Pazz & Jop 1980 Singles Poll

Good year. Voting Blondie...I think.

A few here could grab top spot, but 10th seems pretty easy to predict.

The Clash

I don't think I could predict 10th--Lennon or the Vapors or Lipps Inc., but I think all three are generally well regarded.

Boring vote for "Love Will Tear Us Apart," followed by "Upside Down" and "Train in Vain."

"Upside Down" is so far ahead of the pack it's ridiculous

"Just Like Starting Over" so far behind the rest of the pack it's ridiculous.

I thought "Turning Japanese" was the clear stinker in this group, but what do I know.

I don't dislike it, and it's clearly the 9th best song here, but it'll hardly have been robbed if it winds up with zero votes, especially in this company.

I never want to hear "Turning Japanese" again and 1980 critics should be ashamed.

dump JLSO and keep "Kiss Kiss Kiss" imo

"Love Will Tear Us Apart" is like the worst Joy Division song

Call Me > Upside Down > The Breaks

"Upside Down" would be my #1 but the verses are kinda boring/annoying even by Chic standards

Hey where's Ride Like The Wind? And the Xanadu songs: Suddenly? Magic? Just kidding. Well not really. I mean if they were letting Turning Japanese in...

I have listened to Funkytown on purpose the most of this list, & it could get my vote. Please no long versions though. It doesn't take that long to get to funkytown.

Had Call Me inflicted the most (that chorus is a migraine). Love Will Tear Us Apart sounds thin, used to think it was brilliant. Hard to get a bead on Train In Vain any more, would have been just as obvious a choice to me closer to the time.

Upside Down, The Breaks are contenders. I love that junk in Upside Down 'respectfully I say to thee'. That's so absurd it's real.

Crut p much otm with his ranking

I don't think I could predict 10th--Lennon or the Vapors or Lipps Inc.

well now i'm gonna vote for "funkytown"

I find "Master Blaster" more not-up-to-snuff-for-the-artist than "(Just Like) Starting Over"

Turning Japanese

"brass in pocket" >> all

'Love Will Tear Us Apart'

Love many of these. Expect Kurtis Blow to win due to Goon Cru, but "Funkytown" is undoubtedly the most influential of these.

Goon Cru a) couldn't care less about a rap single from 1980 and b) probably isn't voting in these polls.

really what to know what Adam was predicting would come 10th now

Can't say until the poll closes, haha... maybe one that was only listed as a legacy nod?

I actually voted for the wrong one here; boring me went for Strummer over Hynde... leave it to the suburban Canadian to vote for the white guy with a guitar. Ah well "Back to Ohio" is on the '81 list; first verse's lyrics are up there with the Sistine Chapel.

Recently went chronologically through Tom Ewing's Populist blog and realized that 1985 -- my birthyear -- is equidistant to 1955 and 2015. Until recently I would've considered any 80s stuff to be closer to today than the 50s.

It would be easier to vote for the worst since any of these could get my vote. Even the schlocky Lennon track makes me nostalgic for when it came out and I was 11 years old and hearing it on the radio while watching crying Beatles fans on TV when he was killed.

All the radio stuff reminds me of when I first started listening to radio actually. The only track I didn't hear as a kid was Joy Division and they would eventually become one of my favorite bands once I finally was introduced to them many years later ("The Breaks" wasn't on radio for me but living in Hollis, Queens as a kid I heard all of that early hip-hop through the neighborhood boom boxes.)

Okay, I don't think I heard that Clash song as a kid but it eventually became a favorite.

Going with Blondie because it was very impactful as a kid and still rules.

Gotta go with "Train In Vain." Same deal with not knowing it as a kid. I don't remember it being on the radio nearly as much as "Casbah" "Should I Stay" or "I Fought The Law" until alt-rock stations started playing it in the late 90s. Although I definitely recall a few people recognizing the drum sample in Garbage's "Stupid Girl."

"Turning Japanese" is consistent with subsequent Top 10s including odd one-hit-wonders that were only critical favorites within the poptimist in-the-moment sense.

"Brass in Pocket" -- one of my favorite vocals of all time. The way she slurs and bends the syllables all over. And an unbeatable groove.

Recently went chronologically through Tom Ewing's Populist blog and realized that 1985 -- my birth year -- is equidistant to 1955 and 2015. Until recently I would've considered any 80s stuff to be closer to today than the 50s.

I do these kind of calculations all the time, and they're often discombobulating. E.g.: we're as far away from the Sex Pistols today as the Sex Pistols were from Glenn Miller.

I do those calculations too. I also think about the Clash having Bo Diddley and Screaming Jay Hawkins open for them circa '79, and how I perceived those '50s rockers then as a college kid, and what the equivalency in years would be now for my college age son.

Brass in Pocket. one of the most sublime guitar intros ever

I knew the Clash and Pretenders songs for years before I knew they were the Clash and Pretenders.

"Train in Vain" got tons of AM airplay on WLS in Chicago; it wasn't until my brother and I heard London Calling about 5 or 6 years later that we knew it was by the Clash (and we had the vinyl which didn't list the song, so it really was a surprise).

Voted Blondie. I like those Clash and Pretenders songs but there are others I like a lot more.

"brass in pocket" is sometimes my favorite song in the world.

voted the Breaks since Kurtis obviously isn't going to get any love

always kind of regretted that the b-side version of LWTUA, where ian sings in his normal voice instead of that sinatra-esque croon, wasn't the hit version; it's the one i heard first and have always much preferred.

Love many of these. Expect Kurtis Blow to win due to Goon Cru, but "Funkytown" is undoubtedly the most influential of these.

― Sanpaku, Sunday, April 5, 2015 1:53 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Goon Cru a) couldn't care less about a rap single from 1980 and b) probably isn't voting in these polls.

― Johnny Fever, Sunday, April 5, 2015 2:14 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I like "The Breaks" but voted for "Funkytown" instead cause disco was still better than rap in 1980.

I might have gone for The Treacherous 3's "The New Rap Language" tho. That song is amazing.

yeah there are several better rap singles in 1980 than the Breaks that I would expect the Goon Cru to ride for (Adventures of Super Rhyme? High Powered Rap?)

"Breaks" is probably only my 5th favorite in this poll tbh

always kind of regretted that the b-side version of LWTUA, where ian sings in his normal voice instead of that sinatra-esque croon, wasn't the hit version; it's the one i heard first and have always much preferred.

― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Monday, April 6, 2015 9:12 PM (8 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I agree, the Pennine Studios version is the definitive version as far as I'm concerned.

For some reason I recall "Funkytown" from being from '78 or '79

we have done these before, here is the 1980 Singles poll: Best 1980 P&J Single (POLL Closes 16 May)

upside down

8 years ago may as well have been a different board.

Most of the stuff on this list still sounding good. Can't do Funkytown or Upside Down, got so sick of them back in the day. Even in 1980 there used to be jukeboxes. For a quarter each customer could play Funkytown or Upside Down all during my busboy shifts. Going to vote for Brass in Pocket.

Aw shit I'd searched Pazz & Jop instead of P&J. Looks like they quit after 1980 anyway. Sorry 'bout that.

it's ok, just wanted to point it out. the original poster switch things up and all years have been done. you can search it by numbers for instance: The Fourth P&J Singles Poll!

"Brass in Pocket"

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/pnj/pjres80.php

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

I think this is the first time something I voted for won.

Stevie Wonder: "Master Blaster (Jammin')" 2

too low

"Love Will Tear Us Apart" is like the worst Joy Division song

― example (crüt), Sunday, April 5, 2015 11:42 AM (5 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink