Now this is how it started: THE ILX 1980s ALBUM POLL RESULTS!!

Please help me understand what is going on in the last 40 seconds of "Once in a Lifetime"
Took me ages to find this thread, but it's really interesting.

There was some Siouxsie talk upthread somewhere (can't remember where). It wasn't much, but I've never really rated them as a great album band.

Wow I don't get this at all, particularly in the face of Juju and Tinderbox.

Would you say "Join Hands" is like the second CD in the deluxe version of "The Scream" ?

(I know it has one already, just wonderin..)

I don't really find Remain in Light to be that funky - it doesn't make my head nod and my booty want to shake when I listen to it, though it might make my leg bounce up and down in some kind of hyper-caffeinated jiggle. It's an idiosyncratic reinterpretation of funk, disco, new wave and art-school gawkiness - all of which were signature currents of '80s music - so it is very emblematic of its decade, and not the worst choice for #1.

(more number-crunching, sorry all non-aspies, you're probably gonna want to skip this post)

Someone on the 70s poll thread suggested that each album should get bonus points for each vote they get, so that two low-ranking votes would be worth more than one high-ranking vote. I was curious about what effect this would have had on this poll, so, here's what the results would look like if there was a 50-point bonus for each vote (obviously not for real as a lot of records from 100-120 would probably knock things out of the chart if it was really done this way):

