The Trumpton Riots (1985)
vs.
A Country Practice (1998)
The older two semi-finalists slug it out, and it’s anyone’s game. For anyone wishing to take into account how difficult the road to the semi-finals has been (or for those of you wishing to bear a grudge), here’s how they got here: The Trumpton Riots beat Dukla Prague Away Kit, Friday Night and Joy Division Oven Gloves; and A Country Practice beat Irk The Purists, Tending The Wrong Grave and Them’s The Vagaries.
Result
The Trumpton Riots 138
vs.
A Country Practice 154
Mac
Love the energy and humour of Trumpton but ACP is my favourite of these too. Probably because of Nigel’s variation live. It’s a new song each time.
5 June 2011
aiwacat
Though Trumpton is still a cracker, and will always garner extra points purely for nostalgia’s sake, I have to say ACP shades it, partly by reasons of variety. There’s about three songs-worth of content in there, and the more I hear it, the more I find to savour.
5 June 2011
Third Rate Les
Trumpton started brightly in this one, but the relentless, unshowy pressure of the opinionated weather forecasters and Elton Welsby just proved too much, even if it wasn’t quite the thrilling classic the crowd might have liked at this stage.
Plus he captured the forced official jollity of the Millennium eerily well, a couple of years before it actually happened.
5 June 2011
Lollipop Man Darren
Has to be ACP for me. To be honest, it’s way down my list of favourite HMHB songs, but it certainly outshines Trumpton, a song which has never done it for me as I find it lacking in tunefulness.
I normally won’t vote for songs that are primarily made up of talking but I am breaking my rule here as TR is mostly made up of shouting and I find that harder to listen to.
To be honest, I still don’t understand how these two are still in the competition whilst classics like “Everything’s AOR” and “Surging Out Of Convalescence” were dumped out in earlier rounds, but there you go……
5 June 2011
Littlegrafter
This looks to be going strongly the way of ACP and here’s another one. Although maybe ACP fans just comment more, “opinionated luxfamiliarists telling me what they’re voting for” etc…
Just keep something back for the final, will you?
5 June 2011
Stephen Hope
ACP, I agree, is lucky to be here at this late stage of the game. But Trumpton Riots is suffering from a quarter-of-a-century of over-familiarity so the more versatile ACP appears to be romping it to the final. Gretna reached the Scottish Cup final in recent years. Cardiff did the same in that whatsname cup down south not so long ago. Shit like this happens
5 June 2011
The Almost Illegal Elton Welsby
The old stagers of Trumpton did well to get this far, but in this game age and experience can’t match skill and youth. A convincing ACP win.
5 June 2011
TWO FAT FEET
Can it really be said by this stage that either song doesn’t deserve to be here? They’ve each proved to be among the most popular songs on their respective albums, and each been voted more popular than three other similarly successful songs, in most cases quite comfortably. You can express personal surprise that a song has survived this far, but you can’t really deny a song’s right to have survived this far given that it is the overall opinion of over 200 people a time in most cases which has decided who remains.
For the record, I’m in the ACP camp too. Nothing against Trumpton, but it’s not among my personal favourites although I hadn’t anticipated it still being held in such high regard. But why shouldn’t it be? Ultimately we are voting for our favourite songs, and we all have our own different reasons.
Boing. “Time for bed,” said Zebedee. Oh bugger, wrong programme.
5 June 2011
Chippy Minton
Looking like one way traffic so in the interest of debate here’s another point of view.
I reckon you have to be of ‘a certain age’ to fully appreciate Trumpton…old enough to have watched the programme itself on TV as a kid, at secondary school round about the time of the riots in 1981 and full of 20 y.o. political idealism (ie sick of Thatcher) when the song came out.
It was a genuinely subversive song at the time and full of humour…way better than the Billy Bragg inspired ‘Red Wedge’ movement which was just full of itself.
Trumpton deserves to be in the final – much more to it than the youngsters realise I think.
I’m getting old – going for a lie down.
6 June 2011
CHIEF EXEC
ACP smashing its way through this competition. I think I liked it more before it became so dominant.
6 June 2011
Lollipop Man Darren
Two Fat Feet makes a valid point; both songs have been democratically put through to the semis and they get my respect for that.
I’m just unhappy that Trumpton beat my all time favourite JDOG in the quarters and I wasn’t overly pleased when ACP dumped Vagaries out either.
I’d better sort myself out though, else I will become the Dennis Bell of the Lux Familiar Cup………
6 June 2011
RobJ
ACP for me, but this is the lesser semi-final. This is going out on ITV while the Beeb have snapped up the other one.
6 June 2011
Chippy Minton
Going against the grain for sentimental reasons and gone for Trumption. It was Trumption that nearly got me thrown off my bricklaying apprenticeship in 1985 after I came into class slightly drunk after a couple of beers at dinner. I then proceeded to interupt the lecture as I played snippets of Trumpton on my old portable tape deck that I kept in a bag, under the desk. I only got away with it as the lecturer was more pissed than me!
