RECORD STORE TALES MkII: Getting More Tale
#422: Sausagefest 2015 – The Complete Countdown

The annual trek to Sausagefest is centred upon the always epic Countdown.  There were many misadventures on the way to the Countdown, and after.  While I am sworn to abide by the credo “What happens at Sausagefest stays at Sausagefest,” I am also bound by my own nature as a storyteller.  Therefore, I can share with you a number of brief tidbits, hints, and insinuations.

Yes founder Chris Squire died only days before the Sausagefest countdown.  It was too late to include a tribute a Squire tribute into the countdown itself, so Tom and Uncle Meat sequenced about an hour of Squire’s best music to precede the actual countdown.  This was a promising hour, but upon hitting “play” on the laptop, it was immediately obvious that something was wrong.  We were only getting one channel.  Yes music, with its layers and wide stereo panning, turned out to be great music to test the four speakers.  Unfortunately it took almost all of the Squire-allotted time, seventeen men* and one record producer to figure out that all the muss was being caused by an RCA adapter somewhere.  We got two Squire songs, excellent as they were.

The Countdown this year was informally dubbed “The Greatest Songs of All Time”, because for the first time in years, the slate had been cleared and any and all songs were open for voting.  Because of this anything goes approach and some younger blood, we got to hear a lot of classic tunes that often are either overlooked or just not up for grabs.  I’m sure this was the first ever appearance of Boston on the countdown.  I can probably say the same for Foreigner.  These top ten hits are offset by more obscure favourites by Ian Thomas and UFO.

Now below, please analyse and enjoy the one and only OFFICIAL 2015 Sausagefest Countdown.  Every track was a winner.  I’ve highlighted songs I voted for (only two this year).

1	Battle Scar	Max Webster/Rush
2	Shine on You Crazy Diamond^	Pink Floyd
3	Hallowed be Thy Name	Iron Maiden
4	Working Man	Rush
5	Sultans of Swing	Dire Straits
6	La Villa Strangiato	Rush
7	Eulogy for the Damned	Orange Goblin
8	When the Levee Breaks	Led Zeppelin
9	Natural Science	Rush
10	A Day in the Life	The Beatles/War mashup

^ The whole thing…parts I-IX.

Look at that majesty.  FOUR RUSH SONGS IN THE TOP TEN!

11	Fatso Forgetso	Kyuss
12	Heaven and Hell	Black Sabbath
13	Toronto Tontos	Max Webster
14	Wish You Were Here	Pink Floyd
15	Superstition	Stevie Wonder
16	Rime of the Ancient Mariner	Iron Maiden
17	Master of Puppets	Metallica
18	End of my Daze	Trouble
19	Papa Was a Rolling Stone	The Temptations
20	The Trooper	Iron Maiden
21	Ramble Tamble	Creedence Clearwater Revival
22	War Pigs	Black Sabbath
23	Penis Ground	Groove Daddys
24	The Ocean	Led Zeppelin
25	Stranglehold	Ted Nugent
26	Sympathy for the Devil	The Rolling Stones
27	Muffin Man	Frank Zappa
28	Smokin’	Boston
29	Child in Time (Live ’72)	Deep Purple
30	Aces High	Iron Maiden
31	Into the Void	Black Sabbath
32	25 or 6 to 4	Chicago
33	Machine Gun	Jimi Hendrix/Band of Gypsies
34	Doctor Doctor	UFO
35	Kashmir	Led Zeppelin
36	Old Man	Neil Young
37	Suite: Judy Blue Eyes	CSNY
38	Illegal Smile	John Prine
39	Testify	Rage Against the Machine
40	Get Up Offa That Thing	James Brown
41	Belzelboss	Tenacious D
42	Emerald	Thin Lizzy
43	Sweatleaf	Black Sabbath
44	Tribute	Tenacious D
45	Tres Brujas	The Sword
46	I	Black Sabbath
47	The Temples of Syrinx	Rush
48	Space Oddity	David Bowie
49	46 & 2	Tool

“Then I fuckin’ diddle-riddle-dee-doo.”

50	Monkberry Moon Delight	Paul McCartney & Wings
51	39	Tenacious D
52	What is Hip?	Tower of Power
53	Over the Hills and Far Away	Led Zeppelin
54	The Mob Goes Wild	Clutch
55	Better Living Through Chemistry	Queens of the Stone Age
56	Mongoose	Fu Manchu
57	Roadhouse Blues	The Doors
58	Inside Looking Out	Grand Funk Railroad
59	Hurt	Johnny Cash
60	Don’t Stop Me Now	Queen
61	Careful with that Axe Eugene	Pink Floyd
62	The Chain	Fleetwood Mac
63	Ophelia	The Band
64	Jukebox Hero	Foreigner
65	Fairies Wear Boots	Black Sabbath
66	Where the Devil Don’t Stay	Drive By Truckers
67	Fat Bottomed Girls	Queen
68	Under Pressure	Queen
69	Fools Overture	Supertramp
70	The Pot	Tool
71	Tempus Fugit	Yes
72	Thunderstruck	AC/DC
73	Green Eyed Lady	Sugarloaf
74	Duke’s Travels	Genesis
75	Red Hot Mama	Funkadelic
76	Painted Ladies	Ian Thomas
77	Down by the River	Neil Young

Please note that double-shot of Queen, above!

Also note the presence of “Penis Ground” by the Groove Daddys (not to be confused with the Groove Daddies, or Groove Daddy).  This was a local trio fronted by guitarist and singer extraordinaire Rob Szabo.  I certainly didn’t expect anything that obscure making the list, considering the diversity of folks that attend.  To rank all the way up at #23?  That’s proof of the sheer quality of the music.  Indi enough for ya?

Once again, a huge thanks to Tom, Meat and everyone else for working so hard for us.  Thanks Craig Fee and Jeff Woods for your much-appreciated willingness to go above and beyond the call of duty.  And lastly thanks to Uncle Meat for being such a delightful travel-mate this year.  Enjoy some of these pictures from the weekend, official video still to follow!

The Setup:

The Live Bands:

The Fest:

The Aftermath:

* I didn’t take a head-count, but I swear if it wasn’t seventeen guys trying to fix the thing, it was close.  It doesn’t really matter because more wouldn’t have helped!