I shut the poll down after ’93.
Awful hair — always.
“The Way You Are” was a single? Did not know that!
also... where is “Shout”?
between Head Over Heels and EWTRTW for me. always kind of hated Shout.
‘Mothers talk’ is underrated (by me also, voted something else)
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.
“Woman in Chains” and “Advice...” are sophisti-pop!
Huge Steely Dan fans
The beat on “shout” is enormous
voted broken/head over heels/broken (live)
head over heels
it is kinda thrilling isn’t it
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
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.
But where do you go from there?
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.
also whichever one has the video with them in the library is lol
is anything post SFTBC worth listening to?
Sowing the Seeds of Love is decent as a single.
that’s all I got.
i remember reading somewhere that they play ‘shout’ as their encore/closer for every concert which i think is totally rad
“Break It Down Again” got lots of college and Top 40 airplay but it sounds like they wanna be a Beatles pastiche project.
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
is totally rad
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.
Ye English New Poppe
Pale Shelter vs Mad World
as avoided in Englande
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.
KICK OUT THE STYLE BRING BACK THE JAM-E-AM-E-AMMMM!
weird- according to wikipedia suffer the children was issued 2x- 1981 and 1985.
head over heels is undeniable imo.
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.
The smell of Curt Smith’s Jungian jockstrap.
I still want to know why “Shout” isn’t on this poll
Oversight. I put all my energy into posting the opening image.
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.
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
sounds good to me
head over heels
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.
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.
(In fact, my copy of “Mad World” had an extra single, “World Remix” and “Suffer the Children”)
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
pale shelter
curt smith is a realy underrated vocalist. he rips orzabal to pieces when it comes to range and purity of tone
reaLLy
also released as a single, albeit a fluke remix and not under their name.
“Sowing the seeds” was like OMD’s “Locomotion”, a good single, but the game was clearly up.
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)
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.
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
Give it a try. Rank them!
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.
Were they more American (successful in America) than some of their contemporaries because they had more “soul” or simply less of an English accent?
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
Does anybody remember Graduate?
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.
HOH. Although I also like EWTRTW
“Head Over Heels” although i also hate EWTRTW
Sowing the Seeds of Love is underrated imo, but no way I’m not voting for Head Over Heels
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.
Pale Shelter
Head Over Heels
Mad World
Change
Don’t like shout or sowing the seeds at all
Actual Size!
(oops)
Sowing the seeds is utterly revolting
^ doesn’t love a sunflower or believe in love power
those things disgust me, it’s true
^^ time to eat all your words, swallow your pride, open your eyes
That bridge is fantastic
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.
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).
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.
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)
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.
and whoa had no idea Parr was a limey — he could’ve fooled me with this mullet and obstreperous shouting.
*his
Head Over Heels.
Where’s Everybody Wants To Run The World?
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?
I was mentally comparing them to Erasure, say.
Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.
Automatic thread bump. This poll’s results are now in.
this is my four leaf clover
OTM
Suffer the Children and Change got robbed, should have received at least one vote each
voted for “Pale Shelter”
“Head Over Heels”? Really?
Really!
Obviously!
fundamentally
guys this isn’t the “Suggested Pet Shop Boys Album Title” thread
maybe...?
srsly
ya rly