mercy seat is a little predictable at #1, but it's a good enough song that i can't complain too much
here's my tracks ballot:Jubilee StreetGalleon ShipHollywoodStagger LeeFrom Her to EternityBabe, I'm On FireO ChildrenBright HorsesHiding All AwayHiggs Boson BluesLovermanMessiah WardStraight to YouThere She Goes, My Beautiful WorldInto My ArmsNight RaidI Had a Dream, JoePush the Sky AwayLie Down Here (& Be My Girl)We Call Upon the Author
― ufo, Thursday, 24 December 2020 02:02 (three years ago) link
My non-placers were fairly numerous this time around:
BAD SEEDSSlowly Goes the NightPush the Sky AwayGhosteenShe Fell AwayGirl in AmberScumKnockin' On JoeI Had A Dream, JoeLamentSong of Joy
Non-BAD SEEDS:Dead SongCryDive PositionJust You and Me
Top LP was Prayers on Fire. (I misremembered earlier. Your Funeral...My Trial was #2.)
― Nag! Nag! Nag!, Thursday, 24 December 2020 02:04 (three years ago) link
Thanks for running this, charlie rex!
Ballot
Tracks1. Jubilee Street2. Lovely Creature3. Your Funeral My Trial4. Lime Tree Arbour5. We Call Upon the Author6. Lay Me Low7. TheLyre of Orpheus8. SkeletonTree9. Do You Love Me (Part 2)10. Brompton Oratory11. Loverman12. (Are You) the One That I've Been Waiting For?13. Death is Not the End14. There Is a Town15. Up Jumped the Devil16. The Good Son17. Tupelo18. Jack the Ripper19. Sun Forest20. The Carny
Albums:1. Let Love In2. Skeleton Tree3. The Boatman's Call4. Murder Ballads5. Ghosteen
― Western® with Bacon Flavor, Thursday, 24 December 2020 02:04 (three years ago) link
btw 'tower of song' was robbed
― mookieproof, Thursday, 24 December 2020 02:06 (three years ago) link
I didn't vote for Tower of Song because it was a cover and we're gonna do a separate covers poll!!! Then Tower of Song can battle Avalanche
― sarahell, Thursday, 24 December 2020 02:07 (three years ago) link
It’s really amazing that there’s only a 100 point spread between tracks 10-40. Just reviewing my ballot I can already see 5 or 6 tracks I could’ve easily swapped before submitting my ballot.
― Western® with Bacon Flavor, Thursday, 24 December 2020 02:08 (three years ago) link
OTHER LOVED TRACKS:
41. Hiding All Away 108 points (5 votes)42. I Had a Dream, Joe 106 points (5 votes)43. Long Time Man 100 points (4 votes)44. (Are You) the One That I’ve Been Waiting For? 99 points (4 votes)45. The Carny 97 points (6 votes)46. Slowly Goes the Night 93 points (4 votes)47. Thirsty Dog 88 points (5 votes)48. Scum 84 points (5 votes)=49. Brompton Oratory 83 points (5 votes)=49. Hard On for Love 83 points (5 votes)=51. Lay Me Low 79 points (4 votes)=51. Get Ready for Love 79 points (4 votes)53. The Good Son 74 points (4 votes)=54. I Need You 72 points (3 points)=54. Knockin' On Joe 72 points (4 votes)56. Push the Sky Away 71 points (4 votes)=57. Train Long Suffering 64 points (3 votes)=57. Skeleton Tree 64 points (3 votes)=59. As I Sat Sadly By Her Side 62 points (3 votes)=59. Lucy 62 points (4 votes)
― charlie rex, Thursday, 24 December 2020 02:23 (three years ago) link
No More Shall We Part really bombed.
strange because this is the one that really used to get played a lot at social gatherings in my university years. probably because it was released around that time.
