A POLL Bizarre ~~~ It's the ILM 80's R&B TRACKS POLL ~~~ RESULTS THREAD!!!

i like this song but i am confused by how highly rated it seems to be (not just on this poll). like it was a good solid hit single from sade but they had many better songs *shrug*

I'm mostly of the opinion that Sade is pleasant but slight (with the exception of 'It's Only Love That Gets You Through', which is one of my all-time favorite songs full-stop but well outside the purview of this poll).

https://img.discogs.com/4b6UvX-rpeCYiEzMM1pKRhr_krQ=/fit-in/450x450/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-437870-1113403178.gif.jpg
35. Janet Jackson - When I Think of You
633 points, 11 votes, 1 number one
https://youtu.be/EaleKN9GQ54

My favourite Janet song of the 80s, my second favourite overall behind Empty.

That's six out of my seven Janet votes (and I doubt 'Let's Wait a While' is gonna place this late in the game). Good showing!

omg i totally forgot about this song while putting my ballot together, shame on me!

Sade's greatest song.

Didn't think I was going to be in the position to side with Sade, but there it is.

Sade's greatest song.

... is "Turn My Back On You"

"Sweetest Taboo" is great, though

https://img.discogs.com/7WSzTL8QvreTFL2ibSj1pffgtp0=/fit-in/600x603/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-48721-1290866703.jpeg.jpg
34. Grace Jones - Slave to the Rhythm
635 points, 9 votes
https://youtu.be/Z0XLzIswI2s

KEEP IT UP
KEEP IT UP

Not in my top ten Jones songs, but it'll do.

Unabashed love for this track.

So massively huge.

https://img.discogs.com/7SnSJ8ifHY39x8LGPd0aQ_n36jM=/fit-in/600x603/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-75536-1458852008-8359.jpeg.jpg
33. Tom Tom Club - Genius of Love
645 points, 11 votes
https://youtu.be/ECiMhe4E0pI

admittedly i know very little of grace jones's music and hadn't heard this either. it's tremendous.

Yes! The full-length "Blooded" version of this is a thing of wonder! As is the other, operatic version of it on the album, but this one is more R&B.

xmessage

That was about "Slave", of course.

Genius would have been my #1 on a different kind of 80s poll

Oh, this one... Very nice synth riff that's been sampled well and often, but it doesn't deserve to be so high in a poll like this.

Chris Frantz's interjections irritate me these days. Nothing like the SMS version.

stfu Tuomas:

On its release in November 1981, "Genius of Love" became a huge hit in the clubs and on the R&B and dance charts worldwide, soon earning the Tom Tom Club LP a Gold Sales Award in 1982. In the U.S. the song reached No. 1 on the Billboard Disco Top 80 chart along with "Wordy Rappinghood," and also reached No. 2 on the Hot Soul Singles chart. It later went on to peak at No. 31 on the Billboard Hot 100 in April 1982,[3] becoming the Tom Tom Club's only entry on the Hot 100.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genius_of_Love#Chart_performance

David Byrne was...not amused.

Again, we aren't voting based on chart placement, are we? "Genius" has a great synth riff and a nice groove but very irritating vocals, and there are about 70 tunes we've seen in this poll alone that are better than it.

I can yield that "Genius of Love" skews to the cornier side of the results and still add that it's TOO LOW!

https://img.discogs.com/QgqAsbROe8kM56toRoLn_EZQ1RU=/fit-in/600x599/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-1693003-1330800759.jpeg.jpg
32. Pointer Sisters - Automatic
670 points, 14 votes
https://youtu.be/sDU6K02igoU

Huh, that's a good song but pretty high. When it came out, lil' me kept thinking they were singing about the short-lived sci-fi-fi crime solving show "Automan."

Ruth's vocal performance buries just about anything else.

Awesome song, deserves a high spot

I actually expected it to make the top 10.

Chris Frantz's interjections irritate me these days. Nothing like the SMS version.

― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, May 17, 2017 1:21 PM (eighteen minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

They always irritated me. The track rules nonetheless. But it was on the bottom half of my ballot so I agree it might be too high.

I didn't realize that I had any clear preference wrt '80s Pointer Sisters tracks until I was preparing my ballot, when 'Automatic' became the clear (and in retrospect most obvious) winner.

https://img.discogs.com/L9V4xMTqL4bVpy_wxdSrbG1VYNM=/fit-in/600x605/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-2645974-1411332208-7303.jpeg.jpg
31. Rick James - Super Freak
672 points, 12 votes
https://youtu.be/QYHxGBH6o4M

Ruth Pointer sounds like a robot = genius

Automatic is an incredible song. One of my favourite basslines ever, especially in the chorus.

Great to see Slave To The Rhythm so high. I would have liked to see a few more Grace Jones songs on the list, but at least we got two of her best songs in the top 50.

literally no such thing as "automatic" being "pretty high"

i hate to say it, but "super freak" being as overexposed as it's become has ruined much of its charm for me

https://img.discogs.com/2Szcb_wUr50jXTJ8ZuT6UDnlQ1A=/fit-in/600x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-7720737-1447418610-2797.jpeg.jpg
30. Prince - Kiss
677 points, 11 votes

meanwhile i could probably hear this a trillion times and get excited whenever it comes on

i think "give it to me baby" is the superior rick james single

I agree.

literally no such thing as "automatic" being "pretty high"

Of course there is, because this poll is an embarrassment of riches. Almost every song on here could justifiably be too high or too low, and almost any one could be swapped out by an equally awesome track by the same act.

Automatic and Dare Me are just Pointer Sisters front-runners. Didn't vote for them but no beef. Top results all day pretty much. Don't think we can count Let's Wait a While out just yet...

think "give it to me baby" is the superior rick james single

― ToddBonzalez (BradNelson), Wednesday, May 17, 2017 3:02 PM (three minutes ago)

Otm

I ... don't love "Kiss."

Dare Me and Automatic are my favorite PS songs

I never listen to Kiss of my own volition.

Little Red Corvette was in my top 3 I'm sure. Still can't get over how great it is every time it comes on.

https://img.discogs.com/4-p9-LCdDKfzZekV7TEv1EmbfJg=/fit-in/600x597/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-3417340-1329605727.jpeg.jpg
29. The Gap Band - You Dropped a Bomb on Me
683 points, 11 votes
https://youtu.be/17lkdqoLt44

My college roommate and I always fantasized about being the band member who got to press the button for the video game missle sound every four bars.

The Gap Band are ridiculously good. They are like the razor sharp version of P-Funk. Did Outstanding and Early In the Mornin' place already? Too late for Humpin probably.

I used to love "Kiss" but I'm kinda worn out on it tbh