. Poor me. Ben Kweller–I Gotta Move Stanton Moore–Maple Plank Butthole Surfers–Goin to Florida 100% Truth…At the moment an intern is loading all of my music into one. Heart of Saturday Night- Tom Waits Tenement Steps- The Motors I Want You- Marvin Gaye A Love Supreme, John Coltrane London Calling, The Clash a bad demo “House We Used to Live In” - Smithereens “Please, Please, Please” - James Brown “Sitting in the Midday Sun” - Kinks I don’t own an iPod. Gnarls Barkley - “Crazy” Connells - “Fun and Games” Black Sabbath - “Paranoid” Michelle Shocked - “Don’t Mess With My Little Sister” Bob Dylan - “It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)” Ain’t got an I-Pod! (thanks to my music-overload at my job) New Orleans is Sinking - Tragically Hip Monkey Gone to Heaven - The Pixies North Dakota - Lyle Lovett Drive By Truckers (Feb 14) Bob Marley (Natural Mystic) Lucinda Williams (Cant Let Go) ABBA “Dancing Queen” Wombats “Let’s Dance to Joy Division” Terry Jacks “Seasons in the Sun” don’t own one don’t own one (part 2) don’t own one (finale) Bob Dylan - The Times They are A Changin’ DevotchKa - Such A Lovely Thing Josh Ritter - Wait For Love Gillian Welch, Tear My Stillhouse Down Gandalf Murphy and the Slambovian Circus of Dreams, Flapjacks in the Sky Bruce Springsteen, For You Arcade Fire Babyshambles Dinosaur Jr A View To A Kill - Duran Duran What Goes On - The Beatles St. Louise Is Listening - Soul Coughing Grateful Dead “Loser” Pearl Jam “Down” Ryan Adams “Halloween Head” Ryan Adams “Halloween Head” Scissor Sisters “I Don’t Feel Like Dancing” Arcade Fire “Keep the Car Running” Pet Shop Boys “Where the Streets Have No Name” Foo Fighters - Stranger Things Have Happened Richie Havens - Tombstone Blues PJ Harvey - The Devil Dylan - anything Leonard Cohen - almost anything Tom Petty - solo or Heartbreakers Angelique Kidjo - Emma Greg Graffin - Regel’s Goodbye Jamie Lidell - You Got Me Up This Is What I Believe In - Adrian Belew Idiot Country - Electronic Ow - Charlie Parker Amy Winehouse - Me and Mr Jones Coheed and Cambria - Feathers Matt Nathanson - Curve of the earth Honestly… I don’t have an I-Pod. or anything that resembles one. Sixty Years On–Brandi Carlile [my God, my ipod knows me well] Secretarial–A.C. Newman Our Velocity–Maximo Park [not bad–it acquitted me well. I was afraid it would be Sister Christian. “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” by Stevie Wonder from the Motown Remixed album “The Last Dance” by Frank Sinatra from the Very Good Years album “Hang On To Your Ego” by The Beach Boys from the Pet Sounds reissue That VHS or Beta song Rolling Stones Bootleg stuff Something from John Coltrane Live From The Village Vanguard Ray LaMontagne-Hannah CASH-Pocahontas The Pixies-Gigantic Still Plays Vinyl XTC ‘King For a Day’ Elliot Smith ‘Waltz #2′ Eddie Money ‘Cool Water’ wow, that’s shameful You’re Breakin’ My Heart - Nilsson The Ass And The Hole - Mac McAnally Flakes - Frank Zappa Bob Marley - Lively Up Yourself Jimi Hendrix - Hey Joe Miles Davis - So What Duncan Sheik, Genius Athenaeum, On My Mind Bruce Hornsby, Song F Read My Mind-The Killers Weird Fishes-Radiohead Summersong-The Decemberists hold ya - birdie bush blow wind blow - muddy waters hell in a bucket - Grateful dead Bach, Italian Concerto Ray Charles, Oh What a Beautiful Mornin’ Annie Lennox, No More I Love You’s Space Dementia - Muse