Everybody Wants to POLL The World - ILM Sandbox Tears For Fears Singles Poll

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http://nuwavepony.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/TFF_Shout.jpg

I shut the poll down after '93.

Awful hair -- always.

Poll Results

OptionVotes
Head Over Heels 13
Everybody Wants to Rule the World 11
Pale Shelter 7
Sowing the Seeds of Love 4
Mad World 3
Mother's Talk (US remix) 1
The Way You Are 0
Change 0
Suffer the Children 0
Woman in Chains 0
Advice For the Young at Heart 0
Tears Roll Down (Laid So Low) 0
Break It Down Again 0


Lord Sotosyn, Monday, 19 December 2011 22:13 (twelve years ago) link

"The Way You Are" was a single? Did not know that!

also... where is "Shout"?

OH NOES, Monday, 19 December 2011 22:55 (twelve years ago) link

between Head Over Heels and EWTRTW for me. always kind of hated Shout.

aesthetic partisan (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 19 December 2011 23:47 (twelve years ago) link

'Mothers talk' is underrated (by me also, voted something else)

Y.O. Mini (MarkG oo la showaddywaddy), Monday, 19 December 2011 23:51 (twelve years ago) link

Inspired by playing the remastered version of SFTBC this morning and being amazed by how simultaneously gawky, gross, and gargantuan it sounds. The synth textures are straight out of Trevor Horn; the sax is pure "Baker Street." They may have been the only synth-pop duo to translate their ethos to arena rock and not lose their miserabilist essence.

Lord Sotosyn, Monday, 19 December 2011 23:57 (twelve years ago) link

"Woman in Chains" and "Advice..." are sophisti-pop!

Lord Sotosyn, Monday, 19 December 2011 23:57 (twelve years ago) link

Huge Steely Dan fans

moonbop, Monday, 19 December 2011 23:59 (twelve years ago) link

The beat on "shout" is enormous

moonbop, Monday, 19 December 2011 23:59 (twelve years ago) link

voted broken/head over heels/broken (live)

Armin Tamzarian (ok), Tuesday, 20 December 2011 00:05 (twelve years ago) link

head over heels

los krampusinos! (pomplamau5), Tuesday, 20 December 2011 00:08 (twelve years ago) link

it is kinda thrilling isn't it

Lord Sotosyn, Tuesday, 20 December 2011 00:08 (twelve years ago) link

yeah totally, from the moment it finally breathes out after all that build up at the start i just get totally swept away by it

los krampusinos! (pomplamau5), Tuesday, 20 December 2011 00:12 (twelve years ago) link

An imperial moment too: I remember hearing those piano chords in late '85 as the third single and thinking, christ, these guys nailed it again.

Lord Sotosyn, Tuesday, 20 December 2011 00:19 (twelve years ago) link

But where do you go from there?

Y.O. Mini (MarkG oo la showaddywaddy), Tuesday, 20 December 2011 00:24 (twelve years ago) link

the only synth-pop duo to translate their ethos to arena rock and not lose their miserabilist essence.

yeah this is really what sells them imho. I marvel that this was top 40 material - I mean it SOUNDS top 40, but the sentiments being expressed are so emo.

aesthetic partisan (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 20 December 2011 00:25 (twelve years ago) link

also whichever one has the video with them in the library is lol

aesthetic partisan (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 20 December 2011 00:26 (twelve years ago) link

is anything post SFTBC worth listening to?

Armin Tamzarian (ok), Tuesday, 20 December 2011 00:27 (twelve years ago) link

Sowing the Seeds of Love is decent as a single.

that's all I got.

aesthetic partisan (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 20 December 2011 00:29 (twelve years ago) link

i remember reading somewhere that they play 'shout' as their encore/closer for every concert which i think is totally rad

Armin Tamzarian (ok), Tuesday, 20 December 2011 00:29 (twelve years ago) link

"Break It Down Again" got lots of college and Top 40 airplay but it sounds like they wanna be a Beatles pastiche project.

Lord Sotosyn, Tuesday, 20 December 2011 00:31 (twelve years ago) link

I own The Seeds of Love and, apart from its three singles, think it's a ponderous mess but I'm wondering if anyone wants to defend it.

Lord Sotosyn, Tuesday, 20 December 2011 00:31 (twelve years ago) link

also, opening your show like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mdKWHivvHk is totally rad

Armin Tamzarian (ok), Tuesday, 20 December 2011 00:33 (twelve years ago) link

Since 1985 is often reviled as an annus horribilis and the year when Americana beat back the effete hordes of English New Pop, I'm struck by these guys scoring TWO American #1 singles and a #1 album.

