Gold: The Spandau Ballet Singles Poll

'To Cut a Long Story Short'

You people better not vote for "True" unless it's a write-in for "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss."

Listen to Tony wail!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-Z82UYV7oA&feature=related

There was a guy in my year at school whose dating success was more or less entirely down to his resemblance to a young Tony Hadley.

50p in the jukebox, one track, and nothing else in the jukebox otherwise I'd pick something else.

Would go She Loved Like Diamond

for the heck of it.

nv.

"True" came on the radio one time and I noticed that there's a part towards the end that sounds exactly like "I Want It That Way" by the Backstreet Boys!

Boy I remember hating that stupid title on its own but the lyrics as a whole, Jesus H.

She ran the risk from unity
Obsession dies alone with tragedy
She loved like diamond
She loved like diamond
And cut so hard
She died
A passion course that leads to pain
An acid taste that laced her soul again
She loved like diamond
She loved like diamond
And cut so hard
She died
Another path, I've run them all
The rain has cleared the stains,no trace at all
She loved like diamond
She loved like diamond
And cut so hard
She died

*groans*

'I'll Fly For You'

Not one of my favourite bands in the entire universe, I have to admit.

"Instinction" got the Trevor Horn treatment.

what kind of a word is instinction anyway?

A poll, btw, inspired by hearing "Only When You Leave" at (you guessed it) CVS. A better tune and performance than "True" actually.

GISing really does turn up some...interesting photos:

http://www.beatnikonline.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/spandau_ballet_paint_me_down_2edited.jpg

They had that right wing homoerotic chic thing down pat.

wouldn't surprise me if young Tories played "Musclebound" or "To Cut..." at Downing Street.

The footage of Spandau Ballet at Live Aid = hilarious! How off his face is Steve Norman? And that mullet... christ!

You can't mention that without a link!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoX4tQMaGtA

"Gold", beloved of sport roundup shows and fruit machines aplenty.

Anyway, forget the Tories, "Musclebound"'s more about Hitlerjugend or something:

We're building fires that will burn until morning
The smell of books and hot stone surround us
Tough is the leather that strapped to my skin
Strong are the bonds that we make
We feel the steam as it rises around us
Up from the soil that is cracking it's back
Tough is the leather that strapped to my skin
Strong are the bonds that sing
Work till you're musclebound all night long
Work till you're musclebound all night long
Gotta work till you're musclebound all night long
Gotta work till you're musclebound all night long
We're building fires that will burn until morning
The smell of books and hot stone surround us
Tough is the leather that strapped to my skin
Strong are the bonds that we make
To hear a pulsing from chanter to mountain
Down through the vein and into the grain
Strong is the shoulder that moves to the time
Here is the land it can break
Work till you're musclebound all night long
Work till you're musclebound all night long
Gotta work till you're musclebound all night long
Gotta work till you're musclebound all night long

That said, the video is A+ insanity from Mulcahy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08M-9kHB_20

The Live Aid footage I saw on the DVD a few years ago horrified me. A solid perf of "Only When You Leave" but hoo boy those pants and hair.

I have to admit, until this thread I never spend much time, if any, looking at Spandau Ballet lyrics... kinda wish I hadn't! Hehehehehe... those lyrics to 'Paint Me Down', christ...

Look at my excerpt at the top of the page.

Waiting for Marcello to enter thread to denounce Hadley as a fascist twerp.

"Gold" or "True". Going with the latter, just because.

this is extremely difficult and I have a whole whole lot to say about it and neither the time nor the focus to say any of it

the actual candidates are "Gold," "Through the Barricades," "Chant No. 1" and "To Cut A Long Story Short" imo

and maybe "Only When You Leave"

the actual candidates are "Gold," "Through the Barricades,"

wow...I wish you WOULD expand!

voted 'chant no. 1' but i do genuinely love 'true'.

whole Parade album is slept-on imo

At the height of my Ferry-Bowie obsession in the early nineties -- when they were never more out of fashion -- I bought the '85 comp. "Round and Round" is okay. "I'll Fly For You" is gunk.

Hahahahahaha! It's ALL gunk as far as I'm concerned!! :D

The artist pretending it's art

The correct answer is The Freeze, one of the best singles of the 80's.

http://youtu.be/fjqH3ZypUVA

Listen to that funky bass line and the ridiculous keyboard solo at 1.35. I always thought this is the kind of song Franz Ferdinand were trying to write.

voting "Communication" though i probably would cringe if i listen to it right now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAdK0_6DBPg

lifeline.

uggghhh so torn!

remember when the kemp brothers played the krays in that one movie

to cut a long story short

i really love 'through the barricades'

Why could I forget, VG?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fJOiEn9v3I

I don't understand what's happening with Tony's outfit in To Cut a Long Story Short. It's like his jacket is slung over his shoulder but he's still wearing it?

