The History Of Jop Part 5 aka The Kid Is Not My Son

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

A delay in the poll caused by my having some work, but finally the ship of retrospective metapop criticism sails into the waters of 1983 - Jackson the winner, Culture Club getting some serious vote-splitting, and this year the P&J poll included a BEST VIDEO section for the first time, which we might well discuss in a separate YouTube-enabled poll later (I can't get YouTube at work).

Procedural Note: I've excised "Back On The Chain Gang" by the Pretenders as it featured last time.

You only get EIGHT votes this time - use them wisely.


[Poll #819820]


The Joptimists Poll Remix for 1982:

1. Don't You Want Me (49 votes)
2. 1999 (46 votes)
3. The Message (43 votes)
4. Temptation (37 votes)
5. The Look Of Love (36 votes)
6=. Mickey (31 votes)
6=. Sexual Healing (31 votes)
8. Planet Rock (28 votes)
9. Rock The Casbah (26 votes)
10. Pass The Dutchie (24 votes)

Comments

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

This is the first time that the ONLY EIGHT rule has caused me dilemma!

Jacko/Prince/DMC/Eurythmics are all obvious but the hidden gem is surely 'She Works Hard For The Money'!

[cis.livejournal.com]

I could have ticked nearly every song! 1983, man. good year for everything.

[boyofbadgers.livejournal.com]

You think so? After repeated exposure to it on Hits TV themed programmes I've developed a distinct dislike of it. Of course, this might be down to the truly rotten video...

oh and...

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

...Billie Jean and Little Red Corvette were the ones in the running for best song, but really my favourite music on this poll is the Sweet Dreams riff.

[braisedbywolves.livejournal.com]

Er, Lex, could you talk us through your hate for the Clinton-inspired Talking Heads song?

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

obv I have never heard it (unless it is the original of that ghastly Tom Jones song from the 90s!) but ever since the Justin thread I resent that band on principle.

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

I can't believe I couldn't tick 'Rockit'.

'Mazin' year. I remember a lot of the songs that got to #1 this year getting to #1, from Men At Work to Ol' Wacky Thumbs.

I'm only commenting ONCE on this poll, too much werk!

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

- I ticked Herbie Hancock because I have been listening to Street Sounds' Electro compilation A LOT recently. It = GREBT.

- A load of ppl I know really dislike "Let's Dance" - I think it's one of Bowie's best! Am I alone?

- Culture Club videos are a genre all to themselves.

- Jason Nevins remix totally pwns the flat-sounding original. I like sparse beats but without the thumping 4/4 "MM-bah MM-bah MM-bah MM-bah", It's Like That sounds weak and dated.

- Lionel Richie deserves a canon! DEFINITELY! I am sorry I did not get to tick him here.

- These are Michael Jackson's two best singles.

Re: I'm only commenting ONCE on this poll, too much werk!

[martinskidmore.livejournal.com]

I think Let's Dance was Bowie's last terrific record.

PUT on yr RED shoes and dance the blues

[the-roofdog.livejournal.com]

You are not alone, tho sadly it couldn't get ticky in this list.

Herbie Hancock is the best musician with that surname to fuse rock and jazz , discuss.

Re: I'm only commenting ONCE on this poll, too much werk!

[celentari.livejournal.com]

Loving Let's Dance and also how bleached he is in the video.

Karamu, fiesta, forever.

[epicharmus.livejournal.com]

"All Night Long" is far, far better than the 0 ticks he's so far recieved might imply. (Even if I kinda loathe the fake Jamaican accent.)

Re: Karamu, fiesta, forever.

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

Yes, I would have ticked it if there was no tick limit.

I would support Kat's idea of a Richie canon, so long as it includes Commodores hits ("Sail On" = a masterpiece).

Re: Karamu, fiesta, forever.

[whalefish.livejournal.com]

I have given dear old Lionel a tick. That song reminds me of so many fun evenings out in scabby pubs and bars.

They always used to play it on Friday evenings on 96.4 The Eagle, your usual local commercial radio station, as part of some 'weekend warm-up' programme. You'd get that, Chic, Sister Sledge and Bee Gees every single time.

Someone has to ask it

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Big Country??????????

Re: Someone has to ask it

[epicharmus.livejournal.com]

If you squint your ears, they sound like the Clash.

PEOPLE NOT TICKING ELECTRIC AVENUE

[awesomewells.livejournal.com]

... EXPLAIN YOURSELVES NOW!

Re: PEOPLE NOT TICKING ELECTRIC AVENUE

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

fathands says she doesn't like 'Electric Avenue' which bothers me a lot.

Meanwhile in Britain

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

NME critics singles 1983 - crossovers in bold (typos not mine!!)

