Greatest Album of 1979 - Elimination Round 5

Which album should go?

Poll ended at 22 May 2021, 8:40am

The Clash, "London Calling"
2
8%
Elvis Costello and the Attractions, "Armed Forces"
5
21%
Gang of Four, “Entertainment!"
9
38%
The Jam, "Setting Sons”
7
29%
The Specials, "The Specials"
0
No votes
Stiff Little Fingers, "Inflammable Material"
1
4%
 
Total votes: 24

Dr. Medulla
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Re: Greatest Album of 1979 - Elimination Round 5

Post by Dr. Medulla »

Heston wrote:
21 May 2021, 3:38pm
Dr. Medulla wrote:
21 May 2021, 3:34pm
Heston wrote:
21 May 2021, 3:13pm
Dr. Medulla wrote:
21 May 2021, 3:09pm
If they weren't a bunch of pretty boys who really understood the importance of visuals, they wouldn't have separated themselves from the pack. Whatever their virtues musically, it was being pretty boys that made them.
I'm not convinced by that argument. OMD ploughed the same furrow with much success and they were ugly as sin.
OMD were way different throughout their first several albums. Dour, synth minimalism. They weren't playing to 13-year-old girls; OMD was for the Joy Division crowd.
I've just listened to the first DD album and it is downright weird in places. Yes, there's three poppy singles there but the rest of it seems anything but teeny bopper music. And let's face it, the first few OMD singles were anything but dour.
And yet, how did the fan base shake out? How come DD got screaming girls and OMD got mopey guys in long coats?
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

Heston
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Re: Greatest Album of 1979 - Elimination Round 5

Post by Heston »

Dr. Medulla wrote:
21 May 2021, 3:47pm
Heston wrote:
21 May 2021, 3:38pm
Dr. Medulla wrote:
21 May 2021, 3:34pm
Heston wrote:
21 May 2021, 3:13pm
Dr. Medulla wrote:
21 May 2021, 3:09pm
If they weren't a bunch of pretty boys who really understood the importance of visuals, they wouldn't have separated themselves from the pack. Whatever their virtues musically, it was being pretty boys that made them.
I'm not convinced by that argument. OMD ploughed the same furrow with much success and they were ugly as sin.
OMD were way different throughout their first several albums. Dour, synth minimalism. They weren't playing to 13-year-old girls; OMD was for the Joy Division crowd.
I've just listened to the first DD album and it is downright weird in places. Yes, there's three poppy singles there but the rest of it seems anything but teeny bopper music. And let's face it, the first few OMD singles were anything but dour.
And yet, how did the fan base shake out? How come DD got screaming girls and OMD got mopey guys in long coats?
Those mopey guys in long coats were replaced in the long run by middle aged women bopping about at 80s package tours. They were a pure pop band in the UK from Enola Gay onwards, and had a fair share of girls amongst their fanbase.
There's a tiny, tiny hopeful part of me that says you guys are running a Kaufmanesque long con on the board

Heston
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Re: Greatest Album of 1979 - Elimination Round 5

Post by Heston »

I mean, listen to Careless Memories, DD's second single. It is anything but boyband fodder, it is bordering on post punk. There is more guitars on it than the whole of Sandinista.
There's a tiny, tiny hopeful part of me that says you guys are running a Kaufmanesque long con on the board

Dr. Medulla
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Re: Greatest Album of 1979 - Elimination Round 5

Post by Dr. Medulla »

Heston wrote:
21 May 2021, 3:51pm
Dr. Medulla wrote:
21 May 2021, 3:47pm
Heston wrote:
21 May 2021, 3:38pm
Dr. Medulla wrote:
21 May 2021, 3:34pm
Heston wrote:
21 May 2021, 3:13pm


I'm not convinced by that argument. OMD ploughed the same furrow with much success and they were ugly as sin.
OMD were way different throughout their first several albums. Dour, synth minimalism. They weren't playing to 13-year-old girls; OMD was for the Joy Division crowd.
I've just listened to the first DD album and it is downright weird in places. Yes, there's three poppy singles there but the rest of it seems anything but teeny bopper music. And let's face it, the first few OMD singles were anything but dour.
And yet, how did the fan base shake out? How come DD got screaming girls and OMD got mopey guys in long coats?
Those mopey guys in long coats were replaced in the long run by middle aged women bopping about at 80s package tours. They were a pure pop band in the UK from Enola Gay onwards, and had a fair share of girls amongst their fanbase.
Nah, not until Junk Culture, maybe even Crush. A band that puts out Dazzle Ships wants dorky guys who tent their fingers while listening, not screaming girls.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

