Prefab Sprout - Steve McQueen / Two Wheels Good poll

can we do a 4-way vote between "bonny" -> "goodbye lucille"

― josh, Tuesday, 20 December 2016 01:46 (eleven hours ago)

Yeah this is so tough.

Always tough but Bonny is my go to cut.

Shame the world is ending in 2017 we'll never get to see the results of this poll.

when love breaks down

Just found US version of this LP (Two Wheels Good) in the dollar bin at Stereo Jack's. I haven't had time to fully digest it, but I can already tell this one's going to get played a lot. It feels like it wants to sit on the shelf somewhere between "High Land, Hard Rain" and "Don't Stand Me Down".

So far, the tracks that jump out are "Horsin' Around" and "Faron"

For me, the two weaker albums are 'Andromeda Heights' and 'The Gunman', and the two essential ones are 'Steve McQueen' and 'Jordan'. I like 'Swoon' more than I used to, but it's just so dense that it's a tough listen at first.

^^ otm

I feel like this is an album where just about every track will get a vote.

― Gerald McBoing-Boing

Even Horsin' Around?

So far, the tracks that jump out are "Horsin' Around" and "Faron"

― enochroot, Tuesday, 20 December 2016 15:40 (four hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

From Langley Park to Memphis doesn't get mentioned anytime there's Sprout-talk on here. It's a great album, not a bad track on it.

Truly. "The King of Rock 'n' Roll" gets the unresearched 'novelty song' tag, but "I Remember That", "Nancy (Let Your Hair Down For Me)", and The Venus of the Soup Kitchen" all equal the impact of "The Golden Calf" for me.

Andromeda Heights, "The End of the Affair" is a favorite PS b-side, and "Life's a Miracle" is a lovely song, uplifting without being saccharine.

Here, really hard choice, but "Appetite" and "Desire As" are the two that randomly pop in my head often, so choosing the former.

This is a weird band for me because when I discovered them I OD'd on them so hard, and now every few years I'll play these records and that sates me for several more years. In a way, my binge was such that these songs all--without exception--sound better in my brain and memory than they do when I play them. I can't think of too many other examples of this (possibly Odessey and Oracle)

I feel like this is an album where just about every track will get a vote.
― Gerald McBoing-Boing

Even Horsin' Around?
― Kitchen Person, Tuesday, December 20, 2016 2:51 PM (fifty minutes ago)

Guilty! I actually did vote for Horsin' Around

Iago, what are the good b-sides? I'll hit up sseek later

I love Horsin' Around and would have voted for it if Bonny wasn't the best song ever written.

I always found it just doesn't fit on the album very well. It would make a charming B-side but that's about it. I still love the album as every other song is a 10/10.

I did hedge a bit when I said "just about every track". ;-)

I think the best non album tracks are the pre-Swoon stuff and the stuff from the Andromeda Heights era.

At least in NYC you hardly ever see them anymore. Is there even Pluck U anymore? I sometimes have the Buffalo Boss wings at Fulton Mall. I always get them so hot I cry

Iago, what are the good b-sides? I'll hit up sseek later

Fuck! My wings post that never happened. Sorry calstars

Ok, calstars, I moved my whole PS collection onto sseek. My user name is sekaer. There's a folder called b-sides. Also don't miss the folder KCRW 1988--great in studio solo performance (including Wichita Lineman) and interview

thank you Iago!

I think the best non album tracks are the pre-Swoon stuff and the stuff from the Andromeda Heights era.

I sold "Andromeda Heights" but kept the singles.

Spoiler alert (for those who can't wait for the May 2018 results of this one):
Steve McQueen/Two Wheels Good Poll

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Oh shit I missed the last poll. This is a REALLY hard one. Appetite or Desire As....

"Bonnie" in a heartbeat

― X-Prince Protégé (sonnyboy), Monday, December 19, 2016 3:29 PM (one year ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this poll is too cruel, but I ended up voting for "Goodbye Lucille #1/Johnny Johnny"

This poll closes in a year and a half

― Iago Galdston, Monday, December 19, 2016 4:33 PM (one year ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

the right amount of time imo. picked goodbye lucille

this is soooooooooooooooo hard but i just decided not to think to hard and went with appetite.

Apparently I've already voted although I can't recall what my choice was. This year, it'd be "Moving The River".

yeah, appetite. could've been when love breaks down but been more obsessed with appetite lately

i swear i didn't try to create a mini-me or anything, but it does warm my heart when i hear this coming from my 15 year old kid's room. he was playing high land, hard rain in his room the other night.

i mean, i just play stuff. the rest is up to him.

Nonetheless, Scott, well done.

the core, the heart music... prefab sprout

save your speeches, flowers are for funerals

Appetite is such a good song. I love the lyrics. Great album though.

one of the greatest moments in music

I count the hours since you slipped away
I count the hours that I lie awake
I count the minutes and the seconds too
All I stole and I took from you

otm omar

not always a fan of bands going unplugged, but the acoustic versions of some of these songs are incredible things

Right? Oh my god, those acoustic versions will melt you...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pmp1hr8UxY

this one is total goosebumps

otm omar

― i'm surprised to see your screwface at the door (NickB), Friday, May 11, 2018 12:18 PM (forty-five minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

otm omar

― i'm surprised to see your screwface at the door (NickB), Friday, May 11, 2018 12:18 PM (forty-five minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

― brimstead, Friday, May 11, 2018 1:04 PM (seven minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

"bonny" was the first prefab sprout song i heard

Very difficult. One of those impeccable albums. Where you cannot take away one song without interrupting the perfect flow. I think i'll go for Faron Young. There is a promise in that song that the album fulfills. The build-up never finishes.

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

interesting that Appetite won so easily. would probably still vote for it or Goodbye Lucille

Kind of wish I had gone with Desire As now. Can't argue too much with those results tho

Can't believe this actually finally finished, but glad I accidentally gave it a year-and-a-half runtime. Good turnout.

I thought I'd voted, but it let me vote again yesterday - Desire As.

Shame about Blueberry Pies, but it's lots of moments I like ('ask me what the time is… my eyes shift and slide', 'Hello stranger – the stranger I've become') that don't quite come together into a song I love.

Voted When Love Breaks Down. I had recently written a song with a similar title when that record came out, which obviously wiped the floor with my own efforts

title track is mesmerizing, can wreck me on the right day

Completely agree. Hard to listen to at work, risking watering eyes.

These days Megahertz and Swoon are my two go to PS albums...although SM and JTC are both up there too!

You offer infrared
Instead of sun

My love and I, we are boxing clever

This album is the best when driving singing along loudly with other people in the car less familiar.

At the time it didn't seem odd slotting PS into rotation with R.E.M. or the Cure but looking back they really stand alone. Reading Dolby's retelling of his time with the band was lovely as well, recommended.

I hear you've got a new girlfriend
How's the wife taking it?

This album is the best when driving singing along loudly with other people in the car less familiar.

lol very otm

acoustic steve coming to vinyl
https://recordstoreday.com/SpecialRelease/15660

NO YOU WON’T!

― ACABincalifornia (voodoo chili), Monday, June 22, 2020 10:24 PM (two years ago) bookmarkflaglink

Ooh voodoo chili ooh

one of the greatest moments in music

I count the hours since you slipped away
I count the hours that I lie awake
I count the minutes and the seconds too
All I stole and I took from you
― omar little, Saturday, 12 May 2018 05:14 (five years ago) bookmarkflaglink

hey guess what one of Bjork's favourite songs is?

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/2YQAAOSwpaljkEg2/s-l1600.jpg