A kung fu fighter in a disco

of course there is no possible way of choosing between these two, and I certainly couldn't make any arguments either way, but I would be interested in hearing any you have to put forward!

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koganbot

"Buffalo Stance" by a long shot; far better dance rhythm - not that I insist everything have dance rhythm, but though I ticked "Like a Prayer" it's my number seven pick in a mediocre-for-Jop list, and it's second-tier for Madonna, far less basic joy and pizzazz and actual feeling than "Everybody" and "Into the Groove" and "Holiday" etc. etc. and less basic clutch-my-heart beauty than "Live to Tell." Also I have a feeling of resentment that this capital-I Important is the Madonna track that P&J finally puts into its Top Ten.

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1/ Does anyone on Poptimists like the Replacements? I have always hated them but I am not sure I have good grounds for this.

2/ 3 out of the top 4 singles by black British artists! Blimey!

3/ Did the Stones voters have any shame?

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Like A Prayer is just great, completely lovely and a total anthem (and is completely going to win this), but it's not as stop-the-traffic mental as Buffalo Stance, which is the better pop song.

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Most overrated Golden Age Of Dance record ever? So... lurchy.

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I vaguely recollect this being the Stones's comeback, and possibly the first of the "blimey, they still rock up a storm" reactions. Did their existence as a enormous moneymaking touring juggernaut start around this time as well?

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Yes.

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koganbot

Um, "this attempt at capital-I importance" is what I should have written.

On a more positive note, both songs do a good job of pulling together disparate song elements into something that feels like a natural pulled-together track. It's just that I way prefer the elements in "Buffalo Stance," the way she really gets the rap - both rap's intensity and its playground chant - and the way that her beautiful melodies have a daydream/playdream quality without drifting off into "dreaminess."

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I don't think lurchy is a bad thing in itself, I can think of many quality Daft Punk singles that it would describe. Though I think you're right here.

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I can see myself agreeing with yr last point only (and I always felt vague irritation that Like A Prayer is the Madge album which gets the critical love, above Erotica and True Blue even, because it's so capital-I-Important.

but I think that its sheer rapture elevates it to top-tier Madonna, its deliberate evocation of the religious experience, the sonic rush of it all. It's not my absolute favourite Madge - top 5 almost certainly - but there's this massive pulling-out-all-the-stops (thematic, sonic, everything) feel to it which I completely adore when it succeeds.

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dubdobdee.livejournal.com

no that started in 1968 usw!!

(well in the 70s really)

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It's one of those big capital-I important singles that is actually good too though (it's Madonna's "Back For Good") - a little overconstructed maybe, but the transition it makes from beauty to joy is what makes it great, even if the actual measures of those components aren't as large as elsewhere.

(Also it's the basis for a couple of really terrific happy hardcore records)

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I am not sure how you are defining 'pop song' there! I would think that 'Like A Prayer' is the better traditional pop song (mostly due to its anthemic-emotional qualities) whereas 'Buffalo Stance' is the better dance track...

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It is so not lurchy, it's smooth and soft!

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OMG the Shanghai in Dalston has the most amazing Chinese happy hardcore version of 'Like A Prayer' on its karaoke machine.

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The anticipation that builds up during the intro is what elevates the song above pretty much everything else Madge ever did.

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It's actually not as lurchy as "Strings of Life" but it shouldn't lurch at all.

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It's that jump between the first and second 'Good Life' in the chorus, it strikes me as incredibly clumsy. The sort of upward lurch that someone who's randomly plinking out a melody on a keyboard would come up with (except it clearly isn't).

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My definition of pop song doesn't take the modifier 'traditional' :) IE it's the effect ("Come here, listen to this!") rather than the genre.

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Between the 6th and 7th 'Good Life' in the chorus, I mean.

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koganbot

I ticked "One Hit from the Body" for 1986 and "Rockin' in the Free World" and "Janie's Got a Gun" this time, but I'm appalled that "Mixed Emotions" not only made this list but made its top bracket. Unlike "One Hit" it's not intense, not doing anything half-way new, not even a bearably pretty ballad like "Angie" or "Waiting on a Friend" (which are barely bearably pretty). I suppose it'd be comfort factor for people who like Stones-based rock without actually having EVER ADORED THE STONES. In other words, I have no clue what this song is doing on this chart. Ach.

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jeff-worrell.livejournal.com

This was my eighth tick (just ahead of KORITFW, Pixies and De La). It probably hasn't worn well, but sounded ace on the radio at the time.

Actually I think it might be this "lurchiness" you lot are bangin' on about that I like about it!

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chezghost.livejournal.com

this song does not lurch at all.

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Why isn't this getting more votes?

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