Billy Jean - Michael Jackson
Bring It On - James Brown
Pills & Soap - The Imposter
Bad Seed - The Birthday Party
Blue Monday - New Order
Lean On Me - The Redskins
All Night Long - Lionel Richie
Church Of The Poison Mind - Culture Club
This Charming Man - The Smiths
Gimme All Your Lovin' - Zz Top
1999 - Prince (from last poll)
Every Day I Write The Book - Elvis Costello
Looking For The Perfect Beat - Afrika Bambaataa
The Cutter - Echo And The Bunnymen
Jucy Fruit - M'tume
Hand In Glove - The Smiths
I Love You - Yellow
Who's That Girl - Eurythmics
Soweto - Malcolm Mclaren
Long Hot Summer - The Style Council
Let's Dance - David Bowie
Right By Your Side - Eurythmics
Wherever I Lay My Hat - Paul Young
Men Like Monkeys - Three Johns
I'm Still Standing - Elton John
Synchro System - King Sunny Ade
Every Breath You Take - The Police
Wanna Be Startin' Something - Michael Jackson
Bad Day - Carmel
Oblivious - Aztec Camera
Go Deh Yaka - Monyaka
Cold Steel Gang - High Five
Tour De France - Kraftwerk
One More Shot - C Bank
It's Raining Men - Weather Girls (last poll)
Mutiny - Birthday Party
Between The Sheets - Lsley Brothers
Little Red Corvette - Prince
Money Go Round - Style Council
You Brought The Sunshine - Clark Sisters
Lost Again - Yello
Dark Is The Night - Shakatak
Karma Chameleon - Culture Club
Hot Hot Hot - Arrow
Never Stop - Echo And The Bunnymen
Alice - Sisters Of Mercy
New Year's Day - U2
Everything Counts - Depeche Mode
Racist Friend - Special Aka
This Is Not A Love Song - Pil.

Some motley choices there methinks.

Re: Meanwhile in Britain

[boyofbadgers.livejournal.com]

Pills & Soap - The Imposter

What on earth is this?

At the time

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

A year of upheaval for me. My first term at Uni started in October, involving moving away from home for the first time. And the year can be very much split into two halves music-wise.

Big records in my life in the first half of '83 included:

McLaren's Duck Rock, Aztec Camera's High Land, Hard Rain, Fun Boy Three and Bananarama (both together and apart - FB3's Waiting is a great pop LP), Talking Heads' Speaking in Tongues (tho' I remember being disappointed by some of it) and especially Pink Floyd's The Final Cut: the girl I was in love with made me a copy of this. Plus holdovers from '82 - Scritti, Robert Wyatt, Rush, Rip Rig & Panic, Soft Cell, Haircut 100...

And then of course the summer of '83 was dominated by "Blue Monday" and the Power, Corruption & Lies LP.

Indie was therefore already important to me. This importance definitely increased after I started Uni, although I don't think being at Uni had anything at all to do with it! (Only new indie act I discovered in first term was Billy Bragg, and I would have found him via Peel anyway. And the key record for me and my future flatmate in that first term was "Owner of a Lonely Heart" by Yes, and the subsequent 90125 album.) By Xmas '83, however, with the unveiling of the Festive 50, it was pretty clear which way the wind was blowing, thanks to two records, important then and still important now, viz:
The Smiths - "Hand In Glove"
Cocteau Twins - "Sunburst and Snowblind" EP

But as I say, Uni was not responsible for turning me on to those bands. However, being at Uni, especially doing a Music degree, did introduce me to a hell of a lot of new things OUTSIDE of pop: Steve Reich, Lutoslawski, Ligeti, Webern, a lot of non-western traditional musics... and quite a lot of jazz.

Greatest Year In Music History!

[koganbot]

OK, everyone's already gone home by the time I post, but IS 1983 THE GREATEST YEAR IN MUSIC HISTORY, OR WHAT? I'd probably still go for some of the great elevenses (1966, 1977, 1988, 1999), but 1983 is just stunning: Bambaataa outdoing himself, Jam Master Jay beatboxing hip-hop, freestyle exploding, the Miami-Canada-Milan connection rocking the world, southern hip-hop ready to take over the universe, etc. etc. Not to count all the great electro still funking around, all the Hi-NRG energizing, and so forth. (And I have no idea what was happening in country, but whatever was in the air was probably making country amazing too.) ZZ Top was being wonderful with "Legs" and "Sharp-Dressed Men," though rock critics being too dimwitted to endorse (and I'd have been too dimwitted as well, the way I was then).

Anyhow, there was an ilX 1983 thread in which I listed these as my off-the-top-of-my-head top ten:

1. Debbie Deb "When I Hear Music"
2. Dimples D "Suckapella" (flip of original version of "Sucker DJs")
3. Shannon "Let the Music Play"
4. Madonna "Everybody"
5. DJ Afrika Bambaataa & the Soul Sonic Force "Looking for the Perfect Beat"
6. Run-DMC "Sucker MCs"
7. Trans-X "Living On Video"
8. The Flirts "Danger"
9. Tapps "My Forbidden Lover"
10. Irene Cara "Flashdance... What a Feeling"

And I'd forgotten to list these two amazing tunes:
C-Bank "One More Shot"
Newcleus "Jam On It" - had its chart impact in 1984, but it's an '83 release. I think I was counting "Billie Jean" as 1982. Anyway, notice only two overlaps with the Pazz & Jop list, and I love almost everything on the Pazz & Jop list.