Lord Sotosyn, Tuesday, 20 December 2011 00:35 (twelve years ago) link

Ye English New Poppe

aesthetic partisan (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 20 December 2011 00:45 (twelve years ago) link

Pale Shelter vs Mad World

LeRooLeRoo, Tuesday, 20 December 2011 00:46 (twelve years ago) link

as avoided in Englande

Seed Production Scientist cum Head (Julie Lagger), Tuesday, 20 December 2011 00:47 (twelve years ago) link

No "Shout", no credibility.

The video in the library is "Head Over Heels".

Adore these guys, and while I agree that "Sewing The Seeds Of Love" isn't their finest hour, it has a charm all it's own. It's a logical progression from "Big Chair" but just takes the going-for-the-stadium-crowd even further, which does result in a horrible drum sound and a further smoothing out of their sound but Roland's lyrics are consistently engaging to me.

Gerald McBoing-Boing, Tuesday, 20 December 2011 00:55 (twelve years ago) link

KICK OUT THE STYLE BRING BACK THE JAM-E-AM-E-AMMMM!

Lord Sotosyn, Tuesday, 20 December 2011 00:56 (twelve years ago) link

weird- according to wikipedia suffer the children was issued 2x- 1981 and 1985.

head over heels is undeniable imo.

Hunt3r, Tuesday, 20 December 2011 01:02 (twelve years ago) link

i just listened to suffer the children to see if i could figure out why it was released 2x, and the most notable thing was that i suddenly remembered the strange distinct smell that cassette tapes had in the 80s.

Hunt3r, Tuesday, 20 December 2011 01:04 (twelve years ago) link

The smell of Curt Smith's Jungian jockstrap.

Lord Sotosyn, Tuesday, 20 December 2011 01:09 (twelve years ago) link

I still want to know why "Shout" isn't on this poll

OH NOES, Tuesday, 20 December 2011 01:39 (twelve years ago) link

Oversight. I put all my energy into posting the opening image.

Lord Sotosyn, Tuesday, 20 December 2011 01:49 (twelve years ago) link

shocked myself by NOT voting for "Head Over Heels." I think that is the absolute jam but my choice is even more epic than epic was allowed to be. Best TFF story I ever heard is that fellow Swindonians XTC were really nice to them and let them borrow loads of gear, or maybe that was vice versa.

Best version of "Shout" was the cassette of the extended remix that we played over and over and over on a fall roadtrip to Connecticut. That and Sam Cooke live and Sugarhill Gang.

Cibuloid, Tuesday, 20 December 2011 02:58 (twelve years ago) link

oh god sandbox is going to become a barrage of repeat polls where we can't search for or link back to where we did it already, isn't it

some dude (Mr. Stevenson #2), Tuesday, 20 December 2011 03:48 (twelve years ago) link

sounds good to me

iatee, Tuesday, 20 December 2011 03:51 (twelve years ago) link

head over heels

iatee, Tuesday, 20 December 2011 03:53 (twelve years ago) link

it's kind of in a different category than the '80s hits but i love "Break It Down" to fucking death, every second of it.

some dude (Mr. Stevenson #2), Tuesday, 20 December 2011 04:00 (twelve years ago) link

weird- according to wikipedia suffer the children was issued 2x- 1981 and 1985.

Yeah, the first two singles did not chart, "Pale Shelter" got remade after "Mad World" and "Change" hit, and eventually all the singles got reissued.

Y.O. Mini (MarkG oo la showaddywaddy), Tuesday, 20 December 2011 09:17 (twelve years ago) link

(In fact, my copy of "Mad World" had an extra single, "World Remix" and "Suffer the Children")

Y.O. Mini (MarkG oo la showaddywaddy), Tuesday, 20 December 2011 09:18 (twelve years ago) link

I still want to know why "Shout" isn't on this poll

― OH NOES, Monday, December 19, 2011 8:39 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Permalink

Oversight. I put all my energy into posting the opening image.

― Lord Sotosyn, Monday, December 19, 2011 8:49 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Permalink

wtf, how can you forget their biggest single by mere "oversight"

I'm going w/Mad World I guess

that wiener from Emearlds (step hen faps), Tuesday, 20 December 2011 10:04 (twelve years ago) link

pale shelter

curt smith is a realy underrated vocalist. he rips orzabal to pieces when it comes to range and purity of tone

cock chirea, Tuesday, 20 December 2011 12:28 (twelve years ago) link

reaLLy

cock chirea, Tuesday, 20 December 2011 12:28 (twelve years ago) link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_jfc5jN3so

also released as a single, albeit a fluke remix and not under their name.

ledge, Tuesday, 20 December 2011 14:56 (twelve years ago) link

"Sowing the seeds" was like OMD's "Locomotion", a good single, but the game was clearly up.

