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

thank you for the poll.
somehow i forgot to submiss my votes, but this will be a great soundtrack for the quarantine.
probably 'desire as' would be my #1.

Thanks for the poll and the discussion.
Definitely enjoyed listening to these albums again especially the more obscure B-sides and the albums I don't care for as much (Gunmen, ITtMhz).

Also, thanks to whomever posted the chord walkthrough videos. The first two records in particular have such unusual and interesting chord progressions but hearing them so much over the years diluted the impact/shock. Watching them played through made me appreciate them, esp. the Swoon songs, much more.

Note on albums. Flipped on TWG and Jordan a dozen times. I also vacillated on Andromeda Heights, Crimson/Red and LCTWTM as my fifth place and now wish I would have gone with Andromeda since it placed so low. I get a lot of the criticisms of that record, but if if you can get passed the easy listening instrumental passages and the prominent alto sax it has as many great songs (Prisoner, Electric Guitars, title track, Weightless, Swans, Avenue of Stars, Whoever You are) as the other those later records. To me Andromeda is a much better record than Protest Songs which outside a few songs (The World Awake, LoS, Pearly Gates) seems more undercooked and demo-y than LCTWM.

Note on songs. Totally flaked on Desire As - definitely should have been in the top 20 (as my wife immediately pointed out). Surprised by the lack of love for Last of the Great Romantics, Pearly Gates, and Meet the New Mozart, but baffled most by vote totals for Horsin' Around.

My Ballot:

Albums
1. Jordan: The Comeback
2. Two Wheels Good/Steve McQueen
3. Swoon
4. From Langley Park to Memphis
5. Crimson/Red

Songs
1. The Ice Maiden
2. Wild Horses
3. Faron Young
4. Scarlet Nights
5. Carnival 2000
6. Appetite
7. Don't Sing
8. We Let the Stars Go
9. When Love Breaks Down
10. Cue Fanfare
11. Jesse James Bolero
12. If You Don't Love Me
13. Bonny
14. The King of Rock N Roll
15. Goodbye Lucille #1 (Johnny Johnny)
16. Green Isaac (I)
17. Cars and Girls
18. Technique
19. The Sound of Crying
20. Life of Surprises
21. The Last of the Great Romantics
22. Nightingales
23. A Prisoner of the Past
24. The Songs of Danny Galway
25. Doo Wop in Harlem
26. Pearly Gates
27. The Best Jewel Thief in the World
28. Cruel
29. Meet the New Mozart
30. Lions in My Own Garden (Exit Someone)

weighted ballots ahoy

Tracks::
The Sound of Crying
Goodbye Lucille #1 (Johnny Johnny)
Nightingales
Scarlet Nights
Appetite
The Ice Maiden
Life of Surprises
Knock on Wood
Real Life (is Just Around the Corner)
Carnival 2000
I Trawl the Megahertz
Doo-Wop in Harlem
Bonny
All the World Loves Lovers
If You Don't Love Me
The World Awake
Cars and Girls
I Remember That
Green Isaac
Ride
Electric Guitars
Donna Summer
Wild Horses
Enchanted
Technique
Horsechimes
The King of Rock 'N' Roll
Cornfield Ablaze
Nero the Zero
Cruel

Albums:
Jordan: The Comeback
From Langley Park to Memphis
Steve McQueen
Let's Change the World with Music
Swoon

Lyrics:
"Never let your conscience grow harmful to your health / Let no neurotic impulse turn inward on itself" - Life of Surprises
"We're only men and women doing what we can / sometimes I think that God is working to a plan / Then other times I swear that he is improvising / discordant and remote" - The Sound of Crying
"We were songbirds / we were Greek gods / We were singled out by fate / We were quoted out of context / It was great" - Electric Guitars
"Now every child wears the look of the child that wished to marry you / who knocking proudly on your door was greeted by your pretty wife" - The World Awake
"You and I won't be the fools that other lovers are / thinking every silver bottle top potentially a star" - All the World Loves Lovers

Again, many thanks, Nag! Here's my list which, if anything, shows I hold Protest Songs in a little higher regard than many other voters! I probably also should have listened to Jordan a little more during ballot creation.

Tracks:
1 Cruel
2 Goodbye Lucille #1
3 Elegance
4 Bonny
5 Faron Young
6 I Never Play Basketball Now
7 Appetite
8 Donna Summer
9 Wild Horses
10 Hallelujah
11 Horse Chimes
12 Talkin Scarlet
13 Moving The River
14 Machine Gun Ibiza
15 When Love Breaks Down
16 Mercy
17 Technique
18 Cue Fanfare
19 Enchanted
20 The Golden Calf
21 Diana
22 Looking for Atlantis
23 Wicked Things
24 Lions in My Own Garden
25 Adolescence
26 Paris Smith
27 Dublin
28 Horsin' Around
29 Life of Surprises
30 The Best Jewel Thief in The World

Albums:
1 Steve McQueen
2 Swoon
3 Protest Songs
4 Jordan: The Comeback
5 From Langley Park to Memphis

Yes, the Andromeda Heights era in general suddenly sounded a lot better to me - I haven't really revisited since feeling deep disappointment at the time.

I didn't vote in the lyrics poll (much too difficult, plus a couple of sentences taken out of context always seem underwhelming) but surprised that there were no votes for any lyrics from The Songs of Danny Galway. Ostensibly about Jimmy Webb, the lyrics of the second and third verses also seem to incorporate Paddy's post Swoon lyrical aspirations and are a good summation of his catalogue.

