The BBC often used to have humorous poets with regional accents on early evening light entertainment shows - I'm thinking of Pam Ayers etc - and 'Sally' always make me think I've just accidentally caught the tail-end of That's Life and some joker's doing a bad knock-off of 'In Every Dream Home A Heartache'. It is quite impressive how much of the shittest bits of Britain in the late 70s are encapsulated in that piece
― o shit the sheriff (NickB), Wednesday, 7 December 2022 13:50 (one year ago) link
That scrappy, raggedy sound on "When The world is Running Down..." is heaven to my ears.
Mine too — I ranked that song VERY high on the tracks ballot. And I like the album, but it is a bit of a hodgepodge and I don't love its big singles.
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Wednesday, 7 December 2022 16:24 (one year ago) link
Thirded, voted for that track but also had the album as my #1. I thought it was uneven when I first heard it, but it's all grown on me and wouldn't change a thing. I know the Police don't think highly of it because of the deadline pressure but in retrospect I wonder if that helped. They didn't labor too much over anything, and they had to fall back on what they did easiest/best. Great rhythms, great hooks, for the most part nothing they messed with too much, much to the album's benefit.
― birdistheword, Wednesday, 7 December 2022 16:43 (one year ago) link
Doing a Top 40, which is really too many. I did a Top 60 when I ran Daft Punk earlier this year and the 60th placement only had three votes. But that is a different animal and that was the right length, good collaborations in the bottom half of that poll but I digress. The Police poll has a floor of four votes, which works. This way we get all number ones in the main rollout, where if I went for only 30 then some would have missed the rollout.
― Bee OK, Wednesday, 7 December 2022 17:05 (one year ago) link
https://i.imgur.com/xmDJBpK.jpg
40. MotherFrom: Synchronicity Released: June 17, 1983110 Points, 4 Votes
― Bee OK, Wednesday, 7 December 2022 17:10 (one year ago) link
I didn’t know how I wanted this poll to look. There aren’t a lot of different band shots and video shots did intrigue me. I finally decided to go with movie posters from the year the song came out. I would not say 1978- 1983 is a golden age for Hollywood but there are some pretty good posters. I did mess up a bit as these are gross US numbers so some films do bleed into to more then one year. I don’t think I will repeat a poster however.
too high
― comedy khadafi (voodoo chili), Wednesday, 7 December 2022 17:12 (one year ago) link
solo is awesome tho
― assert (matttkkkk), Wednesday, 7 December 2022 17:17 (one year ago) link
Ha, this being the start to the rollout is perfect - I didn't vote for it and don't even like it but I love that it's right there, forever, on side 1 of the platinum-selling album Synchronicity.
― Gavin, Leeds, Wednesday, 7 December 2022 17:24 (one year ago) link
This song used to piss my dad off so much when it came on, maybe this was the most punk thing they ever did? Also funny that Andy goes full-freudian on sting's jung-themed album
― o shit the sheriff (NickB), Wednesday, 7 December 2022 17:31 (one year ago) link
Didn't vote for it though - as much as I admire it, it really is terrible
― o shit the sheriff (NickB), Wednesday, 7 December 2022 17:32 (one year ago) link
"You think you can misread Freud, boy-o? Watch MEEEEEE!"
― Malevolent Arugula (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 7 December 2022 17:33 (one year ago) link
xps 1978-1983 is a kind of a transitional time. The last gasps of the New Hollywood ("Days of Heaven," "Apocalypse Now," "Raging Bull," "King of Comedy," "Heaven's Gate," etc.) The "creative executives" were taking over and you can see more studio meddling with the mutilation of films like "Blade Runner."
But a lot of great stuff happening in the margins. Great burgeoning talent (Albert Brooks with "Real Life" and "Modern Romance," David Lynch with "The Elephant Man," Jonathan Demme with "Melvin and Howard," David Cronenberg with "Videodrome," Sara Driver with "You Are Not I," George Miller and Joe Dante getting established in Hollywood with their "Twilight Zone" segments), long-time mavericks making a comeback or still plugging away (John Cassavetes with "Gloria," Sam Fuller with "The Big Red One" and "White Dog," Ivan Passer with "Cutter's Way," Dennis Hopper with "Out of the Blue," John Huston with "Wise Blood") and the underground scene was just starting to flourish (Charles Burnett's "My Brother's Wedding" among many others).
