Just a simple song but God I love it Embedded in me, so bittersweet I’m addicted, I’m a melancholic Sing it again, I’ll be your Poll forever: THE BOO RADLEYS - ILM artist poll #60 or new numbering #65

I knew that this one would pop up sooner or later. I've never liked this song as much as many other people seem to; a girl that I once knew loved this track, and this is one of the few Boo songs that Martin still plays in his live set. The melody is quite catchy, there are a lot of changes, the chorus (I especially like the But you think it's alright / And they think it's alright / So I guess it's alright too bit) is nice, but there's <i>something</i> missing, and I don't even know what it is! So Reaching Out From Here didn't make it on my list, but I don't mind seeing it in top 10.

This song is just so beautiful. I'm still convinced if this had been the follow up to Wake Up Boo it would have been a different story for them.

I've always disliked Find The Answer Within. The verse in particular has always wound me up. Something about it just sounds really clumsy. It's easily my least favourite song on that album.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-IPki0NnEW4w/VT0uWBG_GdI/AAAAAAAAArY/aRjlXSpIFmM/s400-no/Kingsize%2Bsingle%2Bm.jpg

8. Kingsize
From: Kingsize and Single (Promo single was only released, single cancelled)
Released: Oct 9, 1998
343 Points, 11 Votes, 1 Number One

YouTube

my number 1 and might be my favorite song of all-time. i have always wanted this song to be my wedding song.

Wow, I had given up hope of this placing. Brilliant song and I'm still gutted it got cancelled as a single.

Oh, Kingsize, I knew that it would be in the top 10. It just had to be. In fact I'm a little disappointed that it's only #8.

Ever since I first heard it all those years ago, it's been my favourite (Boos) song... until Stuck On Amber stole the #1 spot at the last second while I was making my list! It was really close, but Kingsize had to settle for #2 this time. Kingsize is still quite possibly the most beautiful song that I know though. (The single version is missing my favourite bit of the song, so make sure that you listen to the album version!)

"Because politics is power and power is a daily need"

Love the way he sings that line. It's probably my favourite Sice vocal.

i have never heard the single version and it sounds like i don't need to either.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-iNM0CyQlPhw/VTwGsC8AFQI/AAAAAAAAAqk/oayTj5lgaIM/w400-h420-no/Adrenaline%2BEP%2Btwo%2Bm.jpg

7. Lazy Day
From: Everything’s Alright Forever and Adrenalin EP
Released: March 1992
348 Points, 11 Votes

YouTube
Was blocked on the actual video.

Thought this would be in the top three. I don't seem to like Everything's Alright Forever as much as a lot of people on here but this song is all time.

I agree. And the following 25 seconds where the other instruments fade out, and it's just Sice and the piano for a moment until the backing vocals and other instruments join in again, is up there with the finest Boo moments.

i have never heard the single version and it sounds like i don't need to either.

Wow, I was slow. I agreed what you said about Kingsize.

Wow "Lazy Day" is only 1:36, short and sweet.

great song that didn't come anywhere close to my Top 25, don't think it would make my Top 50. just so much to chose from.

While I like Lazy Day as a kind of a throwaway song, it didn't get near my top 25, and I didn't expect to see it in top 10! It's a very energetic 1 minute and 34 seconds admittedly and a fun little song, but it's just too short and simple to be a classic. Coming up next: Tranquillo? :p

Can't believe there's only six songs left. I won't reveal my number one yet but it's not looking good for it.

Coming up next: Tranquillo?

i completely forgot about that. for those of you who don't know. that is a song that is before the first song on Kingsize. you have to rewind the CD to get to that song.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-13vN7GP1i8w/VTqVUVWuZ2I/AAAAAAAAAfE/VJkG0GZtTls/s400-no/C%27Mon%2BKids%2Bm.jpg

6. New Brighton Promenade
From: C’mon Kids
Released: Aug 14, 1996
362 Points, 12 Votes

YouTube

yes, a song i voted for around 12 or so. such a brilliant little song.

"This life is not easy
but one thing that can please me
the memory of me and my friends
kickin' round your shores"

This is the song C'mon Kids song I was referring to earlier. Had no idea it would be this high but very happy to see it here.

New Brighton Promenade was #13 on my list, and my favourite from C'mon Kids. The song always makes me feel a bit nostalgic.
I'm listening to it again right now and wondering why I didn't put it higher on my list. That's top 10 material, easily... but, you know, the competition is tough.

Another one I thought only I liked - surprised and pleased to see it up here

It was my number six. It's always been my favourite C'mon Kids song.

I find it strange and quite surprising that no song has got more than 12 votes (out of 21) even at this stage! How Wake Up Boo! for example only got 5 votes is beyond me. We all really seem to like different kind of songs.

I mean, I would have thought that the songs in Top 10 would have been on pretty much everyone's list.

Youtube comment under NBP:

It's a shame that the Boo Radleys are remembered chiefly for the breakfast show staple "Wake Up Boo!". "C'mon Kids" is a forgotten masterpiece, a proper "journey" of an album whose greatness creeps up on you. The glorious "I believe in love" crescendo of "Four Saints" perfectly sets up this 3 minutes of nostalgic pop genius.

arrgh! i didn't realise you'd be counting down over the weekend!

just been catching up. very surprised at the amount of Kingsize and Learning To Walk songs, especially in proportion to GS and Wake Up. Nothing wrong with these (Learning to Walk has gone up in my estimation in recent years, not so much Kingsize which is their Think Tank - a good handful of good songs and a good few clunkers too). Still holding out for my number 1.

I am refreshing this page quite a lot right now.

Top 5

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5. From The Bench At Belvedere
From: Stand Alone Single (not on an album)
Released: Sept 22, 1995
374 Points, 11 Votes, 1 Number One

YouTube
Can't find the video :-(

Hooray! This was my number one. One of the most beautiful songs ever.

OTM!

love, love, love this song, sounds like summer. just checked my ballot to see where i placed it and come to find out i actually didn't vote for it? wow, very shocked that this one dropped off.

this is a great song. it deserved to be as big a hit as WUB. My first ever gig by a 'proper' band was the Boos touring this EP at Cambridge Corn Exchange on my 15th(?) birthday.

Always thought it was strange how quickly it came out after It's Lulu.

listening back to the boos in recent weeks, i can't help but feel I can still listen to everything from Wake Up and before while the C'Mon Kids through Kingsize era has aged rather poorly for some reason. Even though C'Mon Kids was supposed to be a return to the experimentalism of Giant Steps, there's something a little plastic and polished about the production. It suffers from coming straight after the Oasis era when suddenly even bands who had preceded them - Ride (in the guise of Hurricane #1); The Stone Roses (The Seahorses) had to have a particular guitar sound. Even the cover of Kingsize SCREAMS 'Hey it's 1998 - we've got a software package and we're going to use it!'

It's Lulu is such a wretched song. They really should've taken it off the album, let alone released it as a single. Reaching Out From Here or Twinside would have made much better choices.

not so much Kingsize which is their Think Tank

i think i'd think a lot more highly of kingsize if they'd left off free huey. it ruins the flow and there are already just a few too many songs on there.

that is funny you should say that about "It's Lulu." both "Free Huey" and "It's Lulu" got no votes. i think "It's Lulu" is okay but i have also heard Martin Carr doesn't like it either.

Find The Answer Within and It's Lulu are my two least favourite singles on Wake Up.

i quite like 'Find the Answer Within'. Not sure it was the best choice of follow-up to WUB though. I like the backwards singing on that one - played forward they say 'If you like a lot of fighting with your football, join our club' and 'Can you see the little doggies do it doggy style?'

From The Bench at Belvidere is pretty great, but to me it doesn't sound like same kind of a potential hit as Wake Up Boo!
It's Lulu seems to have bombed and isn't gonna appear in this poll, but I don't get all the hate for the song. It's the same kind of a throwaway song as Lazy Day for me - just a fun little track in between the more interesting stuff. I guess it's the most WUB-like song on the album, which is why someone at Creation decided that it'd be a good single. Martin Carr himself apparently doesn't rate the track that high either. Reaching Out From Here might have been a decent choice for the third single, but I disagree about Twinside.

Obviously I meant those are two least favourite songs not just singles.

'Old Newsstand' should have been a single. Why wasn't it a single?

I think Twinside would have been a great single. It's such a brilliant and catchy song that shows a different side to the album. I think this is how the singles should have gone.

Twinside
Wake Up Boo!
Reaching Out From Here
Stuck on Amber

whenever i played Kingsize i do skip "Free Huey" and sort of look at that album without that song. when i was playing Kingsize this time around for this poll i did listen and found that it doesn't bother me anymore.

I remember someone once describing that song as "crap jazz". I love that song, but I could think of a few better singles from Kingsize.

re: Lulu - it's just so cheesy and plays into the hands of the 'Boos just write happy-clappy radio-pop' crew. The lyrics and subject matter are just bad bad bad - Kevin & Perry in song format with loads of throwaway 'here she comes now, here she comes now, it's Lulu' stuff. just brash, clunky and unintentionally condescending.