"In words he paints a vivid scene
Of places you may not have been
Yet listen and you're moved to swear
I know that house, I've climbed that stair
I've shared those overwhelming feelings
I've suffered loss, I've known such joy
Emotions we all know are burnished till they glow"

"chord changes like Baptist hymns
They lift your spirit till its soars
Till you forget that spirit's yours
Sound and word in sweet communion
Echoes of a better world
Where chivalry's not dead, we'll look for it instead"

On the C/R artist tributes I really love Mysterious too. When he's describing the "quicksilver task", it's like "to catch the world in images" fine, fine, bit flat maybe, but then "to annotate the feast" just a marvel.

great poll

i don't know the names of any of their songs for some reasons, kept having to check which one was which

Thanks for this poll. I didn't vote because I only know about half the catalogue. Time for a catch-up!

If anyone cares...

1. Swoon
2. Steve Mcqueen
3. Langley Park To Memphis
4. Jordan The Comeback
5. I Trawl The Megahertz

1. Bonny
2. Wild Horses
3.. When Love Breaks Down
4. Cruel
5. Appetite
6. We Let The Stars Go
7. I Remember That
8. Don’t Sing
9. Hallelujah
10. Goodbye Lucille
11. Technique
12. Cue Fanfare
13. Cars And Girls
14. The Best Jewel Thief In The World
15. The King Of Rock And Roll
16. Elegance
17. Radio Love
18. I Trawl The Megahertz
19. Lions In My Own Garden
20. Life Of Surprises
21. Blue Roses
22. Looking For Atlantis
23. Faron Young
24. Could’ve Bear To Be Special
25. Enchanted
26. The Venus Of The Soup Kitchen
27. Green Isaac
28. Horsin Around
29. The Yearning Loins
30. When The Angels

^ I care. Yours were the only other votes for "The Yearning Loins" and "Radio Love". Which means you roolz!

It just occurred to me that this is the first poll for which I've done the number-crunching where absolutely everyone submitting tracks also submitted an albums ballot. The latter is usually a smaller pool. This is surely a crucial and significant outcome, hinting at some deep truth about the artist but I'm not entirely sure what!

My ballot. Albums vote was tactical / applied EOY poll conventions.

LPs
01 Swoon
02 I Trawl the Megahertz

Songs
01 Goodbye Lucille #1
02 Jordan: The Comeback
03 Faron Young
04 Nightingales
05 Cruel
06 When the Angels
07 Horsin’ Around
08 Moon Dog
09 Here On the Eerie
10 Cue Fanfare
11 Moving the River
12 We Let The Stars Go
13 I Love Music
14 Desire As
15 Walk On
16 The King of Rock’N’Roll
17 One Of The Broken
18 Couldn’t Bear To Be Special
19 Scarlet Nights
20 Mercy
21 Appetite
22 Diana
23 Maching Gun Ibiza
24 Lions In My Own Garden (Exit Someone)
25 Don’t Sing
26 Paris Smith
27 The Ice Maiden
28 Wicked Things
29 Wild Horses
30 Looking For Atlantis

My main regret is not voting for "Technique".

TRACKS, RANKED
Appetite
Goodbye Lucille #1
Bonny
Desire As
Faron Young
When Love Breaks Down
Moving the River
Cue Fanfare
Jesse James Symphony
Jesse James Bolero
We Let The Stars Go
I Remember That
Nightingales
Scarlet Nights
Lions in My Own Garden
Enchanted
Carnival 2000
The End of the Affair
God Watch Over You
The Ice Maiden
Weightless
All The World Loves Lovers
The Sound of Crying
Life Of Surprises
Sweet Gospel Music
The Best Jewel Thief in the World
If You Don't Love Me
Wild Horses
Hallelujah
When the Angels

ALBUMS
Steve McQueen
Jordan: The Comeback
From Langley Park to Memphis
Andromeda Heights
Let's Change The World With Music

Has anybody heard the Jimmy Nail version of ‘Blue Roses’...I’ll stick my neck out and say it’s better the Prefab Sprout version...*sees people with pitchforks amassing on doorstep...

The fourth episode of the Netflix series I Am Not Okay With This opens with a teenage boy bouncing around his bedroom singing along with "The King of Rock and Roll." If I wasn't in love with the show before that point, I definitely am now.

i didn't vote in this, sorry, but i appreciated it. 'when love breaks down' might be their best song. might be the best song

I just realized Blueberry Pies only landed at 81 here. Absolutely ridiculous.

At least it's one track we know isn't modestly ranked due to being hopelessly under-heard. :)

Oh, dope! I didn't vote or follow the rollout, but I'm over the moon about "Appetite" winning.

I didn't post a ballot in March, but this will do.

The more I think about it, the more futile ranking PS songs is...my top ten is an ephemeral beast that could contain ten different songs from one day to the next.

...it's telling that a quarter of your top twenty didn't make the top forty in the ILX poll!

good list, but ya can’t quote ice maiden without including it dammit

I went to sleep with Spotify shuffling 2020 releases and woke to this conspicuously not-so-2020 sampled loop. Freaky.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgGkr6Qi8ro

"life of surprises" is just the greatest goddamn song of all time

"We Let The Stars Go" will fight you for that title.

It's "The Sound of Crying" for me, but we're splitting hairs here

1) this goddamn band.
2) I now have an earworm mashup from Life of Surprises to Forever by Charli.

I went through a period of listening to "Elegance" a lot after this poll. Not sure I'd parsed the lyrics properly beforehand but I was suddenly really digging it as a class warfare anthem. Secretly their best song. Maybe. Sometimes.

Nah. Cue Fanfare is the zenith.

When everyone comes in at the start of “Life of Surprises” is the best