― birdistheword, Wednesday, 7 December 2022 17:37 (one year ago) link
This song is amazing and hilarious. And it's in 7/4.
― billstevejim, Wednesday, 7 December 2022 17:39 (one year ago) link
― Naive Teen Idol, Wednesday, 7 December 2022 17:43 (one year ago) link
Great post birdistheword and I agree that there are some great movies during this era. Looking at a list of movies tho, there was a lot of crap too. I hope I got some good posters out of this exercise.
― Bee OK, Wednesday, 7 December 2022 17:50 (one year ago) link
https://i.imgur.com/gQ7QXsZ.jpg
39. Rehumanize YourselfFrom: Ghost in the Machine Released: October 2, 1981119 Points, 4 Votes
― Bee OK, Wednesday, 7 December 2022 17:51 (one year ago) link
I mean:
https://i.imgur.com/EEAgjra.jpg
― Malevolent Arugula (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 7 December 2022 17:52 (one year ago) link
I'm very busy at work today and won't be able to do 20 like I had originally planned. This will be a slow reveal today but maybe that's OK?
― Bee OK, Wednesday, 7 December 2022 17:52 (one year ago) link
That movie looks like a remake of Bedazzled which was actually a fun movie.
― Bee OK, Wednesday, 7 December 2022 17:56 (one year ago) link
it's okay -- rehumanize yourself!
― Malevolent Arugula (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 7 December 2022 17:56 (one year ago) link
love this song, maybe my favorite of Copeland's Police tunes
― frogbs, Wednesday, 7 December 2022 17:58 (one year ago) link
It’s actually a collab with Sting? I’d forgotten that.
― Naive Teen Idol, Wednesday, 7 December 2022 18:02 (one year ago) link
I think Sting wrote the lyrics, Copeland did the music. well, Sting is probably responsible for the uh "sax arrangements" as well
― frogbs, Wednesday, 7 December 2022 18:10 (one year ago) link
sting wrote the lyrics, Stewart wrote the music iirc. Never been a fan of this one tbh, lyrics are way too on-the-nose and delivered with sting's most snide-sounding vocal, listening to it actually makes me want to turn into a robot and tase the guy till his socks catch fire.
― o shit the sheriff (NickB), Wednesday, 7 December 2022 18:12 (one year ago) link
shocked by the c word in this as a kid, first time I heard it on record
― assert (matttkkkk), Wednesday, 7 December 2022 18:12 (one year ago) link
https://i.imgur.com/gKfLJkw.jpg
38. Too Much InformationFrom: Ghost in the MachineReleased: October 2, 1981143 Points, 5 Votes
― Bee OK, Wednesday, 7 December 2022 18:22 (one year ago) link
the weird filler tracks on ghost are better than the weird filler tracks on the other albums. i voted for a couple, not this one tho
xp or this one
― comedy khadafi (voodoo chili), Wednesday, 7 December 2022 18:24 (one year ago) link
love this one, what a groove
― o shit the sheriff (NickB), Wednesday, 7 December 2022 18:30 (one year ago) link
otm
― Malevolent Arugula (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 7 December 2022 18:31 (one year ago) link
See the whole world six times over
― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Wednesday, 7 December 2022 18:41 (one year ago) link
Voted for both of those Ghost tracks, they're jams.
