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

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.

Re: Greatest Year In Music History!

[dubdobdee.livejournal.com]

yes i remember "legs" being pretty well celebrated in the UK