Boo Radleys Tracks Poll - Interested or not?

I'm tempted to put a U2 one up today myself

Do not re-arrange these words...

ouch

http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/OB-JS012_U2pix_E_20100826063425.jpg

obviously people can do what they want, it's a free board, etc. but it seems like having a big organized poll with e-mail ballots is only really necessitated by a really broad topic like a decade or a genre -- doing it for a band with maybe 100 songs or less seems unnecessary. you could easily do a poll thread with the 50 most likely options people would pick with much less effort and fanfare. it might be cool to do a tracks poll for some artist with a huge catalog spanning decades like Johnny Cash or Miles Davis, but i guess those guys don't generate as much excitement on ILM as British bands from the '90s.

or Tom Waits! or Nurse With Wound!

Agreed.

Tom Waits might be a good'un.

Boo Radleys did have a lot of tracks - at least 300 or so - same amount as Blur really.

It's not necessitated xp but this was really fun to do, and so long as it doesn't get overplayed and turn into poll fatigue it certainly shouldn't be discouraged. If someone's putting the work in, and people are taking time to vote, it's a terrific contribution to the board and I'm grateful.

Anyway, actual poll threads are one vote each and hence much less interesting.

Boo Radleys and Blur both have 6-7 albums totaling about 100 songs -- do they really have 200 non-LP cuts with many that belong in a discussion of their best songs ever?

Most singles collected an extra 7 tracks each thanks to the trend of releasing double-singles. Plus exclusive track on magazines, compilations etc. I know a number of Ilxors, myself included, have collected compendiums of Boo Radleys b-sides spanning several CD-Rs each.

Ooooh let's do a Stereolab one, loads of gems on their eps and singles.

or Sonic Youth

A Fall poll could be a success imo

But there's not really that many people here into the Boo Radleys I don't think.

Just been reading Bad Vibes by Luke Haines. He tears The Boo's to pieces with pinpoint accuracy. They are not worthy.

I agree with Some Dude, especially with bands like the Boo Radleys who are, well, something of a minority taste.

Also it could become really tedious to read ILM if there are loads of these organised band polls running at the same time.

Just been reading Bad Vibes by Luke Haines. He tears The Boo's to pieces with pinpoint accuracy. They are not worthy.

― Damo Suzuki's Parrot, Friday, 3 June 2011 13:47 (47 seconds ago) Bookmark

That's surprising. I wouldn't mind hearing his argument.

Also the more of these lists people run at any one time the thinner you spread the the number of people who can be arsed to vote in these things. It just feels kinda lame.

But yeah, it's a free board.

His argument = "they're not me"

"... His band are currently touring an abomination of an album called Giant Steps. It features all the predictable TSB Rock School dub and inept approximations of Miles Davis. In two years' time the Boo Radleys will do the unthinkable and make a record that is actually worse than Giant Steps. A record that even King Dunce Alan McGee will disown. The record is called Wake Up Boo: three words guaranteed to induce nausea and a cold sweat, followed by the kind of killing spree that will forever be preceeded by the phrase 'tragic events'."

He also intimates that the initial leg up they got in the music biz was down to the singer sharing a flat with an NME hack.

Never knowingly heard anything by Luke Haines, but everything I've ever read about him strikes me as the smuggest cunt in British music history.

It features all the predictable TSB Rock School dub and inept approximations of Miles Davis.

I mean, seriously, what a cunt.

*shakes head*

... what a cunt...

I'm still cross.

Yeah, but on page x he's "It's very much what I thought then, not necessarily what I think now. Also, I bear no ill-will" etcet.

It's entertainment, dudes. His book, especially.

This band not really popular enough for such a poll? Have to tread carefully or it'll be the fuckin' Cardiacs next, you mark my words.

I'd no idea the Cardiacs even existed before lj started droning on about them here about a year ago. I'd assumed they were a minority interest taste from the days long after I ceased caring about such. I was amazed to see them cited in that Compleat Blur article linked upthread.

upthread = in the, uh, Blur thread

obviously people can do what they want, it's a free board, etc. but it seems like having a big organized poll with e-mail ballots is only really necessitated by a really broad topic like a decade or a genre -- doing it for a band with maybe 100 songs or less seems unnecessary. you could easily do a poll thread with the 50 most likely options people would pick with much less effort and fanfare.

What's 'necessary' got to do with it? I don't think any post or any thread on ILX is 'necessary'. People would presumably do it because it's fun and interesting to them. The poll function on ILX (which only allows you to pick one option) is only suitable for certain kinds of questions (usually ones where people have a very limited range of possible answers). Giving 50-odd options in these polls is unwieldy and results in most options receiving no votes at all. Also, the gradual roll-out of poll results, waiting to see what's made the top ten, is far more enjoyable than all of the results being automatically generated at midnight (and often being ignored).