He has such a stage look about him, esp profile/face. like a broadway lead or something. v theatrical.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JE2sCISQmpE

xpost ah bless your heart, Ned. I knew you'd know :)

Another bit of rough:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4miZJvFdrY0

"oh hai, ladiez!"

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JVp6Ah0gTOY/TZi2N-XINjI/AAAAAAAAAHc/AvFDnDh5nBM/s1600/spandauthen.jpeg

loool

pop ALL the collars

I've found a picture that represents Tony Hadley's vocal stylings too! :D

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1XZzZ-anE-M/Ttviepy5CtI/AAAAAAAAAAk/sVJJkA4pc8U/s1600/sliced_ham-5892.jpg

THAT IS SO MEAN

he has a lovely singing voice

The Krays is a good movie!

I haven't seen it in yeeeeaaars. I remember renting it in high school and just mostly squeeing over the Kemps lol

ooh the whole thing is on youtube :D

Too bad it wasn't a musical.

Tony Hadley's vocal style is closer to: http://www.candyboots.com/wwcards/melonmousse.html

Too bad it wasn't a musical.

― Ned Raggett, Monday, October 29, 2012 4:53 PM

cuz life is a hard prison wall?

lol

I was thinkign something more like

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZkyWBByxryM/UDUcAb0FxnI/AAAAAAAABzY/nUnK_EkHk1c/s1600/big_SmokedGouda100L.jpg

With a gun in my hand
and your head on the floor
Dissolve the body? That's just begun
Listening to Reggie (all night long)
This is the sound of you dead...

http://www.theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/images/stories/NEW_MUSIC/robert_sandall/spandau-ballet.jpg

only when you KILL I need to love you

We're hiding corpses that will rot in the morning
The smell of pounds and hot babes surrounds us
Tough is the holster that's strapped to my belt
Strong are the bonds that we make

those are actual lyrics aren't they

Work till you're prison bound, baby

the artists pretending it's art

Ned I think you need to write this

"You two can write a Gary Kemp song!"

We two? You and I?

http://jimisroom.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Eurythmics_-_We_Too_Are_One-Front.jpg

"The King and Queen of Islington"

hoo siii la hoo si laaa hoooooooooo
the vision ah hay meeee hee haaayyyyyy
the ah is pretending is ahhhhhhhhhhh!
the queh stew ee where do yuuu aayyyyyyyy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqNau8Kp-E0

^ what do you guys think of this lot? always thought of them as being like an early spandau but fronted by ming the merciless instead of that plank hadley

gross

Ha I knew that would be friggin' Classix Nouveaux

Nope, don't like Classix Nouveaux!!

was trying to think of bands that could have been spandau ballet if spandau ballet hadn't already existed

think that classix were maybe a lot closer to the true new romantic aesthetic than spandau though, who always seemed like a bunch of soul boys at heart

jimmy sommerville and tony should have done a duet together imo

Spandau Ballet may have had the better vocalist, but the (original line-up) Duran Duran had a better image and better songs.

Of course quality-wise I feel neither of them are a patch on Japan and Ultravox, but that's just me! :P

You mean the Stephen Duffy led Duran Duran?

D'oh!!!

No, the Le Bon/Rhodes/Taylor/Taylor/Taylor line-up, naturally!

-original +'classic'

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

We used to have Magic FM on in the morning for Dr Fox's unintentional hilarity and I couldn't help noticing the version they have of True edits out the sax solo. Presumably too raucous. Voted Communication, which has much to enjoy - that bit where the organ sounds like it's straining to inhale, "I'm-a left-a hee uh-huh", "Dick Tate!" etc

Was always disappointed that "These are my salad days, and this is my Salad" was never a lyric of theirs (or anybodys)

I will go to my grave contending that Duran Duran's songs are and were almost total shit.

Everybody's got their blind spots.

Midnight I think I'm gonna make it
Feel the magical lash of the roll
And the crash in their lives
Headline in tomorrow's papers
Kill that light it's so bright
And you're shining it right in my eyes

CHORUS
Show me your secret and tell me your name
Catch me with your fizzy smile
Try to remember again and again
What it is that I recognise
Don't ask me now
When I need you I don't know how
To believe in your advice
Just this once I take the dice

Midnight so what's the point of faking
For a kiss or a whisper
You pull out a desperate prize
Hold tight onto Daddy's bracelet
Make them pay for their chances
With money they don't think that's nice

People overrated Duran Duran because they had the reprehensible Spandau Ballet next to them. I like To Cut a Long Story Short and Chant No 1. The rest is bilge. Like Duran, they quickly dropped the punk-funk tension that was the only worthwhile thing about them and wrote mindbogglingly awful lyrics - Spandau did the same bad things as Duran but they did them much much worse.