100 (100). Robyn Hitchcock - I Often Dream of Trains (old points: 75, votes: 5, new points: 325)
99 (98 (tie)). Scraping Foetus off the Wheel - Hole (old points: 76, votes: 5, new points: 326)
98 (98 (tie)). Spacemen 3 - The Perfect Prescription (old points: 76, votes: 5, new points: 326)
97 (82). Scraping Foetus off the Wheel - Nail (old points: 91, votes: 5, new points: 341)
96 (96). Associates - Sulk (old points: 79, votes: 6, new points: 379)
95 (94). Def Leppard - Pyromania (old points: 80, votes: 6, new points: 380)
94 (83). David Bowie - Scary Monsters (old points: 89, votes: 6, new points: 389)
93 (80). Various - The Indestructible Beat of Soweto (old points: 93, votes: 6, new points: 393)
92 (95). Jane's Addiction - Nothing's Shocking (old points: 79, votes: 7, new points: 429)
91 (93). Thomas Dolby - The Golden Age of Wireless (old points: 80, votes: 7, new points: 430)
90 (88). Bruce Springsteen - Tunnel of Love (old points: 86, votes: 7, new points: 436)
89 (79). The The - Soul Mining (old points: 93, votes: 7, new points: 443)
88 (76). U2 - The Joshua Tree (old points: 95, votes: 7, new points: 445)
87 (72). The Chills - Kaleidoscope World (old points: 98, votes: 7, new points: 448)
86 (69). Scritti Politti - Cupid & Psyche 85 (old points: 100, votes: 7, new points: 450)
85 (58). The Cure - Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me (old points: 112, votes: 7, new points: 462)
84 (97). Big Black - Atomizer (old points: 77, votes: 8, new points: 477)
83 (87). Pet Shop Boys - Actually (old points: 86, votes: 8, new points: 486)
82 (86). Pet Shop Boys - Please (old points: 87, votes: 8, new points: 487)
81 (84 (tie)). Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine (old points: 87, votes: 8, new points: 487)
80 (84 (tie)). Talking Heads - Speaking in Tongues (old points: 87, votes: 8, new points: 487)
79 (77). Meat Puppets - Up on the Sun (old points: 94, votes: 8, new points: 494)
78 (65). Donald Fagen - The Nightfly (old points: 105, votes: 8, new points: 505)
77 (60). Eric B. & Rakim - Paid In Full (old points: 111, votes: 8, new points: 511)
76 (59). Mekons - Fear and Whiskey (old points: 111, votes: 8, new points: 511)
75 (92). Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark - Dazzle Ships (old points: 80, votes: 9, new points: 530)
74 (90). Meat Puppets - Meat Puppets II (old points: 81, votes: 9, new points: 531)
73 (75). Cyndi Lauper - She's So Unusual (old points: 95, votes: 9, new points: 545)
72 (73). X - Wild Gift (old points: 97, votes: 9, new points: 547)
71 (57). Arvo Pärt - Tabula Rasa (old points: 112, votes: 9, new points: 562)
70 (49). The Go-Betweens - 16 Lovers Lane (old points: 125, votes: 9, new points: 575)
69 (47). Steely Dan - Gaucho (old points: 128, votes: 9, new points: 578)
68 (91). Run-D.M.C. - Raising Hell (old points: 80, votes: 10, new points: 580)
67 (89). Prince and the Revolution - Parade (old points: 83, votes: 10, new points: 583)
66 (74). Galaxie 500 - On Fire (old points: 96, votes: 10, new points: 596)
65 (41). The Cure - Pornography (old points: 148, votes: 9, new points: 598)
64 (71). Roxy Music - Avalon (old points: 99, votes: 10, new points: 599)
63 (66). Prefab Sprout - Steve McQueen (old points: 104, votes: 10, new points: 604)
62 (70). Laurie Anderson - Big Science (old points: 99, votes: 11, new points: 649)
61 (61). Arthur Russell - World of Echo (old points: 108, votes: 11, new points: 658)
60 (51). Leonard Cohen - I'm Your Man (old points: 121, votes: 11, new points: 671)
59 (45). Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band - Doc at the Radar Station (old points: 133, votes: 11, new points: 683)
58 (40). Dexy’s Midnight Runners - Searching for the Young Soul Rebels (old points: 148, votes: 11, new points: 698)
57 (67). Violent Femmes - Violent Femmes (old points: 101, votes: 12, new points: 701)
56 (63 (tie)). Tom Waits - Rain Dogs (old points: 106, votes: 12, new points: 706)
55 (63 (tie)). Cocteau Twins - Treasure (old points: 106, votes: 12, new points: 706)
54 (62). Grace Jones - Nightclubbing (old points: 106, votes: 12, new points: 706)
53 (56). R.E.M. - Lifes Rich Pageant (old points: 112, votes: 12, new points: 712)
52 (35). ABC - The Lexicon of Love (old points: 173, votes: 11, new points: 723)
51 (81). The Beat (aka The English Beat) - I Just Can't Stop It (old points: 91, votes: 13, new points: 741)
50 (43). Sonic Youth - EVOL (old points: 143, votes: 12, new points: 743)
49 (39). Manuel Göttsching - E2-E4 (old points: 154, votes: 12, new points: 754)
48 (25). The Clash - Sandinista! (old points: 211, votes: 11, new points: 761)
47 (55). Dinosaur Jr. - You're Living All Over Me (old points: 115, votes: 13, new points: 765)
46 (50). The Feelies - Crazy Rhythms (old points: 123, votes: 13, new points: 773)
45 (44). The Fall - This Nation's Saving Grace (old points: 136, votes: 13, new points: 786)
44 (54). Bruce Springsteen - Born in the U.S.A. (old points: 118, votes: 14, new points: 818)
43 (53). Bruce Springsteen - Nebraska (old points: 120, votes: 14, new points: 820)
42 (46). R.E.M. - Reckoning (old points: 131, votes: 14, new points: 831)
41 (42). Hüsker Dü - New Day Rising (old points: 146, votes: 14, new points: 846)
40 (30). Hüsker Dü - Zen Arcade (old points: 200, votes: 13, new points: 850)
39 (36). The Fall - Hex Enduction Hour (old points: 166, votes: 14, new points: 866)
38 (78). The Pogues - Rum, Sodomy & the Lash (old points: 93, votes: 16, new points: 893)
37 (68). New Order - Power, Corruption & Lies (old points: 100, votes: 16, new points: 900)
36 (26). Prince - Dirty Mind (old points: 210, votes: 14, new points: 910)
35 (17). Kate Bush - The Dreaming (old points: 269, votes: 13, new points: 919)
34 (48). XTC - Skylarking (old points: 127, votes: 16, new points: 927)
33 (28). The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses (old points: 201, votes: 15, new points: 951)
32 (38). New Order - Substance (old points: 156, votes: 16, new points: 956)
31 (52). Brian Eno / David Byrne - My Life in the Bush of Ghosts (old points: 120, votes: 17, new points: 970)
30 (34). The Smiths - Hatful of Hollow (old points: 173, votes: 16, new points: 973)
29 (16). New Order - Technique (old points: 273, votes: 15, new points: 1023)
28 (32). Prince - 1999 (old points: 191, votes: 17, new points: 1041)
27 (29). Young Marble Giants - Colossal Youth (old points: 200, votes: 17, new points: 1050)
26 (12). Minutemen - Double Nickels on the Dime (old points: 300, votes: 15, new points: 1050)
25 (23). The Human League - Dare (old points: 219, votes: 17, new points: 1069)
24 (21). Paul Simon - Graceland (old points: 237, votes: 17, new points: 1087)
23 (27). Guns N' Roses - Appetite for Destruction (old points: 201, votes: 18, new points: 1101)
22 (19). The Replacements - Let It Be (old points: 252, votes: 18, new points: 1152)
21 (24). The Cure - Disintegration (old points: 218, votes: 19, new points: 1168)
20 (33). The Smiths - Louder Than Bombs (old points: 174, votes: 20, new points: 1174)
19 (14). Talk Talk - Spirit of Eden (old points: 274, votes: 18, new points: 1174)
18 (22). My Bloody Valentine - Isn't Anything (old points: 229, votes: 19, new points: 1179)
17 (31). Sonic Youth - Sister (old points: 199, votes: 21, new points: 1249)
16 (37). De La Soul - 3 Feet High and Rising (old points: 164, votes: 23, new points: 1314)
15 (15). Pixies - Surfer Rosa (old points: 273, votes: 21, new points: 1323)
14 (20). The Jesus and Mary Chain - Psychocandy (old points: 243, votes: 23, new points: 1393)
13 (18). Joy Division - Closer (old points: 255, votes: 24, new points: 1455)
12 (13). Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique (old points: 291, votes: 25, new points: 1541)
11 (11). The Smiths - The Queen is Dead (old points: 307, votes: 26, new points: 1607)
10 (7). Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation (old points: 356, votes: 28, new points: 1756)
9 (5). Prince - Sign “O” the Times (old points: 381, votes: 28, new points: 1781)
8 (8). Kraftwerk - Computer World (old points: 338, votes: 29, new points: 1788)
7 (6). R.E.M. - Murmur (old points: 359, votes: 30, new points: 1859)
6 (10). Pixies - Doolittle (old points: 323, votes: 31, new points: 1873)
5 (9). Michael Jackson - Thriller (old points: 331, votes: 35, new points: 2081)
4 (4). Kate Bush - Hounds of Love (old points: 422, votes: 35, new points: 2172)
3 (3). Prince and the Revolution - Purple Rain (old points: 423, votes: 35, new points: 2173)
2 (1). Talking Heads - Remain in Light (old points: 568, votes: 37, new points: 2418)
1 (2). Public Enemy - It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (old points: 478, votes: 39, new points: 2428)

