Boring (my picks, I mean): "Nothing Compares 2 U" over "Oh Father" over "Come Back to Me."
― clemenza, Saturday, 15 August 2015 13:59 (eight years ago) link
i recently heard tommy page's "i'll be your everything" for the first time and it might be the worst song i've ever heard in my life.
lots of great options here! i'm sure "nothing compares" will get tons of votes so i'm trying to vote for something else but still it's a tough decision
― dyl, Saturday, 15 August 2015 15:19 (eight years ago) link
Oh crap, I didn't notice "Nothing Compares 2U" so I voted for Lou Gramm. Mostly a garbage list.
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Saturday, 15 August 2015 15:30 (eight years ago) link
What it takes vs nothing compares vs must have been love, voting for roxette cuz I trust ilx not to leave 'smith and sinead with goose eggs
― da croupier, Saturday, 15 August 2015 15:36 (eight years ago) link
lol i love this oprah performance. in general i appreciate when a performer can get the audience screaming for the entire duration.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_RKuIk6GrA
― dyl, Saturday, 15 August 2015 16:59 (eight years ago) link
songs i like a lot:
Babyface - 'Whip Appeal'George Michael - 'Praying For Time'Janet Jackson - 'Come Back To Me'Johnny Gill - 'My, My, My'Lisa Stansfield - 'All Around The World'Mariah Carey - 'Vision Of Love'Sinead O'Connor - 'Nothing Compares 2U'
still haven't decided :X
― dyl, Saturday, 15 August 2015 17:03 (eight years ago) link
Finalists:
Babyface - 'Whip Appeal'George Michael - 'Praying For Time'Janet Jackson - 'Come Back To Me'Lisa Stansfield - 'All Around The World'Mariah Carey - 'Vision Of Love'Sinead O'Connor - 'Nothing Compares 2U'Madonna - 'Oh Father'
wtf "All Around the World" is a ballad?!
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 15 August 2015 18:30 (eight years ago) link
Like, what's a ballad really, man? Maybe this rock is a ballad, or that tree. I kinda feel like all of us are ballads, y'know?
― Grilled Floam In A Gak Reduction (Old Lunch), Saturday, 15 August 2015 18:44 (eight years ago) link
a song with disco strings and that beat ain't a tree
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 15 August 2015 18:49 (eight years ago) link
I'll rep hard for the following sleeper ballads that may or may not get shortchanged by the voting bloc:
After 7 - 'Ready Or Not'Bad English - 'Price Of Love'Brent Bourgeois - 'Dare To Fall In Love'Giant - 'I'll See You In My Dreams'Lou Gramm - 'Just Between You And Me'Nikki - 'Notice Me'Regina Belle - 'Make It Like It Was'
― Grilled Floam In A Gak Reduction (Old Lunch), Saturday, 15 August 2015 18:50 (eight years ago) link
I was tempted to include the other Stansfield top 40 hits in the list but I figured that was too ridiculous even for me.
"Just Between You and Me" got more airplay in my part of town more than the last three Foreigner singles combined; it was on every ten minutes. Then it disappeared. I haven't heard it since.
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 15 August 2015 18:58 (eight years ago) link
rmde at 'all around the world' being here but i do hear it on quiet storm so it's not as egregious as 'if it isn't love'
shortlist
Aerosmith - 'What It Takes'After 7 - 'Ready Or Not'Babyface - 'Whip Appeal'Don Henley - 'The Heart Of The Matter'Janet Jackson - 'Come Back To Me'Jody Watley - 'Everything'Johnny Gill - 'My, My, My'Madonna - 'Oh Father'Mariah Carey - 'Vision Of Love'Maxi Priest - 'Close To You'Quincy Jones et al - 'The Secret Garden (Sweet Seduction Suite)'Roxette - 'It Must Have Been Love'Sinead O'Connor - 'Nothing Compares 2U'Skid Row - 'I Remember You'Slaughter - 'Fly To The Angels'Stevie B. - 'Because I Love You (The Postman Song)'Tesla - 'Love Song'
sinead is the best, nostalgia tugs me toward skid row, but i feel i owe this vote to stevie b.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P46QnmEB5Tg
― balls, Saturday, 15 August 2015 21:06 (eight years ago) link
No "Sacrifice"?
― Master of Treacle, Saturday, 15 August 2015 21:16 (eight years ago) link
Did all of you people who aren't voting for (or at least shortlisting) "Joey" just not notice that "Joey" is on this list?
― The New Gay Sadness (cryptosicko), Saturday, 15 August 2015 22:38 (eight years ago) link
OH FUCKING HELL
I didn't see "Secret Garden." There's my vote. This is the peak of expensive, deluxe R&B balladry. Maybe El DeBarge's peak too.
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 16 August 2015 00:43 (eight years ago) link
I'm afraid that 'Sacrifice' was sacrificed on the altar of 50 selections, MoT.
― Grilled Floam In A Gak Reduction (Old Lunch), Sunday, 16 August 2015 02:04 (eight years ago) link
Holy christ, I must not have paid any attention to the lyrics because I had no idea Nikki was not a woman. Great song, though.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEZa5hemvdM
― Grilled Floam In A Gak Reduction (Old Lunch), Sunday, 16 August 2015 02:09 (eight years ago) link
Also great:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icagGXXN2R0
― Grilled Floam In A Gak Reduction (Old Lunch), Sunday, 16 August 2015 02:11 (eight years ago) link
you guys, love is all around you, love is knockin outside yr do-ah-wo
― orifex, Sunday, 16 August 2015 02:54 (eight years ago) link
Nikki is Martika's husband! They started a goth group together in the '00s!
