I POLLED the Megahertz - ILM Artist Poll #100 - Prefab Sprout - RESULTS

Incredible song, kind of encompasses the full measure of this band’s and McAloon’s brilliance.

death is a small price for heaven

I love The Ice Maiden, the intro sounds like it should be the music on an Amiga platform game.

You're the Ice Maiden
Today you meet your match
Girl when I burn
Hell nothing's the same
I'll singe your pretty blond lashes
We're talking fire
We're talking flame
We're talking ice into ashes

Love what I assume is the double meaning of “match” there

My #2, I love how it's about ABBA. If I'd voted in the lyrics poll I'd have taken "death is a small price for heaven".

Ice maiden was my number 3, everything about it is amazing. My fav moments: the ringing guitar and echoing scream during the second bridge, the almost imperceptible key change, when the groove really kicks into gear after returning from “all these nights I’ve dreamt of you”

GIRL WHEN I BURN, HELL NOTHING’S THE SAME
I’LL SINGE YOUR PRETTY BLONDE LASHES

one of my fav tricks of paddy's is his use of drastic key changes, not a half step or a whole step, but big intervals. ice maiden has a key change up a fifth, and it's a super cool effect, because he's playing the same chord that open the song, but the harmonic context makes it feel so different.

scarlet nights and the jordan title track have these kind of big interval key changes too, but they're a lot more noticeable

https://images2.imgbox.com/68/e7/FVkw6qB4_o.jpg

#8
CARS AND GIRLS
from From Langley Park to Memphis (1988)
Points: 369
Votes: 18 (1)
Youtube: promo video

My #1. The most affectionate-sounding diss track ever.

does heaven wait
all heavenly
over the next horizon

It's so... durable. It felt like their biggest hit here when I was a child (not much competition really: only "Appetite" seemed to get much radio play otherwise) and it has always sounded fresh to me. I let it play twice just now after fetching the video. I virtually never do that!

cars and girls punished me for not voting for it by lodging itself in my head for a week straight. one of paddy's best vocal performances, love the way he whispers the "hot rod"/"new god" line.

https://images2.imgbox.com/9c/63/7vqvST0e_o.jpg

#7
I TRAWL THE MEGAHERTZ
from I Trawl the Megahertz (2003)
Points: 380
Votes: 16 (0)
Youtube audio

*heart eyes emoji*

really one of those staggering works of art that i hope to someday match in writing

my #2. totally obliterates me every time i hear it.

if i ever listened to it in a car, i would crash.

I feel compelled to allow 22+ minutes before the next entry.

Didn’t vote for anything from Megahertz as I see it as a complete piece, but if I had would have been this.

lol the first 5 songs on steve are in the top 6

Seems Megahertz ended up half way down my ballot, but it was immediately amongst the "no brainer" entries in my earliest from-memory shortlist.

lol the first 5 songs on steve are in the top 6

I have no idea what the sixth song is though. Blueberry Pies? An early single?

i know what it is

shares a name with another famous song by a famous british band

https://images2.imgbox.com/71/df/xSzSxnRP_o.jpg

#6
FARON YOUNG
from Steve McQueen (1985)
Points: 406
Votes: 19 (0)

Youtube audio

the first side of steve mcqueen has to be one of the greatest sides of a record ever

This is the song that hooked me into Steve McQueen. I remember having it running through my head while on a weekend tramp.

the sunset makes a fence out of the forest!!!!

god that line is so brilliant

lol the first 5 songs on steve are in the top 6

― ooga booga-ing for the bourgeoisie (voodoo chili), Thursday, March 19, 2020 3:17 PM (thirteen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

predictable, yet... otm

name five better songs

you can't

As obsolete as warships in the Baltic

i didn't vote for faron (for some godforsaken reason) but yeah, hard to argue.

I had always misheard the line, "But here I am with head inside the bonnet" as "But I fear I have my head inside the bottle" until my band recently started working on covering this and I learned the real lyric. I mentioned to my bandmates that what other reason would there be to listen to Faron Young at 4 in the morning? A bottle must be involved.

https://images2.imgbox.com/ef/39/Ydl7ZtMH_o.jpg

#5
WILD HORSES
from Jordan: The Comeback (1990)
Points: 480
Votes: 24 (1)
Youtube audio

extra tiiiiime

Ah, voodoo chili's clue makes sense. Great song that's found a new audience with younger groups. Pretty high on my list as I recall.

This song always reminds me of New Zealand's former prime minister harassing a young waitress by repeatedly pulling her ponytail.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/67949918/prime-minister-john-key-pulled-waitress-ponytail

Ha!

https://images2.imgbox.com/b4/04/f6mlO2Qm_o.jpg

#4
WHEN LOVE BREAKS DOWN
from Steve McQueen (1985)
Points: 499
Votes: 21 (2)
Youtube: promo video

i love the syncopated chorus so much and the falsetto "wild" in "wild horses"

I'll have to check my ballot, but I think I forgot to vote for this!

quite possibly the classiest song ever recorded

'When Love Breaks Down' has a convoluted history - released as a single in 1984 and again in 1985. Also in different mixes and lengths on the UK and US versions of the album.

Also in different mixes and lengths on the UK and US versions of the album.

Was just about ready post with this question. Thanks!

*to submit* post

was mystified by the phrase 'boxing clever' for a while before i realized it's a thing that british people say, i guess.

cool phrase, either way.

I thought this song was on a movie soundtrack, but wikipedia says it was in a grand theft auto game and was covered by the Zombies (!)

https://images2.imgbox.com/dd/b9/hirQ0nNC_o.jpg

#3
GOODBYE LUCILLE #1 (aka. JOHNNY JOHNNY)
from Steve McQueen (1985)
Points: 582
Votes: 23 (2)
Youtube: promo video