Y.O. Mini (MarkG oo la showaddywaddy), Tuesday, 20 December 2011 14:58 (twelve years ago) link

I am trying to rank these in my head and it's almost impossible

probably gonna end up voting "Head Over Heels" but these are some great, great, GREAT songs ("Advice For The Young At Heart" specifically is constantly underrated)

OH NOES, Tuesday, 20 December 2011 15:20 (twelve years ago) link

Curt and Roland make the train noises on XTC's "Train Running Low On Soul Coal".

Hate "Break It Down Again" - that's the sound of Roland TRYING to write a hit.

Gerald McBoing-Boing, Tuesday, 20 December 2011 15:41 (twelve years ago) link

yeah "Break It Down Again" is definitely the weak link IMO

I am trying to think of a hypothetical ranking of these songs, which is an exercise in torture because there like 9 songs I want to put in the top 5

OH NOES, Tuesday, 20 December 2011 15:45 (twelve years ago) link

Give it a try. Rank them!

Lord Sotosyn, Tuesday, 20 December 2011 15:47 (twelve years ago) link

I wouldn't vote for "Shout" if it were on the poll (and I imagine I would vote for "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" if I were going to bother to listen to them all), but it's a pretty key song for them, I would think, with the whole primal scream therapy angle.

Some of this stuff really takes me back, both because they hit right when I was coming into pop consciousness, and because the lulling nature of the synths (cut by perhaps a bit too much "rock" for "sophisti-pop"?) matches the reversion to childhood.

C.K. Dexter Holland, Tuesday, 20 December 2011 15:54 (twelve years ago) link

Were they more American (successful in America) than some of their contemporaries because they had more "soul" or simply less of an English accent?

C.K. Dexter Holland, Tuesday, 20 December 2011 15:55 (twelve years ago) link

Shout
Head Over Heels
Change
Mad World
Pale Shelter
Everybody Wants To Rule The World
Advice For The Young At Heart
Mothers Talk
Woman In Chains
Sowing The Seeds Of Love
Suffer The Children
Tears Roll Down (Laid So Low)
The Way You Are
Break It Down Again

OH NOES, Tuesday, 20 December 2011 15:55 (twelve years ago) link

Does anybody remember Graduate?

Y.O. Mini (MarkG oo la showaddywaddy), Tuesday, 20 December 2011 15:59 (twelve years ago) link

Their last single "Did you ever have a day when it seem like no-one wants to know you" is very proto-TFF.

Whereas their 'famous' single "Elvis should play Ska", um, is not.

Oh, and "Shut up, you naughty boy" approaches the TFF subject matter but not the musical style which is more Bad Blur.

Y.O. Mini (MarkG oo la showaddywaddy), Tuesday, 20 December 2011 16:01 (twelve years ago) link

HOH. Although I also like EWTRTW

dog latin, but cool (dog latin), Tuesday, 20 December 2011 16:02 (twelve years ago) link

"Head Over Heels" although i also hate EWTRTW

Nemanja Vmić (Julie Lagger), Tuesday, 20 December 2011 16:03 (twelve years ago) link

Sowing the Seeds of Love is underrated imo, but no way I'm not voting for Head Over Heels

Hurting, Tuesday, 20 December 2011 16:04 (twelve years ago) link

Shout
Head over Heels
Mad World
Pale Shelter
Everybody Wants to Rule the World
Change
Sowing the Seeds of Love

are the only ones i'd kiw. the top four are unfuckwithable, ewtrtw is a little lightweight (iow lacking in emo bombast) but still indispensable.

ledge, Tuesday, 20 December 2011 16:06 (twelve years ago) link

Pale Shelter
Head Over Heels
Mad World
Change

Don't like shout or sowing the seeds at all

remy bean in exile, Tuesday, 20 December 2011 16:09 (twelve years ago) link

Actual Size!