― da croupier, Sunday, 16 August 2015 02:54 (eight years ago) link
yeah...fuck that guy
― balls, Sunday, 16 August 2015 03:41 (eight years ago) link
I didn't! I can't believe I voted for Lou Gramm!
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Sunday, 16 August 2015 17:49 (eight years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.
― System, Monday, 31 August 2015 00:01 (eight years ago) link
Hall & Oates hate the original version of "So Close" because, according to Hall, the label forced Hall to accept Jon Bon Jovi's production and songwriting doctoring. I don't hear much difference: the song ain't that exciting anyway. But I prefer the Bon Jovi job b/c of the opening hook.
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 31 August 2015 00:23 (eight years ago) link
1991 has been kind of a bummer year for ballads, sad to say.
― Herbie Mann's Push Push Pops (Old Lunch), Monday, 31 August 2015 18:54 (eight years ago) link
Could find it in my heart to vote for at least two-thirds of these.
― Norse Jung (Eric H.), Monday, 31 August 2015 19:07 (eight years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.
― System, Tuesday, 1 September 2015 00:01 (eight years ago) link
Lotta fans of meh-period Aerosmith 'round these parts...
― Herbie Mann's Push Push Pops (Old Lunch), Tuesday, 1 September 2015 00:47 (eight years ago) link
That's my favorite Aerosmith song.
― Norse Jung (Eric H.), Tuesday, 1 September 2015 01:40 (eight years ago) link
It's pretty harmonically complex (esp the bridge) for a twangy power ballad. I think it changes keys 4-5x.
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Tuesday, 1 September 2015 02:25 (eight years ago) link
You have too many strong opinions about other people's tastes to admit something like that. xp
― Johnny Fever, Tuesday, 1 September 2015 02:26 (eight years ago) link
It's a good Aerosmith song, but it's still distinctly lower-tier compared to sooooo much of the other stuff here.
― Herbie Mann's Push Push Pops (Old Lunch), Tuesday, 1 September 2015 02:29 (eight years ago) link
I have strong opinions about my own tastes too, to be fair.
― Norse Jung (Eric H.), Tuesday, 1 September 2015 02:33 (eight years ago) link
oh cool Skid Row beat Madonna.
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 1 September 2015 02:35 (eight years ago) link
Bummed I couldn't have given a vote to these zero-netters:
Babyface - 'Whip Appeal'Taylor Dayne - 'Love Will Lead You Back'After 7 - 'Ready Or Not'Poison - 'Something To Believe In'Gloria Estefan - 'Here We Are'Mariah Carey - 'Vision Of Love'Maxi Priest - 'Close To You'
Especially the Estefan.
― Norse Jung (Eric H.), Tuesday, 1 September 2015 02:40 (eight years ago) link
She was starting to bellow. I prefer "Can't Stay Away From You" and "Falling in Love (Uh Oh)."
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 1 September 2015 02:45 (eight years ago) link
Luther Vandross is a god and "Here and Now" still appalls me.
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 1 September 2015 02:46 (eight years ago) link
Janet Jackson - Come Back to MeJody Watley - EverythingSinead O'Connor - Nothing Compares 2ULisa Stansfield - All Around The WorldRoxette - It Must Have Been LoveMadonna - Oh FatherBabyface - Whip Appeal
man my radio station played Michael Damian's "Was It Nothing At All" as much as "Rock On," after which they flushed it down the memory toilet.
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 1 September 2015 02:48 (eight years ago) link
Oops meant to vote for "Whip Appeal" or "Vision of Love"
― best beloved george benson (The Reverend), Tuesday, 1 September 2015 05:40 (eight years ago) link
What's your radio station, Alfred? I have no idea what its range is/was, but I was a WAPE devotee until my family moved away from FL in the summer of '90, so it's entirely possible that that was the last time I heard that oft-played Michael Damian song (or any number of its contemporaries) on the radio. The pop stations in Indiana couldn't hold a candle to what I was listening to in Jacksonville.
― Herbie Mann's Push Push Pops (Old Lunch), Tuesday, 1 September 2015 12:27 (eight years ago) link
I voted for Janet, but here are the rest of the correct answers to this poll:
Sinead O'Connor - 'Nothing Compares 2U'Concrete Blonde - 'Joey'Madonna - 'Oh Father'Lou Gramm - 'Just Between You And Me'Tesla - 'Love Song'Regina Belle - 'Make It Like It Was'Taylor Dayne - 'Love Will Lead You Back'After 7 - 'Ready Or Not'Gloria Estefan - 'Here We Are'Brent Bourgeois - 'Dare To Fall In Love'Faster Pussycat - 'House Of Pain'Mariah Carey - 'Vision Of Love'Maxi Priest - 'Close To You'Nikki - 'Notice Me'Whistle - 'Always And Forever'
― Herbie Mann's Push Push Pops (Old Lunch), Tuesday, 1 September 2015 12:35 (eight years ago) link
Voted Lisa Stansfield, because ultimately that's the most correct answer to this poll.
― Norse Jung (Eric H.), Tuesday, 1 September 2015 12:37 (eight years ago) link
I left Lisa Stansfield off of my finalist list because apparently it's not a ballad or whatever people were complaining about upthread. It would've definitely been a contender otherwise.
― Herbie Mann's Push Push Pops (Old Lunch), Tuesday, 1 September 2015 12:40 (eight years ago) link
figured Sinead would have plenty of votes, so I went with the one Henley song I genuinely love.
― campreverb, Tuesday, 1 September 2015 12:59 (eight years ago) link
What's your radio station, Alfred?
at the time Y-100 or Power 96.
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 1 September 2015 13:27 (eight years ago) link