Those random lyric generator programs are, um, pretty rubbish really, aren't they?

But they can be handy when you find it hard to write the next line.

I like To Cut a Long Story Short and Chant No 1. The rest is bilge.

otm

"true" is so badly sung it has camp appeal i guess. as far as duran VS spandau goes, let me wheel out the war stories. hazy memory of interviewing both lead singers back in the day: tony hadley was imperious and hungover while simon lebon was preposterous and affable

sounds about right

You're like the sixth or seventh guy who's said Le Bow Bow, contrary to impressions created by his wardrobe, is a charmer.

Billy Bragg tells a nice story about Gary Kemp volunteering for Red Wedge but really timidly because he was so self-conscious about how low Spandau's reputation was. Like, "Please don't laugh at me."

Gary Kemp had a few 'visibilities' i.e. attempts at music before succeeding with that one. Check an episode of "You must be joking" where he's in an acoustic double-act with Phil Daniels on one song...

voting "Communication" though i probably would cringe if i listen to it right now

My exact first thought too,. Bet "Only When You Leave" holds up.

I ultimately voted for "Only When You Leave."

How omnipresent were their singles in the UK? The band was pretty huge in Europe through '87.

really really really omnipresent

Spent too mcuh attention as a teenager as a teenager parsing

It is the key to all the doors
It is the crashing on the shores
It lives in your steering wheel
It hides in the wind and rain
With voices as cold as steel
It's calling your name

GHOST BUSTERS!

omigod they really have a song called "Nature of the Beast"

it's about guinea pigs

Making love through the barricades always seem like a convoluted and painful way to practise safe sex, if you ask me

not if your love is a hard prison wall

lol the only song I actually know here is "True"

Gold is some powerful inspirational shit.

remove words 3 thru 5 in that sentence maybe

Tell us more about the "punk-funk tension"! Sounds great.

BTW finally listened to some DD live albums and they might change your mind if you're a non-believer. GOOD LIVE BAND!!

Chant Number One used to be my favourite, but now it's between Instinction and Lifeline. Hmm. OK, Instinction, because Trevor Horn always wins.

hmm

I would like "Gold" a lot more if it was actually a full-on Swing Out Sister song

Tell us more about the "punk-funk tension"! Sounds great.

Babygirl, unpack yr sweaters and get FABULOUS in FALL gay homo queer &c 2012

It's the bongo bit that bugs me.

... potentially a good lyric that

the part that bugs me is the section in the verse where the melody just has nothing to do with the chord progression underneath it, to the point where it would sound like a mistake if dude didn't sing it exactly the same way every time

and the bongos are totally wasted

what's worse – Hadley's vocal, the sax solo, or the death throes of an asphyxiating goat?

or the death throes of an asphyxiating goat

Robin Gibb's on it?

I just listened to "Lifeline" and I've already forgotten how it went

"Round and Round" sounds like a showtune

oh I can't wait until you get a load of the singing on "She Loved Like Diamond."

"She Loved Like Diamond"

http://www.collapseboard.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/neal.jpg

"Only When You Leave"... why is this evoking the image of Cory Haim combing his hair, giving his reflection the thumbs up, then jumping into his dad's convertible and driving off to school?

Now make it worse, imagine an Essex version of that.

sad the first response wasn't "why is there a convertible in Cory Haim's bathroom?"

imagine Billy Ocean singing it

Anyway, um, fight the power:

http://rokpool.com/files/artist/spandau2.jpg?1341478455

just skip to "To Cut a Long Story Short" and save yrself some pain

"I need something that shows I'm with it. Anything."

http://cdn.inquisitr.com/wp-content/spandau-ballet.jpg

ugh boxing boots xp

"Headache pains bringing you down?"

http://itsnotpossible.typepad.com/trashfan/spandauA2.jpg

Nobody told these fucktards that even in 1985 those clothes were ass.

"Instinction" sounds like someone completely failing to reproduce the funk stylings of Wa Wa Nee

"Introducing Donnie Wahlberg and the rest of...wait."

http://blogs.thisismoney.co.uk/.a/6a00d8341c565553ef01156e59ad36970c-800wi

Leningay Cowboys

Hype Williams would take one look at this and burn his cameras.