Also it could become really tedious to read ILM if there are loads of these organised band polls running at the same time

I'd agree to some extent, but it depends how you use ILM/ILX. Personally, I just bookmark anything I'm likely to be interested in and ignore 99% of threads. Maybe once a day I'll scan my eyes down the thread titles on the new answers page to see if there's anything there that I might want to read. So for me it would make no difference at all.

Also the more of these lists people run at any one time the thinner you spread the the number of people who can be arsed to vote in these things. It just feels kinda lame.

Yeah, I don't think it would be a good idea to have concurrent polls of groups with considerably overlapping fanbases as there's only so much attention you can give these things.

But there's not really that many people here into the Boo Radleys I don't think.

That's probably the crucial factor - I doubt you'd find ten people who could summon up a best 22.

necessary/unnecessary is admittedly pretty loaded terminology to introduce into a convo about message board threads, but i just mean we have a very quick and easy apparatus in place to conducting polls that have a narrow range of options -- just seems like overkill to do a whole manual e-mail ballot thing when that's traditionally been used only for really big polls with hundreds upon hundreds of nominated options out of thousands of possibilities. again, maybe i'm underestimating a Blur fan's desire to know what the 40th most popular Blur song is, but i don't know if that's something i'd feel a burning desire to know regarding my favorite bands.

again, people can do what they want, it's all good, but the only reason i'm speaking up is that copycat threads are pretty common on ILX -- everytime some novel type of thread or poll idea pops up relating to one artist or whatever, we often soon get a dozen similar threads about another artist (witness the sudden spread of "when did you get off the bus?" threads earlier this year). and for those of us who DO navigate the site via new answers those kinds of trends do get really annoying really fast, although whether that annoyance is justified or a good argument against them is up for debate.

the real solution is an i love boo radleys board imo, maybe call it My Boo Radleys

I can sympathise with hating too many copycat threads, but if that happens it'll kill the idea pretty quick so I hope it doesn't. There should probably only be one write-in on at any time is my feeling. But these are pretty tight little affairs - this was what, three weeks beginning to end - so it's hardly clogging up the board with rolling moms etc. And yes, popular bands is better than unpopular, but I'm hardly going to hang around a Stereolab one so I can't say I mind really.

The Blur one was great fun though and a nice addition to the board's armoury, so I'd certainly think there's room for three or four similar things a year, say.

"rolling moms" is gonna be the name of my next band.

I am sort of a Boo Radleys fan (well, at least their most poppy material), but I feel like those organized polls should be limited. The poll option here is better fit for smaller acts, and let the organized polls take care of somewhat bigger names or maybe preferrably genres or eras.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

(including their last single that they didn't put out?)

― Mark G, Friday, June 3, 2011

no, i never was able to get my hands on that.

i do have a CDR of The Boo-Sides Collection which takes care of all those songs.

totally down for this btw

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

hahaha... i don't even know what this means.

it means 13 people would vote and therefore it's not worth doing

Yeah...

Maybe do a/the albums first or something..

I ran a Boos album poll at some point in the past (just a regular ILM poll, no email).

found it ILM POLL: Say there, what about Boo Radleys?

Well, I meant the "tracks off Giant Steps" or "C'mon kids" etc. Or even "Kingsize", that'd get around 4 votes...

o i c

I've honestly been trying to think of another band besides Pavement and Blur who has a wide array of non-album tracks and quite a few albums and, most importantly, has a bunch of fans on ILM with very strong opinions. Sonic Youth came to mind immediately. Pulp did too, but I've never seen a whole lot of actual division in Pulp opinion. Guided By Voices could be fun, but I don't think they'd inspire a good turn-out (or the voting would be impossible).

And then there are juggernauts like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones who would just be kind of boring. The Kinks on the other hand...hmmm.

Aphex?

total duh moments I just had...

The Fall! I'm not personally well-versed enough in The Fall's legacy to competently vote, but I'd love to see the results.

Prince! and Prince proteges! This could fun for a variety of reasons, but "Purple Rain" would probably win (maybe?).

Well, Blur has:
1) A large but not massive discography
2) four (or five) different musical 'sides' that have their supporters
3) a minimum of consensus regarding their 'best' tracks
4) a few hidden gems for the afficionados to big-up.

I'd want bands who:

• are popular
• have 'hidden' bits
• which are of decent quality
• have different styles or periods
• you can have a casual interest in without necessarily being a fan

A Bowie poll would be awesome.

Pulp, The Fall, Pavement not cutting it for me I'm afraid.

i dunno, i think such polls would work just fine with less massive acts, so long as they have healthy catalogs and plenty of dedicated ILM fans. the likes of pavement, the fall and sonic youth make ideal candidates in this sense.

Yeah, not saying don't do it, just that it wouldn't be for me. We ought to keep them occasional though.