Nothing Compares 2 U - Sinead O’Connor Our Swords - Band of Horses Glad and Sorry - The Faces Even Here We Are - Shawn Colvin Unknown Legend - Neil Young Lost In The Congo - Doyle Bramhall Portland Oregon - Loretta Lynn & Jack White Shoot You Dead - Slobberbone all for the love of a girl’ Johnny Horton sick again’ Led Zeppelin I Want to Know You ‘ Witchcraft “Invincible” Muse “Zuri” Tosca “Out Of Control” She Wants Revenge Levon Helm - Got Me A Woman Keller Williams - Freshies Reckless Kelly - Castanets Misterdobilina: Del The Funky Homosapien Johnny Cash: Man In Black (Live) Journey: Stone In Love i don’t have an ipod In Our Talons - Bowerbirds The Window - Steve Miller Band Whole Lotta Love - Ike & Tina Turner Drumming Up A Storm - Bob Holroyd Elmira St. Boogie - Danny Gatton Wait - The Beatles Humble Me - Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings Picture Show - Dawn Landes Here Come The Urban Ravens - Jackie Levin Never owned and ipod… ain’t that a bitch. no ipod here today peace bone the underdog widow city The Rosebuds “Night of the Furies” The Exploding Hearts “Shattered (You Left Me)” The Long Winters “Prom Night at Hater High” Rock Raccoon - Elton John WNYC Never Make Me Cry - Fleetwood Mac Wheat - This Wheat “Bachlorette” - Trip Shakespeare “Don’t Shut Me Out” - Kevin Paige “Alfie” - Lily Allen don’t like mp3’s, don’t own an ipod Jay-Z ‘I Love The Dough’ Nina Simone ‘Wild is the Wind’ George Michael ‘Father Figure’ One bourbon, one scotch, one beer - John Lee Hooker Solitude - Billie Holliday Learning to fly - Tom Petty Buddy Guy- My Time After Awhile The Roots- Don’t Say Nuthin’ The Kinks- Sunny Afternoon Fucked Up Ford - The Reverend Horton Heat Worms - Medeski, Martin and Wood I’m Sleeping in a Submarine - The Arcade Fire THE RAINCOATS - Fairytale In The Supermarket JIMMY CLIFF - Sitting In Limbo NATIONAL LAMPOON - Mr. Roberts Mark Ronson - Most Likely You’ll Go Your Way and I’ll Go Mine Primal Scream - Country Girl Lady Sovereign - Love Me or Hate Me Comsat Angels “Will You Stay Tonight” Dan Wilson “Free Life” KC And The Sunshine Band “Shake Your Booty” Give Me Novocaine - Green Day Going Down - The Stone Roses You and Me and the Ten Thousand things - Peter Mulvey “Ways & Means” - Snow Patrol “Turn Out The Light” - Joan Armatrading “Dogs” - Pink Floyd doves “Snowden” UGK “Life Is (Too Short…)” Dixie Chicks ” Travelin’ Soldier” Ipod At Home The Gourds - Gin and Juice Iron & Wine - The Devil Never Sleeps Mark Geronimo & the Sluggers - Rex Bob Lowenstein “All Summer Long” Beach Boys “Off The Block” Black Lips “Bluebird” Alan Jackson it’s coming on christmas bach’s goldberg variations etta james Papa Mali - Do Your Thing G Love - Some People Like That Revolver - Venice Jimmy Eat World - Futures Smashing Pumpkins - Rocket fightin for Cross Canadian Ragweed The Jam - “Town Called Malice” Lee Parry - “Upsetter” dub Cordalene - “Back Where I Began” Van Morrison/Bobby Bland, Tupelo Honey Spanish Harlem Orchestra (best salsa CD in 10 years) Jason Spooner Procol Harum - “Simple Sister” Catherine Wheel - “Phantom Of The American Mother” TV On The Radio - “Wolf Like Me” dan wilson- easy silence eddie vedder- hard sun mary j blige - take that Evidence - Joseph Arthur “from Redemptions Son” Noodle Rave - Trey Anastasio “From Horshoe Curve” Carry Me Ohio - Mark Kozelek - From Little Drummer Boy John Hiatt, Stolen Moments