- The Charts VN#55 -

Hosted by Jonatan "Macx" FG.

Due to that I was busy becoming a Medical Doctor, The Charts were skipped in the last issue. As promised in issue 53 this round of The Charts have a music angle to it, which obviously means a SID aspect as far as the c64 is concerned. Since printouts of the ascii sheets for this issue were handed out at the oldskool multiplatform event of Datastorm issue 55 will come with categories for other computers. It is a first timer in this magazine's 20 year old history. The results for the other platforms are however presented in a separate chapter.

Some voters seemed rather indignant with the lack of categories on the votesheet and did not appear very fond of the SID angle to this round (or perhaps it was the fact that other platforms were present). One voter whom will remain anonymous even added votes for graphicians, coders and demogroups. Hilarious as it is, those votes will of course not be presented. I appreciate the conservative attitude of c64-sceners, but the beauty of using ascii votesheets rather than the old paper ones are that categories can change from time to time. Sometimes a more specific theme is desirable.

Anyways, the quantity of votesheets gathered and counted this round is 23 and they were sent out a bit more than two weeks prior to deadline. In other words, it does not seem to improve much with more time given. To make sure you receive the votesheet in time for the next issue, send an email to macx64*nospam*gmail.

Only what has received more than one vote is presented in The Charts. Otherwise it is pretty straight forward, so here we go.
 
 
TOP C64 DEMOS:
 
EDGE OF DISGRACE / BOOZE 234
Another Beginning / Offence 128
We Are New / Fairlight  100
Andropolis / Booze / Instinct 68
Dutch Breeze / Blackmail  64
Deus Ex Machina / Crest /Oxy 64
+H2K / Plush    52
Sharp / Flt    40
Mathematica / Reflex  40
Pearls for Pigs / Xenon  32
Spasmolytic / Censor   28
Snapshot / Glance   24
Psykolog / Panoramic   24
Insomnia / 64ever   24
Natural Wonders 2 / Oxyron  20
Mekanix / Booze / Instinct 20
The Wild Bunch / HZ / ITC / 3AD 12
Hello:FRIEND / Fairlight 12
Coma Light 12 / Oxyron   8
BluREU / Crest   8

Just as it won several categories in issue 53, and also has the top position at CSDb, Edge of Disgrace remains the favourite demo of the voters. The winner of the democompo at X'2010 which is a cooperation demo between Offence and Prosonix, Another Beginning, takes number two. We Are New which came second on the earlier mentioned democompo is close behind. Both those are new to the list and also new productions since the last edition of The Charts.

48 different demos received votes in this category. One of these was Desert Dream from Chorus and Resource which is a remake of an Amiga-demo by Kefrens. In the chapter covering the votes received for other platforms it definately made it into the charts.


TOP ACTIVE SID MUSICIANS:  
 
DRAX     116
Jeff     92
Dane     72
Randall     64
Linus     64
Jammer     60
6R6     52
Rambones    44
Jeroen Tel    44
Fanta     44
Geir Tjelta    40
Laxity     32
Goto80     32
stein Pedersen    28
Dalezy     20
Maktone    16
Zabutom     12

Both Ed and Conrad (CRD) made it into the charts but are removed for obvious reasons. Drax, Dane and Jeff are still holding onto the top three positions. Rambones is very active and should be expected to rise even more.

41 different musicians were voted for as best active SID musicians, and worthy a mention is the young rising star Wiklund / Fairlight. His tune made part of the winning demo at Datastorm, and another one won the music compo at the same event. The guy is born in 1991 and he seems to have high aspirations. Others notable but not included this round are: Lft, ???, Jucke and Magnar.


TOP SID MUSICIANS OF ALL TIME:  
 
ROB HUBBARD   172
Jeroen Tel    156
Martin Galway    148
Drax     72
Kjell Nordbo    64
Ben Daglish    60
Tim Follin    52
Intensity    44
Matt Gray    36
PVCF     28
Reyn Ouwehand    24
Agemixer    24
Randy     20
Charles Deenen    20
PRI    16

Edvin van Santen received only one vote and is for that reason not included in the list. Him together with both Kjell Nordbo and Intensity (on fifth and eighth position respectively) are amongst the fallen heroes that has left us much too early. With their music though, they are still with us for as long as their tunes are played.

45 musicians were voted for in this category. It should be noted that Drax and Jeroen Tel are both in the list of musicians of all time and in the list of active musicians.


TOP SID MUSIC GROUPS:  
 
MANIACS OF NOISE  272
Viruz     148
SIDwave    104
Vibrants    100
Prosonix    72
Blues Muz'    64
Tinnitus    36
Multistyle Labs   36
20th Century Composers   36

This is the promised category, music groups on the c64. 19 different music groups were voted for, and the top two ones are to be expected from what we have gathered in the categories of individual musicians. SIDwave scores high, but is since October 2010 run a solo project by Rambones. Nothing big from Tinnitus since As far as the eye can see in 2005 and Lullabies for Naughty Children in 2004, but those are well liked for good reasons. Hopefully a third collection from Tinnitus will see daylight in a not too distant future.

That wraps up this segment of issue 55. It is nice to see that the categories are reflecting the current state of affairs. In order to increase the validity of The Charts, make sure to participate through filling out a votesheet. Keep your eyes open for it and make sure to hand it in prior to the deadline.