Another big voting turnout – and eight songs from seven different albums go through to the quarter-finals.
Results
| % | % | Votes | ||||
| 1 | Twenty Four Hour Garage People | 54 | v | 46 | All I Want For Christmas Is A Dukla Prague Away Kit | 518 |
| 2 | Outbreak Of Vitas Gerulaitis | 27 | v | 73 | The Light at the End of the Tunnel | 522 |
| 3 | A Country Practice | 47 | v | 53 | The Trumpton Riots | 569 |
| 4 | Asparagus Next Left | 30 | v | 70 | National Shite Day | 574 |
| 5 | Everything’s AOR | 53 | v | 47 | Joy Division Oven Gloves | 588 |
| 6 | Bob Wilson – Anchorman | 61 | v | 39 | Fix It So She Dreams Of Me | 591 |
| 7 | Rock And Roll Is Full Of Bad Wools | 49.6 | v | 50.4 | Evening Of Swing (Has Been Cancelled) | 617 |
| 8 | Dead Men Don’t Need Season Tickets | 30 | v | 70 | For What Is Chatteris… | 630 |
See the (now closed) chat for the completed ties: Match 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8
The losers have now taken their place in the updated table for the Baguette Dilemma round.
Stringy bob
Well I am happy with the first result.
18 November 2015
TWo fat Feet
1 for 1 so far, and only 6% out with my prediction.
[although I did predict the wrong winner]
18 November 2015
Dickhead in quicksand
#5 from the BD stage out in the Round of 16? That’s an upset! or else it isn’t.
18 November 2015
SIMON P
Yes! 1 out of 1. That won’t last.
18 November 2015
peter mcornithologist
Upset in Hartlepool. I have tried soothing my Hungarian 1966 World Cup Subbuteo 11 by telling them that it is just a bit of fun.but the temperamental Magyars all have a gob on. Apart from the headless centre forward of course.
18 November 2015
Warwick hunt
Noooo. Result as dodgy as a £3.10 transformer.
18 November 2015
Nagasaki shinpads
Childhood memories Scotched by eggs and marmite
18 November 2015
Eric olthwaite
I’ve just realised that I’ve voted home for all the odd numbered ties and away for the evens. Not at all a deliberate pattern.
19 November 2015
toastkid
TWO FAT FEET, if you predicted the wrong winner, how are you “1 for 1”?
19 November 2015
Sera69
They’ll be partying in the forecourts tonight!
19 November 2015
Dickhead in quicksand
I imagine that TFF predicted one way and voted the other in every tie – a guaranteed 8/8.
19 November 2015
Two fat feet
In the spirit of a pessimist never being disappointed, it would have made sense for me to vote for the one I predicted would lose in every tie, but I didn’t make a point of it. I’m 1 for 1 on votes but 0/1 on predictions, although to be only 6% out on the actual score was better than average for the previous round.
19 November 2015
Two fat feet
All me eggs in one basket on tonight’s one though.
19 November 2015
EXXO
Am I usually wrong then to always expect to be disappointed and indeed to be right far more often than not?
19 November 2015
EXXO
So anyway I like guessing games better than votes, so of the three probable thrashings, which do you reckon will win by most: Light, Shite or What?
19 November 2015
paul f
Exxo – as you well know, the secret of a quiet happiness lies in limiting your aspirations.
19 November 2015
Dickhead in quicksand
“Blessed are they who expect nothing, for they will always be satisfied.” Matthew 5:10a
19 November 2015
EXXO
First 3 proper matches I went to (all at Prenton Park) when I was 8 or 9 were all 0-0. I wasn’t satisfied.
But I must have learnt. A former team-mate of mine reminded me the other day how our old Sunday league team in London celebrated our first 0-0 proudly ‘cos it felt like a ‘proper’ football score, instead of our typical 3-8 defeat (actually we never had a 3-8 but that was the average score).
[if not actually during the great hurricane of ’87, when it was impossible to get the ball to go in the desired direction, the 0-0 match took place in similar conditions].
This should all be in the “DBT [therapy] ** sub-thread really.
**Just as, ideally, all posts relating to actual footballing mathematical safety or (Leicester City) would get syphoned off into the “Mathematically Safe [ephemera]” sub-thread, all horsey nonsense into the “Monmore [EBRs]” thread, etc.
19 November 2015
EXXO
I reckon ‘Shite’ will have the biggest winning margin anyway, then ‘What’ then ‘Light’ then “And” (calling all songs by their second word at the moment – spice of life etc.).
19 November 2015
GOK WAN ACOLYTE
While I’m not surprised at the result in Match 2, I am a little at the margin of victory. Tomorrow is the biggie though in many ways – one big contender will go out
19 November 2015
Chris The Siteowner
‘Shite’ and ‘What’ will do well to get the margin of victory which ‘Light’ has just achieved!