(I think 50 would be way too high for a bonus since it's more than the points for a #1, but when I set the bonus points at 30 the results were very similar to the original results, with the top 25 completely unchanged and nothing moving by more than 3 places. With the bonus at 50, a lot of records move by over 10 places, with the Pogues going up 40 places!)

So, this is a pretty extreme example, and for me the jury's still out on whether it's made it more or less interesting. Doing best out of it: Pogues, New Order, The Beat, Run DMC, "Parade", "Bush of Ghosts", De La Soul, OMD. Doing worst out of it: Cure, Clash, Steely Dan, Go-Betweens, "The Dreaming", Dexy's, ABC, Mekons. Of course the real test would be what came into and fell out of the top 100.

Why not just do it by number of votes, and then use the number of points as a tie-breaker? I believe that someone already did that up-thread.

Um, well that's just the same list sorted in a slightly different way, whereas as you say, the 100+ positioned albums would probably come rocketing in.

It's something only Tuomas could process, as he has the actual votes. I guess.

Mark G, yeah I know! But nothing would come from outside into the top half of the chart, say, so disregard the bottom half since it's misleading if you like. I just thought it would give an idea of, y'know, who is this helpful for? Is it helpful for the little guys, for the massive pop guys, for the indie canon?

Which I still don't really know, to be honest, but that was the impulse behind it. (That and that it's better than work, obv)

(Wouldn't have posted it if there weren't already some number-crunchy reorderings here, but I guess it was pretty pointless, yeah, sorry)

I dunno, look at some big changes:

85 (58). The Cure - Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me (old points: 112, votes: 7, new points: 462)
51 (81). The Beat (aka The English Beat) - I Just Can't Stop It (old points: 91, votes: 13, new points: 741)
38 (78). The Pogues - Rum, Sodomy & the Lash (old points: 93, votes: 16, new points: 893)
37 (68). New Order - Power, Corruption & Lies (old points: 100, votes: 16, new points: 900)

Consensus polls are always a bit wanky because, well, you can't account for taste. The most interesting lists are typicallly the ones that are argued out.

That being said, I do think the best way to do it is to strike a balance in points between the weight of the number of votes and their placement on individual lists. I think Tuamas' system does that pretty well--eight #30 votes are worth one 1st place; two #2 votes are worth 1 1/2 #1 vote, etc.

Tuomas, if you could put the .csv on Google docs so we can make our own charts, graphs, and data slices, that would probably save you a lot of requests.

This is a fine idea, so I did it. First, here is the list of albums in order of points they got:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=t130o7i6B8kqQgkvI6x0aoQ&single=true&gid=0&output=html

And here is the whole voting information:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=tpgtTkyhXqLYVuntCxK0YYA&single=true&gid=0&output=html

If it's unclear: the first column after the album title is the number of points, the second one it the number of votes, and the third one is the number of #1 votes. Feel free to do whatever you want with the data!

If you're wondering why Robyn Hitchcock is #100 and not "The Wonderful and Frightening World of the Fall", even though they both got 75 points, it's because the number of votes was the tiebreaker.

As you can see, N.W.A was #102. It lost to The Fall and Robyn Hitchcock by one point.

56 goddamn points. Respectively, dammit and WTF

WOO-HOO! STATS HEAVEN!