(oops)

Y.O. Mini (MarkG oo la showaddywaddy), Tuesday, 20 December 2011 16:13 (twelve years ago) link

Sowing the seeds is utterly revolting

los krampusinos! (pomplamau5), Tuesday, 20 December 2011 16:14 (twelve years ago) link

^ doesn't love a sunflower or believe in love power

ledge, Tuesday, 20 December 2011 16:18 (twelve years ago) link

those things disgust me, it's true

los krampusinos! (pomplamau5), Tuesday, 20 December 2011 16:24 (twelve years ago) link

^^ time to eat all your words, swallow your pride, open your eyes

Lord Sotosyn, Tuesday, 20 December 2011 17:20 (twelve years ago) link

That bridge is fantastic

OH NOES, Tuesday, 20 December 2011 18:13 (twelve years ago) link

I really love "The Way You Are", it's a forgotten gem. It's definitely a transitional song between "The Hurting" and "Big Chair" but having qualities of both is good for my ear.

Gerald McBoing-Boing, Tuesday, 20 December 2011 19:38 (twelve years ago) link

As difficult as this poll is, a poll of The Hurting would be pure torture (and I think we did it before anyway during the period of time when I got super obsessed with that album).

OH NOES, Tuesday, 20 December 2011 19:41 (twelve years ago) link

Were they more American (successful in America) than some of their contemporaries because they had more "soul" or simply less of an English accent?

English acts weren't hitting #1 in America by '85, so I have to imagine their arena-ready transformation helped. The summer of '85 was about Bruce's stadium tour, No Jacket Required, Reckless and Dire Straits.

Lord Sotosyn, Tuesday, 20 December 2011 19:42 (twelve years ago) link

English acts weren't hitting #1 in America by '85

uh what? that's not true (on the singles chart, '83 had The Police, Dexys, David Bowie, The Police, Eurythmics, Macca; '84 had Yes, Culture Club, Phil Collins, Duran Duran, John Waite, Wham!; '85 had Wham!, Phil Collins, Simple Minds, Tears for Fears, Duran Duran, Paul Young, John Parr)

OH NOES, Tuesday, 20 December 2011 19:50 (twelve years ago) link

I should have qualified it: Paul Young and Wham! excepted, English acts hit #1 in '85 by sounding like American arena rock, not by flaunting New Pop characteristics.

Lord Sotosyn, Tuesday, 20 December 2011 19:55 (twelve years ago) link

and whoa had no idea Parr was a limey -- he could've fooled me with this mullet and obstreperous shouting.

Lord Sotosyn, Tuesday, 20 December 2011 19:56 (twelve years ago) link

*his

Lord Sotosyn, Tuesday, 20 December 2011 19:56 (twelve years ago) link

Head Over Heels.

Where's Everybody Wants To Run The World?

Doran, Tuesday, 20 December 2011 20:04 (twelve years ago) link

English acts weren't hitting #1 in America by '85, so I have to imagine their arena-ready transformation helped. The summer of '85 was about Bruce's stadium tour, No Jacket Required, Reckless and Dire Straits.

2 of those were English?

Fake Eyeball, Tuesday, 20 December 2011 20:11 (twelve years ago) link

I was mentally comparing them to Erasure, say.

C.K. Dexter Holland, Tuesday, 20 December 2011 20:14 (twelve years ago) link

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

System, Friday, 23 December 2011 00:01 (twelve years ago) link

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

System, Saturday, 24 December 2011 00:01 (twelve years ago) link

this is my four leaf clover

mookieproof, Saturday, 24 December 2011 00:15 (twelve years ago) link

OTM

OH NOES, Saturday, 24 December 2011 00:59 (twelve years ago) link

Suffer the Children and Change got robbed, should have received at least one vote each

Bee, Saturday, 24 December 2011 04:34 (twelve years ago) link

voted for "Pale Shelter"

Bee, Saturday, 24 December 2011 04:36 (twelve years ago) link

"Head Over Heels"? Really?

firehorse, Saturday, 24 December 2011 19:48 (twelve years ago) link

Really!

Lord Sotosyn, Saturday, 24 December 2011 21:24 (twelve years ago) link

Obviously!

Nemanja Vmić (Julie Lagger), Saturday, 24 December 2011 21:45 (twelve years ago) link

fundamentally

aesthetic partisan (Shakey Mo Collier), Saturday, 24 December 2011 22:36 (twelve years ago) link

guys this isn't the "Suggested Pet Shop Boys Album Title" thread

Lord Sotosyn, Saturday, 24 December 2011 23:06 (twelve years ago) link

maybe...?

OH NOES, Saturday, 24 December 2011 23:12 (twelve years ago) link

srsly

mookieproof, Saturday, 24 December 2011 23:12 (twelve years ago) link

ya rly

Too Many Headphones (MarkG oo la showaddywaddy), Wednesday, 28 December 2011 22:22 (twelve years ago) link


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