Most Overrated Act To Get More Than Two Songs On Pitchfork's Best Songs Of The 80s

pixies are F/G, i'm not crazy about them

smiths EX+

rem are VG+

guns and roses i feel like a total herb for not liking them (although the intro to "welcome to the jungle" is Classic)

It's kind of comforting and familiar to be able to cast a knee-jerk vote for New Order in every poll like this.

Think I'm gonna say Pixies, for reasons no one will agree with. Partly for the weird critical over-rating of them, treating a creepy schtick band with a good sound into something MAJOR; partly because they are the mainstreaming of a certain kind of trash-horror ironic aesthetic, and for that reason I kinda hate them. I mean, to pick up on a comparison upthread, he Cure are an immensely limited band and only really have two songs, but their miserableness feels earned and their two songs (the funereal one and the fast aching one) are both really good. This is no doubt some authenticity bullshit, but Robert Smith seems to have a personality, call it a self if you will; the various Pixies just seem to have comic books they like....

I'm a fan, but I think more than one Frankie Knuckles track is excessive. I would gladly swap “Baby Wants to Ride” for "Father Figure."

I wonder how PF would've even policed a one-track-per-artist filter when putting together the final results. I don't think anyone would've been happy if Purple Rain had been the only Prince song in the top 200, but who's happy about him having four either?

Guns n Roses. no contest. I could make a case for Joy Division too probably in second place. Everyone else on the list is cool although some of them are certainly over-represented. I love Prince as much as everybody else but 5 songs including the top spot feels like overkill.

Should have limited songs to one per artist and Raspberry Beret should have been the Prince pick.

You're probably in a small club thinking Raspberry Beret should be the lone representation of Prince, especially when Pop Life comes from the same album.

Tears For Fears by a million miles.

Ok, it's a personal favorite and I'm not being serious. Purple Rain at #1 and nothing else from Prince would have been okay with me. If there's a rule that only the top voted song for the artist places I don't see what's so polemical about that particular choice. They can eventually release the list including duplicated artists.

Will pitchfork release the rest of the votes? Would be good to see what placed below the 200s

Regarding "pop life" this might sound like heresy but I absolutely love the lo-fi and miserable Yo La Tengo cover (under the DUMP alias) whereas the original Prince version just sounds ok to me.

They don't usually release the full list, but they used to release the ballots. Do they still do that? Dunno.

Purple Rain is like the most NOT-80s song Prince released in the 80s. Might as well have come from 1970.

The tears for fears record from Donnie Darko is overrated but dudes...everybody wants to rule the world is a 10/10 classic masterpiece

fuck the pixies

fuck the smiths

fuck rem

and completely fujuuuuuuuuuuck guns n roses I mean seriously gtfo with that complete bullshit

― marcos, Tuesday, August 25, 2015 6:58 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

What corny ass challoping bs is this

everybody wants to rule the world is a 10/10 classic masterpiece

^ this

I mean I don't care about REM and don't listen to the pixies but come on

I don't know... in my mind Prince is hard to pin down to a certain decade. Some of his 70's songs sound very 80's and some of the 80's sound like 90's or per example Raspberry Beret could have sounded comfortable next to any song from 1968.

The whole purpose of this thread is to show how anti-rockist you are but I gotta be me. Diana Ross solo sux 4eva

― kornrulez6969, Tuesday, August 25, 2015 8:04 AM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I think this has to be the dumbest post in the thread

You know, a lot of people are probably going to listen to Frankie Knuckles' Your Love for the first time and recognize it as the song that AnCo sampled for My Girls

I guess we're getting into the weeds here, but Raspberry Beret sounds completely 80s to me run through a flower power filter. 60s pastiche with an eye on 80s charts. It's to the 60s what Groove Is in the Heart is to the 70s.

the song that AnCo sampled for My Girls

I could've gone through the rest of my life happily never having this brought to my attention.

Your Love 4EVA. Death to My Girls!

Lol I like both AnCo and Knuckles songs and never made the connection until now. It's so obvious, how could I have missed it? Is it really a sample? Or did they re-recorded it? It sounds like the same line and melody but the sound isn't quite the same.