Stan Getz and Mr. Gilberto ‘Girl from Iponema’ john Hiatt ‘Stolen Momments Stan Getz and Mr. Gilberto ‘Girl from Iponema’ Grateful Dead ‘Cumberland Blues’ The Smiths- The Boy with a Thorn In His Side Matt Pond PA- Halloween Huey Lewis & The News- Now Here’s You The Smiths- The Boy with a Thorn In His Side Matt Pond PA- Halloween Huey Lewis & The News - Now Here’s You Scorpions - “I’m Leaving You” - Love at First Sting Stereophonics - “Deadhead” - Live from Dakota Days Away - “Idea” - Mapping an invisible world I don’t have an ipod–honest! Ipod? I still play records Invisible Man Joe Jackson Too Tough Joe Jackson Rush Across The Road Joe Jackson I don’t own an ipod… and proud of it! Old 97’s W-I-F-E The Budos Band Ride Or Die Guided By Voices My Kind of Soldier Hallelujah - Tim Buckley Dazed and Confuzed - Led Zep That Kind of Love - Cliff Eberhardt I don’t own an i-pod I also don’t wacth TV; hence my non answers above Avett Brothers Talk On Indolence Magnolia Electric Co.-Northstar Okkervill River-Plus Ones Falling Slowly Please Read the Letter What Becomes of the Broken Hearted Maura McConnell - Waltzing for Dreamers PussyCat Dolls - Dontcha Josh Ritter - Rumors The Beta Band “Smiling” Asobi Seksu “Strawberries” Andrew Bird “Fiery Crash” Manchester Orchestra - wolves at night The National - BOXER Cassidy - Celebrate feat John Legend Don’t have an iPod. Don’t want an iPod. Why is iPod spelled with a lower case “i” then an upper case “P”? “If We Never Meet Again” - Johnny Cash “Kegelstatt Trio” - Nick Drake “I Can’t Win”-The Strokes dont have an ipod….. im in radio! Justice & Honor - Bill Frisell Money Jungle - Ellington, Mingus & Roach Forty Four - Howlin’ Wolf I can’t afford an Ipod Sun Kil Moon - Jesus Christ was an only child Cocteau Twins - Ups Iron and Wine - Wolves dont have one! Anat Cohen - “Hofim (Beaches)” The Shins - “Red Rabbits” The Meters - “Go For Yourself” what’s an iPod? seriously, what’s an iPod? I keep hearing about these iPod thingies… “nice work if you can get it” frank sinatra “sinatra - basie “ “got a feelin’ for you” kelly willis “what i deserve” foot of the mountain (live) paul weller “catch flame! [disc 2]” “Come on Up to the House” by Tom Waits “Award Tour” by A Tribe Called Quest “Outstanding” by the Gap Band Lily Allen - LDN Indigo Girls - Money Made You Mean Afroman - Because I Got High Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - The Weeping Song Ultravox - Vienna Led Zeppelin - Since I’ve Been Loving Yo Buzzcocks - Lipstick Linkin Park - P5hng Me A*wy Tupac - Changes I don’t have an iPod. not sure where my ipod is right now Idlewild “Modern Way of Letting Go” Nada Surf “Always Love” Doves “There Goes the Fear” Some Champions, Joe Henry, Kindness of the World Contact, Citizen Cope, Citizen Cope Even Song, Gomez, In Our Gun Thunderwing - T. Rex - The Slider Oh Lordy Mama #2 - Josh White - The Essential Doctor Wu - Steelie Dan - Katie Lied The Enchanted Sea Martin Denny Exotica! The Best Of Martin Denny I Don’t Want To Love Anyone This Much Again The Cornell Hurd Band Texas Fruit Shack Even Heroes Die Paul Thorn Mission Temple Fireworks Stand kanye west “stronger” San Diego Sonny Throckmorton Save Yourself Julian Coryell Where Do We Go Don Pedigo I’m probably the last person on the entire planet that doesn’t have an iPod : ( “Day After Day” - Badfinger “Bad” - U2 “Suite 23G” - James Taylor Tribute to Elmore James by Roy Buchanan Drive Back by Neil Young Six Blocks Away by Lucinda Williams “Lost” by Annie Lennox Rock ‘N’Groove” by Bunny Wailer “Needle” by Ben Taylor & Brandi Carlile bettye lavette roman carter wilco Satellite Radio - Steve Earle Can’t Hold my body Down - Mike Farris Polk Salad Annie - Tony Joe White i hate ipods i hate ipods i hate ipods Senor El Gato Kelly Hogan Lucky Number Lene Lovich Startin To Hate Country Asylum Street Spankers I’m probably the only living person in radioland that still does NOT have an iPod : ( Oscar Peterson “My One And Only Love” Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings “One Hundred Days One Hundred Nights” Shawn Mullins “All In My Head” Band of Horses-Island in the Sun Radiohead-15 Steps Kanye West-Stronger I don’t own an iPod Merle Haggard “Wishing All These Old Things Were New” U2 “In God’s Country” Teddy Thompson “I Should Get Up” Cab Calloway “Everybody eat when they come to my house” Countdown Kids “Itsy Bitsy Spider” Black Eyed Peas “Shut Up” iDon’t Don Williams “I Believe In You” Willie Nelson “City of New Orleans” Grateful Dead “Estimated Prophet” Replacements- I’ll Be You Hooverphonic- 2wicky Tragically Hip- Ahead By a Century Midlake, “We Gathered in Spring” Steve Earle, “Red is the Color” Barbara Keith, “Shining All Along” “Long Tall Sally” The Beatles “Live At The BBC” “Doodlin’” Horace Silver and The Jazz Messengers “N.Y.C.’s No Lark” Bill Evans “Conversations With Myself” Come to Daddy-Aphex twin Multiply-Jamie Lidell Mexico-Incubus Pi - Kate Bush Romanza: Larghetto - Chopin’s Piano concerto No. 1 in Em, Op. 11 - Idil Biret, Slovak stat Philharmonic Orchestra, Robert Stankovsky, C. Che gelida manina - Luciano Pavarotti The Doors The Doors engelbert Humperdinck DJ Logic - Afro Beat Rod Stewart - you wear it well Gang of Four - He’d Send in the Army Rancid - Ruby Soho Creedence - Midnight Special Jay Z - American Dreamin’ Mussolini Headkick- Get Out Marvin Gaye- What’s Goin’ On Matt Pond PA- So Much Trouble dont own one Spearhead, “Everyone Deserves Music” Marc Cohn, “Live Out The String” Sarah Vaughn “At Last” “Persephone” by The Hiders “Cold Irons Bound” by Tom Verlaine and the Million Dollar Bashers “Poor Boy a Long Way from Home” by Barbecue Bob Andrew Bird Fiery Crash Gomez Get Myself Arrested Miles Davis So What “I Saw You When I Met Her” by David Ruffin “Under The Hedge” by Ted Leo & The Pharmacists “Soul Emotion” by Jay Rhythm Bobby Fuller Four - “Only When I Dream” The Fray - “How To Save A Life” AC/DC - “For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)” I’m old school - my ipod don’t shuffle. We’re Both So Sorry by Mirah Don’t Bogart That Joint by Little Feat Morning Bell by Radiohead Avril Lavigne “Girlfriend” Great Northern “Home” Black Tide “Hit The Lights” Dylan, Cold Irons Bound Wire Strange Bobby Timmons, Moanin no ipod Gorillas, November Has Come RL Burnside-little babe (live) KISS-ladies room (AliveII) I’m still using my cassettes the bird and the bee - how deep is your love cat power / juno soundtrack - Sea of Love joe henry - civilians Yacht “track 9″ , Clearlake “amber” , Scott Walker “Cossaks Are” Soldiers Make Good Targets - Stereophonics Glamourous Indie Rock and Roll - killers Honey - Boston Tea Boys Muckrakers - When the Mornign Comes 3 Doors Down - If I could be like that Eva Cassidy - Somewhere over the Rainbow