Listening to it nowadays a prefer the live version on ACD as you can hear the words clearer, the original is noise, but its a beautiful noise, as Neil Diamond once sang.
6 June 2011
Dave Cooper
Could have been the final.
ACP to shade it but expect a strong vote from the traditionalists!
6 June 2011
Brian Duffin
Mark me down as a traditionalist.
6 June 2011
SteveG
It’s hard to vote agianst Trumpton but there is so much going on in A Country Practice (no acronyms for me ….) so sorry Trumpton ~ but its still the best t-shirt
6 June 2011
Kingsbeef
This is definitely my hardest call of the entire tournament but as a bit of an old windy militant I’m with Chippy. Besides which I find the thought of a Trumpton v Chatteris final almost biscuitly funny and surreal as I used to know people from both places. But that’s because I possess the mild air of a 40-something, riot-remembering, Trumpton-loving, Thatcher hater.
6 June 2011
TWO FAT FEET
You actually knew someone from Trumpton?
6 June 2011
Littlegrafter
Chippy, that sounds so like our geography O’level lessons in 1984/5. We had a lesson on a Tuesday early afternoon, when the charts came out. One lad (Miv was his nickname) would lie with his head on his bag with a portable radio inside, listening to the chart countdown. He’d then write down the top 5 and pass it round the class. The whole thing was exposed the day the Toy Dolls charted with Nellie the Elephant. All he did was hold up a number 14 (I think) which resulted in us on the back row bursting into a wild cheer, which didnt go unnoticed by the teacher, so the game was up. Not a great deal to do with HMHB, but there you go!
6 June 2011
Kingsbeef
Children of a certain age all knew Windy Miller. It’s a bond as strong as many friendships
6 June 2011
Steve Malkmoose
I didnt live near Windy Miller, I was more over the other side, yknow up near the Jonathan Bell end
*I’ll get me coat*
6 June 2011
TWO FAT FEET
Did you know the original Chippy Minton then? How did he make a living as a carpenter when everything was made of plasticine?
6 June 2011
poolio
Trumpton? Trumped on… by A Count ry(?)-practice, and you may do better next time…
6 June 2011
2 Chevrons
Went for ACP.
Sadly, this is on one of the HMHB albums that I don’t yet have, but heard it at the Live Lounge gig late last year and despite the awful sound quality on the night, think it does enough to win through.
6 June 2011
Sandy Coloured Clown
There’s a two-for-one offer on here: buy Trumpton, get Studio Banjo thrown in free.
I’d like it if one of the earlier songs got through to the final, I’ve spent the day listening to Trumpton and Banjo, and I’ve always felt that ACP loses it’s way a little bit before recovering with a classic biccies non-sequator of an ending.
On the other hand, Trumpton was their ‘defining’ song early doors, and for this to win would seem to deny how great they’ve been since then… HMHB are the only band I can think of who get better and better after all these years.
Hmm.
Trumpton for me.
I also, controversially, think that one of the other two will win the right to the open-top bus and the town hall balcony. There. I’ve said it.
7 June 2011
Sandy Coloured Clown
Poolio –
Until I saw your post I hadn’t realised how ‘A Country Practice’ might possibly relate to Shakespeare’s “country matters” in Hamlet.
Maybe I’m reading too much in to this and should, you know, sleep.
7 June 2011
TOMMY
I’m with Chippy on this one, Trumpton it is.
7 June 2011
Pete T
Trumpton a classic from day one, ACP pants from later days. Trumpton flies. I think I’m in the minority. 🙁
7 June 2011
LaL
Went for Trumpton,but this was a score draw even after extra time and penalties,hard to seperate them,but went for trumpton due to the history.;)
7 June 2011
spoonunit
As a Chigley skin, gonna have to smash the coach windows of the Trumpton boys should they reach the final. Come & have a go Mrs Honeyman if you think you’re hard enough. ACP,ACP,ACP……
8 June 2011
Trumptonrioter
never really got ACP, trumpton lives on in my memory with the late great John Peel. Going down the road of nostalgia so trumpton it is, surging its way through Chigley and Camberwick all the way to Wembley.
8 June 2011
Ricardo
Heading towards Chigley from Trumpton would take you precisely in the opposite direction from Wembley; I very much doubt PC McGarry would allow this blatant attempt at provocation. Even then, your next proposed stage of the journey – to Camberwick Green – would likely see your coach diverted miles out of its way to avoid the notoriously unsafe Chigley Bridge.
Should Trumpton make it through, I think you need to radically rethink your travel plans for cup final day.
8 June 2011
John Burscough
Ordinary to Wembley.
9 June 2011
Elderly lady@thebustop
Remember boys, the final is on a Friday night……The gates may be low…..
10 June 2011
Elderly lady@thebustop
…or should that be ‘gate’…………..sounds a bit like….Yate.
10 June 2011
Mark
Tranmere’s run to the League Cup final was less of a surprise to me.
19 June 2011