19 November 2015
Dickhead in quicksand
2 for 2 … how long can this continue?
19 November 2015
EXXO
Just slightly less than we expected here at Exxobet. We were thinking about 73-74%.
And 69% What 77% Shite 83%
19 November 2015
Two fAt feet
Well 81% wasn’t such a bad guess for Light. 2 for 2, 50% success at prediction and 7% out on average.
19 November 2015
EXXO
What happened to ‘out of’? Sad face.
19 November 2015
Stringy BOB
2 votes, 2 through. At some point it will go tits.
19 November 2015
Warwick hunt
LFC voting, oh so wrong, oh so wrong.
As ever, it pains me greatly just how undervalued and underappreciated the whole MD&T & TLP era is. Still, I console myself with the knowledge that truly great minds tend not to follow the conventional wisdom.
19 November 2015
Warwick hunt
Or even MT&D he said, disproving his point somewhat. D’oh.
19 November 2015
Eric olthwaite
Match 2, another one in the net. As it’s one of the few I had to spend time pondering, I’m surprised by the wide winning margin.
19 November 2015
deen 3man
FIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIXXXXXXX!!!!!!
19 November 2015
flintlock
Warwick Hunt is correct. Although I don’t think I voted for Vitas G this time.
20 November 2015
SIMON P
(Posted yesterday) Yes! 1 out of 1. That won’t last.
1 out of 2.
Looking at a maximum 6 now, unless DMDNST pulls off the shock of the century.
20 November 2015
Nagasaki shinpads
What a margin!…That train is obviously TGV and no cow needs scraping from the line!
20 November 2015
Dickhead in quicksand
On today’s Soccer Sofa, Ron Pubes blamed his team’s embarrassing defeat on an outbreak of something which he couldn’t spell but which seemed to involve a v and a g. Asked if he thought infecting opponents with STDs on the field of play was within the Spirit of the Game, he kept trying to change the subject.
20 November 2015
Hazelsound
Reminding myself that this is meant to be fun. First match was really tough and regret my decision now I see the result. Must have had a dodgy transformer. Farewell DPAK.
20 November 2015
bobby svarc
Freaked out for another day
20 November 2015
peter mcornithologist
@Dickhead.A lot of anger up here in the north. A menacing gang marching on the seafront screaming ” Pubes Out”.
20 November 2015
Diego Paraplaegic
Is tonights game on pay per view?
20 November 2015
Stringy BOB
I would almost guarantee that all those extra voters that weighed in here voted for Trumpton over a country practice just to oust it. And those extra voters will be chatteris fans. So CtSO as you ranted against the anti chatteris brigade I’d like to hear a similar rant now at tactical voting.
20 November 2015
Two faT feet
Gonna be a riot down in Trumpton tonight, as we listen to the sound of empires falling.
No complaints here even though I voted and expected it to go the other way.
2/3 on votes, 1/3 on predictions, but I take consolation that I was still only 6% out on the score.
20 November 2015
Idiot saul
What about those that voted for Trumpton because it’s a damn fine song and one which is dear to our hearts because it first got us into the Biscuits all those years ago. It’s T for Trumpton as I study the steadily declining chart placing of ACP.
20 November 2015
EXXO
Great result for the song which was first broadcast to the nation 30 years tonight (at about 11.15 pm).
Chill Stringy, it’s prolly only Chris’ tweets doing their thing, and Twitter is full of bad wools.
20 November 2015
Jeff dreadnought
As I said in an earlier post, I thought ACP’s victory in 2011 was a bit of an anomaly as it got lucky with the draw and possibly ABC sentiment.
Shame, as although it’s not the favourite, my view is that it’s one of the very best (certainly “better” than Trumpton if you ask me).
20 November 2015
Jeff dreadnought
I should add that I love Trumpton of course and wish it a happy anniversary.
20 November 2015
Stringy BOB
I should point out that I love Trumpton and made that clear in the individual thread.
I just find it hilariouly suspicious that there are suddenly a mass of extra voters. Where from? Why? Why not vote in ties 1 & 2. Conspiracy theory? Very much so.
20 November 2015
EXXO
Seriously Stringy it must be social media – you can’t underestimate its impact on everything these days – go down the ‘Sidebar of Sh**e’ and note the timing of Chris’ tweets to encourage people to vote (in all the remaining ties). More tweets since then will mean more votes still in the remaining ties but should hopefully not affect which way people vote.
20 November 2015
Jeff dreadnought
The conspiracy theories sound plausible, but there’s also the underdog effect creating ABACP sentiment, plus the fact it hasn’t been played live for a while. I bet if you compared the number of times songs get played live with the Baguette Dilemma results you’d see a close correlation between the two.