The year is nearly over and that means it’s time for the new the Shining Heads Poll! If you’ve done it before you know the drill. If you’re a first timer, well, let’s just say we promise not to ask for your Top 10 album list. But we will inquire about music, politics, sex, sports, movies, books and the amazing individuals who make up the wonderful word of Adult Rock. Some questions are serious but most are intended to be fun. All of your answers will remain private.

We want to thank all the folks who submitted ideas this year, especially: Bruce Warren, Dan Reed, Mark Abuzzahab, Darrell Anderson, Jamie Canfield, Jenni Sperandeo, Dave Sloan, Spider Glenn, Drew Murray, Matt Ittigson, Sam Scholl and Ira Gordon.

When you have ten minutes or so, take the Poll. Results will be posted in the New Year.

–Sean, Melanie and Julia

Aaaaaaah! Not the Shining Heads Poll??!?!

Well, the results are in, the votes are cast. Thanks to all who participated in the Shining Heads Poll 2006! Here are the highlights:

The Departed was the movie that the most people found to be the best of 2006, with Little Miss Sunshine, An Inconvenient Truth, Borat, Inside Man, and The World’s Fastest Indian on its heels. Other honorable mentions include:
Stranger Than Fiction
Babel
World Trade Center
I Know I’m Not Alone
Heart of Gold

As for the candy to go with the movies, I was proud to discover that the greatest number of us share my love for Raisinets. Next most popular was popcorn, which is everybody’s favorite movie snack, but alas, not a candy. Junior Mints, Milk Duds, M&Ms, beer, wine, and Jim Beam also got multiple votes. And our favorite answer was “the kind that I snuck in.”

U2 KILLED in the category of “greatest living live rock band.” The Rolling Stones also got tons of votes, although there is some question as to whether Keith Richards is actually living. My Morning Jacket came in next, with Wilco, Los Lobos, Pearl Jam, the Drive-By Truckers, Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, and the Allman Brothers also garnering multiple votes. Other choices of note include the Fray, the Mekons, Ryan Adams & the Cardinals, Mission of Burma, Radiohead, and the Flaming Lips.

In sports, we appear to be well-versed. We felt that the San Diego Chargers were most likely to win the Super Bowl, followed by the New Orleans Saints and the New England Patriots. Two of the three teams are headed to the conference championships. We didn’t fare as well in the BCS, as Florida steamrolled over Ohio State (much to Sean’s dismay!) last Monday night. We have yet to find out if we’ll get it right in the NBA; the LA Lakers, the Detroit Pistons, and the Cleveland Cavaliers topped that list. And in ba$eball, as in life, the New York Yankees won in a landslide, with the Boston Red Sox hot on their heels.

We prefer New York to LA, Sinatra to Bennett, It’s a Wonderful Life to A Christmas Story, Obama to Hillary, The Sopranos to American Idol, Lewis Black to Dane Cook, The Daily Show to The Colbert Report, and LeBron to Kobe. Most of us can’t stand either of the Manning Brothers, and Jesus Christ and Mastercard landed in a near dead heat.

According to our voters, Yo La Tengo came up with the most creative album title this year, I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass. More than one voter also chose Fox Confessor Brings the Flood from Neko Case, Songs for Parents Who Enjoy Drugs from Hamell on Trial, Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not from the Arctic Monkeys, and One Day It Will Please Us to Remember Even This by the New York Dolls. Brevity, it appears, is not what we’re looking for.

Lots of potential best-dressed musicians got multiple votes, including David Bowie, Alejandro Escovedo, Emmylou Harris, David Gray, David Byrne, James Hunter, Lyle Lovett, Beck, Bono, and Jim Lauderdale. Other interesting choices were Prince, Marty Stuart, Chris Isaak, Elvis Costello, Michael Stipe, Lenny Kravitz, Lizz Wright, Yo-Yo Ma, and Tom Jones. And to the respondents who chose Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, we say to you: “Get a girlfriend!”

As to the Statute of Limitations question (”What artist or band should quit making records?), lots of us are sick of U2, the Who, the Rolling Stones, Jack Johnson, Norah Jones, Ryan Adams, Neil Young, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Ani Difranco, Sting, and Coldplay. Other hilarious answers included “Clive Davis,” “2Pac,” “That’s just mean!” and “Too many to answer.” And one anonymous person, who is apparently sick of AAA radio, said “Dave Matthews, Counting Crows, Sheryl Crow, John Mellencamp, Black Crowes, Wallflowers, Billy Joel, Elton John, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Melissa Etheridge, Rob Thomas, and Trey Anastasio.”