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Wednesday, 7 December 2022 18:45 (one year ago) link
https://i.imgur.com/QyBPbIo.jpg
37. Shadows in the RainFrom: Zenyattà MondattaReleased: October 3. 1980148 Points, 5 Votes
― Bee OK, Wednesday, 7 December 2022 18:52 (one year ago) link
RIP
― Bee OK, Wednesday, 7 December 2022 18:55 (one year ago) link
have realised that I now very much prefer the police when they're exploring atmospheres, textures and grooves - I guess in retrospect you could say their proto post-rock tendencies - rather then when they're more bent on rocking out, as potent as they often were in that mode. But it's the spaces I'm into, and how they arrange things around that, and this ghostly one is one of their best for that I think
― o shit the sheriff (NickB), Wednesday, 7 December 2022 19:39 (one year ago) link
anyone want to say anything about the differences between the police and the clash in how they approached dubby sounds? clash always seem to use dub for political songs, police use it for creating haunted spaces
― o shit the sheriff (NickB), Wednesday, 7 December 2022 19:43 (one year ago) link
I mean I could develop that thesis further myself but I know fuck all about the clash tbf
― o shit the sheriff (NickB), Wednesday, 7 December 2022 19:45 (one year ago) link
https://i.imgur.com/QlqmmEK.jpg
36. Murder by NumbersFrom: SynchronicityReleased: June 17, 1983Bonus track on cassette and CD editions149 Points, 5 Votes
― Bee OK, Wednesday, 7 December 2022 19:53 (one year ago) link
lol, i did not relate images with songs but in this case it works.
I think the Police incorporated dub more organically than the Clash did — as a core part of their Sonic foundation rather than an adventurous add-on. Though some things on Combat Rock got close, like “Ghetto Defendant.”
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Wednesday, 7 December 2022 19:54 (one year ago) link
lol
― Malevolent Arugula (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 7 December 2022 19:55 (one year ago) link
"police use it for creating haunted spaces": in this, they mostly resemble Remain in Light Heads to me…
is it at all clear that the Police knew about and listened to dub? The Clash surely did, whereas I almost think Sting was like, "I like Bob Marley and reggae is the element that differentiates us from many acts," but did he go further than that? I don't see Andy being particularly interested, and Stewart liked it again as a way to distinguish his drumming, but I don't see them being all into King Tubby or Heart of the Congos…
― veronica moser, Wednesday, 7 December 2022 20:03 (one year ago) link
I dunno -- I could imagine Stew blasting HOTC.
― Malevolent Arugula (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 7 December 2022 20:08 (one year ago) link
In the movie Copycat there's a part where Sigourney Weaver is reading a letter written by a serial killer and I'm pretty sure it's verbatim from "Murder By Numbers."
― billstevejim, Wednesday, 7 December 2022 20:13 (one year ago) link
Murder by Numbers made my ballot. I had the cassette version of the album. Was surprised that it only got five votes.
― Bee OK, Wednesday, 7 December 2022 20:24 (one year ago) link
eh, i'm pretty sure that most bands hanging around in london at that time would've been exposed to some dub. don't see why he wouldn't have heard HOTC either - he loved the beat and the beat released it on their label. check the tees!
https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.imvdb.com/video/250306704722-police-the-dont-stand-so-close-to-me_music_video_ov.jpg http://quietus_production.s3.amazonaws.com/images/articles/9007/Congo_Main_1339269341_crop_550x500.jpg
― o shit the sheriff (NickB), Wednesday, 7 December 2022 20:26 (one year ago) link
was just listening to this actually, it is a pretty terrible recording but they are literally playing dub reggae - with a guest appearance by ranking roger!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XqvfyRkGCI
― o shit the sheriff (NickB), Wednesday, 7 December 2022 20:42 (one year ago) link
I find the lyrical conceit and sing-songy chorus of “Murder By Numbers” to be a little insufferable. “Too Much Information” OTOH is a pretty fun afropop jam. Didn’t make my ballot but it’s def. a good time.
― Naive Teen Idol, Wednesday, 7 December 2022 20:47 (one year ago) link
https://i.imgur.com/9hsuinW.jpg
35. ContactFrom: Reggatta de Blanc Released: October 2, 1979165 Points, 6 Votes
― Bee OK, Wednesday, 7 December 2022 20:52 (one year ago) link
lol winner
― Malevolent Arugula (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 7 December 2022 20:54 (one year ago) link