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2009/3/24/1237897304947/Spandau-Ballet-in-New-Yor-001.jpg

Occupy Top Man

"Yes, ha ha ha, but we're all professional now. It's 1987, the stock market will never crash!"

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_uKYZGRNKPMA/SuGg5yAz6KI/AAAAAAAAAJU/RgawoMm7s6o/s320/spandau+ballet+good+pic.jpg

I still see so many young women on campus who tuck pants into their boots.

"Highly Strung" is surprisingly okay compared to the other songs I've heard so far, which means it's only slightly embarrassing sounding

oh wait I just got to the chorus, never mind

"I look like Bryan Ferry, right? PLEASE tell me I look like him!"

http://i.ytimg.com/vi/oQgeYrso_Cg/0.jpg

^^This has some post-Dundee fashion influence. xpost

isn't it "Highly Strung" that starts with the diplomat/laundromat couplet? In which case i refute yr initial statement.

"Hey, HEY! My hairstyle is up here!"

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qXMGsHO78hY/Sc056eBYfTI/AAAAAAAABzE/sNaO5K8ChR8/s400/Spandau+Ballet.jpg

I feel like you could subtitle half of these songs "(Why Would You Do That To A Perfectly Good Saxophone?)"

This has some post-Dundee fashion influence

Wha'? Angelo?

"Right then, gents, this'll be for the annual report for the stockholders."

http://a3.ec-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/120/0980186c375f4213ada847b31069eb13/l.jpg

lol "True" is on a completely different level from the other songs I just listened to

I still see so many young women on campus who tuck pants into their boots.

― the ones that I'm near most: fellow outcasts and ilxors (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 30 October 2012 15:44 (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I'm amazed young women still want to tuck their pants into Spandau Ballet's boots...

"I have a new creative vision...monochrome, with mullets."

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6K-7W5q5pGE/T7O0gekNPkI/AAAAAAAADQY/w6HSi3rx9s0/s1600/Spandau%2BBallet.jpg

I feel like you could subtitle half of these songs "(Why Would You Do That To A Perfectly Good Saxophone?)"

Example of same:

http://cache.vevo.com/Content/VevoImages/video/9A6D00272397F3E7AAB6DD74228DB5F7.jpg

A bit of the outback in those pants and blousy shirt (ealier up there).

Note to blonde: Flashdance look does not work for men.

I like to think they are now bought and kept, living in Monaco for command concerts when the sultan requests their presence.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/03/11/article-1365327-041730DD000005DC-171_634x366.jpg

isn't it "Highly Strung" that starts with the diplomat/laundromat couplet? In which case i refute yr initial statement.

― chow mein kampf (Noodle Vague), Tuesday, 30 October 2012 15:47 (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Funnily enough, I remember my mother telling a story about meeting Rachman(notorious slum landlord)'s wife in the laundromat, she was full of sob story about how tough her life was now, scrimping etc now her husb was in jail etc. Then the Rolls Royce came and picked her and her laundry up...

"Monochrome With Mullets" sounds like a lost Underworld single

In which Tony Hadley fails to invent the White Stripes:

http://cache.vevo.com/Content/VevoImages/video/0364C14B6BAEDBD4329D9D37A022A386.jpg

shurely that's Jim Kerr?

wtf is "Communication" going for

did you feel it let you down?

http://legendsrevealed.com/entertainment/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/nsync.jpg

I feel like Tom Jones is going to rise up behind me and shout "NO" while smacking me across the head

Hadley looks more than ever like Tony Ganios from Porky's.

http://img2.bdbphotos.com/images/orig/5/y/5y9q5su21fyxq9sx.jpg

why's that N'Sync dude got trousers made out of wallpaper?

hahahahahahaha Lance Bass

dude is the living embodiment of the idea that every boy band has one dude who looks like a confused stuffed animal

T/S Barefoot 'N Sync dudes vs. 'N Sync dudes in flip-flops.

I do not even remember that dude in between Timberlake and Fat One.

"I'll Fly For You" is pretty good, what the hell

My takeaway so far is that SB should only ever do understated-yet-bombastic ballads

I do not even remember that dude in between Timberlake and Fat One.

... you don't remember the other lead singer?

Telex or tell me, but it’s always second-hand,
I’m incognito but no rendezvous’s been planned…
Dictate or relay, I could send it to your home,
“Return to Sender” – I could sing it down the phone!

These are not lyrics, these are reasons for beatings.

xxp I do not.