― charlie rex, Thursday, 24 December 2020 02:28 (three years ago) link
mein balloti tried v hard to get Love Letter into the countdown, but alas to no avail lmao (mookie i got u) i do kind of hate my ballot stillTracks: 1 Love Letter2. There She Goes My Beautiful World3. Mermaids4. Brother My Cup Is Empty5. Nobody’s Baby Now6. Little Janey’s Gone7. From Her To Eternity8. (I’ll Love You) Til The End of The World9. Are You the One that I’ve Been Waiting For?10. The Carny11. Papa Won’t Leave You Henry12. The Weeping Song13. Tupelo14. Deanna15. Bring It On16. Scum17. Straight To You18. Mercy Seat19. Brompton Oratory20. Red Right HandNick Cave other projects etc Top 15 Tracks1. Hamlet (Pow Pow Pow) – The Birthday Party2. Brave Exhibitions – Boys Next Door3. Wild World – The Birthday Party4. After a Fashion -Boys Next Door5. Release the Bats – The Birthday Party6. Shivers – Boys Next Door7. Nick the Stripper – The Birthday Party8. Jennifer’s Veil – The Birthday Party9. Somebody’s Watching – Boys Next Door10. Mutiny in Heaven - The Birthday Party11. Deep In The Woods - The Birthday Party12. Junkyard – The Birthday Party13. Happy Birthday – The Birthday Party14. Nightwatchman - Boys Next Door15. Friend Catcher - The Birthday PartyTop 5 Albums1. Henry’s Dream2. From Her to Eternity3. Tender Prey4. The Good Son5. Boatman’s Call
― terminators of endearment (VegemiteGrrl), Thursday, 24 December 2020 02:54 (three years ago) link
No More was a huge gateway album for him, coming after the Boatman's radio hits (and Wild Roses) which opened his appeal to olds and normies. but if you stick around to dig deeper it's obv not as rewarding as literally anything else in his catalogue
The Minogue seat is waiting
A+ bendy
Thanks for running the poll Charlie! good fun.
are people interested in a voting/listening thread for the covers poll picking up fairly straightaway, or wait until after Christmas?
― huge rant (sic), Thursday, 24 December 2020 02:57 (three years ago) link
also an a+ thread title
― mookieproof, Thursday, 24 December 2020 03:10 (three years ago) link
Nice poll, great title! I briefly considered participating, as I was a big NC fan in the early-to-mid-90s, but I lost track over the years & now I can’t really even listen to him — just something about the melodrama & the theatricality that puts me right off. Still, I have plenty of fond memories, obnoxiously busking The Mercy Seat & Deanna & Papa Won’t Leave You Henry & Jack the Ripper to bewildered downtown shoppers. Live Seeds was always a favourite — my OPO — & that B-sides & rarities collection that came out in the early 2000s was a real treat. People give Stagger Lee a bit of shit, but I love how he took his lyrical cues less from previous musical versions than from an early jailhouse toast version (late 60s?) straight out of the oral tradition... and then mixed it up with a bunch of Cormac McCarthy slasher gore. For The Birthday Party, I always really gravitated to “Happy Birthday.” It just makes me feel awful and glad all over — one of the great postpunk songs IMO.