20 November 2015
Chris The Siteowner
Bob: any “rant” was at people who (IMHO but not theirs) went against the spirit of the thing a bit in the Baguette Dilemma Round, not only with the amount of voting they did, but by consistently voting against the same songs, even when they came up against the sort of opposition which ended up at numbers 190 to 192. I thought that was just silly, but they didn’t.
I don’t understand how voting for Trumpton over ACP could particularly be described as ‘tactical’ unless “Chatteris Fans” really do think that the final is going to be the same as last time. In which case I’d expect to see “ACP fans” vote off FWIC in Match 8.
But I suspect that if anything, there might be a group of people who’d vote against ACP and FWIC because they did so well in 2011. That’d be rather British.
I didn’t detect any noticeable concerted voting against ACP in the Baguette Dilemma round (unlike FWIC), so its 21st place (down 20) may be quite fair, and suggests Jeff is right when he says that it got lucky in 2011.
Also, there are songs which get a little bit dated in their references, and I wonder if ACP has become one of those? Songs like Trumpton and DPAK, which reference stuff which will always be parts of so many people’s childhoods, will never date. But maybe Katharine Hamnett, Elton Welsby, the Millennium, Sting, Thatcher and Aussie soaps still had a bit of resonance five years ago which has now (finally) faded. Maybe.
20 November 2015
EXXO
The reasonable close correlation is only ‘cos the band aren’t daft and know what’s popular Jeff, but the voters on here won’t reflect the live audience all that closely.
I doubt that the Rotherham Postie follows this malarkey daily, that Roger Green has discovered the internet yet, that Tony (‘Gandalf’/’the Wizard’) is one of the bad wools whipped up by twitter or that new dad Taylo has the time any more…
And where were the votes for hugely popular live ever-presents like ‘Vatican Broadside’? (in fact it was quite good to see – off the top of me head – only one trad. arr tune in the final 32).
20 November 2015
Chris The Siteowner
In terms of “extra voters”, Exxo is right, it’s probably down to the timing of additional promotions. The three places I can drum up additional votes are the Facebook group, the email list and Twitter, but I can’t really do that on the first two more than once or twice a week, and when I do it will be a bit random. The next two ties currently have a similar number of votes as the first three, but the last three are well down on this, so I guess there was a successful promotion at the time when there were 5 songs on which to vote. I can’t be arsed to pore over Google Analytics for hours to see what happened though.
20 November 2015
EXXO
Is there a Freudian slip there when you said 18th place Chris? LOL face.
(Good spot, thanks. Now corrected, so this’ll make no sense – CtSO)
20 November 2015
Jeff dreadnought
I study ACP’s steadily declining chart placings and think “where did those voters go who said it was vital?”
20 November 2015
Jeff Dreadnought
Mind you, it’s fitting that after four years of conformism to a song that’s about conformism (to idiotic norms), subversion should arrive in the shape of a song about subversion. I reckon it was the introduction of Snorty late in the second half that tipped the balance.
20 November 2015
Stringy BOB
Chris I appreciate what you are saying but some peoples 190 is another’s 66. I probably voted against chatteris every time because I don’t like it much. But I’m sure we can agree it was a rant. It certainly made me smile either way!
20 November 2015
EXXO
It was a crazy, crazy idea to do the elimination round that way and to give that particular set of instructions to a gang of overgrown ass-purgers like us lot. That’s mainly what some of us were demonstrating with glee for a few days back there. Look back at sexymp Chris and tell me you didn’t think people always vote for the better looking one – if so how does the far from picturesque woman who stalked me after we worked together in the 1992 campaign (on doorsteps you know well) rank right up on the front page?
20 November 2015
Dickhead in quicksand
2/3, I knew it couldn’t last 🙁 Good to see one song from the early days through, though.
I hope the ref missed the incident where TR’s left back took the base from under Thatcher (qv, RIP (and no, R doesn’t stand for “rest” nor P for “peace”)), no song can afford to lose a player to suspension at this stage.
20 November 2015
EXXO
Actually I only first noticed your link to sexymp.com about a week ago, and the MP concerned was right up there then, but having just reminded meself to look at it again, I see she has dropped well over 100 places in the last week. Which maybe adds more thunder to my fuel.
20 November 2015
D list paul ross
I agree with Ctso. ACP remains a fantastic song but life and TV have got so fatuous even in the last four years that TR has outlasted it. Both brilliant so who really gives a shit either way?
20 November 2015
peter mcornithologist
Blimey Exxo I never thought about it. That is why sex bomb Mandelson was invincible in Hartlepool world.
20 November 2015
gok wan acolyte
It’s worth pointing out that given the relatively small electorate (despite CtSO’s efforts to galvanise the rest of the population) the 47-53 split between ACP & TR is a mere 34 votes.
