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Topic is better than Snickers (Rooting for the musical underdogs)

Started by alan nagsworth, July 29, 2014, 04:24:09 PM

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Cleaners From Venus


Quote from: shiftwork2 on July 31, 2014, 08:24:35 PM
I'm quite interested in this period (1990 - early 1992?) as it coincided with my formative years.  At the time I thought it was shaft and that I'd been cheated, and (as you point out) history hasn't been kind either.  I quite liked Carter I suppose, with the puns and the energy and the fellas called fruitbob.  But the rest left me completely cold.  The Stourbridge bands complained they weren't taken seriously because of the lack of identity of the Midlands but it wasn't just that - how many people could name more than one song by either band?  They just weren't that great.  It seemed to me to be a time of weird 'attitude' and attendant lack of quality, Miles Hunt pulling a gurning aggressive face in the music papers as if in reproach to not liking his forgettable music.  That man out of Jesus Jones telling us off for not liking his album because it was 'too principled'.  You wouldn't have had Madchester or Britpop chastising us for that, and the music was ten times better.  1990-92 was a fallow period.

I'd agree with that now, but at the time I loved the Stuffies and the Poppies. I haven't listened to any of their output in years, but Hup and This is the Day certainly had some energy and charm in a pretty barren time for UK music.

Carter's first two have aged better. 101 Damnations still gets a play on my turntable (Spotify).

And no love for The Frank and Walters?

Melth

Quote from: KennyMonster on July 31, 2014, 01:02:30 PM
The bands that I was into as a teen all seem to be underdogs from the point of view of the history books[nb]Please don't laugh..........Carter USM, PWEI, WonderStuff, Kingmaker, EMF, 25th of May.

I think you could put together an excellent compilation from this period sort - the bands that you've mentioned have two or three good singles each and you could add some excellent songs from Cud, Mega City Four, the first Denim album. Like you, I'd rather listen to that than an equivalent Britpop retrospective (unlike you, I've always thought Pulp were incredibly dull). I'm happy to be corrected, but I'm not sure that, over fairly long careers, any of these bands managed to release a particularly consistent album. As shiftwork2 says, of course, the likes of Miles Hunt came across as quite charmless - either that, or lacking any sort of identity.

KennyMonster

Quote from: shiftwork2 on July 31, 2014, 08:24:35 PM
I'm quite interested in this period (1990 - early 1992?) as it coincided with my formative years.  At the time I thought it was shaft and that I'd been cheated, and (as you point out) history hasn't been kind either.  I quite liked Carter I suppose, with the puns and the energy and the fellas called fruitbob.  But the rest left me completely cold.  The Stourbridge bands complained they weren't taken seriously because of the lack of identity of the Midlands but it wasn't just that - how many people could name more than one song by either band?  They just weren't that great.  It seemed to me to be a time of weird 'attitude' and attendant lack of quality, Miles Hunt pulling a gurning aggressive face in the music papers as if in reproach to not liking his forgettable music.  That man out of Jesus Jones telling us off for not liking his album because it was 'too principled'.  You wouldn't have had Madchester or Britpop chastising us for that, and the music was ten times better.  1990-92 was a fallow period.

I'm not sure if you are trolling or not but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt.

I did not mean that history hasn't been kind to these bands, I'm saying that the media have got a selective memory and try to pretend that these bands were not hyped, there wasn't a movement that made bands want to have a madchester sound or a britpop sound so they all just seemed to do their own thing and even though bands got on with each other they didn't seem to want to sound alike.
The Sultans of Ping, Frank And Walters, Carter, PWEI all got along but  could hardly be labelled as the same type of music and to me they still sound interesting and I still play them.

Britpop just sounds cringeworthy and embarrassing to my ears now (to be truthful I never was a big fan at the time though).

KennyMonster

Quote from: Cleaners From Venus on July 31, 2014, 08:59:35 PM
I'd agree with that now, but at the time I loved the Stuffies and the Poppies. I haven't listened to any of their output in years, but Hup and This is the Day certainly had some energy and charm in a pretty barren time for UK music.

Carter's first two have aged better. 101 Damnations still gets a play on my turntable (Spotify).

And no love for The Frank and Walters?

Jon Beast died the other day.


shiftwork2

Quote from: KennyMonster on July 31, 2014, 09:41:17 PM
I'm not sure if you are trolling or not but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt.

Seriously no, it was a sincere reply.  My post wasn't great but my point was supposed to have been that the music-press-hyped bands of that period weren't to my taste.

Quote from: KennyMonster on July 31, 2014, 09:41:17 PMThe Sultans of Ping, Frank And Walters

I have fond memories of both of these.

Quote from: KennyMonster on July 31, 2014, 09:41:17 PMBritpop just sounds cringeworthy and embarrassing to my ears now (to be truthful I never was a big fan at the time though).

Oh yeah I was at the front for Blur and Sleeper at Shepherd's Bush Empire in 1994.  I think we sort of knew it was of its time at the time and would soon be seen as a bit daft.  It since has been.

the science eel

Fond memories of the Sultans of Swing, but Blur et al were 'daft'.

Can't just be me who thinks that statement's a bit arse about tit....

KennyMonster

Quote from: the science eel on July 31, 2014, 11:24:26 PM
Fond memories of the Sultans of Ping, but Blur et al were 'daft'.

Can't just be me who thinks that statement's a bit arse about tit....

I'd go along with the original statement, I know it is against the majority view but that is the point of this thread.

I always found Blur albums a bit of a chore to listen to, there seemed to be a lot of 'drudge' to get through between the tracks you like to listen to (such as the singles).