Look at my list people. Madonna! Dimples D! "Let the Music Play"!

Seems to have been an off-year for rock, but that could just be my memory. There are the aforementioned ZeeZees, and Def Leppard's grebt "Rock! Rock! Till You Drop," though I had no idea of its existence at the time. Not sure what was bubbling under in glammetal L.A., either. And postpunk wasn't a total drag: prob'ly some interesting things from Meat Puppets and Hüsker Dü and the Fall. Flipper's grebt "Get Away" was back in 1982, and Hüsker Dü's almost grebt "Eight Miles High" was 1984.

Re: Greatest Year In Music History!

[koganbot]

ZZ Top was being wonderful with "Legs" and "Sharp-Dressed Men," though rock critics being too dimwitted to endorse

Actually, album and one of the vids made the '84 poll.

Baker-Robie Rule!

[koganbot]

As for the importance of "Looking for a Perfect Beat": that, combined with the previous year's "Planet Rock," was laying down the beats and general ideas for freestyle (and therefore a whole lot of Europop) and Miami bass, all of this continuing to bear fruit through New Orleans bounce and crunk and snap and hyphy (and was also picked up a bit by New Order and the PSBs). Not to mention great Baker bangers like Diana Ross's "Swept Away" and Tina B's "I Always Wanted to Be Free."

Re: Baker-Robie Rule!

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Looking for the Perfect Beat is getting SAVAGED here. Where are the 28 ppl who voted for Planet Rock last time? Perhaps a YSI is needed.

The P&J Top 5 LPs

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

Posted just to make the point that ISTR a lot of critics heaving a big sigh of relief when REM turned up in '83. Could never see what the fuss was about Murmur meself.

1. Michael Jackson: Thriller (Epic) 1305 (100)
2. REM: Murmur (I.R.S.) 986 (77)
3. Talking Heads: Speaking in Tongues (Sire) 746 (67)
4. X: More Fun in the New World (Elektra) 717 (65)
5. The Police: Synchronicity (A&M) 470 (43)

Good ole Frank, you can always count on him

[koganbot]

Greatest version of "Sweet Dreams" ever!

Toto, Pretenders, Nelly Furtado rule! Critics don't care!

[koganbot]

Billboard Top 26 Singles of 1983 - * Song went #1

*1... EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE, The Police (A&M) (#1, July)
*2... BILLIE JEAN, Michael Jackson (Epic) (#1, March)
*3... FLASHDANCE...WHAT A FEELING, Irene Cara (Casablanca) (#1, May)
*4... DOWN UNDER, Men At Work (Columbia) (#1, Jan)
*5... BEAT IT, Michael Jackson (Epic) (#1, April)
*6... TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE HEART, Bonnie Tyler (Colimbia) (#1, Oct)
*7... MANEATER, Daryl Hall and John Oates (RCA) (#1, Dec 1982)
*8... BABY COME TO ME, Patti Austin and James Ingram (Qwest) (#1, Feb)
*9... MANIAC, Michael Sembello (Casablanca) (#1, Sept)
*10.. SWEET DREAMS (Are Made Of This), The Eurythmics (RCA) (#1, Sept)
11.. DO YOU REALLY WANT TO HURT ME, Culture Club (Virgin) (#2, March)
12.. YOU AND I, Eddie Rabbitt with Crystal Gayle (Elektra) (#7, Feb)
*13.. COME ON EILEEN, Dexy's Midnight Runner's (Mercury) (#1, April)
14.. SHAME ON THE MOON, Bob Segar and the Silver Bullet Band (Capitol) (#2, Feb)
15.. SHE WORKS HARD FOR THE MONEY, Donna Summer (Mercury) (#3, Aug)
16.. NEVER GONNA LET YOU GO, Sergio Mendes (A&M) (#4, July)
17.. HUNGRY LIKE THE WOLF, Duran Duran (Capitol) (#3, March)
*18.. LET'S DANCE, David Bowie (EMI-America) (#1, May)
19.. TWILIGHT ZONE, Golden Earring (21 Records) (#10, March)
20.. I KNOW THERE'S SOMETHING GOING ON, .... Frida (Atlantic) (#13, March)
21.. JEOPARDY, The Greg Kihn Band (Beserkley) (#2, May)
22.. ELECTRIC AVENUE, Eddy Grant (Portrait/Ice) (#2, July)
23.. SHE BLINDED ME WITH SCIENCE, Thomas Dolby (Capitol) (#5, May)
*24.. AFRICA, Toto (Columbia) (#1, Feb)
25.. LITTLE RED CORVETTE, Prince (Warner Brothers) (#6, May)
26.. BACK ON THE CHAIN GANG, The Pretenders (Sire) (#5, March)

This is a pretty great list itself; among the nonjopped, I love "Africa" and "Eclipse" and "Flashdance" and "Down Under."

If it puts the whole Lex & David Bryne thing in perspective, I had no name recognition on "Frida," though a quick look at Allmusic tells me that she's far far far more influential than Byrne, albeit not under her own name. (And I had heard the song a few times, it turns out.)