Heston
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Re: Greatest Album of 1979 - Elimination Round 5

Post by Heston »

Dr. Medulla wrote:
21 May 2021, 4:10pm
Heston wrote:
21 May 2021, 3:51pm
Dr. Medulla wrote:
21 May 2021, 3:47pm
Heston wrote:
21 May 2021, 3:38pm
Dr. Medulla wrote:
21 May 2021, 3:34pm


OMD were way different throughout their first several albums. Dour, synth minimalism. They weren't playing to 13-year-old girls; OMD was for the Joy Division crowd.
I've just listened to the first DD album and it is downright weird in places. Yes, there's three poppy singles there but the rest of it seems anything but teeny bopper music. And let's face it, the first few OMD singles were anything but dour.
And yet, how did the fan base shake out? How come DD got screaming girls and OMD got mopey guys in long coats?
Those mopey guys in long coats were replaced in the long run by middle aged women bopping about at 80s package tours. They were a pure pop band in the UK from Enola Gay onwards, and had a fair share of girls amongst their fanbase.
Nah, not until Junk Culture, maybe even Crush. A band that puts out Dazzle Ships wants dorky guys who tent their fingers while listening, not screaming girls.
I'm not saying screaming girls but they were musically very popular with the female contingent at my school. I'm not sure of their profile in Canada but they were a total top 40 pop act in the UK from 1980, the raincoat brigade wouldn't be seen dead at their gigs.
There's a tiny, tiny hopeful part of me that says you guys are running a Kaufmanesque long con on the board

revbob
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Re: Greatest Album of 1979 - Elimination Round 5

Post by revbob »

On another note the Jam trailing GO4 by one vote...

Dr. Medulla
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Re: Greatest Album of 1979 - Elimination Round 5

Post by Dr. Medulla »

Heston wrote:
21 May 2021, 4:29pm
Dr. Medulla wrote:
21 May 2021, 4:10pm
Heston wrote:
21 May 2021, 3:51pm
Dr. Medulla wrote:
21 May 2021, 3:47pm
Heston wrote:
21 May 2021, 3:38pm


I've just listened to the first DD album and it is downright weird in places. Yes, there's three poppy singles there but the rest of it seems anything but teeny bopper music. And let's face it, the first few OMD singles were anything but dour.
And yet, how did the fan base shake out? How come DD got screaming girls and OMD got mopey guys in long coats?
Those mopey guys in long coats were replaced in the long run by middle aged women bopping about at 80s package tours. They were a pure pop band in the UK from Enola Gay onwards, and had a fair share of girls amongst their fanbase.
Nah, not until Junk Culture, maybe even Crush. A band that puts out Dazzle Ships wants dorky guys who tent their fingers while listening, not screaming girls.
I'm not saying screaming girls but they were musically very popular with the female contingent at my school. I'm not sure of their profile in Canada but they were a total top 40 pop act in the UK from 1980, the raincoat brigade wouldn't be seen dead at their gigs.
I do not buy for a second that DD and early OMD shared audiences. There'll always be odd overlap here and there, but they were seriously different groups.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

Dr. Medulla
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Re: Greatest Album of 1979 - Elimination Round 5

Post by Dr. Medulla »

revbob wrote:
21 May 2021, 4:44pm
On another note the Jam trailing GO4 by one vote...
And it shouldn't be a mystery how my tie-breaking vote would go.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

Heston
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Re: Greatest Album of 1979 - Elimination Round 5

Post by Heston »

Dr. Medulla wrote:
21 May 2021, 4:56pm
Heston wrote:
21 May 2021, 4:29pm
Dr. Medulla wrote:
21 May 2021, 4:10pm
Heston wrote:
21 May 2021, 3:51pm
Dr. Medulla wrote:
21 May 2021, 3:47pm