21 November 2015
Celery
Thoroughly drunk at the moment (Just spent the evening at the best bar in the world – Mai Kai, Ft.Lauderdale) but WoOT! on the demise of ACP. Not a Chatteris fan… more of a Tyrollean Knockabout enthusiast my’sen.
21 November 2015
Hazelsound
Wasn’t sure about the drip-feed of results when you put it to us CtSO, but must admit it’s lifting the gloom. Surprised that Trumpton’s seen off ACP – nice one Chippy Minton. I went for Trumpton because I prefer it to ACP. Simple.
21 November 2015
bobby svarc
Grown men quoting song lyrics? I simply won’t be there.
21 November 2015
Chris The Siteowner
A worldie from Two Fat Feet there.
21 November 2015
Audrey’s Euphemism
Well that’s my song out. Took a serious pasting but did well to get this far, to be honest. Remember Phyllis Triggs!
21 November 2015
Stringy BOB
Thanks Bob fans …
21 November 2015
TWO FAT FEET
Aw shucks.
I was pretty pleased with that, given that I didn’t really have much to work with. Still only 50% accurate on predicting the winners, but three of my choices through so far and, on average, only 4% out on the score. Still too early to install National Shite Day as the new favourite as it hasn’t been tested against any song with any real pedigree in this competition, but a definite contender.
21 November 2015
Stringy BOB
Am I the only one completely shocked at just how high Asparagus placed overall? Good song for sure, but the number of classics sitting way below it is amazing to me. Maybe I’m just odd. Or old school.
22 November 2015
gipton teenager
To paraphrase the punchline from the joke about God and Jesus playing golf…”Bloody hell lads and lasses, it’s only a game”
22 November 2015
Chris The Siteowner
So JDOG crashes out – and yes, it was the 2nd strongest performer in the Baguette Dilemma round. Of course, “AOR” may well have been the strongest performer, so it may not be a shock. For now, let the speculation begin. It means we have a song from the 90s through to the last eight, to join the one from the 80s and the three from the noughties. The next two matches are noughties songs vs. songs from this decade, and the final tie is a noughties vs 90s affair. So we do know the noughties will be the best-represented decade in the quarter-finals – but will it have six of the eight songs?
22 November 2015
Gok wan acolyte
Quite pleased by that result. Looking at the winners so far, and my expected tie winners in the remaining matches, AOR must be the underdog in the quarter finals though
22 November 2015
Clwydian IAN HILL
5 out 5 for me, reckon I should feature in some sort of focus group
22 November 2015
peter mcornithologist
Chris what would occur if by some remote chance one of the games ended in a draw?
22 November 2015
Batley’s very own… Steve malkmus
I’m guessing a penalty shoot-out. Great drama, and no pressure on CtSO.
22 November 2015
TWo fat feet
Happy enough with that result, 4/5 so far although I predicted the other way and am only 2/5 there; which is curious as I’ve got all the marginal ones the wrong way by a score of 6%. I’d dispute that AOR will be an outsider in the quarters though – this is a strong showing so far.
22 November 2015
mister tubbs
Re AOR as an underdog – I’ve done no research, but of the gigs I’ve been to, it’s probably been the final song more than any other, with the possible exception of Trumpton, which suggests someone likes it, and that killer bass riff will certainly get my vote so long as it avoids Shite Day and Bad Wools/Swing in the next round
22 November 2015
EXXO
Hmm, if Lazio was #2 I’m now thinking Napoli #1 … ie Trumpton …maybe I was previously looking too hard at the oppo on the night of the draw, which is why (trying to avoid hindsight but now I wonder if I succeeded), I went for Sporting Lisbon.
Of course AOR is the only song left in the competition which has ever won a trophy and it’s one of their best tunes for a singalong, so no, no way an underdog and its quarter final oppo will do well to be wary.
22 November 2015
Mark
All I want for Christmas is a Dukla Prague Away Kit lost! This is a cup shock on a par with Hereford 1972 and Sutton United in 1989.
22 November 2015
Eric olthwaite
@PeterMcOrnithologist (cc CTSO) As running a replay would be daft, the tiebreak would be distance from Prenton, surely? Ah, no. What I meant to say was, the obvious tiebreak would be the score in the Baguette Dillema round.
22 November 2015
EXXO
That wouldn’t be fair as some people voted absurdly less than others, and absurdly didn’t use as many IPs as others, because of the invisible spirit of the non-existent rules probably. Absurd.
Seems unlikely that a replay would produce an identical result – give the replay a shorter time-frame and do the draw first to concentrate minds; people who voted for one song assuming they were reducing its margin of drubbing, for example, would be one category of voters who might then change their minds.