― the thing that the angry Left forbids (hardcore dilettante), Thursday, 24 December 2020 04:46 (three years ago) link
SongsStranger Than KindnessTupeloJubilee StreetThe Mercy StreetIdiot PrayerLong Time ManThere She Goes, My Beautiful WorldBabe, I'm On FireSaint HuckUp Jumped the DevilPapa Won't Leave You Henry Say Goodbye to the Little Girl TreeDo You Love MeShe Fell AwaySupernaturallyMagneto Cabin FeverWe Call Upon the Author Scum Jack the Ripper
Other projects, all Birthday Party unless otherwiseMutiny in Heaven A Catholic SkinBig Jesus Trashcan The Friend CatcherJunkyard Mr ClarinetDive Position (BND)Blast Off CapersSwamplandRelease the Bats Nick the StripperDead Joe Jennifer's Veil Depth Charge Ethel (Grinderman) Albums Your Funeral My Trial Tender PreyMutiny EP Junkyard Abattoir/LyreEnjoying seeing other peoples ballots, because even though I feel like I know the discography well there’s a few songs that have touched people that don’t ring a bell. Looking forwards to listening to those. I knew “Higgs Boson Blues” is a favorite, but I’m yet to connect with it. I think “Love Letter” is a perfect song, but it’s so tied to the deep disappointment I felt with NMSWP, it fell off my ballot. I can replay every nuance of “Deanna” in my head, and “black and smoking Christmas trees” is one of his best interjections of imagery. Yet it’s so familiar, I couldn’t boost it past songs that I’m more invested in now. Relistening, Dig Lazarus Dig rose in my esteem the most. The Good Son slipped the most compared to my memory.
― Citole Country (bendy), Thursday, 24 December 2020 05:01 (three years ago) link
I’m right there attitude wise with hardcore dilettante, I admire the work but can’t connect with it much any more. In recent years the elder statesman schtick and Warren / no Mick have put me off considerably. I can still listen to The Birthday Party all day long, I guess in my mind that’s equally Rowland’s and Tracy’s and Mick’s band.
― assert (MatthewK), Thursday, 24 December 2020 06:59 (three years ago) link
i think we’ve been watching a more naked version of scott walker’s career.
― Western® with Bacon Flavor, Thursday, 24 December 2020 08:02 (three years ago) link
great poll, charlie! here's my ballot:
TRACKSDo You Love Me?The Mercy SeatThere She Goes My Beautiful WorldStagger LeeHiggs Boson BluesO’Malley’s BarTupeloSaint HuckAs I Sat Sadly By Her SideLime Tree ArbourDig Lazarus Dig!!Let The Bells RingJubilee StreetUp Jumped The DevilOh My LordMore News From NowhereThirsty DogHard On For LoveMercyBrother My Cup Is Empty
ALBUMSTender PreyAbattoir Blues/The Lyre Of OrpheusLet Love InDig Lazarus DigFrom Her To Eternity
― la table sur la table (voodoo chili), Thursday, 24 December 2020 14:27 (three years ago) link
In recent years the elder statesman schtick and Warren / no Mick have put me off considerably. I can still listen to The Birthday Party all day long, I guess in my mind that’s equally Rowland’s and Tracy’s and Mick’s band.
i relate to this a lot. i probably listen to rowland's music more than nick's, but nick singing "shivers" at the rowland s howard pop crimes show earlier this year in london (hard to believe it was in 2020) was very moving and felt that he was somehow acknowledging rowland's importance. of course mick was all over that show and i like to think if he had still been with us tracy would have been there too. the personalities that comprised the birthday party are quite incredible really and "cool" as cave might have been he was only ever the fourth coolest member imo.
― stirmonster, Thursday, 24 December 2020 15:24 (three years ago) link
Rowland didn't write a ton of songs, but everything he released was excellent. Teenage Stuff Film and Get Lost Don't Lie are tied with Your Funeral, My Trial in my book.
Always surprised at how low The Firstborn is Dead tends to gets ranked among Nick Cave albums, but 17th position in this poll is baffling. It's probably my favourite Bad Seeds record, along with Your Funeral... My Trial, after which Cave's albums get a bit patchy for me.
Firstborn is the album where he sticks to exploring the blues, and White Guy Explores the Blues isn't the most fascinating avenue of musical styling for the last twenty years. I got into Firstborn is Deadand Get Lost Don't Lie at the same time, and what entranced me about both the Bad Seeds and Immortal Souls was that both were exploring the blues in different ways, and both ways were unique to the history of white guys doin' the blues (at least up to that point.).
