I POLLED the Megahertz - ILM Artist Poll #100 - Prefab Sprout - RESULTS

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#53
CORNFIELD ABLAZE
from The Gunman and Other Stories (2001)
Points: 71
Votes: 5 (0)
Youtube audio

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#52
BILLY
from Crimson/Red (2013)
Points: 74
Votes: 4 (0)
Youtube audio

"cornfield ablaze" may be the best later-prefab sprout song

billy is a nice song, glad it placed around here

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#51
DONNA SUMMER
from "When Love Breaks Down" single (1984)
Points: 75
Votes: 6 (0)
Youtube audio

^ Last one for the moment. Give me maybe 7 hours and should be able to drop a few more!

donna summer is the first from my ballot to place! really amazing b-side, feels like a slightly softer and dreamier cousin of "hallelujah"

I didn't end up voting for any B-sides. If I'd had another 20 places I would have found room for Donna Summer and a couple of others.

Couldn't Bear To Be Special is one of the songs that really stood out when I first got Swoon about 15 years ago. I'd already had Steve McQueen for years, but weirdly it was Swoon that made me get obsessed with them. This song in particular just got into my head. It's brilliant they put such a strange downbeat song out as a single (although it I guess that was fairly common in the early 80s). I love the way he sings, "I couldn't bear.. RIGHT!" with that noise that follows.

Cornfield Ablaze just missed my list. Definitely the standout from their weakest album.

"You overwhelmed agricultural man,/You wild pyromaniac daughter of Pan"
Magnificent.

Billy was a late cut for me. Was scrambling around for reasons to trim, and it feels a bit lopsided - third verse hasn't got much new, and the coda strolls along amiably enough for too long. BUT it's brought SO much joy by then - the flickering between bill, billy, william, "her smile is like a fairground", and that "Trumpets come and trumpets go/Amazing what gets left out in the snow".

Glad to see Donna Summer placing. I put it in my top 10. As much as I love the slow lounge version, the thrashy version they did as a three-piece live is great.

Gave points to 59, both 57s and 55 in the lower half of my ballot. Pleased they all made it.

Billy and Cornfield Blaze are both major late-career highlights for me - placing so low probably indicates there's not a whole lot more to come from the post-Andromeda Heights albums.

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#50
'TIL THE COWS COME HOME
from Protest Songs (1989)
Points: 76
Votes: 5 (0)
Youtube audio

Choosing period-matched band portraits is amusing when the composition, recording and/or actual commercial release were so often a decade apart. :)

this one is unremarkable imo

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#49
EARTH, THE STORY SO FAR
from Let's Change the World with Music (2009)
Points: 77
Votes: 5 (0)
Youtube audio

I quipped in the other thread that many of my selections were hovering precariously around #50. That only became more true with late voting. But with "Earth" it wasn't even vaguely a contender until the final few ballots. High-five later voters!

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#48
KNOCK ON WOOD
from From Langley Park to Memphis (1988)
Points: 79
Votes: 5 (0)
Youtube audio

the synth soundscape of "earth" is wonderful, i voted for it

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#47
WHEN THE ANGELS
from Steve McQueen (1985)
Points: 79
Votes: 7 (0)
Youtube audio

First one of mine to place!

I think I have a good chance of having everything I voted for place. I only submitted a 20-track ballot, and all but two of my tracks are from 1985-90.

wow this feels low

Question: Now that we have the first SM/TWG song appearance, what is the consensus on a cover such as 'He'll Have to Go'? I think it's a great version, but didn't place it on my ballot because it is a cover. Probably should have asked this on the earlier thread.

It's pretty good! Their one and only (commercially released) cover, come to think of it?! Maybe I'm forgetting something...

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#46
I NEVER PLAY BASKETBALL NOW
from Swoon (1984)
Points: 84
Votes: 5 (0)
Youtube audio

Love this one! Not sure if I placed it high enough.

Great lines too!

It joins the list of things I'll miss,
Like fencing foils and lovely girls
I'll never kiss

One Swoon track that didn't receive (or really need) any help from me, IIRC. Nice.

A great song with so many unexpected twists. That second half of Swoon is so good and constantly surprises me.

Kind of the apex of McAloon's complex chord structures; I like this instructional video showing all the changes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgMnIW8BChE

xps

“Streets of Laredo” is a cover!

Oh yeah!

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#45
PRISONER OF THE PAST
from Andromeda Heights (1997)
Points: 85
Votes: 6 (0)
Youtube: original promo video

"knock on wood" is way too fuckin low y'all

I'm conscious that at some point only the antipodean contingent and some northern hemisphere insomniacs will be tuning in. If anyone comes to feel strongly that I should pause I will happily do so. :)

this only reinforces that "when the angels" was shockingly low

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#44
PARIS SMITH
from Jordan: The Comeback (1990)
Points: 88
Votes: 6 (0)
Youtube audio

didn't vote for it, but like everything on jordan, it can devastate me if i look at it the right way

i voted for knock on wood, such a creepy vibe. the groove reminds me of xtc, a bit.

"Paris Smith" has risen markedly in my estimation during this exercise. Somehow took until 2020 to make much of an impression! *blushes*

I voted for both of these. Not sure what to say about "Prisoner of the Past" other than that I love the horns, while "Paris Smith" makes it almost entirely on the strength of its chorus (which I included on my lyric ballot).

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#43
WICKED THINGS
from Protest Songs (1989)
Points: 99
Votes: 6 (0)
Youtube audio

don't you grow up a snob

Fun now wondering if/where some choices will appear. Like Bearpark. Happy that others rated Til the Cows. There's a gentle almost wistfulness to that chorus that makes it a fave on that album.

The first first-place vote here. I'll go through to #41 then give it a rest...

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#42
THE END OF THE AFFAIR
from Protest Songs (1989)
Points: 102
Votes: 5 (1)
Youtube audio

probably should have voted for this one, certainly the best from its period and baffling that it was only a b-side

My one Protest Sings vote. A lot of that album feels demo-y, to me, but that’s one song where the lack of adornment fits the song’s hesitant tone.

yeah i really should have voted for "end of the affair"

Whoops!

from "Prisoner of the Past" single (1997)

(referring to “Wicked Things,” of course)