T/S Barefoot 'N Sync dudes vs. 'N Sync dudes in flip-flops.

late nineties boy bands loved these polarities

np: "To Cut A Long Story Short"
mood: desperate to punch Spandau Ballet in the dick

these are reasons for beatings.

REASONS REASONS
were here from the start
it's my instinction
it's my instinction

omigod:

Cheap bed,in the red
sleep the words out of your head
cold floor,nice and raw
eat the meat that's on the floor
high tide, some disguise
loving makes the cream taste nice
new shore,final score
fresh demand,I'm wanting more
this might not last too long
so always take it
this might not last too long
so always take it

iirc most of their long-running court battle was taken up with arguments about who didn't want credit for the lyrics

LOVING MAKES THE CREAM TASTE NICE

omg "Chant No 1"

this is hilarious, it's like "can we do a Gang of Four song, only... nice?"

LOVING MAKES THE CREAM TASTE NICE

Should be the name of the tribute album.

"She Loved Like Diamond" okay is this for real?

SHE LOVED LIKE DIAMOND
SHE LOVED LIKE DIAMOND
I HAVE A SPLINTER
IT HUUUUUUURTS

seriously – I've never heard laryngeal torture so prolonged

currently on "Paint Me Down", were these guys even trying on some of these songs

oh for the bland, unmemorable inoffensiveness of "Lifeline"

xp in re: "Diamond" - a top Spandau track, showing off Gary Kemp's "it means what I say it means" lyrical style

yes but "Lifeline" has the couplet:

So gentle when he tries to understand
This subterfuge he never really planned

Now remember when you're hearing all this that aero thinks this is superior to Duran Duran.

And speak of the devil.

actually that couple isn't bad

couplet too

"The Freeze" is actually kind of good? They're much more credible at pulling off the "we are aping early Duran Duran" thing here.

re: "Musclebound", wtf is going on here

rampant faggotry

wow "To Cut A Long Story Short" sounds much much MUCH better when played immediately after "Musclebound"

Make sure you go back and check out all the videos after this, Dan. Trust me.

Yeah, check them out. For editing!

on the old comp the soft soul numbers were all on side one, the New Romantic stuff on the second. It was A LOT easier to bear.

in fairness I think the sound of a dude grinding his teeth in his sleep is better music than Duran Duran

anyway I am not at all repentant about my kneejerk "True" vote after listening to all of that

also how the hell can anyone enjoy this overall more than Duran Duran on any level besides "omg listen to how terrible music used to be in the 80s, lol lol lol oops I crapped myself"

you haven't gotten to aerosmith's favorite track yet

the first Duran Duran single that even approaches the average level of terrible displayed by these singles is "All She Wants Is"

xp: wait which one is aero's favorite? I thought I listened to all of them

DJP you're a singer, in what universe is Hadley not an infinitely better singer than Simon LeBon

"Through the Barricades"

I dunno – "Union of the Snake" is pretty awful.

and I'm the guy who wants "Last Chance on the Stairway" blasted at my wake.

"The Reflex" is also worse than the worst Spandau jam

The 'personality' universe.

"The Reflex" is funny!

more like vomiting reflex amirite

DJP you're a singer, in what universe is Hadley not an infinitely better singer than Simon LeBon

this argument only works in a universe where "True" is the only Spandau Ballet song

"Gold" has a completely atrocious melodic choice in the verses that is exacerbated by the wholly unmusical way Hadley sings it and "She Loves Like Diamond" should be retitled "He Moans Like Bitchmode"

"The Reflex" is a dumb song but is brighter, catchier and more interesting than any of the Spandau songs I just listened to and "Union of the Snake" is one of the best singles of the 80s.

Hadley doesn't dance. Le Bon does.

Hadley 1
Le Bon 0

u.r.rite.

LeBon does that thing where it sounds like he's smiling while he sings, like every note is being shaped by how he wants to look while he sings - fantastic "personality"

let me make my position clear on Duran Duran, they suck balls, not in the good sense of sucking balls. thank you based Kemp

My impatience with Union of the Snake stems from the sound of those galumphing synths

Hadley sounds like he is "officially singing"

LeBon does that thing where it sounds like he's smiling while he sings, like every note is being shaped by how he wants to look while he sings - fantastic "personality"

... that is like "basic singing technique 101"?

We all should read

http://images.harpercollins.co.uk/hcwebimages/HCCOVERS/049100/049195-FC222.jpg

Union of the Snake" is one of the best singles of the 80s...for me to poop on

guys, guys, they're all shit

"Through The Barricades" is very nice sounding though, I will grant you that

ps: Hadley is also doing the "sing through a smile thing" here

"She Loves Like Diamond" should be retitled "He Moans Like Bitchmode"

Release this under your neo industrial/EBM pseudonym.