22 November 2015
Jeff dreadnought
AOR’s more of a dark horse than an underdog – with a favourable draw I reckon it could go on to win the whole thing. Not only does it know how to win at this level (which was one of the reasons I have it in third place in the Baguette Dilemma round), there is also the fact that it gets a regular run out at gigs (a reflection rather than a cause of its popularity as Exxo also mentioned elsewhere. I’m just surprised JDOG ran it so close.
22 November 2015
D List paul ross
Exxo still not over absurd-gate then?
23 November 2015
GOK WAN ACOLYTE
We should just brick Bob Wilson up….gutted. That’s my two of my 3 favourite HMHB songs (Fix It & ACP) out. My interest in the competition is now purely academic
23 November 2015
Stringy bob
Gok, how is it academic if one of your favourites is still in?
2 of my 3 are through, so I am relatively happy. Given the comments I am suprised at the size of Bob Wilsons victory margin.
23 November 2015
Two fat feet
Wayyyyyy out on my prediction but more than happy with the result. Some serious blood will be spilt in the quarters the way this is shaping up.
23 November 2015
gok wan acolyte
@stringy bob:: my third favourite song finished a mere 112th in the Baguette Dilemma round (Mileage Chart).
My earlier comment was perhaps a bit of a reaction to seeing the margin of victory. I will of course continue to participate fully in the democratic process… It will be quite interesting to decide which is my fave of the last 8, though if I actually reveal it that will be the kiss of death for its chances
23 November 2015
gipton teenager
From 6 out of 16 to 5 out of 6. I seem to be peaking just at the right time.Hmm, if only I knew how to bet on the Lottery
23 November 2015
featureless tv producer steve
Another painful result, especially given the margin of victory. I’m just gonna lie down over here in the corner and cry for a bit.
23 November 2015
Nagasaki shinpads
Just another unbelievable margin…am sheltering under the bed next to the ammonites
24 November 2015
Sera69
I roll my eyes at the Bob Wilson acolytes… Very surprised.
24 November 2015
Sera69
And, am I the only one feeling a genuine build up of expectation, anticipation and nervousness for the Dead Men vs Chatteris tie? Good scheduling, that.
24 November 2015
Nige
yes
24 November 2015
Chris The Siteowner
Well, I’ll be publishing the result live from my laptop sitting in the café at Relevant Records, Mill Road, Cambridge on Wednesday at 5pm. I’m expecting a small crowd.
24 November 2015
Stringy bob
I’m more interested in tie 7 which I expect to be very close. Which will no doubt translate in the real world to swing getting annihilated.
24 November 2015
EXXO
Wow, great to hear of an actual record shop, and run by an actual Andy too! I was never without an Andy’s Records bag back in the day – as a fashion accessory which was identifiable from further away than a band t-shirt or political badge. Give my love to Ross Street – fond memories of one of the many shared houses I’ve lived in off Mill Road.
24 November 2015
Jeff Dreadnought
I think you’re right, Stringy Bob. Presumably both songs finished in the top 12 in the BD round, so it could be a nailbiter. I’m guessing Wools will win with 57%.
24 November 2015
paul f
I think the revenge win for TR over ACP is quite reasonable given the margins in both “editions” of the LFC were reasonably tight, but there’s a definite perversity about ACP’s position outside the top 20, four years after beating all-comers.
24 November 2015
BenGWY
I love Relevant, a proper record shop less than five minutes walk from my front door and much more civilised than Andy’s where I did my National Service back in the day. I recommend the granola and yogurt.
24 November 2015
Bobby SVARC
Nervous Records, Hinckley. Still going strong after 35 years. Bought DHSS from there.
24 November 2015
Nige
Chris, are you having a meeting with the cast of Snow White tomorrow?
( 🙂 – CtSO)
24 November 2015
surprised of anglia
@ Exxo. Good lord! I used to share a house in Ross Street in the early ’70s. Number 98 as I recall, garden full of milk bottles in various shades of green. Andy’s benefited from a large proportion of my grant. I notice that Arjuna (?) is still there.
24 November 2015
Chris The Siteowner
5 votes, in case you’re wondering. Ouch. This time yesterday it was just 1, but EOS(HBC) won today 27-23.
24 November 2015
Idiot saul
Blimey, not much movement towards the away side on the Evening of Swingometer.
24 November 2015
Two fat feet
Photo-finish for the first time. 6/7 for me so far, although prediction mojo now shot to pieces, I think I’ve only got two right in this round and the last two scores have been out by double figures.
24 November 2015
Stringy bob
Wow! I know I predicted close, but that is ridiculous!
