Yesterday, I started the “Lists of Lists” post with the thought of describing how lists can severely filter experiences, intentions, and processes such that only what is documented is what is remembered as important.
For instance, while a To Do is kept to remind and guide what needs to be done that day, it’s only ever a personal device and fades away with the next day.
However, a year-end Top Ten list may have the effect of reducing the previous 12 months such that when viewed in the distant future, only what was listed must have been all that mattered that year.
Who finished second in a sports major is lost just like the 11th-best album as they were absent from the lists. No one remembers the runner-up or also-rans.
The station that has a flashback weekend to a certain decade of music, plays the top hits and albums from that span. Someone unfamiliar with that time would form an impression based on the year-end lists and be unaware of so many other interesting and important artistic contributions.
Essentially, these sorts of lists reduce the entirety of the music at the time down to hits & sounds that appealed to mass tastes. It is then assumed this must have been the best music produced as this is what “made the cut”.
With a nod to the brilliant Memorex campaign from decades ago, one might ask, was it good or just popular?