Is that his name?

Gary "I know this much" Kemp?

xpost xpost xpost blimey, this thread is BUSY!

duran is better cos they begat the power station who in turn begat some like it hot and that one song pisses great jets of hot foaming piss over all these terrible spandau things

some like it smelling like a can of hot shit amirite

I should note re: Kemp book that there are selections online to read:

http://www.amazon.com/Know-This-Much-Soho-Spandau/dp/000732331X#reader_B002TU1QK2

well Robert Palmer is a much much better singer than either LeBon or Hadley, we'd better be able to agree on that

ps: the gallumphing synths in UotS are part of what make it awesome

The opening two paragraphs are about nothing but his terrible fashion choices!

Hadley is also doing the "sing through a smile thing" here

lol otm. I don't care if it's good technique, it's terrible, it makes them sound like they're going out of their way to drain their lines of feeling. which in LeBon's case makes sense tho because if you have any feelings about those lyrics then lol @ u, whereas w/Hadley-Kemp there is an appropriate feeling in response to the total violation of the signifier i.e. terror

Robert Palmer is a better singer than Andy Taylor is a guitarist

today marks the first time I have ever heard someone speak fondly of "some like it hot"

aero, when Christgau dismissed Duran for writing "lyrics that rearrange received language from several levels of discourse into a noncommital private doggerel," he really means Gary Kemp.

I don't care if it's good technique, it's terrible

I'm going to preserve this in amber

xpost And Duran*2 too.

also no one ever listened to Duran Duran because of lyrical quality; it was bright-sounding New Wave stream-of-consciousness pop music where the sounds were much more important than the actual words, which is why the song "Union of the Snake" actually has the words "union of the snake" in it

I think we just need to go for it here and link up all the videos, so in batches of three:

"Gold"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntG50eXbBtc

"True"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AR8D2yqgQ1U

"Only When You Leave"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlLCC_gF8QY

actually I think the closest DD came to a lyrically coherent song was "I Don't Want Your Love"

"Lifeline"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJjMqsGk07Q

"Communication"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-QqRewb7V8

"Instinction"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PebH4X097Lg

like I can see how it might be ok if you can't understand what people are singing, but when your line is "the union of the snake is on the climb" and you sound like you're actually singing "IBM stock split two for one yesterday, I'm rich" then your technique is balls whether it's the recommended one or no

NED GOD DAMMIT I WAS ENJOYING THE DISCUSSION AND NOW IT'S A BUNCH OF YOUTUBES

"Narrative Coherence in Duran Duran" is a course taught by vocalist and noted musicologist D@n Perry, offered once a year at Boston University.

My apologies, aero. But the evidence must be presented to the assembled. (I do love your IBM stock line there.)

"Chant No. 1"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRN96eSMbFU

"To Cut a Long Story Short"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JE2sCISQmpE

"The Freeze"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29ZCX21VsQc

like I can see how it might be ok if you can't understand what people are singing, but when your line is "the union of the snake is on the climb" and you sound like you're actually singing "IBM stock split two for one yesterday, I'm rich" then your technique is balls whether it's the recommended one or no

yeah but "voices in your body comin' through on the radio-ho-ho" is awesome and you know it

well first off, a stock split would not increase your net worth at all because the stock price is halved in order to keep the valuation constant

secondly, it absolutely sounds like he's saying "The Union of the Snake is on the climb", it's the next line that's unintelligible but that's okay because everyone is just sitting there going "wtf is the union of the snake" and not paying attention

not "INSTANTLY" increase, that should say

"Union of the Snake" sounded very, very weird on upstate NY top 40 radio when it debuted.

"Musclebound"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08M-9kHB_20

"Paint Me Down"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmKCnmQx4jw

"She Loved Like Diamond"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9JxbTQ5SPg

GO AWAY

really "Rio" is the only classic-era Duran Duran song I hate but that's mostly because of a dude in college who would play it three or four times at every Glee Club party

Wait, every time without fail? That's insane.

I have never SBd Ned but winging into a discussion and forcing me to change my prefs to show videos as links is really pushing it

xp lol Rio is one of 3 Durhan Durhan songs I'll ride for

Was a comma missing, or have you nearly SBd Ned before?

Durhan Durhan

My god, middle school flashbacks.

Wait, every time without fail? That's insane.