Oasis I never got into and could never understand their popularity, boring musically, boring lyrically, the only people more bored than me seemed to be their musicians who looed so comatose and not into the music they were playing.

the science eel

Quote from: KennyMonster on August 01, 2014, 08:51:46 AM
I'd go along with the original statement, I know it is against the majority view but that is the point of this thread.

I always found Blur albums a bit of a chore to listen to, there seemed to be a lot of 'drudge' to get through between the tracks you like to listen to (such as the singles).


Oasis I never got into and could never understand their popularity, boring musically, boring lyrically, the only people more bored than me seemed to be their musicians who looed so comatose and not into the music they were playing.

Yeah, fair enough.

I got into some Blur B-sides/outtakes last year and was quite pleasantly surprised by a lot of them. This one might not make the detractors reconsider, but I think it's as good as some of what they released on the official albums:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zy-cRqw9Sc8

Mr Banlon

Winifred Atwell was better than Rachmaninoff.
Paul Squires Esq is better than John Squire.

thraxx


Pat Cash is better than Johnny Cash.
Ashley Young is better than Angus Young.
George Osbourne us better Ozzy Osbourne.
David Dickinson is better than Bruce Dickinson.


Mr Banlon

In Bed With Medinner was better than Ponderland.
The Bluetones were better than Cast.

great_badir

I've always thought Mountain were better than Cream.

And Eddie Jobson era Roxy were better than Eno era Roxy.  (I'm including this one, as the consensus is that Roxy weren't Roxy once Eno left, and they just became the Bryan Ferry backing band, in the same way Fleetwood Mac stopped being Fleetwood Mac when they turned into an American AOR band...except I agree about Mac)

the science eel

Quote from: great_badir on August 01, 2014, 10:23:28 PM


And Eddie Jobson era Roxy were better than Eno era Roxy.  (I'm including this one, as the consensus is that Roxy weren't Roxy once Eno left, and they just became the Bryan Ferry backing band, in the same way Fleetwood Mac stopped being Fleetwood Mac when they turned into an American AOR band...except I agree about Mac)

Eno himself rated Stranded highly. That one and the follow-up are very good, but I prefer the slightly stranger stuff you get on those first two albums.

Have we had a Roxy thread lately? Maybe it's time....

Serge

'Siren' is my favourite Roxy album, but I'd put the first two straight after that, so I'm half and half on this one.

Mr Banlon


Absorb the anus burn


PaulTMA

'Just Another High' is the best ever Roxy song.
'No More Looking Back' and 'Sweet Lady Genevieve', two flop 70s singles, are the best songs Ray Davies ever wrote.

holyzombiejesus

I've just discounted most of my controversial opinions because they're obviously bollocks. I'm just left with...

Modern Lovers debut > Velvet Underground debut

ELO > The Beatles

&

The Dickies' Banana Splits Theme > anything by the Sex Pistols, Clash or Damned

the science eel

Quote from: PaulTMA on August 02, 2014, 01:32:23 AM
'Just Another High' is the best ever Roxy song.

Better than 'Street Life', 'Mother of Pearl', 'Do The Strand', 'If There Is Something', 'Virginia Plain' and 'Beauty Queen'? You're crackers.

Quote'No More Looking Back' and 'Sweet Lady Genevieve', two flop 70s singles, are the best songs Ray Davies ever wrote.

Ah, 'Sweet Lady Genevieve'! That's really a beautiful song. One of his very best.

greenman

Quote from: the science eel on July 31, 2014, 11:24:26 PM
Fond memories of the Sultans of Ping, but Blur et al were 'daft'.

Can't just be me who thinks that statement's a bit arse about tit....

Honestly I think the failure of the "jokey band with a  drum machine" scene to come up with much of real worth was a big reason for the rise of Britpop. The latter does have the disadvantage that we've essentially been listening to the same formula(increasingly dominated by private schoolboys with matching uniforms)for a lot of the 20 years with more and more of a move to private schoolboys since but in terms of quality I don't think there's really much comparison.


Mr Banlon

The playground song, 'milk, milk. lemonade' was better than Bis.


doppelkorn

Quote from: great_badir on August 01, 2014, 10:23:28 PM
I've always thought Mountain were better than Cream.

And Eddie Jobson era Roxy were better than Eno era Roxy.  (I'm including this one, as the consensus is that Roxy weren't Roxy once Eno left, and they just became the Bryan Ferry backing band, in the same way Fleetwood Mac stopped being Fleetwood Mac when they turned into an American AOR band...except I agree about Mac)

I seem to like the uncoolest eras of just about every artist going and I'm going to keep that up and say that Fleetwood Mac 74-89 are better than Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac. Which is kind of a double bluff because that's the mainstream opinion anyway. I'm just flipping it on you bunch of musos - yeah!

Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks' last album was better than the last AnCo album.

One off man mental

Shack are better than The La's, The Stone Roses, Cast, Oasis and The Happy Mondays.

Curtis Mayfield was better than Marvin Gaye.

Ride are better than My Bloody Valentine.

Loop are better than Spacemen 3.

The Boo Radleys are better than most bands.

Nowhere Man

Billy Joel is fucking great when drunk or hungover for some reason. Which means:
listening to Billy Joel when drunk > listening to Billy Joel when sober

Black Sabbaths first six albums shit all over Led Zeppelin's.

Cleaners From Venus

I love it when people are saying, "x were better than Cast."

It's just a given.

Doomy Dwyer

Quote from: Cleaners From Venus on August 03, 2014, 11:48:39 AM
I love it when people are saying, "x were better than Cast."

It's just a given.

Los Angeles pisses all over All Change though, to be fair.