Mercury Music Prize: Which Previous Winners Have Classic Album Status?

Great album!

i think that was the idea behind 'the short list': http://www.shortlistofmusic.com/
which i think was started by a couple LA industry people. and it seems to have close ties to kcrw and my evil nemisis nic hartcourt.

Possibly because, according to the Guardian this morning, judges choose records on the basis of how many times they can listen to 'em in a row, and on whether anyone would object if you put the record on at, er, a dinner party.

This was used as a reason to suggest that Dizzee would not win.

This fuckin country. I swear.

the rest: ok, in their own way, maybe classics in their genre

ahem: You know you're getting old when........

was she a meat eater on that record or something?

Ssssh! Don't let C*L*M hear you, he'll have apoplexy!

Watch this space for further updates on the panel of Listmakers and key dates for the project, which will culminate with an Awards Concert in Los Angeles in October of 2003.

they better step it up over there...

isn't this a reasonably good measure of the quality of an album?

Eliza Carthy has seen the most dramatic rise
Fans have been flocking to discover some of the lesser-known Mercury Prize contenders since the shortlist was announced, figures have revealed.

Sales of many albums "at least doubled" the day after the announcement, national high street chain HMV said.

Folk singer Eliza Carthy saw the biggest jump - of 750% - but started from a low base, a spokesman said.

One bookmaker has made Dizzee Rascal, 19, a garage MC from east London, favourite for the prize.

This year's shortlist of 12 CDs was announced on Tuesday. They will compete to be named album of the year in September.

Among the artists in the running are rock bands Coldplay, Radiohead and The Darkness, jazz performer Soweto Kinch and hip-hop duo Lemon Jelly.

Find out more about the 12 nominees

Audio gallery

HMV figures showed that many artists sold between 50% and 150% more copies on Wednesday than they did on Tuesday.

Better-known nominees like Coldplay and Radiohead did not benefit so much because they had sold so many already.

"At this stage, it's the lower-profile acts, who haven't had that much exposure, that tend to do well," HMV spokesman Gennaro Castaldo told BBC News Online.

"[But] they start from a relatively small base so the increase tends to be more dramatic."

South London soul duo Floetry - who have been more successful in the US than the UK so far - saw demand for their debut jump 200%, he said.

Another soul singer, Terri Walker, sold 118% more while Lemon Jelly's figures were up 55% and Martina Topley-Bird rose 46%.

Coldplay are the fans' favourites to win the prize
Mr Castaldo said: "It does demonstrate that, in its 12th year, the award has come on a great deal.

"When it started out, it was seen as something that was fairly low-key and maybe an elitist thing. But over a number of years, that has changed."

This year's contest is thought by many to be one of the most unpredictable for years.

Bookmaker Ladbrokes has made Dizzee Rascal its 5-1 favourite - slightly ahead of Coldplay, Radiohead, The Darkness and The Thrills, all at 6-1.

Coldplay are leading a poll of BBC News Online readers, with Radiohead second and The Darkness third.

My bets are on Floetry as theyre big in USA but unknown here. So they have the potential to sell the most out of all the unknown albums, also wont be favourites so there will be no accusations of fixing as usual. Therefore Mercury Music Prize gains credibility by picking out something that sells shitloads due to them being the 1st to 'notice' them.

I hate the Martina Topley-Bird nomination this year, because too many people seem to think it's a Mercury sort of album anyway when it and she are just so much better than that.

Among this year's 20 listmakers are Dave Matthews, Tori Amos, Tom Waits, Coldplay's Chris Martin, Spike Jonze, Cameron Crowe, Mos Def, Gwen Stefani, the Neptunes, the Roots' Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson and Erykah Badu.

Did anyone ever think that? She's cool and all, but that album had, like, four good songs max.

All the ones I've heard (again, not counting Miss D) have stood the test of time remarkable well, sez I. I met one of The Darkness last night and he was a. genuinely chuffed to bits at their nimination and b. modest but quietly confident that thay're in with a chance.

Primal Scream - Screamadelica
Suede - Suede
Portishead - Dummy
Pulp - Different Class

While Badly Drawn Boy comes pretty close.

Primal Scream - Screamadelica
Portishead - Dummy
Pulp - Different Class
Badly Drawn Boy - The Hour of the Bewilderbeast
PJ Harvey - Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea

Of its Time (or will be):

Suede - Suede
Roni Size and Reprazent - New Forms
Gomez - Bring IT On
Ms Dynamite - A Little Deeper

Dunno:
Talvin Singh - OK

Naah:
M People - Elegant Slumming

Of the others: yes, Screamadelica was unarguably great in its day, but I haven't played it for close on a decade; Suede maybe should have got it for Dog Man Star in '94 (was it '94?) rather than M People (though the Prodigy's Jilted really ought to have won that year). Pulp: well maybe, but I'm scared to play it anyway for well-documented personal life-related reasons. Badly Drawn Boy: ditto. Roni Size: underrated record, but Reprazent are better live. PJ Harvey I think went seriously off the boil after about '93. Gomez: nice enough record but haven't listened to it in five years. Talvin Singh: only ever played once, though I never got rid of it. Ms Dynamite: decent enough record but haven't played it, oh, for about a year.