Wow, the ilx Abba contingent really didn't turn up to vote for what I thought was their fave Abba LP.

my ballot without ranking (12/30 in top 100)

70 Laurie Anderson - Big Science
72 The Chills - Kaleidoscope World
Lloyd Cole and the Commotions - Rattlesnakes
The Cure - Seventeen Seconds
The Durutti Column - LC
Brian Eno - Ambient 4: On Land
52 Brian Eno / David Byrne - My Life in the Bush of Ghosts
The Feelies - The Good Earth
Peter Gabriel - Passion
49 The Go-Betweens - 16 Lovers Lane
Gun Club - Fire of Love
The House of Love - s/t
18 Joy Division - Closer
90 Meat Puppets - Meat Puppets II
New Order - Movement
Mary Margaret O'Hara - Miss America
Penguin Cafe Orchestra - Broadcasting from Home
10 Pixies - Doolittle
Lou Reed - New York
71 Roxy Music - Avalon
Michelle Shocked - The Texas Campfire Tapes
34 The Smiths - Hatful of Hollow
The Smiths - The World Won't Listen
Talk Talk - The Colour of Spring
14 Talk Talk - Spirit of Eden
Talking Heads - The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads
Tears for Fears - Songs from the Big Chair
79 The The - Soul Mining
Wipers - Youth of America
29 Young Marble Giants - Colossal Youth

This is the geeky chart I've been wanting to make:

http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k383/o_nate/80spolldist.jpg

Shows that the distribution of points per album follows basically a power-law distribution with a long tail, as would be expected.

Thanks, Tuomas! For the stats too! My ballot:

1. The Clash - Sandinista!
2. Minutemen - Double Nickels on the Dime
3. Public Enemy - It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
4. Hüsker Dü - Zen Arcade
5. Prince and the Revolution - Purple Rain
6. Hüsker Dü - New Day Rising
7. The Replacements - Let It Be
8. Madonna - s/t
9. Black Flag - Damaged (biggest surprise no-show; and I'd stack the best of Slip It In against anything else here)
10. U2 - War
11. Dr. Alimantado - Born For a Purpose / Sons of Thunder
12. The Shop Assistants - Will Anything Happen?/s/t
13. Run-D.M.C. - Raising Hell
14. Prince and the Revolution - Parade
15. De La Soul - 3 Feet High and Rising
16. Fugazi - 13 Songs
17. Big Audio Dynamite - Megatop Phoenix
18. Run-D.M.C. - Tougher Than Leather
19. Boogie Down Productions - Ghetto Music: The Blueprint of Hip Hop (also loved half of By All Means Necessary)
20. Sam Cooke - Live at the Harlem Square Club 1963
21. Brian Eno / David Byrne - My Life in the Bush of Ghosts
22. The Pogues - Rum, Sodomy & the Lash
23. Prince - 1999 (I need to reconnect with my Prince love)
24. The Smiths - The Queen is Dead
25. Talking Heads - Remain in Light (two songs great enough to make me vote the whole album)
26. Van Halen - 1984
27. Bruce Springsteen - Born in the USA
28. Various - Indestructible Beat of Soweto, Vol. 1
29. Michael Jackson - Thriller
30. Minutemen - The Punch Line (demoted strategically)

Tuomas that is awesome!

Some trivia:
-- There were 88 #1 votes (unordered ballots obv don't count here).
-- There were 2756 single votes in total, corresponding to about 91.87 voters with 30 albums each. (Of course some voters submitted a lower number of votes.)
-- There were 27914 points given in total, corresponding to about 93.05 voters with 300 points each.
-- 56 of the 567 nominated albums (9.88%) received no votes.
-- 92 albums got singleton votes. Of these, only one was a #1 vote; One Thousand Years of Trouble by Age of Chance. I have my suspicions abt who... :)

The graph of points by increasing rank looks like this (basically o. nate's histogram grained up and flipped), its overall shape not unexpected:

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b356/olem/ptsbyrank.jpg

This is the scatterplot of points (y axis) vs number of votes (x axis):

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b356/olem/ptsbyvotes.jpg

Note the convex tendency (ie it seems to grow faster than linearly in general), indicating that albums loved by many also tend to be strongly loved.

If we remove the albums that only got one vote, the top ten by average score are:
1. The Fall - The Wonderful and Frightening World of the Fall (75p/3v/25avg)
2. Units - Digital Stimulation (50p/2v/25avg)
3. Slapp Happy - Acnalbasac Noom (74p/3v/24.67avg)
4=. Fishbone - Truth and Soul (48p/2v/24avg)
4=. Laurie Spiegel - The Expanding Universe (48p/2v/24avg)
6. Pat Metheny & Ornette Coleman - Song X (44p/2v/22avg)
7. Kate Bush - The Dreaming (269p/13v/20.69avg)
8. Minutemen - Double Nickels on the Dime (300p/15v/20avg)
9. The Clash - Sandinista! (211p/11v/19.18avg)
10. Daryl Hall & John Oates - Private Eyes (38p/2v/19avg)

For those who just want 101-200, without tiebreaking:

101. The Fall - The Wonderful and Frightening World of the Fall (75 points)
102. N.W.A - Straight Outta Compton (74 points)
102. Slapp Happy - Acnalbasac Noom (74 points)
102. The Smiths - Meat Is Murder (74 points)
105. The Cure - Standing on a Beach / Staring at the Sea: The Singles (73 points)
105. The Mekons - The Mekons Rock 'n' Roll (73 points)
107. Sinéad O'Connor - The Lion and the Cobra (72 points)
107. The Pretenders - s/t (72 points)
107. Throwing Muses - s/t (72 points)
110. Simple Minds - New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84) (69 points)
111. Nirvana - Bleach (68 points)
112. Def Leppard - Hysteria (67 points)
113. ESG - Come Away with ESG (66 points)
113. Malcolm McLaren - Duck Rock (66 points)
113. Spacemen 3 - Playing with Fire (66 points)
113. Talk Talk - The Colour of Spring (66 points)
113. This Heat - Deceit (66 points)
118. Aztec Camera - High Land, Hard Rain (65 points)
118. John Cale - Music for a New Society (65 points)
118. Cocteau Twins - Head Over Heels (65 points)
121. The Durutti Column - The Return of the Durutti Column (64 points)
121. Metallica - Master of Puppets (64 points)
123. Pet Shop Boys - Introspective (63 points)
123. Tom Waits - Swordfishtrombones (63 points)
123. Yazoo - Upstairs at Eric's (63 points)
123. Neil Young - Freedom (63 points)
127. Fleetwood Mac - Tango in the Night (62 points)
128. Butthole Surfers - Psychic...Powerless...Another Man's Sac (61 points)
128. The Jesus and Mary Chain - Darklands (61 points)
130. Big Black - Songs About Fucking (60 points)
130. Mission of Burma - Mission of Burma (Rykodisc compilation) (60 points)
132. The Fall - Perverted by Language (58 points)
132. Scott Walker - Climate of Hunter (58 points)
134. Beastie Boys - Licensed to Ill (57 points)
134. Elvis Costello and the Attractions - Imperial Bedroom (57 points)
134. Japan - Gentlemen Take Polaroids (57 points)
134. This Mortal Coil - It'll End in Tears (57 points)
138. Cardiacs - A Little Man and a House and the Whole World Window (56 points)
138. Duran Duran - Rio (56 points)
140. Lizzy Mercier Descloux - Mambo Nassau (55 points)
140. Fugazi - 13 Songs (55 points)
140. Peter Gabriel - 3 (55 points)
143. Glenn Branca - The Ascension (54 points)
143. Dexy's Midnight Runners - Don't Stand Me Down (54 points)
143. Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense (54 points)
143. Talking Heads - The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads (54 points)
143. Richard & Linda Thompson - Shoot Out the Lights (54 points)
148. Camper Van Beethoven - Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart (53 points)
148. Devo - Freedom of Choice (53 points)
148. Peter Gabriel - So (53 points)
148. Jon Hassell / Brian Eno - Fourth World, Vol.1: Possible Musics (53 points)
148. INXS - Kick (53 points)
153. The Birthday Party - Prayers on Fire (52 points)
153. The Blue Nile - Hats (52 points)
153. Coil - Horse Rotorvator (52 points)
153. Slick Rick - The Great Adventures of Slick Rick (52 points)
153. John Zorn - Naked City (52 points)
158. Sam Cooke - Live at the Harlem Square Club 1963 (51 points)
158. The Replacements - Tim (51 points)
158. XTC - Black Sea (51 points)
161. The Fall - Grotesque (After the Gramme) (50 points)
161. The Housemartins - London 0 Hull 4 (50 points)
161. Slayer - Reign in Blood (50 points)
161. Swans - Children of God (50 points)
161. Units - Digital Stimulation (50 points)
166. American Music Club - California (48 points)
166. Bauhaus - In the Flat Field (48 points)
166. Butthole Surfers - Locust Abortion Technician (48 points)
166. Elvis Costello and the Attractions - Blood & Chocolate (48 points)
166. Fishbone - Truth and Soul (48 points)
166. Janet Jackson - Control (48 points)
166. Mary Margaret O'Hara - Miss America (48 points)
166. Laurie Spiegel - The Expanding Universe (48 points)
174. Big Audio Dynamite - Megatop Phoenix (47 points)
174. The Cure - The Head on the Door (47 points)
174. Gang of Four - Solid Gold (47 points)
174. Magazine - The Correct Use of Soap (47 points)
178. The Cure - Seventeen Seconds (46 points)
178. Madonna - s/t (46 points)
178. New Order - Movement (46 points)
178. They Might Be Giants - Lincoln (46 points)
178. XTC - English Settlement (46 points)
183. A.R. Kane - 69 (45 points)
183. The Pogues - If I Should Fall from Grace with God (45 points)
183. R.E.M. - Document (45 points)
183. The Teardrop Explodes - Kilimanjaro (45 points)
187. The Blue Nile - A Walk Across the Rooftops (44 points)
187. Eric B. & Rakim - Follow the Leader (44 points)
187. Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) (44 points)
187. Joy Division - Substance (44 points)
187. Pat Metheny & Ornette Coleman - Song X (44 points)
187. Swell Maps - In “Jane from Occupied Europe” (44 points)
193. Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark - Architecture & Morality (43 points)
193. Tom Tom Club - s/t (43 points)
193. The Traveling Wilburys - Vol. 1 (43 points)
196. Propaganda - A Secret Wish (42 points)
196. Sonny Sharrock - Guitar (42 points)
196. Bruce Springsteen - The River (42 points)
199. Bad Brains - s/t (41 points)
199. Janet Jackson - Rhythm Nation 1814 (41 points)
199. King Crimson - Discipline (41 points)
199. The Smiths - Strangeways, Here We Come (41 points)
199. Van Halen - 1984 (41 points)

nobody else voted for the texas campfire tapes, that is quite unbelievable. same thing with the penguin cafe orchestra. i am sure there are ilmers around who love those two. another proof that there were not enough voters. i am also speechless about the bad performance of the good earth (15 points, ten from me) as it is so much better than the lackluster crazy rhythms and passion with only 16 points (ten from me), the phantastic peter gabriel world music soundtrack to the scorsese film the last temptation of christ. actually i think it is as good as my life in the bush of ghosts which i voted for too.

