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.
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
― 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
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
― OH NOES, Monday, December 19, 2011 8:39 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Permalink
― 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
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
ShoutHead Over HeelsChangeMad WorldPale ShelterEverybody Wants To Rule The WorldAdvice For The Young At HeartMothers TalkWoman In ChainsSowing The Seeds Of LoveSuffer The ChildrenTears Roll Down (Laid So Low)The Way You AreBreak 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
ShoutHead over HeelsMad WorldPale ShelterEverybody Wants to Rule the WorldChangeSowing 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 ShelterHead Over HeelsMad WorldChange
Don't like shout or sowing the seeds at all
― remy bean in exile, Tuesday, 20 December 2011 16:09 (twelve years ago) link
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OGenpHvxSQk/TXdk8GKfT_I/AAAAAAAAAng/k6rA-pUxvss/s1600/Mad%2BOne%2Blbl%2BA.jpg
― Y.O. Mini (MarkG oo la showaddywaddy), Tuesday, 20 December 2011 16:13 (twelve years ago) link
Actual Size!
(oops)
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
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
Head Over Heels.
Where's Everybody Wants To Run The World?
― Doran, Tuesday, 20 December 2011 20:04 (twelve years ago) link
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