― Citole Country (bendy), Thursday, 24 December 2020 19:15 (three years ago) link
THERE IS A WAR COMING
― mookieproof, Saturday, 26 December 2020 03:52 (three years ago) link
Huh, whatever happened to Tom DiCillo?He's still around NYC making art. I've run into him twice within the last 8 years, once at a screening of what was then a newly restored print of Howard Brookner's Burroughs: The Movie (DiCillo shot it), and another time at an art fair where he was exhibiting his work.
― birdistheword, Saturday, 26 December 2020 16:13 (three years ago) link
Theres currently a torrent war on the birthday party on dime just in case you;re interested like
― Stevolende, Monday, 28 December 2020 12:13 (three years ago) link
Covers poll / listening thread is halfway through, if anyone missed it: TOWERS OF SONG: a Nick Cave Sings Covers listening thread and poll
― shivers me timber (sic), Monday, 18 January 2021 22:07 (three years ago) link
CAVE COVERS as voted by a vast swathe of the ILM audience:
bubbling under
23. Patripassian 21 points, 2 votesclosing track of Current 93 album, 1996
21= What A Wonderful World 23 points, 2 votes Nick Cave & Shane MacGowan single, 1992
21= She’s Not There 23 points, 2 votes Neko Case & Nick Cave soundtrack contrib, 2011
and
20. All The Pretty Little Horses 23 points, 3 votes title track of Current 93 album, 1996
lullabyCurrent 93 with Nick Cave
― shivers me timber (sic), Wednesday, 3 February 2021 19:36 (three years ago) link
19. The Hammer Song 25 points, 3 votes Kicking Against The Pricks, 1986
The Sensational Alex Harvey BandBad Seeds
― shivers me timber (sic), Wednesday, 3 February 2021 20:46 (three years ago) link
18. Long Time Man 26 points, 3 votes …My Trial EP, 1986
Tim RoseBad Seeds, RFH 1999 (audience video)
― shivers me timber (sic), Wednesday, 3 February 2021 20:49 (three years ago) link
love the Ling Time Man cover so much ... so eerie & cool sounding
― terminators of endearment (VegemiteGrrl), Wednesday, 3 February 2021 20:52 (three years ago) link
*Long
Lingam Man
― shivers me timber (sic), Wednesday, 3 February 2021 20:57 (three years ago) link
yay, glad my C93 votes made it
― Überschadenfreude (sleeve), Wednesday, 3 February 2021 21:02 (three years ago) link
17. Helpless 27 points, 3 votes tribute album The Bridge, 1989
Neil Young, Massey Hall 1971Bad Seeds, KCRW 1989
― shivers me timber (sic), Wednesday, 3 February 2021 21:19 (three years ago) link
ugh so great!
― terminators of endearment (VegemiteGrrl), Wednesday, 3 February 2021 22:07 (three years ago) link
16. Disco 2000 27 points, 2 votes B-side to Bad Cover Version by Pulp, 2002
Pulp video, 1996Pulp reunion, 2011Nick CaveNick Cave (Pub Rock Version)
― shivers me timber (sic), Wednesday, 3 February 2021 22:40 (three years ago) link
15. Lost In Music 28 points, 2 votes Dirty Sings EP by Anita Lane, 1988
Sister Sledge / Chic, 1979/84Anita Lane with four Bad Seeds
― shivers me timber (sic), Thursday, 4 February 2021 00:47 (three years ago) link
14. Hey Joe 30 points, 2 votes Kicking Against The Pricks, 1986
Billy Roberts demo, 1961Tim Rose, 1969Billy Roberts & Grits, 1975Nick Cave, Mick Harvey, Toots Thielemans, Charlie Haden, David Sanborn, Hiram Bullock, Philippe Saisse and Omar Hakim, 1990
― shivers me timber (sic), Thursday, 4 February 2021 06:38 (three years ago) link
I didnt vote for Hey Joe but I love how creepy it is
― terminators of endearment (VegemiteGrrl), Thursday, 4 February 2021 06:47 (three years ago) link
Better believe that last one was from a Hal Willner TV series. Here's Nick & Mick doing The Mercy Seat on the same episode with Don Alias, Tom Barney and Saisse.