This thread is getting too geeky for even me

So of the top 40, only those by Public Enemy, Prince, Kate Bush, The Smiths, Minutemen, Guns 'n' Roses and Husker Du have not had remasters and/or deluxe editions in recent years, not counting that Smiths singles comp. I thought PE were supposed to come out over a year ago, not sure what happened. Is Computer World not available separately from the box set?

What was the album that got one #1 vote and nothing else?

(Re my suggestion about points to take account of numbers of votes, which some of you manfully picked up and ran with - I just wanted to say that I think Tuomas got his points exactly right on this poll. I'm not happy when the #1 scores ten times what the #10 gets, but it's fair that it should score ten times the #30. In a broad field making #10 is a decent achievement and deserves a bit of kudos in my view)

1. Thanks, Tuomas!!

2. Thank you to everyone who voted for my nominees. I think it was only Drama in the end that only I voted for.

3. Apologies for being lazy and re-submitting my '05 ballot for this poll. If I'd voted for Mutant Disco, as I should, it might have scraped the top 100.

4. My ballot (ordered) (13/30) :

Kate Bush - The Dreaming
Yes - Drama
Lizzy Mercier Descloux - Mambo Nassau
Steve Reich - Tehillim
Cocteau Twins - Treasure
OMD - Dazzle Ships
Justified Ancients of MuMu - 1987 (What the Fuck's Going On?)
Talking Heads - Remain In Light
Pretenders - Pretenders
A Certain Ratio - Sextet
Joy Division - Closer
Scritti Politti - Cupid and Psyche ‘85
David Byrne and Brian Eno - My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts
The Beat - I Just Can't Stop It
Squeeze - East Side Story
Throwing Muses - s/t
Was (Not Was) - s/t
Dexys Midnight Runners - Don't Stand Me Down
Julee Cruise - Floating into the Night
Malcolm McLaren - Duck Rock
Stevie Wonder - Hotter Than July
Durutti Column - Return of the Durutti Column
Rush - Moving Pictures
Kraftwerk - Computer World
Peter Gabriel - Peter Gabriel 4
The Clash - Sandinista!
Young Marble Giants - Colossal Youth
The Teardrop Explodes - Kilimanjaro
My Bloody Valentine - Isn't Anything
The Smiths - Hatful of Hollow

What was the album that got one #1 vote and nothing else?

That would be: Age of Chance - One Thousand Years of Trouble

(well, that's the first one on Tuomas's spreadsheet that meets the criteria at least)

Yup, that's the only one (as noted in my geekypost up there). Besides there were two 2nd place singletons (Willie Rosario - The Salsa Machine and indeed Drama) and three 3rds (Gun Club - The Las Vegas Story, Héctor Lavoie - Strikes Back, Midnight Oil - Red Sails in the Sunset).

On another day I would have voted for Gun Club - The Las Vegas Story.

Ha, I really thought the first place singleton would be mine, but no. Whoever else voted for the Units, I salute you.

My ballot...
1 - Thomas Dolby - The Golden Age of Wireless [93]
2 - ABC - The Lexicon of Love [35]
3 - Scritti Politti - Cupid & Psyche 85 [69]
4 - Talk Talk - Spirit of Eden [14]
5 - Peter Gabriel - 4 / Security 
6 - XTC - Skylarking [48]
7 - Talking Heads - Remain in Light [1]
8 - Joe Jackson - Night and Day
9 - Kate Bush - The Dreaming [17]
10 - Michael Jackson - Thriller [9]
11 - Roxy Music - Avalon [71]
12 - Marshall Crenshaw - s/t 
13 - The Cure - Disintegration [24]
14 - New Order - Technique [16]
15 - Prefab Sprout - Steve McQueen [66]
16 - Simple Minds - New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84) [110]
17 - Cyndi Lauper - She's So Unusual [75]
18 - Madonna - s/t [178-ish]
19 - Adam and the Ants - Kings of the Wild Frontier (surprised this didn't even make top 200, given several mentions in this thread)
20 - Talking Heads - Speaking in Tongues [84]
21 - Tom Tom Club - s/t [193-ish]
22 - Prince - 1999 [32]
23 - XTC - English Settlement [178-ish]
24 - Depeche Mode - Black Celebration (again, surprised this didn't make top 200)
25 - Donald Fagen - The Nightfly [65]
26 - The Smiths - The Queen is Dead [11]
27 - Cocteau Twins - Treasure [63]
28 - New Order - Power, Corruption & Lies [68]
29 - Kraftwerk - Computer World [8]
30 - Peter Gabriel - 3 [140-ish]

Another piece of trivia -- albums with more than one vote scoring the minimum average possible (4 points):

Linton Kwesi Johnson - Making History (3 votes)
Fingers Inc. - Another Side (2 votes)
Funkadelic - The Electric Spanking of War Babies (2 votes)
Billy Idol - Rebel Yell (2 votes)
Napalm Death - Scum (2 votes)

Hey whoever it was that voted for Red Sails in the Sunset -- I salute you. That album is lush.