24 November 2015
Chris The Siteowner
So Achtung Bono took advantage of this tournament’s format allowing any number of songs from an album to qualify for the knockout rounds, with 6 getting through to the last 32. But now 5 of them have gone, and FWIC represents its only hope of a quarter-finalist. Whatever happens in the last match, there’ll be 7 albums represented in the last 8, with only CSI:Ambleside squeezing two songs through. Nothing from the last two albums though, to my amazement – and disappointment. Do people really need 5 years or so to get to appreciate HMHB songs?
24 November 2015
Greggs BAGUETTE
So a new champion will be crowned.
Been quite shocked at some of the results. Also surprised not to see a better showing from UFO. I know they are good at producing slow burners but….
24 November 2015
Dickhead in quicksand
I thought that might be the tie of the round. Good to see the excitement building, with larger crowds in each successive match.
5/7, and expecting 5/8 unless some widows can be persuaded to part with season tickets during the next 24 hours.
24 November 2015
Littlegrafter
First Fix It, and now Bad Wools, in consecutive nights. Gutted.
24 November 2015
TWo fat feet
As with any band, I find new material doesn’t ‘mature’ as such until the next batch is released – it gives it a kind of perspective. If I’m disappointed with a band’s recent output, it tends t
24 November 2015
TWo fat feet
(recites Stavanger Toestub)
o be forgiven if the next album’s better, although I’m happy to consider an album to be a winner immediately if I like it enough. I found Bisodol to be just outside the top three, UFO to be mid-table at best. I’m somewhat surprised to find Ambleside will be the best-represented in the quarters as it’s definitely the weakest album overall since the current line-up hit their stride with Bridgewater.
I just think it takes a long time for a track to displace an old favourite – but in 2019 (assuming, etc) we might well see a much stronger showing from the two most recent albums.
24 November 2015
Stringy BOB
I appear to be in the minority regarding Ambleside. It is my favourite album.
I wonder if we could have some sort of cup competition …
24 November 2015
Audrey’s EUPHEMISMS
Ah no! So close! Really thought Bad Wools would get through. Crazy Razor will be missed in the Quarter Finals.
24 November 2015
SIMON P
Gutted. 5 out of 7, but 0.4% from 6 out of 7. I voted for DMDNST in the last one, so that’s not happening.
24 November 2015
Hazelsound
That margin reflects how tough this match was (found it most difficult, with first match close behind). Finally decided on Bad Wools though and REALLY wanted it to win (this match at least). Had it pegged as the dark horse.
24 November 2015
deen 3man
I wonder how many people are taking part in the voting who don’t know the entire hmhb catalogue? I think this could be the reason for some of the unjustified winners.
Bad losers…. 🙁
25 November 2015
Two fat feet
I doubt any song could even get to the knockout stage without being well known. The proportion of voters who don’t know any of these songs can’t be enough to influence the result – except possibly last night.
25 November 2015
paul f
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I just do not get the excessive love for Evening of Swing. As with Something’s Rotten, I thought it was a (comparatively) drab opener for an album, and both are thrown into sharp contrast by the energetic brilliance of Westward Ho! For it to oust Bad Wools is a travesty of the highest order – I’m talking a 1-0 win through a soft penalty after the opposition have battered the woodwork for 90 minutes.
25 November 2015
TWo fat feet
I don’t think there is ‘excessive’ love for EoS, it got to the quarters last time but got kicked all over the park by Chatteris in a way that suggested an easy ride thus far. I’d still make it the outsider this time round even if Dead Men gets past Chatteris.
25 November 2015
Stringy bob
For my own amusement I’m trying to slot the remaining 8 into the vacant slots in the table (I am totally convinced Chatteris is getting through). Based on what I think, not hope, I’d go for
1. NSD
3. Chatteris
4. AOR
6. Trumpton
7. TLATEOTT
11. Bob Wilson
12. Twenty-Four
18. EOS
So by default … 30. DMDNST
Thoughts?
25 November 2015
EXXO
I was surprised by the EoS result, but Paul’s post just made me want to say I think it’s by far the greatest album opener HMHB have ever produced. I can’t get away from words like ‘majestic’ and ‘towering’. That ‘David Peace’ thing I wrote wasn’t a piss-take; I meant it. This song is properly biblical, not another little skit on suburban mores, but it totally ramps up the feeling of having had a bellyful and can’t take any more to another level, another ten levels. ‘CSI’ of course ends with another even greater song with a similar world view. It’s interesting how the next album too starts with that idea of just having had enough of the bullshit (that’s where I get ‘had a bellyful’ from of course), though the anger there is expressed less ambitiously, but I don’t see how ‘Westward Ho!’ is at all as interesting as an opener – just another enjoyable jilted lover romp to a splendid punky tune.
