The History Of Jop Part 1 aka Everybody's Talking About Pop Musik

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Obviously nothing can replace the Now Polls in our hearts. But koganbot suggested doing polls bassed on the Village Voice Pazz and Jop feature, and that seemed a good idea to me.

The what and what? The Pazz and Jop poll* is an annual poll published by the Village Voice newspaper** in New York. The idea is that every rock critic in America - and latterly in THE WHOLE WORLD (sort of) - gets to vote for their favourite albums and singles of the year. We'll be looking at the singles polls here, historically the poor relation of the albums polls ftb loads of critics not bothering voting in them.

These polls will be done canon-style, i.e. you pick your favourite ten out of the top thirty singles. Or in this case, because this first one was a small enfeebled thing, you pick your favourite NINE out of 26.

The point of the polls, as well as the usual timewasting comment fun, is to get a handle on how critical opinion works and has shifted and where you agree and don't and all that fun stuff.

Without further ado - TO THE TICKY BOXES.


[Poll #809394]


*don't worry too much about the Pazz bit.

**whether there will still be a Pazz and Jop poll following the VV's recent takeover by The Man, I do not know.

Comments

[maura.livejournal.com]

man, i really loathe the pretenders.

[braisedbywolves.livejournal.com]

I don't hate them, but I'm sort of staggered that they got two songs on this - I can't imagine anyone 'seriously' rating them.

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

I should say that the first three text qns are about these specific records and the last is about ANY RECORD released that year (i.e. 1979). I will phrase this better next time!

[carsmilesteve.livejournal.com]

aha, that's what i was wondering.

everyhit's "every single that went top 3" option provides a great list, this was just when i was starting to become aware of music (precocious, moi? i was five and a half ;)), "hurray, hooray it's a holi-holi-day" was probably up there, but i distictly remember I don't like mondays, video killed the radio star, and walking on the moon, not to mention fiddler's dream...

[jauntyalan.livejournal.com]

bah. too much stuff to choose from. i go with this list to arbitrarily (v so) cut it down.

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Ones I have never knowingly heard (of):

The Records
Robin Lane and the Chartbusters.

Also why "Tusk" was a winner and not "Sara" I can't imagine.

[blue-russian.livejournal.com]

For me, also The Brains, The Flying Lizards, and Lester Bangs.

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

Tusk the LP was a relatively late '79 release. "Tusk" was the first single off it - a single edit of "Sara" wasn't released until 1980.

Ha ha

[blue-russian.livejournal.com]

I began ticking and then thought to myself "This is a stupid poll. They're almost all good. What are we going to learn from this?" And then I read again and realized I only get NINE tickies. Owch!

Re: Ha ha

[braisedbywolves.livejournal.com]

Good point!

[dickmalone.livejournal.com]

It always shocks me looking at these old P&Js how little critical consensus has changed in 25 years...

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

I could bang on about how amazing Sister Sledge are for HOURS. And probably will at some point. But 'We Are Family' is one of my very earliest musical memories and it is still superb today. Gawd bless Nile & Bernie, living LEGENDS. Except Bernie died 10 years ago. But you know what I mean.

[blue-russian.livejournal.com]

I HAAAATED "We Are Family" at the time. I am tempted to say that it, along with some Carpenters songs and Steely Dan's "Deacon Blue" are among my earliest musical memories.

[dubdobdee.livejournal.com]

did P&J not do singles before 1979!!?

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

If they did it's not listed on Xgau's website!

it is finally time to RESTART YR SOBBIN

[dubdobdee.livejournal.com]

i'm impressed how poorly the pretenders are doing! WELL DONE POPTIMISTS!

[jauntyalan.livejournal.com]

mind you, only you and i have chosen the real best song here!

ooh, controversy (a bit)

[carsmilesteve.livejournal.com]

so i ticked Rapper's Delight in the end, it just about beating out McFadden and Whitehead, but, is it really all that?

Re: ooh, controversy (a bit)

[jauntyalan.livejournal.com]

the answer is: no. and it's about 3 hours too long.

For Comparison Purposes

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

The NME Critics Singles Poll 1979: (Top 26 only)

Eton rifles - The jam
Gangsters - The specials
London Calling -The clash
I will survive - Gloria Gaynor
Strange town - The jam
Message in a bottle - The police
Oliver's army - Elvis Costello
Spacer - Sheila B Devotion
Shake your body - The Jacksons
Memories - Public image ltd.
Death disco - Public image ltd.
My feet keep dancing - Chic
Rock lobster - The B52's
Don't stop 'til you get enough - Michael Jackson
Making plans for nigel - XTC
Queen of hearts - Dave Edmunds
The pictures on the wall - Echo & The Bunnymen
Life during wartime - Talking heads
She's beyond good & evil - The pop group
Boogie wonderland - Earth wing and fire
Rowche rumble - The fall
Living on the front line - Eddie grant
The prince - Madness
Boys don't cry - The cure
Touch - Lori & the chameleons
Transmission - Joy Division

(crossovers in bold)

Re: For Comparison Purposes

[the-roofdog.livejournal.com]