The only album I was alone in voting for was Abacab. Sort of surprised nobody else went for this! In general, very few 1-vote albums. Compilations tended to do quite poorly in points/vote; e.g. Standing on the Beach actually had more votes than KMKMKM or Pornography.

Diesel and Dust is another strange absence from the nom list.

If anyone makes the drive from Minneapolis to Madison, there's a pristine vinyl copy of The Dreaming for $5 at an antique store in Osseo next to the Norske Nook. I'll pick it up if it's still there in a month, never heard it.

Mmm, Norske Nook.

I'll get there first from here and score that vinyl, then relax by eating some delicious blackberry pie at the Nook. Thanks for the tip!

I've aggregated the votes by artist (as requested upthread):

1 Prince 1312
2 The Smiths 803
3 Talking Heads 763
4 Sonic Youth 730
5 Kate Bush 719
6 R.E.M. 711
7 The Cure 680
8 New Order 626
9 Pixies 596
10 Public Enemy 491
11 The Fall 485
12 Hüsker Dü 380
13 Bruce Springsteen 366
14 Michael Jackson 350
15 Beastie Boys 348
16 Talk Talk 340
17 Kraftwerk 338
18 The Replacements 338
19 The Jesus and Mary Chain 317
20 Minutemen 315
21 Joy Division 299
22 Scraping Foetus off the Wheel 267
23 XTC 264
24 Paul Simon 237
25 Pet Shop Boys 236
26 My Bloody Valentine 229
27 The Human League 219
28 The Mekons 216
29 The Clash 211
30 Cocteau Twins 210
31 Dexy’s Midnight Runners 202
32 Guns N' Roses 201
33 The Stone Roses 201
34 Young Marble Giants 200
35 Tom Waits 181
36 The Go-Betweens 176
37 Meat Puppets 175
38 ABC 173
39 Brian Eno 167
40 De La Soul 164
41 Peter Gabriel 164
42 Spacemen 3 162
43 U2 160
44 Elvis Costello and the Attractions 158
45 Eric B. & Rakim 155
46 Manuel Göttsching 154
47 X 148
48 Def Leppard 147
49 The Feelies 146
50 Dinosaur Jr. 145

That top 10 is ridiculously OTM

31 Dexy’s Midnight Runners 202
32 Guns N' Roses 201
33 The Stone Roses 201
34 Young Marble Giants 200
35 Tom Waits 181
36 The Go-Betweens 176
37 Meat Puppets 175
38 ABC 173
39 Brian Eno 167
40 De La Soul 164
41 Peter Gabriel 164
42 Spacemen 3 162
43 U2 160

LOL

That top 10 is ridiculously OTM

i'd swap pixies for the fall, but otherwise yeah.

the lackluster crazy rhythms How you like your suggest ban NOW, jerkface?

J/K.

Here's my ballot:
40 Camper Van Beethoven - Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart
30 The Feelies - Crazy Rhythms
25 Elvis Costello and the Attractions - Blood & Chocolate
20 XTC - Oranges & Lemons
15 Camper Van Beethoven - Key Lime Pie
11 XTC - Black Sea
11 The Smiths - Louder Than Bombs
11 Elvis Costello and the Attractions - Imperial Bedroom
11 Billy Bragg - Talking with the Taxman About Poetry
11 The Pogues - If I Should Fall from Grace with God
8 The Feelies - Only Life
8 Hüsker Dü - Zen Arcade
8 The Replacements - Pleased to Meet Me
8 Dinosaur Jr. - You're Living All Over Me
8 XTC - Skylarking
6 Iron Maiden - Powerslave
6 R.E.M. - Green
6 Pixies - Doolittle
6 The English Beat - I Just Can't Stop It
6 Talking Heads - Remain in Light
5 Jane's Addiction - Nothing's Shocking
5 R.E.M. - Reckoning
5 Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique
5 Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band - Doc at the Radar Station
5 Bad Brains - I Against I
4 Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation
4 Young Marble Giants - Colossal Youth
4 Talking Heads - The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads
4 Tom Waits - Rain Dogs
4 The Cure - Disintegration

Order is somewhat arbitrary, altho I'll rep for it in the main. Should have voted Sister instead of Daydream Nation (not sure what I was thinking) and if I'd swapped my votes for Blood and Chocolate and Imperial Bedroom (as could easily have been the case on a different day in a different mood) the latter would have made Top 100.