Pavement is definitely a boutique choice, but like I said before I chose them because of how spirited the participants of this type poll would be with them as the band in question.

All of your suggestions are good ones, and I'd feel comfortable and knowledgeable (enough) voting in each one of them (except maybe solo Sting and solo Phil Collins, because I dropped out long ago).

A Bowie poll would be awesome.

This is very much true. I'd rank it only behind Prince in the polls I'd like to see done.

Technically, the first one of these done was R.E.M., but it was organized a little differently. (If it was attempted before then, I don't know about it.)

R.E.M. was a really good subject imo. Wish I would've participated.

As I said on the Blur poll, I'd be keen to see polls on Bowie, Kate Bush, St Etienne and the Pet Shop Boys. Prince would be a good 'un too but I think that may be a bit more predictable than the others.

Prince poll would probably feature very few tracks recorded after, say, 1993. So yeah. BUT, there's so much goodness that came before that (and also why I suggested incorporating proteges and/or songs he'd written for other acts).

PSB would be great for a lot of people, I guess, but after Behavior it's all really hazy for me.

(Has anyone mentioned Dylan? I'm not officially mentioning Dylan. I'm just asking if anyone has.)

;)

Kate Bush, although an awesome act, probably qualifies less in terms of having different style periods. OK, basically I guess the first couple of albums were kind of different, but otherwise, Kate Bush has been pretty much typically Kate Bush all along, with no style changes, but always very unique and unlike all other acts.

but always very unique and unlike all other acts

Until she became the influence du jour about five years ago, I guess.

For PSB, I'd also include the handful of productions they did, Dusty/Liza Minelli/Eight Wonder/Cicero, even god forbid Ian Wright if you're a masochist.

Oh I remember that:

"You're out of your mind!! by eating string
nana na nah, do the right thing.."

Bowie

....wow!

so we are doing this right?

13 plus people is more than enough to run something like this.

plus, i would think people would like being turned on to the best band of the 90's stuff!

Yeah I'd love a Bowie one too.

Yeah I'd love a Bowie one too.

Let's wait until the Pavement and hiphop polls close and then assess whether it's worth doing. 13 people ain't bad, and we may get a couple more ballots. If people don't wanna get involved it's no biggie.

Maybe make it less than 22 for the Booz

yeah.

Might as well put this here:

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/cardiffonline/cardiff-news/2011/06/08/thousands-witness-welsh-couple-s-live-twitter-birth-91466-28839416/

haha, yeah i was following that. Carr's commentary was jokes - more about beer and TV than the actual birth, but I'm sure he was being tongue in cheek.

He didn't call his kid "Sailor" though, surely??

I had pics of Amber and Alice both up within the day of their births, for interested family members..

Xpost No, he called her Little Sailor.

The Boos have been creeping into my conscious lately - maybe because my g/f is upping sticks to study in Peterborough and a lot of Carr's songs were about having to move around the country cos of his relationship at the time.

I dreamt I saw a reformed Boo Radleys play at a festival. They asked me to join them on back-up for Lazarus, for which the crowd went wild. But then they played Almost Nearly There (an acoustic b-side number) and the crowd left the tent with the soundman turning the set down halfway through the song. Such a shame! I remember feeling quite disappointed about this.

So in the absence of a poll, can we talk about favourite tracks, deep cuts, b-sides again?

Hey George Michael you don't know me but I know you very well, they can't take that away from you.

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

Hey George Michael you don't know me but I know you very well, they can't take that away from you.



Possibly my number one? The Wake Up version at least. Pisces did you happen to see my Giant Steps anniversary piece I did the other day?

the answer to this question is YES, as i have signed up for it. i'm really, really, really excited for it.

think it got decided that not enough people would vote. i wouldn't mind a mini poll though.

Not so, it's in the list of "forthcoming ballots"

oh no i didn't see the Giant Steps thing? i'll have a nosey.

xpost, it is?? yay! when / who is running it?

Pisces: http://thequietus.com/articles/13477-boo-radleys-giant-steps-review

Thread for coordinating the order and timing of ILM ballot polls

60. P-Funk - Shakey Mo Collier
61. Iggy Pop, incl. Stooges - flopson
62. Boo Radleys - Bee OK
63. XTC - Shakey Mo Collier
64. Italo - daavid

Which number we up to now?

43, so probably another year or so to wait

That's cool, I'll just sit here and wait till it happens.

i have also taken over ownership of that thread and thought about switching my next poll Steely Dan with this Boo Radleys poll instead. however, i would be hanged by ILM if i did that.

here are going to be my polls:

37. New Order - Bee OK (finished)
50. Steely Dan - Bee OK
62. Boo Radleys - Bee OK
73. Spoon - Bee OK
84. Bauhaus/Love and Rockets-Tones on Tail/Peter Murphy - Bee OK
96. Talking Heads - Bee OK

and will never top that New Order poll