I ph34r listening to two PiL singles in one Earth year is more actually more than any human being can handle.

bcz i can (issue in reach w/o standin up remix)

[dubdobdee.livejournal.com]

NME singles xmas 1979

1. Eton Rifles -- Teh Jsm
2. Gangsters -- The Specials
3. London Calling -- The Cloche
4. I Will Survive -- G.Gaynor
5. Strange Town -- Teh Jsm
6. Message in a Bottle -- The Police
7. Oliver's Army -- E.Costello
8. Spacer -- Sheila B. Devotion
9. Shake yr Body -- The Jacksons
10. Memories -- PiL
11. Death Disco -- PiL
12. My Feet Keep Dancing -- Chic
13. Rock Lobster -- The B52s (first single i evah bought!)
14. Don't Stop Til u Get Enuff -- Jacko
15. Making Plans for Nigel -- XTC
16. Queens of Hearts -- Dave Edmunds
17. The Pictures on the Wall -- Echo and his Bun E. Men
18. Life During Wartime -- Talking Heads
19. She is Beyond Good and Evil -- The Pop Group
20. Boogie wonderland -- Earth Wind and Fire
21. Rowche Rumble -- The Fall
22. Living on the Front Line -- Eddy Grant
23. The Prince -- Madness
24. Boys Don't Cry -- The Cure
25. Touch -- Lori and the Chameleons
26. Transmission -- Joy Division
27. Get Over You -- The Underdones
28. Memphis Tennessee -- Silicone
29. On My Radio -- The Selecter
30. Pop Musik -- M
31. Girls Talk -- Dave Edmunds
32. Heart of Glass -- Blondie
33. We Are Family -- Sister Sledge
34. Stop yr Sobbin - The Pretenders
35. Where's Bill Grundy Now? -- TV Personalities
36. Saturday Night Beneath the Plastic Palmtrees -- Leighton Buzzards
37. Time Goes By So Slow -- The Distractions
38. Protections -- Graham Parker
39. A Message to You Rudi -- The Specials
40. Electricity -- OMD

Re: bcz i can (issue in reach w/o standin up remix)

[jauntyalan.livejournal.com]

man alive but: heart of glass >>>>>>> dreaming

!!!

[dubdobdee.livejournal.com]

23 ppl voted in the nme poll --- how many voted in JOP?

[http://users.livejournal.com/xyzzzz__/]

can I assume that "let it blurt" is garbage?

[koganbot]

No. That's no better than assuming that Paris Hilton is garbage.

Old people!

[juror8.livejournal.com]

Tell me about Nick Lowe. I know "Cruel To Be Kind", and didn't he do "I Love The Sound of Breaking Glass" as well, but what was he? Pop or indie?

Re: Old people!

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

PUB!

[dubdobdee.livejournal.com]

i. along w. d.edmunds he was in the ill-fated BRINSLEY SCHWARZ
ii. he was well-respected as a PRODUCER even tho his motto was "just bash it dahn"
iii. HE MIGHT BE THE AVATAR OF THE PURE POP MEME = one of his LPs wz called "pure pop for now people"!!
iv. i dl-ed one of his LPs off of geir
v. dom you wd like the song MARIE PREVOST

[blue-russian.livejournal.com]

edmunds only produced the SCHWARZ, as i recall. they were together in ROCKPILE, tho

Records = Indie!!

[blue-russian.livejournal.com]

The sound of this (http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=download&ufid=48E103283C27973A) also reminds me very much of a RIch Kids single that someone put on a mixtape for me years ago. I quite like it.

No luck on tracking down Robin Lane, who I remember as a Boston folkie type.

[strange-powers.livejournal.com]

Curse you, poptimists, for forcing RUTHLESS NO TICKAGE on some wonderful, wonderful records.

[piratemoggy.livejournal.com]

Help, I just found out I don't know anything at all about music in 1979! I don't even know what that Gang of Four song is and I used to really like them. :/

[koganbot]

It was on their first album in a faster and not as good version (too herky-jerk even where part of the point was to be herky-jerk). I must say, as someone who's had a long-time vendetta against the Gang of Four, that this is a great song, and was a near miss on my ticky list. Very stripped down, taut, w/ Jon intoning at the start, half-ominous and half pathetic, "The change'll do you good/I always knew it would." In other words, it's a breakup song, the metaphor being that he's damaged goods and therefore being shipped back to the distributor to be replaced - and probably in their pseud way the band think they're saying something-or-other about the relation of all this to the commodification of whatever, but that doesn't get in the way of the hard little bent-foot dance they're laying down and the hard twisted anger/sorrow they're portraying. Obv. Go4 are no Ashlee or even Carole when it comes to the complexities of actual breakups, but they get a particular feel, and a dance/antidance that goes with that feel.

I said Best Year Ever

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

See also:
Thin Lizzy, Amii Stewart, Roxy Music, Supertramp, The Beat, Sparks, ELO, Rickie Lee Jones, Status Quo, Janet Kay, The Ruts and Gerry Rafferty ...to name but 12 who don't appear in any of the P&J, NME or I Love #1s lists.