What it takes vs nothing compares vs must have been love, voting for roxette cuz I trust ilx not to leave 'smith and sinead with goose eggs
― da croupier, Saturday, 15 August 2015 15:36 (eight years ago) link
lol i love this oprah performance. in general i appreciate when a performer can get the audience screaming for the entire duration.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_RKuIk6GrA
― dyl, Saturday, 15 August 2015 16:59 (eight years ago) link
songs i like a lot:
Babyface - 'Whip Appeal'George Michael - 'Praying For Time'Janet Jackson - 'Come Back To Me'Johnny Gill - 'My, My, My'Lisa Stansfield - 'All Around The World'Mariah Carey - 'Vision Of Love'Sinead O'Connor - 'Nothing Compares 2U'
still haven't decided :X
― dyl, Saturday, 15 August 2015 17:03 (eight years ago) link
Finalists:
Babyface - 'Whip Appeal'George Michael - 'Praying For Time'Janet Jackson - 'Come Back To Me'Lisa Stansfield - 'All Around The World'Mariah Carey - 'Vision Of Love'Sinead O'Connor - 'Nothing Compares 2U'Madonna - 'Oh Father'
wtf "All Around the World" is a ballad?!
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 15 August 2015 18:30 (eight years ago) link
Like, what's a ballad really, man? Maybe this rock is a ballad, or that tree. I kinda feel like all of us are ballads, y'know?
― Grilled Floam In A Gak Reduction (Old Lunch), Saturday, 15 August 2015 18:44 (eight years ago) link
a song with disco strings and that beat ain't a tree
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 15 August 2015 18:49 (eight years ago) link
I'll rep hard for the following sleeper ballads that may or may not get shortchanged by the voting bloc:
After 7 - 'Ready Or Not'Bad English - 'Price Of Love'Brent Bourgeois - 'Dare To Fall In Love'Giant - 'I'll See You In My Dreams'Lou Gramm - 'Just Between You And Me'Nikki - 'Notice Me'Regina Belle - 'Make It Like It Was'
― Grilled Floam In A Gak Reduction (Old Lunch), Saturday, 15 August 2015 18:50 (eight years ago) link
I was tempted to include the other Stansfield top 40 hits in the list but I figured that was too ridiculous even for me.
"Just Between You and Me" got more airplay in my part of town more than the last three Foreigner singles combined; it was on every ten minutes. Then it disappeared. I haven't heard it since.
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 15 August 2015 18:58 (eight years ago) link
rmde at 'all around the world' being here but i do hear it on quiet storm so it's not as egregious as 'if it isn't love'
shortlist
Aerosmith - 'What It Takes'After 7 - 'Ready Or Not'Babyface - 'Whip Appeal'Don Henley - 'The Heart Of The Matter'Janet Jackson - 'Come Back To Me'Jody Watley - 'Everything'Johnny Gill - 'My, My, My'Madonna - 'Oh Father'Mariah Carey - 'Vision Of Love'Maxi Priest - 'Close To You'Quincy Jones et al - 'The Secret Garden (Sweet Seduction Suite)'Roxette - 'It Must Have Been Love'Sinead O'Connor - 'Nothing Compares 2U'Skid Row - 'I Remember You'Slaughter - 'Fly To The Angels'Stevie B. - 'Because I Love You (The Postman Song)'Tesla - 'Love Song'
sinead is the best, nostalgia tugs me toward skid row, but i feel i owe this vote to stevie b.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P46QnmEB5Tg
― balls, Saturday, 15 August 2015 21:06 (eight years ago) link
No "Sacrifice"?
― Master of Treacle, Saturday, 15 August 2015 21:16 (eight years ago) link
Did all of you people who aren't voting for (or at least shortlisting) "Joey" just not notice that "Joey" is on this list?
― The New Gay Sadness (cryptosicko), Saturday, 15 August 2015 22:38 (eight years ago) link
OH FUCKING HELL
I didn't see "Secret Garden." There's my vote. This is the peak of expensive, deluxe R&B balladry. Maybe El DeBarge's peak too.
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 16 August 2015 00:43 (eight years ago) link
I'm afraid that 'Sacrifice' was sacrificed on the altar of 50 selections, MoT.
― Grilled Floam In A Gak Reduction (Old Lunch), Sunday, 16 August 2015 02:04 (eight years ago) link
Holy christ, I must not have paid any attention to the lyrics because I had no idea Nikki was not a woman. Great song, though.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEZa5hemvdM
― Grilled Floam In A Gak Reduction (Old Lunch), Sunday, 16 August 2015 02:09 (eight years ago) link
Also great:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icagGXXN2R0
― Grilled Floam In A Gak Reduction (Old Lunch), Sunday, 16 August 2015 02:11 (eight years ago) link
you guys, love is all around you, love is knockin outside yr do-ah-wo
― orifex, Sunday, 16 August 2015 02:54 (eight years ago) link
Nikki is Martika's husband! They started a goth group together in the '00s!
― da croupier, Sunday, 16 August 2015 02:54 (eight years ago) link
yeah...fuck that guy
― balls, Sunday, 16 August 2015 03:41 (eight years ago) link
I didn't! I can't believe I voted for Lou Gramm!
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Sunday, 16 August 2015 17:49 (eight years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.