The best unsigned acts voters noted are: The Hiders, Will Hoge, the Glass Family, Devotchka, Rocky Votolato, Phil Roy, Modern Skirts, Midlake, Jesse de Natale, Spoiler NYC, Sweet Sunny South, Mieka Pauley, Jonelle Mosser, Tack, Cavalier King, Years from the Sun, Will Kimbrough, Kami Lyle, Plow Drivers, Lander, Mila Drumke, the Starlings, the Priests of Love, Keith Varon, Needfire, Drunk Stuntmen, Gregory Douglass, Red Molly, Val Emmich, Matt Nathanson, Buttercup, Ludo, Ghostland Observatory, Devin David, Matt Hopper, MacJackson, Tom Catmull & the Clerics, the Sweetback Sisters, Alexis P. Suter, Holiday and the Adventure Pop Collective, Alela Diane, Jonny Hahn, Kathy Phillips, and Gandalph Murphy.

Many of us would love to see Bill Clinton return to the Oval Office–he won this poll question by a landslide. Jimmy Carter, FDR, and JFK were tied for second place. Teddy Roosevelt was next-most-voted, and Millard Fillmore (?), Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln also got more than one vote.

Our own Louise Coogan and Sean Coakley topped the list for best-dressed in AAA. Nick Bedding, Melanie Shrawder, Brian Corona, Julie Muncy, Lisa Sonkin, Sara Willis, and Bob Laul also had more than one supporter. Several voters weren’t embarrassed to state the truth, but one said it best: “Since every one of us wears cargo shorts, T-shirts, sandals, and shades to hide what Visine can’t help, I’d say we all win this one.”

As for who needs the most help from the Queer Eye fellows, it seems that almost all of you boys do, so we won’t embarrass you by naming names. The most popular answer, incidentally, was “me.”

“Crazy” by Gnarls Barkley was the song that the most voters (11) tired of hearing too many times this year, followed by “that fucking Fray song” (7), “that fucking Daniel Powter nursery rhyme bullshit ‘Had a Bad Day.’ If I ever see him in person I’ll beat the crap out of him!” (4). KT Tunstall’s “Black Horse & the Cherry Tree,” John Mellencamp’s “Our Country,” “Hips Don’t Lie” by Shakira, and “You’re Beautiful” by James Blunt could also use a rest, say our voters.

Most of us are convinced that if Kurt Cobain were still alive, his new project would be a vegan cookbook co-written with Courtney Love.

If you are on this list, at least one person you know wants to sleep with you: Louise Coogan, Sean Coakley, Shawn Stewart, Haley Jones, Melanie Shrawder, Randy Wynne, Biff Kennedy, Lin Brehmer, Lori Kampa, Norm Winer, Bruce Warren, Lisa Sonkin, and Rene Magellon. A few ladies pointed out that they kind of preferred men under the age of 50.

Collectively, we’d host one hell of of a house concert for our closest friends. Maybe we should join together to book Bonnaroo next year. If we did, U2 would headline, as they got the most votes (9) for this question. Bob Dylan and Robert Randolph & the Family Band were the next most-popular choices (6 each). Gomez came in fourth. My Morning Jacket, Elvis Costello, Prince, Wilco, and Neil Young tied for next place, with Tom Waits, Patty Griffin, and the Allman Brothers following them. Michael Franti & Spearhead, the Drive-By Truckers, Stevie Wonder, Pearl Jam, Todd Snider, Mike Doughty, Ryan Adams, Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, Ozomatli, Sting, Jem, Young Dubliners, John Hiatt, the Flaming Lips, Emmylou Harris, and Neko Case all got multiple mentions. And our opening acts would be: Ice Cube, James McMurtry, Gang Starr, Old 97s, What Made Milwaukee Famous, Death Cab for Cutie, David Ford, Maceo Parker, the Roots, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Dire Straits, Nanci Griffith, Holiday and the Adventure Pop Collective, Sonic Youth, Teddy Thompson, Billy Bragg, Talking Heads, M. Ward, Kasey Chambers, the Who, LCD Soundsystem, Fall Out Boy, Will Hoge, Gary Burton, Jerry Jeff Walker, Aimee Mann, Neil Diamond, Parliament, the Cure, Jackie Greene, Savion Glover, Lucinda Williams, Britney Spears, Paul McCartney, Dar Williams, NRBQ, Daniel Johnston, Eric Clapton, Rosanne Cash, Doves, Guster, La India, Bruce Cockburn, Black Sabbath, Suzanne Vega, Slayer, Louis XIV, and Lily Allen. (We eliminated artists who are dead and bands who have lost essential members to the netherworld. You guys are morbid!)

