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

the only perfect song

https://img.discogs.com/7elnl2sZQ6yPFYaZkcqsnVxRDgo=/fit-in/600x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-127560-1143896523.jpeg.jpg
21. Soul II Soul - Back to Life (However Do You Want Me)
791 points, 15 votes, 1 number one
https://youtu.be/TB54dZkzZOY

I am genuinely shocked by these results today (except for Dazz Band, which was a no-brainer). I thought for sure today would be yawn-inducingly predictable, but now I don't know WHAT to think.

ALL
THE
WAY
DOWN

Love 'Back to Life', but can't get my head around the idea that people thinks it's superior to 'Keep On Movin''.

I suppose it's been asked before but this thread is now too long to check it all !
Is there a spotify playlist of the results ?

Certainly, thanks to Moodles:

https://open.spotify.com/user/olken2000/playlist/7fYWHyWjcMJF7MHAja1EKs

https://img.discogs.com/QS7XfhXUqStRYN9innfW7w9jC6I=/fit-in/600x601/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-1217555-1201455067.jpeg.jpg
20. Prince - When Doves Cry
810 points, 14 votes, 1 number one

There are just so many great hooks. Plus that bridge is perfect. (xpost)

Wow only #20 !

I'm teaching Romeo and Juliet at the moment and the version of this in the Luhrmann film is quite a thing - the song has the presence of a revealed truth.

Thanks ArchCarrier !

Chaka can't have 2 in the top 20 can she?

Does every version of "The Rain" feature that long spoken word bit at the end? Or was there an edit?

I can't believe When Doves Cry is only 20.

https://img.discogs.com/do7_s4HMajRfqJmFYjD86wQ7jLw=/fit-in/600x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-206392-1274370533.jpeg.jpg
19. Luther Vandross - Never Too Much
822 points, 13 votes, 1 number one
https://youtu.be/pNj9bXKGOiI

Does every version of "The Rain" feature that long spoken word bit at the end? Or was there an edit?

― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 18 May 2017 12:32 (five minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

What lunatic would edit that bit out

i'm pretty sure the version on pop radio faded out the end

Wow, I was expecting the latest two entries to be in the top 10. Interesting to see who will make it there, besides MJ.

"Never Too Much" is of course perfect in it's smoothness, even if its "quit my job to just hang with my partner 24/7" scenario is a bit odd, even in the realm of love song lyrics.

Love 'Back to Life', but can't get my head around the idea that people thinks it's superior to 'Keep On Movin''.

― Dan Worsley, Thursday, May 18, 2017 5:38 AM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Also, 'When Doves Cry' @ 20 is CRAAAAAZY. That was my number two, and I wouldn't have been nearly as surprised as I am right now if it had won outright.

That was intended to be a 'me too' to Dan, there.

"never too much" is the song that gets immediately stuck in my head when i fall in love

https://img.discogs.com/gV04cz-QWi1ZMMltjyUmWEPCDWA=/fit-in/597x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-222835-1333826064.jpeg.jpg
18. The Jacksons - Can You Feel It
824 points, 16 votes
https://youtu.be/9nP4WE_-uqE

Yes, okay. Any chance for 'Walk Right Now' to still show up? I wouldn't (and didn't) put it above 'Can You Feel It' but it's certainly somewhere within the same orbit.

Too much to catch up on. Gtfo with this British start time!

The video for 'Can You Feel It' is, I feel, more terrifying than 'Thriller'. The thing feels apocalyptic, with the Jacksons as monumental demigods striding across the earth and manipulating the fabric of reality like clay. The ending, where the survivors of their rampage cower in fear as the sun is extinguished, is truly chilling.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xW1fXL3s7bk

But amazing song!

https://img.discogs.com/MVynbTJLyWtTnRomGAnWUqTIn44=/fit-in/600x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-799801-1183283864.jpeg.jpg
17. The S.O.S. Band - Just Be Good to Me
832 points, 15 votes
https://youtu.be/RCcg7ctrC4w

Love come down would've been my number one if I voted

"The Rain" is the only song from today so far that doesn't really move me in any way.

Also sort of flabbergasted that "When Doves Cry" is all the way down at #20. "I Wanna Be Your Lover" was in the top 10, right?