― System, Monday, 31 August 2015 00:01 (eight years ago) link
Hall & Oates hate the original version of "So Close" because, according to Hall, the label forced Hall to accept Jon Bon Jovi's production and songwriting doctoring. I don't hear much difference: the song ain't that exciting anyway. But I prefer the Bon Jovi job b/c of the opening hook.
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 31 August 2015 00:23 (eight years ago) link
1991 has been kind of a bummer year for ballads, sad to say.
― Herbie Mann's Push Push Pops (Old Lunch), Monday, 31 August 2015 18:54 (eight years ago) link
Could find it in my heart to vote for at least two-thirds of these.
― Norse Jung (Eric H.), Monday, 31 August 2015 19:07 (eight years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.
― System, Tuesday, 1 September 2015 00:01 (eight years ago) link
Lotta fans of meh-period Aerosmith 'round these parts...
― Herbie Mann's Push Push Pops (Old Lunch), Tuesday, 1 September 2015 00:47 (eight years ago) link
That's my favorite Aerosmith song.
― Norse Jung (Eric H.), Tuesday, 1 September 2015 01:40 (eight years ago) link
It's pretty harmonically complex (esp the bridge) for a twangy power ballad. I think it changes keys 4-5x.
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Tuesday, 1 September 2015 02:25 (eight years ago) link
You have too many strong opinions about other people's tastes to admit something like that. xp
― Johnny Fever, Tuesday, 1 September 2015 02:26 (eight years ago) link
It's a good Aerosmith song, but it's still distinctly lower-tier compared to sooooo much of the other stuff here.
― Herbie Mann's Push Push Pops (Old Lunch), Tuesday, 1 September 2015 02:29 (eight years ago) link
I have strong opinions about my own tastes too, to be fair.
― Norse Jung (Eric H.), Tuesday, 1 September 2015 02:33 (eight years ago) link
oh cool Skid Row beat Madonna.
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 1 September 2015 02:35 (eight years ago) link
Bummed I couldn't have given a vote to these zero-netters:
Babyface - 'Whip Appeal'Taylor Dayne - 'Love Will Lead You Back'After 7 - 'Ready Or Not'Poison - 'Something To Believe In'Gloria Estefan - 'Here We Are'Mariah Carey - 'Vision Of Love'Maxi Priest - 'Close To You'
Especially the Estefan.
― Norse Jung (Eric H.), Tuesday, 1 September 2015 02:40 (eight years ago) link
She was starting to bellow. I prefer "Can't Stay Away From You" and "Falling in Love (Uh Oh)."
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 1 September 2015 02:45 (eight years ago) link
Luther Vandross is a god and "Here and Now" still appalls me.
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 1 September 2015 02:46 (eight years ago) link
Janet Jackson - Come Back to MeJody Watley - EverythingSinead O'Connor - Nothing Compares 2ULisa Stansfield - All Around The WorldRoxette - It Must Have Been LoveMadonna - Oh FatherBabyface - Whip Appeal
man my radio station played Michael Damian's "Was It Nothing At All" as much as "Rock On," after which they flushed it down the memory toilet.
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 1 September 2015 02:48 (eight years ago) link
Oops meant to vote for "Whip Appeal" or "Vision of Love"
― best beloved george benson (The Reverend), Tuesday, 1 September 2015 05:40 (eight years ago) link
What's your radio station, Alfred? I have no idea what its range is/was, but I was a WAPE devotee until my family moved away from FL in the summer of '90, so it's entirely possible that that was the last time I heard that oft-played Michael Damian song (or any number of its contemporaries) on the radio. The pop stations in Indiana couldn't hold a candle to what I was listening to in Jacksonville.
― Herbie Mann's Push Push Pops (Old Lunch), Tuesday, 1 September 2015 12:27 (eight years ago) link
I voted for Janet, but here are the rest of the correct answers to this poll:
Sinead O'Connor - 'Nothing Compares 2U'Concrete Blonde - 'Joey'Madonna - 'Oh Father'Lou Gramm - 'Just Between You And Me'Tesla - 'Love Song'Regina Belle - 'Make It Like It Was'Taylor Dayne - 'Love Will Lead You Back'After 7 - 'Ready Or Not'Gloria Estefan - 'Here We Are'Brent Bourgeois - 'Dare To Fall In Love'Faster Pussycat - 'House Of Pain'Mariah Carey - 'Vision Of Love'Maxi Priest - 'Close To You'Nikki - 'Notice Me'Whistle - 'Always And Forever'
― Herbie Mann's Push Push Pops (Old Lunch), Tuesday, 1 September 2015 12:35 (eight years ago) link
Voted Lisa Stansfield, because ultimately that's the most correct answer to this poll.
― Norse Jung (Eric H.), Tuesday, 1 September 2015 12:37 (eight years ago) link
I left Lisa Stansfield off of my finalist list because apparently it's not a ballad or whatever people were complaining about upthread. It would've definitely been a contender otherwise.
― Herbie Mann's Push Push Pops (Old Lunch), Tuesday, 1 September 2015 12:40 (eight years ago) link
figured Sinead would have plenty of votes, so I went with the one Henley song I genuinely love.
― campreverb, Tuesday, 1 September 2015 12:59 (eight years ago) link
What's your radio station, Alfred?
at the time Y-100 or Power 96.
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 1 September 2015 13:27 (eight years ago) link