And yet, how did the fan base shake out? How come DD got screaming girls and OMD got mopey guys in long coats?
Those mopey guys in long coats were replaced in the long run by middle aged women bopping about at 80s package tours. They were a pure pop band in the UK from Enola Gay onwards, and had a fair share of girls amongst their fanbase.
Nah, not until Junk Culture, maybe even Crush. A band that puts out Dazzle Ships wants dorky guys who tent their fingers while listening, not screaming girls.
I'm not saying screaming girls but they were musically very popular with the female contingent at my school. I'm not sure of their profile in Canada but they were a total top 40 pop act in the UK from 1980, the raincoat brigade wouldn't be seen dead at their gigs.
I do not buy for a second that DD and early OMD shared audiences. There'll always be odd overlap here and there, but they were seriously different groups.
Believe me, this is a true "the Atlantic is a big ocean" moment here.

Duran Duran
Spandau Ballet
OMD
Thompson Twins
Ultravox

No one would bat an eyelid about those lot being grouped together in the 80s.
There's a tiny, tiny hopeful part of me that says you guys are running a Kaufmanesque long con on the board

revbob
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Re: Greatest Album of 1979 - Elimination Round 5

Post by revbob »

Heston wrote:
21 May 2021, 5:00pm
Dr. Medulla wrote:
21 May 2021, 4:56pm
Heston wrote:
21 May 2021, 4:29pm
Dr. Medulla wrote:
21 May 2021, 4:10pm
Heston wrote:
21 May 2021, 3:51pm


Those mopey guys in long coats were replaced in the long run by middle aged women bopping about at 80s package tours. They were a pure pop band in the UK from Enola Gay onwards, and had a fair share of girls amongst their fanbase.
Nah, not until Junk Culture, maybe even Crush. A band that puts out Dazzle Ships wants dorky guys who tent their fingers while listening, not screaming girls.
I'm not saying screaming girls but they were musically very popular with the female contingent at my school. I'm not sure of their profile in Canada but they were a total top 40 pop act in the UK from 1980, the raincoat brigade wouldn't be seen dead at their gigs.
I do not buy for a second that DD and early OMD shared audiences. There'll always be odd overlap here and there, but they were seriously different groups.
Believe me, this is a true "the Atlantic is a big ocean" moment here.

Duran Duran
Spandau Ballet
OMD
Thompson Twins
Ultravox

No one would bat an eyelid about those lot being grouped together in the 80s.
Agreed.

Heston
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Re: Greatest Album of 1979 - Elimination Round 5

Post by Heston »

This is an OMD concert in 1985. Pause on any crowd shot and it is a total top 40 crowd, many of them girls.



Btw, I'm quite enjoying the concert, they had some good tunes.
There's a tiny, tiny hopeful part of me that says you guys are running a Kaufmanesque long con on the board

Kory
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Re: Greatest Album of 1979 - Elimination Round 5

Post by Kory »

Heston wrote:
21 May 2021, 5:17pm
This is an OMD concert in 1985. Pause on any crowd shot and it is a total top 40 crowd, many of them girls.



Btw, I'm quite enjoying the concert, they had some good tunes.
OMD rules. I didn't like anything after Dazzle Ships but they're cool as hell.
"Suck our Earth dick, Martians!" —Doc

Dr. Medulla
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Re: Greatest Album of 1979 - Elimination Round 5

Post by Dr. Medulla »

Heston wrote:
21 May 2021, 5:17pm
This is an OMD concert in 1985. Pause on any crowd shot and it is a total top 40 crowd, many of them girls.
1985 is key. They were in full Top 40 mode by then—Crush, "If You Leave," all that.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

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Re: Greatest Album of 1979 - Elimination Round 5

Post by Kory »

I’m watching the Magazine reunion show right now and am sad they’ve been cut already. Definitely my favorite post-punk band.
"Suck our Earth dick, Martians!" —Doc

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Re: Greatest Album of 1979 - Elimination Round 5

Post by Dr. Medulla »

Kory wrote:
21 May 2021, 9:49pm
I’m watching the Magazine reunion show right now and am sad they’ve been cut already. Definitely my favorite post-punk band.
I should like them more than I do. I think I'm not fully sold on Devoto's voice. Sometimes it works, sometimes it's counterproductive.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

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