"You're the One for Me" in the top 25 = Yesssss! I rank "Keep On" higher, but "The One" is definitely the enduring classic.

"Back To Life" was a far bigger crossover hit in the U.S. than "Keep On Movin," and I greatly prefer it.

I can not separate "Just Be Good To Me" from its cover art. Such a stately, slow-rolling, metallic song.

Wooooow, I figured 'Just Be Good To Me' was a lost cause at this point. Good show!

Have the Mary Jane Girls not shown up at all yet?!

I'm completely in the dark about what's still to come.

"In My House" way down. Still have fingers crossed for "Candy Man."

Ah, okay, guess I missed that.

There are still two songs by female solo artists who have yet to make an appearance which feel maybe too obscure to show up this late in the game but whose absence will be an absolute travesty of justice and a perversion of the cosmic order. Not to be hyperbolic or anything.

And they are?

https://img.discogs.com/Fi4i6YSoc_S4ZcLzOo5cMw-4Jmo=/fit-in/600x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-202123-1273968833.jpeg.jpg
16. Diana Ross - Upside Down
837 points, 17 votes
https://youtu.be/4GtyMeEcPPE

xpost Cheryl and Jenny!

Sorry, '80s Diana Ross doesn't belong anywhere near the top 25.

That's just how I feel.

Would love to have a discussion after this is all done about where everyone is from and where/when they heard many of these songs for the first time (especially if you are old like me). I have a good friend here born and raised in the midwest who is relatively unfamiliar with, say, the Oran "Juice" Jones and Vandross tracks, but recognizes them via friends as regional hits from the east coast (where I am from). Dunno how accurate that is.

I don't remember hearing "The Rain" on KDWB or WLOL in Minneapolis, but I could've just tuned it out.

You tuned it out, KDWB played it a LOT (with the spoken word outtro)

I know this because I taped it off of the top ten countdown

Brief précis of where I was from ca. 1980-1989: GA>VA>IN>VA>TN>IN>FL>IN. So I recognize all too well how different pop radio can be from region to region

Hah, I'm glad we can compare KDWB notes itt!

I never heard the outro to 'The Rain' until YouTube happened. I feel like I missed out on something essential in my youth.

Wow, this run has been so great.

Love the D-Train song. I love the album version which has the slow intro before bursting into life so much.

I was getting nervous for The Rain. Probably the most quotable song of all time. My personal favourite lines are "I missed you so much I followed you today" and of course "'my first impulse was to run up on you and do a Rambo". That whole spoken part is so ridiculous and amazing. It was my number three.

Never Too Much was my number one. Such an effortless and gorgeous song. It's a shame that's probably going to be the only Luther song in the list.

I thought Just Be Good To Me might make the top 10. The full album version with that epic intro is so thrilling. A timeless song.

I'm happy to see Upside Down so high but as I mentioned earlier, My Old Piano is my favourite. It might actually be my favourite Chic related song.

https://img.discogs.com/LJHdNpXur9pK3zVdj9rPA-PjABQ=/fit-in/600x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-584968-1197905970.jpeg.jpg
15. Marvin Gaye - Sexual Healing
848 points, 15 votes, 1 number one
https://youtu.be/rjlSiASsUIs

wow, thought this would be higher

I was born in the 1979, so obviously I'm too young to remember the early '80s stuff firsthand. And back in the eighties, Finland was still very much a "rock" country, so only the big R&B names, like Michael, Janet, Prince, EWF, or Whitney got any significant airplay here. So besides them, I mostly knew the stuff that got played on MTV. But about 10+ years ago I got into a huge boogie/post-disco kick, and ever since then I've delved deeper and deeper into this stuff, and nowadays the '80s are my favourite decade when it comes to R&B.

Compilation series like Ben Liebrand's "Grand 12-Inches" and Unidisc's "Star-Funk" have been a great resource for getting into the club music of this period, and I wholeheartedly recommend them to all you. Though sadly Unidisc is apparently very picky about the stuff it's acquired the rights for, so a lot of awesome tunes by one-hit wonders (like "Summer Breeze", which I repped in the nomination process) are not easily available anywhere else than on those Star-Funk comps... And since some of them are pretty rare these days, those tunes have become needlessly obscure.

OK, first genuine bummer in the top 50 for me.