Tim is the 158th best album of the 80s, eh?

This thread is getting too geeky for even me

― ILX Blob 59 (Tom D.), Thursday, December 3, 2009 12:22 PM Bookmark

^^^

still great though! Thanks Tuomas.

Can't believe "In 3-D" by Weird Al did so poorly! Thought for sure it was going to place. :(

I'll get there first from here and score that vinyl

Go straight all the way to the very back room and take a right, you'll be looking for hours otherwise. Hounds of Love is there too but looks scratchy.

Tuomas, you did a fantastic job running this poll. Thanks!

My ballot:

1. Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine
2. Stone Roses - Stone Roses
3. New Order - Technique
4. Smiths - Hatful of Hollow
5. My Bloody Valentine - Isn't Anything
6. Kraftwerk - Computer World
7. Joy Division - Closer
8. INXS - Kick
9. Galaxie 500 - Today
10. Depeche Mode - Music For The Masses
11. Def Leppard - Hysteria
12. New Order - Substance
13. Glenn Branca -- The Ascension
14. Inner City -- Paradise
15. Art Of Noise - (Who's Afraid Of?) The Art Of Noise!
16. Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation
17. Spacemen 3 - Sound of Confusion
18. Chameleons - Strange Times
19. Cure, The - Disintegration
20. Tears For Fears - Songs From The Big Chair
21. Various - Techno! The New Dance Sound of Detroit
22. New Order - Power Corruption and Lies
23. Spacemen 3 - The Perfect Prescription
24. Prince - Purple Rain
25. Cure, The - Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me
26. Talk Talk - Spirit of Eden
27. Traveling Wilburys - Vol. 1
28. Pet Shop Boys - Introspective
29. Smiths - The Queen Is Dead
30. Ministry - The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste

30. Ministry - The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste

Aww, I overlooked this when voting!

here is mine:

1. The Cure – Disintegration
2. The Stone Roses - s/t
3. The Jesus and Mary Chain - Darklands
4. New Order – Technique
5. Tears for Fears - The Hurting
6. Roxy Music – Avalon
7. Steely Dan - Gaucho
8. The House of Love - s/t
9. Joy Division – Closer
10. The Cure – Pornography
11. My Bloody Valentine - Isn't Anything
12. The Cult - Love
13. Killing Joke - Night Time
14. Spacemen 3 - Sound of Confusion
15. The Smiths - Hatful of Hollow
16. The Church – Starfish
17. Tones on Tail – Pop
18. The Cure - The Head on the Door
19. Violent Femmes - s/t
20. Prince and the Revolution - Purple Rain
21. Bauhaus - Burning from the Inside
22. New Order - Low-Life
23. Yazoo - Upstairs at Eric's
24. The Pretenders - s/t
25. Duran Duran – Rio
26. Pixies - Doolittle
27. The Pogues - Rum, Sodomy & the Lash
28. Madonna - Like a Virgin
29. Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation
30. The Sisters of Mercy - First and Last and Always

My ballot, with the ones that didn't place bolded:

1. Talk Talk - Spirit of Eden
2. New Order - Technique
3. The Gun Club - The Las Vegas Story 

4. The Cure - Pornography
5. Cocteau Twins - Treasure
6. Simple Minds - New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84)
7. The Gun Club - Fire of Love
8. Joy Division - Closer
9. This Mortal Coil - It'll End in Tears
10. Thomas Mapfumo and the Blacks Unlimited - Corruption
11. Kate Bush - Hounds of Love
12. Madonna - Like a Prayer
13. Various - Indestructible Beat of Soweto, Vol. 1
14. New Order - Movement 

15. Sinéad O'Connor - The Lion and the Cobra
16. R.E.M. - Reckoning
17. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - Your Funeral...My Trial
18. The Cure - Disintegration 

19. The Sisters of Mercy - Floodland
20. The Chameleons - Script of the Bridge
21. The Jesus and Mary Chain - Psychocandy
22. Eyeless in Gaza - Caught in Flux
23. U2 - The Unforgettable Fire
24. R.E.M. - Green
25. Prince and the Revolution - Purple Rain
26. Michael Jackson - Thriller
27. The Smiths - Hatful of Hollow
28. Bruce Springsteen - Nebraska
29. The Pogues - Rum, Sodomy & the Lash
30. Cocteau Twins - Head Over Heels

Genuinely surprised at the lack of Gun Club love on ILM. But great poll, a lot of fun, and much thanks to Tuomas for doing this.

The Las Vegas Story is the best of their records, imo. the wild, sharp, emotional vocals take it over the top

Yet another stat-trivia post hurrah!

The four non-Top-100 albums that got double digit votes (and would thus make Top 71 if #votes was the criterion:

1. N.W.A - Straight Outta Compton (74p / 11v / 6.73avg)
2. The Smiths - Meat Is Murder (74p / 10v / 7.4 avg)
3. The Cure - Standing on a Beach / Staring at the Sea: The Singles (73p / 10v / 7.3avg)
4. Metallica - Master of Puppets (64p / 10v / 6.4avg)