Amoeba in LA appears to be the most-loved record store by AAA, followed by Ear X-Tacy in Louisville and Waterloo in Austin. Those who answered “iTunes” or “Hmmmm, they still make those?” might be pleased to discover, as were we, that 29 different independent stores and only 2 chains (Tower and Virgin Megastore) were mentioned in the responses.

We had interesting predictions for bands that would break in 2007, with the Hiders topping the list. Lily Allen, Paolo Nutini, and Ryan Shaw were also popular choices. Centro-Matic, Sonya Kitchell, Brett Dennen, Katharine McPhee, the Kooks, Anne McCue, Guggenheim Grotto, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Grace Potter & the Nocturnals, Ghostland Observatory, Willy Mason, Martin Sexton, Etienne de Rocher, Nada Surf, Winterpills, the Little Ones, and Gran Bel Fisher were also mentioned.

Nearly all of us, it appears, are still in the music business because our houses’ shifting foundations need constant supplies of jewel cases.

25% of us would go “for sure” if we were offered tickets to a Bob Seger show, but the next-most-plentiful group (11%) would only go if they had front row seats, a limo, a quarter ounce of blow, and a hottie.

If our voters could go back in time, more of us would want to see the Beatles in concert than any other band. We’d also be scrambling to catch Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Sam Cooke, the Clash, Robert Johnson, Billie Holliday, and Johnny Cash. Other acts we’d like to have another crack at include: Grand Funk Railroad, Janis Joplin, WAR, the Doors, John Hartford, GG Allin, Mozart, Bob Marley & the Wailers, Louis Armstrong, John Coltrane, Elvis Presley, Talking Heads, Hank Williams, Roy Orbison, Fats Waller, the Byrds, the Jam, Gram Parsons, the Zombies, Frank Zappa, Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, Otis Redding, Bob Wills, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, and the Plasmatics. Specific shows that some of us would like to have time machines to travel to are: James Brown at the Apollo 1962, the Beatles at Shea Stadium, Jefferson Airplane at the Fillmore, the Concert for Bangladesh, and the Rolling Stones on the Exile on Main St. tour with Stevie Wonder opening.

The best shows that voters mentioned seeing in 2006 were: Gomez, My Morning Jacket, Mark Knopfler & Emmylou Harris, Black Keys, Centro-Matic, Bobby Bare Jr., Seu Jorge, Ice Cube, Buzzcocks, David Ford, Balkan Beat Box, Paolo Nutini, World Party, Los Lonely Boys, Jamie Cullum, Drive-By Truckers, Death Cab for Cutie, the Raconteurs, Cream, Charlie Musselwhite, Chip Taylor & Carrie Rodriguez, the Who, Eric Clapton, mew, the Flaming Lips, Pearl Jam, Ryan Adams & the Cardinals, Taj Mahal Trio, Rolling Stones, Avett Brothers, the Elected, Bruce Springsteen & the Seeger Session Band, KT Tunstall, Neko Case, Regina Spektor, Joan Osborne, Gnarls Barkley, Ani DiFranco, the Meat Purveyors, Wilco, Alejandro Escovedo, Richard Thompson, Bela Fleck, the Duhks, and the Hold Steady.

Most people finally became convinced that SXSW has jumped the shark when it was featured on The Real World.

The Fray and Coldplay tied for making the most money sounding like Coldplay in 2006.

According to our voters, if Matisyahu and Yusuf adopted a child, it would spend lots of its energies searching for a last name, but once it settled on one, it would be head of the U.N.