EoS is so ambitious that has no right to be this successful. It really does look down on the world from a height that it has no right to be able to take us up to. How can the writer of ‘Paintball’s Coming Home’ describe a similar bunch of people ten years later, but on an exponentially different scale of musicality, of lyrical achievement and of perfectly expressed anger and alienation? The achievement matches the heights it scales and the depths it plummets…. and is still so, so bleakly funny.
But there’s the rub: the alienation and anger. It does seem that even some of the most committed HMHB fans get the bleakly funny but don’t really identify with that anger any more. OK, so most of you are forty-and-fifty-something, most of you seem fairly comfortable in your nice little jobs with your kitchens that apparently cost a great deal more than NB10 probably paid for his house (some of you), but surely you still hate the arseholes, the real arseholes, and the stupid things they try to force you to be interested in, surely there are enough moments when you’ve had enough of all the bullshit? That’s when you should listen to ‘Evening of Swing.’ Just listen to how he sings the word ‘I’, and connect with your own inner anger, then really let yourself get taken up into Snowdonia and out into the horrible bleak world of the fucking biblical prophets, and then look down on all the bullshitters and twats you’ve met recently, and let yourself really fucking hate them.
I know it’s easier for you to do that with ‘Bad Wools’ Paul, because I know your football football culture and I know that in so many ways like me, like you, like Peter Hooton (the sort of chap who will perhaps have partly inspired ‘Bad Wools’ in Friday pub conversations with NB10, because it’s his type of phrase really not NB10’s), it was the song about modern footy and music culture we were waiting for. You can identify with it, great, so can I (and I voted for it ‘cos I think it’s marginally greater) but it’s the fact that you can’t identify so much with EoS that makes me think it’s the whole ‘quiet happiness’ thing that’s making some of you miss out on fully appreciating a lot of the darker songs.
And, as you know, I will never cease to be gobsmacked by people voting for some little ditty because they think it’s ‘the closest to a love song’, ‘a perfect piece of whimsy’ etc. Yes, HMHB do that too and are greater for doing such diverse songs and much more besides, but if HMHB are your favourite group and that’s your favourite song then you think that’s the quintessence of musical achievement…
25 November 2015
paul f
I really shouldn’t respond to a classic Exxo response to one of my own less considered posts (especially while I’m at work) but I can’t help myself.
I actually agree with a lot of what you say Exxo, and lyrically I can see why many like EoS so much (even if I am not in their camp). But where it falls down (for me at least) is in being a bit, well, dreary. The songs that inspire my passion in the band are the ones involving a brilliantly funny and/or insightful lyric, with a great tune. So while you can make a valid case for EoS besting Westward Ho! lyrically, I think the combination of lyrics and tune for Ho! makes it a “better” song.
I would not be surprised about the origin of “Bad Wools” you suggest – it struck me on release as a term I would not expect to hear from Nigel. And yes I do like it because I can identify quite heavily with it (as a traditionalist football supporter and Sky-hater) but I also enjoy the tune which lifts it in my opinion enormously.
Anyway, I wonder if one day you’ll be able to get the HMHB equivalent of this t-shirt. 😉
http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/muppet/images/4/45/Jason_segel_onion_shirt.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20130809152531
25 November 2015
EXXO
Thanks Paul, that’s definitely the politest & gentlest version of the ‘uberfan’ accusation I’ve ever received. I wonder if you’d be so soft on me if you didn’t sort of vaguely know me in another internet persona? I’m painfully aware of how absurd, on one level, any sort of pontification about HMHB is. I’ve always had quite a lot in common with the Blackwell world view, but gradually as I get more and more in common (less and less able to stomach anything corporate or institutional, virtually no work as a result, substantially more financial insecurity, more and more the outdoors as therapy, more and more misanthropic, etc) I appreciate the songs even more and yes, I get frustrated that they are not better understood. But ‘dreary’ is a bit of a stunner there, even I don’t know what to say, to pontificate, about that really.
25 November 2015
paul f
Only in comparison to their wider work Exxo – with both EoS, and Something Rotten, my first listening of the respective albums started on a bit of a downer (but quickly recovered). With Westward Ho! (and Restless Legs and TLATEOTT for that matter) my enthusiasm was immediate.
25 November 2015
Gok wan acolyte
After such a tight marginal yesterday, the safe seat of Chatters goes as expected
25 November 2015
paul f
I could comfortably live in a world where any of 6 of those quarter finalists ended up as cup winners. I have said my piece on EoS, but Bob Wilson is another track that I am not especially enamoured of.
25 November 2015
paul f
* peace even!
25 November 2015
Gok wan acolyte
Chatters? Damn you, auto-correct
25 November 2015
Two fat feet
Aaaaand another one bang on the nose. 7 of my choices through, which is as many as I got in the first round, although my actual predictions fared rather less well.