― shivers me timber (sic), Thursday, 4 February 2021 06:56 (three years ago) link
And just in case anyone wants to see Paul Shaffer wailing on organ with Nick, Mick and the CBS Orchestra on another song about Joe
― shivers me timber (sic), Thursday, 4 February 2021 07:00 (three years ago) link
Somehow it only dawned on me RIGHT NOW that the Bad Seeds recorded a cover *and* an original composition both named "The Hammer Song." That'll learn me for not knowing "Pricks" all that well.
― Nag! Nag! Nag!, Thursday, 4 February 2021 09:57 (three years ago) link
The worst part of it is that Nick renamed "Hammer Song" to "The Hammer Song" and then went and wrote his own "The Hammer Song."
― shivers me timber (sic), Thursday, 4 February 2021 11:17 (three years ago) link
That "Hey Joe" rendition is kinda amazing, no? I'm belatedly wishing I'd studied for this exam now, dammit.
It seems the collaborations on that Night Music program were frequently a bit bonkers. (Not *entirely* off-topic, given the title of the initial polling thread, lol.)
― Nag! Nag! Nag!, Thursday, 4 February 2021 11:38 (three years ago) link
I haven't ever seen that Hey Joe performance. Fucking brilliant. He looked so cool around then.
― Eyeball Kicks, Thursday, 4 February 2021 12:59 (three years ago) link
The sound is bizarrely excellent for a 1990 TV appearance on YouTube as well.
― Eyeball Kicks, Thursday, 4 February 2021 13:00 (three years ago) link
Nick Cave & Charlie Haden. *head explodes*
― stirmonster, Thursday, 4 February 2021 13:08 (three years ago) link
13. Stagger Lee 31 points, 2 votes Murder Ballads, 1995
Stack o' Lee Blues by Waring's Pennsylvanians, 1923Skeeg-A-Lee-Blues by Lovie Austin, 1924Stagolee by Mississippi John Hurt, 1928Stagger Lee by Lloyd Price, #1 on US R&B and pop charts in 1959Bad Seeds, Austin City Limits, c. 2014
― shivers me timber (sic), Thursday, 4 February 2021 19:03 (three years ago) link
12. Cosmic Dancer 31 points, 3 votes tribute album AngelHeaded Hipster, 2020
T Rex, Wembley Arena, 1972Nick Cave video
― shivers me timber (sic), Thursday, 4 February 2021 20:21 (three years ago) link
11. Wanted Man 39 points, 3 votes The Firstborn Is Dead, 1984/85
(c.2019 remix of) 1969 demo by Bob Dylan and Johnny CashJohnny Cash at San Quentin, one week laterJohnny Cash on his own variety TV show, six months laterBad Seeds in Marseilles 2008, Cave on guitar (audience video)
― shivers me timber (sic), Thursday, 4 February 2021 21:25 (three years ago) link
my no. 1.
― stirmonster, Thursday, 4 February 2021 21:36 (three years ago) link
Entering the top ten with a tie.
― shivers me timber (sic), Thursday, 4 February 2021 23:16 (three years ago) link
9= Long Black Veil 40 points, 3 votes Kicking Against The Pricks, 1986
Lefty Frizell, 1959 - plus sequel record by same writers, unissued until 1994Johnny Cash & Joni Mitchell, 1969 (also on Cash's TV show)Bad Seeds
9= Something’s Gotten Hold of My Heart 40 points, 3 votes Kicking Against The Pricks, 1986
David & Jonathan, 1967Gene Pitney, 1968Olivia Colman, Ben Whishaw, John C. Reilly, Nick Cave & Garry Mountaine
― shivers me timber (sic), Thursday, 4 February 2021 23:39 (three years ago) link