YES IT IS

he also did this with the MTV Dance Mix that had "Now That We Found Love" mixed into "Good Vibrations" but that was okay

I don't really like "Rio" either but only because "Hungry Like The Wolf," "New Moon on MOnday," "The Reflex," "Planet Earth," "Notorious" and "Careless Memories" are 9's or 10's.

that MTV Party To Go volume is ALWAYS in my car!

It's nice to see someone else stand up for "Notorious," actually. That album's surprisingly good.

Alfred knows what's up (although I'd sub "Girls On Film" for "New Moon on Monday" and "I Don't Want Your Love" for "Careless Memories")

It's nice to see someone else stand up for "Notorious," actually. That album's surprisingly good.

their second best studio album

"Careless Memories" actually works best for me on the Arena version. I have no idea why, Le Bon sounds ridiculous even for him.

(adds Alfred and DJP to Xmas card list, removes aero)

man I love "Save a Prayer" too

add my voice to the notorious chorus, haven't played it in years but at the time i positively reviewed it in ned's favorite magazine, instantly sacrificing any shred of rock critic "credibility" on the altar of nile rodgers worship

today marks the first time I have ever heard someone speak fondly of "some like it hot"

ha, it bears a re-listen cos I heard it again recently and it sounds surprisingly solid. i know it's got those clattery 80s drums and all, but it's still a p good groove and i actually like the guitar on it which is mostly this one tickly talking headsy line (i agree that andy's guitar was really shit and loud on some of their other songs e.g. get it on).

"Some Like It Hot" has always been fantastic, wtf

I reappraised Notorious not long ago. I'm pretty sure I was lol drunk when writing it.

"Notorious" never needed reappraisal either, it was fantastic from the jump

oh I mean the album. Plenty of non-Durannies stanned for "Notorious" even in '86.

oh gotcha

tbh I don't think I've heard an entire DD album aside from Big Thing, which I thought was terrible aside from "I Don't Want Your Love"

instantly sacrificing any shred of rock critic "credibility" on the altar of nile rodgers worship

Rightly so. I'm surprised that didn't happen sooner, him producing them.

to be fair to Nile he went straight to Let's Dance after the last Chic album.

actually I may have heard Seven and the Ragged Tiger but I strongly suspect that I just kept playing "Union of the Snake" over and over

I heard Big Thing's "Do You Believe in Shame" a few weeks ago at CVS!

xpost -- You mean you didn't play it all the way through so you could hear Simon looking into the eyes of a straaaaaAAAAAnnnnguhhhhhhhhhr

I never had any desire to own Duran Duran albums, just the singles, which is why Decade is near-perfect for me

Their fault for not including "New Moon on Monday" though.

That's almost a perfect comp but no "New Moon on Monday."

Haha xpost!

an actual top ten while "Skin Trade" barely scrapped the top 40 and boasts Simon doing a Prince imitation.

I don't think I've heard an entire DD album aside from Big Thing

!!!

You should definitely listen to the entire S/T album and Rio.

So you can hear this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7a3DGP65m2o

and "Is Anyone Out There"!

And "New Religion!"

"Waiting...for the Night Bo-o-oat..."

I won't go as far as saying that I like Spandau Ballet *more* than Duran Duran - I like both a lot. But the hilarious cut and paste dumbness of DD's lyrics brings them to about an even playing field with Spandau/Tony's over-singing (which I find totally awesome but I who doesn't love a good ham, cheese & corn chowder on a cold day)

oh god I'd forgotten how terribad "Skin Trade" is

but man "Notorious" and "I Don't Want Your Love" are immaculate production/arrangement jobs

heee I kinda love Skin Trade. mm sleazy cheese.

also Skin Trade sounds like the worst Prince coverband ever, which is another reason I love it

TS: that vs Ready for the World's "Oh Sheila."

OUT

"Skin Trade" has absolutely NOTHING in common with Ready For The World

oh man, Ready for The World. No contest.

Prince-pretenders I think is the commonality Ned is going for.

Thank you VG. And obviously "Oh Sheila" wins.

:D

word to Simon Le Bon - you gotta bring more than a falsetto to Prince it up

"Skin Trade" sounds nothing like a Prince song regardless of what LeBon is doing

RFTW is so much better than either of these bands it's not even funny

yeah suddenly I'm like, why are we even talking about Duran Duran or Spandau Ballet when RFTW is KILLING IT

structure is off, chord progressions are off, lyrics are off

Beck did a much much better job with... "Debra"? *listens* yes "Debra"

LET ME LOVE YOU DOWN <--- words to live by

also I had forgotten how incredible "Debra" is

yeah debra is the bomb. love that so much.

maybe we need a Pretend-Prince Songs thread.

