The King of Rock 'n' POLL, completely - PREFAB SPROUT - Artist Poll #100 - VOTING THREAD

might take the omar little approach and only vote for my top 15 or thereabouts so i don't drive myself insane

Upon reacquainting myself with post-Jordan material about a month ago (and finding more ballot contenders than expected) I toyed with the idea of an expanded ballot for this one. But then I remembered that the 30 slots I'm in the habit of offering is already above average for ILM artist polls! LOL. And 30 amounts to a full 1/5 of their output, including every last leaked demo and radio session track.

What I didn't consider is FEWER slots. It's brilliant!

i might have a perfect 30 song ballot, albeit this is without having revisited the b-sides/outtakes beyond “donna summer” and “nero the zero,” both of which are on there

actually nm i am now realizing i have to fit “enchanted” in there somewhere

thanks to this poll i’ve finally fallen in love with protest songs and fell significantly more in love with from langley park to memphis

oh but: i remembered! my favorite b-side is "real life (is just around the corner)," particularly the five minute version i can't find on youtube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIaEbYlN8uI

not that the other versions are bad i just don't understand the point of the intro

voted btw

Any love for this b-side...it’s gonna be on my list...

https://youtu.be/TthRZh97jqI

"the yearning loins" is one of the best ones!

I think I can cut to 30, but it might have to be unranked.

The lyrics though, I can't do that. Too hard. There's all the great lines of advice and the thoughts that wind their way through a few lines ('…we're probably nightingales), but then I just come back to those lines that don't do much in that way, but just knock me out - 'Isaac's a soft name, it sounds like a pocket full of rain". Can't choose, won't choose.

Fun fact: in early voting (just a handful of ballots) 70 distinct tracks have appeared, with '80s, '90s, '00s and '10s all represented.

Not sure I'm going to have any room for B-sides on my list. If I did, I'd probably go for Silhouettes and Spinning Belinda.

I was just listening to their second single The Devil Has All The Best Tunes. A single which seems to have been written out of history.

https://youtu.be/sjl0mhMB814

^ I heart it. Frankly, it was painful to exclude any of the four tracks from the first two singles. I was only a fairly casual PS listener before I went back and started from the beginning!

sunset makes a fence out of the forest

On an old PfS thread I recall remarking that I hadn't heard Steve McQueen for a while and that the second side was a bit of a blur in my memory. Some wise person said "'Desire As' FFS!" or similar, so seeing as it doesn't appear to have been mentioned here yet it's surely my duty to pass on the message. 'Desire As' FFS!

https://youtu.be/SD998mqQXvo

Ha, that's my #1

ballot sent, btw

It's been a joy digging a bit - never listened to the radio sessions before -
https://www.sproutology.co.uk/concerts/the-complete-radio-sessions/#

Love how both the March 1984 one and the Peel session include zilch from the albums they'd just released. eg. an ancient single, a song they would never revisit and a single from 3 years into the future. Bless. :)

Under a week to go now, hopefully. Here's a BUMP and another remainder of the sub-poll:

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

(3) FAVOURITE LYRIC - Up to 5

Ranked or unranked.

(5-4-3-2-1 points or 3 points each, respectively)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

going through the b-sides today and while some are kinda interesting they all feel like b-sides for a reason so far

ok as soon as i said that i got to the FLPTM b-sides and "Real Life (Just Around The Corner)" is quite nice

still does seem like a b-side for a reason though

My ballot's tragic flaw is I started to feel I was just listing every track on SM/TWG, got SQUIRREL!ed by "Goodbye Lucille #1 (Johnny Johnny)", and left off "Desire As". Did include its obvious lyrical choice, though.

Voted! My ballot is quite heavily weighted towards my two favourite albums but most of the records got at least one track in there.

left off "Desire As"

me too. not that it's not an amazing song but i feel really distant from the breakup it helped me through and so it doesn't have the same weight for me anymore

i would make and/or accept the argument that "goodbye lucille" is objectively the best prefab sprout song

i think it's likely to be my #1

Okay, the number of ballots is well into double digits now. Phew! (I *know* by now that most vote fairly late but a slow start still makes me faintly anxious!)

Also: any regrets are easily remedied, if you wish. It's a trivial effort to adjust points, etc.

you're still in love with hayley POLLs

I will be submitting my list today. Got it down to 32 songs which is a relief as I was flicking through Jordan last night and it really felt like every song deserved a place.

The lyrics poll is the hardest part. They have so many incredible ones, I wouldn't even know where to start.

sorely tempted to throw a vote for the wedding march

This is difficult! Compiled my ballot. Listening through to see if I need to move anything around.

My ballot would never have been fixed in stone, so happy with the exclusion, and enjoying reading the alternate tracks you others highly rate.

Just reading through some of their lyrics and my entire top five could come from the first half of Steve McQueen alone.

93 distinct tracks have received votes so far!

i trawl the megahertz is probably my 4th or 5th favorite prefab album. but it also might be the best album ever made.

Voted and already regretting omissions, but no changes, no revisions. Sorry, Sound of Crying.
Had to stop listening to Protest Songs in run up to voting. Terrible feeling I was about to become fixated on it, and that would further confuse a confused ballot.

Voted!

Done...

was about to vote, but then i got megahertzed

will submit in a few

This Xtian-themed LCTWWM track paired with with this stock footage is way more affecting than it has any right to be!

https://youtu.be/2gxHcNtzFrU

voted!

(re)discovering so much as a result of this poll. “Nightingales”, what a song. And just found the 12” mix omg

With two-and-half days to go I count 18 ballots so far. If any lurkers have opinions certainly don't be shy. Your vote can still influence the outcome pretty drastically!

98 distinct tracks have now received votes, with many of the albums 100% represented. However idiosyncratic your list of favourites that obscure deep cut you like is probably just waiting for it's 3rd or 4th vote to secure a place in the top 50. LOL. (A countdown from 50 seems most likely at this point.)

BTW, anyone who *has* mailed a ballot should have seen an acknowledgement of receipt!

^ Er, 2 and 1/2 days. And "its" rather than "it's", while I'm correcting myself. :(

voted! looking forward to the results

Looking forward to the roll out. I only know albums 2 and 3, pulled out and have been spinning Steve McQueen daily for the last two weeks. Found Langley Park on cd really cheap but the other albums are less easily found irl around these parts. Did score the "Faron Young" (Truckin' Mix) 12" today, b-side "Silhouettes" is lovely, too.

Is the lyrics poll favourite line/couplet or the entire song?