One thing that we couldn’t resist printing in full was the set of answers to the question “What book did you read this year that you’d love to recommend?” If you’re looking for some great books to pick up this winter, look no further than this list of titles from your very well-read colleagues. The first four got multiple votes:

The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Neffenegger
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan
Triksta: Life and Death and New Orleans Rap by Nik Cohn
White Bicycles: Making Music in the 1960s by Joe Boyd
The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More by Chris Anderson
The Education of Little Tree by Forrest Carter and Rennard Strickland
Listening in: Radio and American Imagination by Susan J. Douglas
Weegee’s New York: Photographs, 1935-1960 by John Coplans, Weegee, and Arthur ‘Weegee’ Fellig
Low Life: Lures and Snares of Old New York by Luc Sante
Wisdom of Our Fathers: Lessons and Letters from Daughters and Sons by Tim Russert
Pattern Recognition by William Gibson
Songbook by Nick Hornby
The Accidental Masterpiece: On the Art of Life and Vice Versa by Michael Kimmelman
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
The Know-It-All: One Man’s Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World by A. J. Jacobs
The Year I Owned the Yankees: A Baseball Fantasy by Sparky Lyle
Acts of Faith by Philip Caputo
The March by E.L. Doctorow
Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-1984 by Simon Reynolds
The Buddha in Daily Life: An Introduction to the Buddhism of Nichiren by Richard Causton
Hotel California: The True-life Adventures of Crosby, Stills, Nash, Young, Mitchell, Taylor, Browne, Ronstadt, Geffen, the Eagles, and Their Many Friends by Barney Hoskyns
Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World’s Worst Dog by John Grogan
Sex in History by Reay Tannahill
The Greatest Story Ever Sold: The Decline and Fall of Truth from 9/11 to Katrina by Frank Rich
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
The Accidental Masterpiece: On the Art of Life and Vice Versa by Michael Kimmelman
Women Who Run with the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Phd Estes
Sperm Are from Men, Eggs Are from Women: The Real Reason Men And Women Are Different by Joe Quirk
Honky Tonk Hero by Billy Joe Shaver
Rogue States and Nuclear Outlaws: America’s Search for a New Foreign Policy by Michael T. Klare
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
Pest Control by Bill Fitzhugh
The Mastery of Love: A Practical Guide to the Art of Relationship: A Toltec Wisdom Book by Miguel Ruiz
The Party’s Over: Oil, War and the Fate of Industrial Societies by Richard Heinberg
Wonder Boys by Michael Chabon
Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts
Why New Orleans Matters by Tom Piazza
Horton Hears a Who! by Doctor Seuss

The top records of 2006, according to Shining Heads voters, were (in order):
Bob Dylan, Modern Times
Gomez, How We Operate
Michael Franti & Spearhead, Yell Fire!
Neko Case, Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
Cat Power, The Greatest
KT Tunstall, Eye to the Telescope
Mark Knopfler & Emmylou Harris, All the Roadrunning
Solomon Burke, Nashville
James Hunter, People Gonna Talk
The Hold Steady, Boys & Girls in America
Dixie Chicks, Taking the Long Way
The Raconteurs, Broken Boy Soldiers
The Beatles, Love
The Wood Brothers, Ways Not to Lose
Gnarls Barkley, St. Elsewhere
The Hiders, Valentine
Gov’t Mule, High and Mighty
Rosanne Cash, Black Cadillac
Jerry Lee Lewis, Last Man Standing
Richard Buckner, Meadow
Gran Bel Fisher, Full Moon Cigarette
Bruce Springsteen, We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions
(All albums above were mentioned more than once. If you’re interested in seeing a complete list of albums, put in a request by making a comment below.)

–Melanie Shrawder

The results from the Shining Heads Poll 2006 are being tabulated, and will be posted soon!

Two partially evolved humans

It’s time to dust off the memory cells and take stock of the year. The Shining Heads Poll was created about ten years ago and has made sporadic and unwelcomed appearances over that time. Our intent is to entertain while still attempting to take the temperature of this thing we know and love as Triple A.

We’d like to thank several folks for contributing questions: Melanie Shrawder, Leslie Rouffe, Dan Reed, Adrian Moreira, Alex Cortright, Johnny Memphis, Jeff McCord, Dave Sloan, Mark Abuzzahab and Brian Corona.

Your answers to this year’s poll will remain confidential so feel free to let ‘er rip. You don’t have to answer every question although we hope you will. Results will be posted on January 10th.

We wish you the happiest of holidays!

Sean & Bruce

Take the Shining Heads Poll 2006!