Yeah but it will just turn out half of them were secretly written by Prince.

Ready for the World's "Digital Display" pretty awesome too

Coulda sworn we did a 'fake Prince' thread like that but this:

prince not prince

...is what Phil D is talking about.

ACtually at the moment I kinda want to hear "Sex Shooter" by Apollonia 6.

and "Strut."

STRUT. Yes.

Enjoy a little Solid Gold, won't you?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5TVDBD5heI

my favorite RFTW song is "Long Time Coming"

To avoid the wrath of aero I will just link this and bid you enjoyment.

Write-in vote for the 12" mix of "Glow":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGJTI1sEXCI

in the "Long Time Coming" video: is that black linguini on Melvin Riley's head?

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

the only decent top six imaginable

I haven't looked at this thread for a day and suddenly it turns into a recreation of my hellish year in the fourth form (B3 to 84) at comprehensive school where the girls in my class all fell out with each other because they were either Duranies or Spandau freaks. Of course us boys were falling out over whether the Smiths were brilliant or useless whingebags. Such innocence.

ILX in "a bit like school" shocka!

SB vs DD, then a-ha as a unifying force for a year, then the girls who pretended not to care about what were essentially boy bands laughing at the Brosettes.
The boys falling out over whether Liverpool or Manchester Utd. were better, despite the school being hundreds of miles from either location.

oh and kicking the shit out of anyone who was even a tiny bit different, ie me and the rest of the chess club

when ppl threatened to kick the shit out of me, I'd matter-of-factly tell them not to try because I would seriously try to kill them and it would ruin both of our families

no one really tried to fight me after 7th grade

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=632o9gg7pdU

when ppl threatened to kick the shit out of me, I'd matter-of-factly tell them not to try because I would seriously try to kill them and it would ruin both of our families

DJP is Judd Nelson?!?!?!

flaring his nostril hairs at the camera

"B-O-O-H-O-O"

"YA KNOW WHAT I GOT FOR CHRISTMAS?"

y'all don't understand the secret advantages to being a smart black kid in a town terrified of black ppl

okay now it's sounding like an awesome version of Walking Tall

y'all don't understand the secret advantages to being a smart black kid in a town terrified of black ppl

Mr. Obama Goes To Salt Lake City

Never liked them a bit.

This thread made them sound pretty ridiculous though, so I listened (to laugh along) and it was def funny...

But now I can't stop listening to them! What the heck.

Only when you leeeave

So it turns out the song that I remember being played round my house loads and loads and loads when I was maybe 2-3 years old and has somehow stuck in my head all this time despite me not having heard it again until now was.... The Freeze! This is actually a very cool song and like Kitchen Person says upthread, very very funky.

Dunno if it's funky, but it does use "funk" elements.

omigod I'd FORGOTTEN THIS THREAD

xpost, well it's very 'disco'. Think it instilled in me a love of that kind of patta-cakey rhythm + octave bass

so has anyone seen the documentary?

yeah it's fantastic, one of the very best best music docs i've ever seen. surprising to me because i'm not a fan particularly. the rare-footage-and-no-on-camera-interviews style really works and it's especially good if you dig the idea of 2 hours of rare mostly-80s footage. some great stuff in it. Gary Kemp comes across as a bit of an egotistical tosser sadly.

I think you meant "fortunately"

No, but I did read through Tony Hadley's 2005 book 'To Cut A Long Story Short' again recently. The state of the band circa Heart Like A Sky was a bit grim, to say the least.

there's some real good stuff on that record though - some of their lightest material in tone!

The doc wasn't bad, but it's disorienting watching a band selling out arenas in 1986 that weren't in the United States.

god that was like a boring episode of Behind the Music

loved the footage but god gary is such a twat

god god god

the ah-tist pretending it's aaaaaaaaarrrt

"The Freeze" would have been my pick of the handful I know: "erogenous zones win again".

is that a lyric

here I stand again, the loser

One day he'll build a statue with his hands
So gentle when he tries to understand
This subterfuge he never really planned
Now you're living in the lifeline

"She Loves Like Diamond" should be retitled "He Moans Like Bitchmode"

deeply slept on post from djp despite my love for "diamond"

lifeline is such a masterpiece

love is like a hard prison wall

a HIGH prison wall, s'il vous plais!

yeah ALFRED

I'm high now, alright

irl lol

I was long enough in a CVS to hear "Only When You Leave" in its entirety. I tell you, to watch me belt this minor American chart hit in the Xmas aisle is something.