I'm doing some quick google search and apparently it's not a direct sample and it's not credited. Even the wikipedia page brushes it off as 'the song resembles the frankie knuckles song"

Also it seems like it's not really a Frankie Knuckles song. It's by Jamie Principle and Knuckles just liked to play it and attached his name to it to make it more famous:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Your_Love_(Frankie_Knuckles_song)

oops

this thread is super informative. like I had no idea the Pixies are a "creepy schtick" band with no personality.

Holding up Robert Smith as doing everything right the Pixies are doing wrong is weird. Dude sings so many songs about mouths and parts of mouths. Pixies sing about aliens and three day parties.

this thread is super informative. like I had no idea the Pixies are a "creepy schtick" band with no personality.

― alpine static, miércoles 26 de agosto de 2015 7:17 (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

This comment was also very weird to me but decided to pay no mind. I have never heard anyone associating the Pixies with horror aesthetics nor do I think there's anything particularly creepy about their sound.

Maybe surrealism but not horror.

ugh polls ugh bands ugh "one artist one song" ugh ugh but i had to pop in to say "Head Over Heels" is a zillion times waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better than the cheeseball "Everybody Wants To Run the World"

Incorrect. Thank you for playing.

I don't like DRoss much, but those singles listed upthread are pretty great.

Diana Ross saved my damn life, she's underrated - her '79/'80 stuff just rules imo

TFF has rad keyboard sounds but are one of the most insufferable bands, they have that proggy "here let me explain the world to you chumps" style lyrically. they're essentially Billy Joel with better taste

u2 obviously, but otoh the pixies songs in question don't really make the pixies seem amazing

like, literally every other song they released in the 80s > 'where is my mind'

Also it seems like it's not really a Frankie Knuckles song. It's by Jamie Principle and Knuckles just liked to play it and attached his name to it to make it more famous:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Your_Love_(Frankie_Knuckles_song)

― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Wednesday, August 26, 2015 7:04 AM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

thats not what this says

AnCo did not sample 'Your Love' - three note arpeggios are a pretty common thing.

this thread is odd. not bad, but kind of challop central.

i really like a couple tears for fears songs but this:

they have that proggy "here let me explain the world to you chumps" style lyrically.

― tremendous crime wave and killing wave (Joan Crawford Loves Chachi), Wednesday, August 26, 2015 3:01 AM (4 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

is very true and nails something i have sometimes felt in an inchoate way, so thanks for that.

i don't think i have a problem in theory with some artists owning huge amounts of real estate on this list. i mean i don't really care about this list full stop, so why am i even posting? because school hasn't started yet. new order should not have four songs, but i'd be okay with prince having ten tbh.

MJ, too. Janet, for that matter. could have ten and it would seem fair to me, i mean.

they have that proggy "here let me explain the world to you chumps" style lyrically.

Hello, Andy Partridge.

Gonna hop in here as much as possible to say Guns N Roses suck.

The whole purpose of this thread is to show how anti-rockist you are but I gotta be me. Diana Ross solo sux 4eva

― kornrulez6969, Tuesday, August 25, 2015 8:04 AM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I think this has to be the dumbest post in the thread

This post makes me feel unsafe. I will not be bullied by you and I will not put up with you mansplaining why I'm wrong to think that Diana Ross sux 4eva.

That would be a textbook example of mansplaining, I'll grant.

(In reverse.)

I'm just messing around. But I do find it odd how these threads are always an occasion to talk about how much rock music sucks (except the Smiths for some reason, who have more shitty songs than any "great" band).

why is it odd?

Smiths suck. There, that's evened things up a tad.

A lot of rock music sucks. Like The Replacements.

I think it's a way to fit in with the crowd more than an objective appraisal of the music. Rock music, or music made by white, American (for the most part except U2 is obviously an exception here) males is an easy target.

My intense personal belief that solo Diana Ross sux 4eva will get people angry, but the hatred for U2, the Replacements (who really are just the American Smiths) is welcome.

Obviously this is just my probably uninformed opinion and people like Alfred do not count in it because I've seen from your posts that you listen to everything.