25 November 2015
Stringy BOB
Booooooooooooo
25 November 2015
Batley’s very own… Steve malkmus
@Paul F, “piece” would be correct. You say your piece, or make your peace. Pedant mode off.
25 November 2015
Batley’s very own… Steve malkmus
For me the big shock of the round is the extent to which Vitas Gerulaitis had its hind quarters handed to it. Despite only getting through by the skin of its teeth I’m predicting victory for EoS, possibly aided by Exxo’s impassioned post, one which I pretty much agree with. That or NSD. Ambleside isn’t the best album as a whole, but the stand out songs (the above-mentioned along with Problem Chimp) are up there with the finest in my humble opinion.
25 November 2015
Beltane beard
Not a bad quarter final line up at all.
Song I want to win : Bob Wilson
Songs I’d be very happy if they won : Chatteris, AOR, NSD
Song I’d be fine about winning : 24HGP
Songs I’d be a bit “hmmm well ok” if they won : TLATEOTT, Evening of Swing
Song I don’t want to win : Trumpton
Also just noticed that each tie in the last 16 attracted a higher number of votes than its predecessor with DMDNST v Chatteris attracting over 20% more votes than the opening tie at the all night garage.
25 November 2015
Two fat feet
In order of preference (might change if a blatant shove in the back supersedes a crafty nudge behind the ref’s back) : NSD, 24, Swing, Chatteris, Light, Trumpton, Wilson, AOR.
However on current form, most likely winner pre-draw is Trumpton followed by AOR, Shite, Wilson, Light, 24, Chatteris, Swing.
25 November 2015
Paul f
@steve- I hate it when my subconscious mind proves itself superior to my conscious mind.
25 November 2015
Martin
After 13 successful picks out of 16 in the previous round, 4 out of 8 was rather less impressive this time. But I won’t be sad if any of the final 8 triumph as they are all corkers in my view. 4 or 5 are in my top 20 tunes and the others are all in my top 50. Can’t think of too many other bands where I have 50+ favourites, which says it all really. No fretwork homework for me but I will listen to the lyrics of EOS again before the quarter finals as they’re the only ones I don’t know by heart.
26 November 2015
Clash City Rocker
An interesting set of results in the round of 16. I came within 5 votes of a clean sweep, but am happy with 7 out of 8. Look forward to the Quarters and indeed the no doubt intriguing way the draw will be made. keep up the good work Chris.
26 November 2015
toastkid
What is it about Chatteris? It’s so twee. I mean, i like it compared to most other band’s songs, but it’s so f*cking twee. V disappointed to see Dead Men go out, and by such a large margin too.
I just realised that i think that a lot of my favourite HMHB songs are the ones where Neil unleashes his inner Hanley/Hook and drives the song with a big grungey bassline. Dead Men is certainly one of those. Boo hoo.
26 November 2015
toastkid
The bassline for Chatteris on the other hand is like Postman Pat or something. I rest my case (too late).
26 November 2015
counterblast to Agnosticism
@Toastkid I’m definitely with you on the bass. All my favourites (at least musically) have a strong bass line, and it probably explains why TLP is my favourite album. Dead Men is another fine example though.
26 November 2015
warwick Hunt
REO Spudwagon came on the radio a little earlier (don’t ask)…set me thinking….
I said to Jesus, “How much do you love me?”
He said “This much” and he stretched out his arms and died
And I thought to myself: is that a stock reply?
Or are there exceptions for the likes of Chatteris vote casters….
26 November 2015
Jeff Dreadnought
I’ve voted for Chatteris when it’s come up against songs I like slightly less. Chatteris is a like a dog on the pitch for me: I’m always happy enough to see it, but it’s not really the reason I went to the match.
26 November 2015
D list paul ross
Surely comforting that despite some absurd (sorry) stuff last eight were all originally top 18 so nothing too horrific going on. Worst PBR ever bloke at work mentioned fishing at Rock Ferry as a kid I mentioned HMHB/ Venglos he claims he went to school with Neil. Told you it was shit. Didn’t even remember a very powerful magnet.
26 November 2015
Peter p
Apparently I am enjoying HMHB all wrong. How very outre of me.
2 December 2015
Dickhead in quicksand
@Peter P – could you be irking some purists?
2 December 2015
bobby svarc
As Jegsy Say’s, “They’re a funny fkin crowd them HMHB lyrics types” or summat.
3 December 2015
Peter p
@dickhead in quicksand Yes… Love Michael Ball or The Fall and any number of the tracks that don’t major on anger and angst. To suggest that they’re not the right ones to listen makes one sound a little like the lead singer of Evil Gazebo.
3 December 2015
Dr desperate
Don’t suppose Geoff’s interested, but that last 16 would end the debate over what to put on a ‘Best Of’ album.
6 December 2015