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

"the world awake" kinda feels like the last blush of swoon-era prefab. it's those weird backing vocals. wop-a-doooo

Oh yeah, you're totally right. I never thought of it like that because of the more polished/sparkly production.

i didn't listen to swoon until i was intimately familiar with the albums that followed, but it's been great hearing echoes of that songwriting approach in his later works (or 'earlier works' in some cases, since many of the steve songs were written so much earlier than they were recorded)

Horsin Around = BLISS. My #13. "I guess I let that little vow get lost / forgetting the cost", Wendy drifting in and out of Paddy's vocals, the midstream slowdown to the parsed out "I … deserve … to be … kicked … so … lightly. You … deserve … more … than … I … sold … you for", the very last belted out "Horsin around! HUH!"...

horsin' around doesn't grab me, but i do love the opening line 'it's me again, your worthless friend'

Enjoying getting different perspectives here on tracks I enjoy but more in the album context, that other people rate singly: Paris Smith, Doo-Wop in Harlem, etc. What a strong catalog he has. Really hope this rumored Femmes Mythologiques loss is just delay. Would ask for the same care to Paddy's vault that Prince gave his.

Yeah a lot of the Jordan songs were ones I always liked as part of a sequence/suite and putting my ballot together sort of forced me to think about them individually.

jordan suiiiite, jordan

Vote me any track you find that's lyin' spare

I'll try to get to #21 in the next few hours!

https://images2.imgbox.com/f0/64/5xVdDWtx_o.jpg

#29
DON'T SING
from Swoon (1984)
Points: 157
Votes: 9 (0)
Youtube: original promo video

Way too low! The weird structure of this song is still so incredible to me and gets stuck in my head constantly. The chorus in particular is one of the weirdest ones I can think of, especially the musical twists as he sings, "oh no don't blame Mexicooooooo". Amazing song!

https://images2.imgbox.com/1e/67/S6SOB20f_o.jpg

#28
THE GOLDEN CALF
from From Langley Park to Memphis (1988)
Points: 180
Votes: 11 (0)
Youtube: original promo video

yay
`

Quite an uptick in points there by previous standards. Just double-checked I hadn't made a mistake!

two of my votes.

golden calf is an outlier, but they're pretty convincing as a muscular rock outfit. i love it, and i mentioned earlier how much i love paddy's very-mccartney-esque american rock voice.

re: don't sing, it was my second-highest vote from swoon. "oh no, don't blame mexicoooooo" was one of the two lines i sang to myself the most during this exercise (the other is also from swoon, also involves a place, and is sure to come)

also, don't sing is the song that first caught the attention of thomas dolby, so we all owe it quite the debt.

https://images2.imgbox.com/a4/88/Fp1yNnJh_o.jpg

#27
TECHNIQUE
from Swoon (1984)
Points: 184
Votes: 10 (1)
Youtube audio

God this is reminding me how much I love ‘Swoon’...such a monumental album for me...

Same here. It's such a perfect album yet somehow only my third favourite of theirs.

Four tracks in a row for me, it turns out. (He says, finally refreshing his memory.)

make it 1-2-3-4-5!

must've been absurdly confusing to the drummer for the song to start with a 5 count. this is in 4/4, no? or at least until that crazy bridge, anyway.

https://images2.imgbox.com/c1/09/78R5bqYL_o.jpg

#26
ALL THE WORLD LOVES LOVERS
from Jordan: The Comeback (1990)
Points: 193
Votes: 12 (0)
Youtube: original promo video

too lowwwwwww

the height of glistening sophisti-pop

"ride" is the best from LCTWWM, such propulsive groove
"horsin' around" is one of the few inessential tracks on steve mcqueen, shocked it's higher than "when the angels"
"doo-wop in harlem" was in my top 10, a perfect closer
"jesse james bolero" was also in my top 10, a fantastic melody and an arrangement that feels sort of epic in scope
"the world awake" is one of the few protest songs tracks i like but it just missed my ballot

I'm pretty sure I had a carefully considered image set aside for this one but I seem to have misplaced it. So here's an emergency backup 'Paddy 1990' portrait instead!

https://images2.imgbox.com/af/00/oLTPQGuK_o.jpg

#25
MOONDOG
from Jordan: The Comeback (1990)
Points: 197
Votes: 12 (0)
Youtube audio

so many excellent lines in this one.

reason has to bow
if love demands it

'Technique' definitely a favourite of mine from Swoon - the chorus gives me New Pornographers vibes.

'All the World Loves Lovers' is perfect, the highest song on my ballot not from Steve McQueen.

https://images2.imgbox.com/33/ba/1qrTBIUM_o.jpg

NIGHTINGALES
from From Langley Park to Memphis (1988)
#24
Points: 205
Votes: 10 (0)
Youtube audio

Grrrr. Sloppy cutting and pasting there.

#24
NIGHTINGALES
from From Langley Park to Memphis (1988)

the biggest non-voting regret

I didn't vote but Mercy from Jordan TC would have been my number one. I wonder If it will place?

https://images2.imgbox.com/26/47/YZdDye7P_o.jpg

#23
THE KING OF ROCK 'N' ROLL
from From Langley Park to Memphis (1988)
Points: 206
Votes: 13 (0)
Youtube: original promo video

i voted it higher, but i'm not mad at its placement here

this is about the right place

Nightingales in my top 5. Thought it was more highly regarded for some reason

There are faint parallels here with my reaction to "Step Into My Office Baby" in the B&S poll. One of their best known songs. A goofy and potentially divisive opening track on a mid-career album. One has to appreciate the craft and, I guess, the, er, bold move that is the chorus. It was always going to place somewhere around here, like "SIMOB". But I probably wouldn't mind all *that* much if I never heard it again! :)

i do love the chorus but it's a bit below top-tier PS as charming as it is

https://images2.imgbox.com/3b/7f/eTLqVyNt_o.jpg

#22
IF YOU DON'T LOVE ME
from Life of Surprises compilation (1992)
Points: 211
Votes: 13 (0)
Youtube audio

Pet sprout boys

I’ll admit I didn’t realize how elementally beautiful the melody for king of rock was til I played it on my piano. the production is fun but does the song a bit of a disservice imo.

too low!!! my #3

"the king of rock n roll" does have a gorgeous melody but it's kinda offset by the very goofy backing yeah

^ #22 was another occasion where I was contemplating the reaction of a specific voter while posting! :)

https://images2.imgbox.com/f5/42/Ktszf5DN_o.jpg

#21
CUE FANFARE
from Swoon (1984)
Points: 217
Votes: 11 (0)
Youtube audio

plane, plane...

My top rated song from swoon, what a fucking groove