Taking Sides: Cher 'Believe' & Billy Joel 'We Didnt Start A Fire'

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So whats the worst song then? I have to say the Cher song. You KNOW why. Also the fact that many many acts have utilized that vocal effect. Even the once great Bob Mould on his disco pop last album.

― Eve, Wednesday, 13 August 2003 21:50 (twenty-three years ago)

'Believe' is one of the greatest tunes of the 1990s. Bob Mould has never recorded anything a tenth as moving, disco pop phase or otherwise. Welcome to ILM!

― Andrew L (Andrew L), Wednesday, 13 August 2003 21:59 (twenty-three years ago)

viva los corny indie fuxx!

― nnnh oh oh nnnh nnnh oh (James Blount), Wednesday, 13 August 2003 22:02 (twenty-three years ago)

"Believe" ist rad. Sorry, Eve, but Cher's always been burnin...since the world's been turnin.

― Venga, Wednesday, 13 August 2003 22:19 (twenty-three years ago)

this is true

― nnnh oh oh nnnh nnnh oh (James Blount), Wednesday, 13 August 2003 22:20 (twenty-three years ago)

I am curious to hear Eve's theory on what we KNOW

― nnnh oh oh nnnh nnnh oh (James Blount), Wednesday, 13 August 2003 22:21 (twenty-three years ago)

Both unspeakably irritating.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Wednesday, 13 August 2003 22:23 (twenty-three years ago)

'believe' by a mile. WDSTF is the fucking worst song ever - it is derivative of an already pretty bad song, It's The End Of the World As We Know It. that vocal effect is auto-tune dialed up to ridiculous, i think.

― southern lights (southern lights), Wednesday, 13 August 2003 22:46 (twenty-three years ago)

Okay, enough of the Joel-hating.

In his defence I will say that "JFK, blown away, what else do I have to say?" makes me fucking crease up every time.

― Venga, Wednesday, 13 August 2003 22:52 (twenty-three years ago)

Haha JB what is more corny indie fux0riented: loving "Believe," or hating it? WDSTF (which is vile) > Believe which itself < Black Box's Everybody Everybody, which preemptively rendered it superfluous

― J0hn Darn1elle (J0hn Darn1elle), Wednesday, 13 August 2003 23:12 (twenty-three years ago)

macha vs. rem

― nnnh oh oh nnnh nnnh oh (James Blount), Wednesday, 13 August 2003 23:23 (twenty-three years ago)

i prefer the cher song (i'm unmoved either way by the joel tune). it's good - i got a little tired of it, but it would probably sound fresh if i heard it again. and if it melts the heart of Grumpy Mister Mould then who am i to complain?

― weasel diesel (K1l14n), Wednesday, 13 August 2003 23:24 (twenty-three years ago)

I used to hate "Believe". My sister liked it and I couldn't figure out why. Then I heard it once this year in the liquor store and it somehow clicked - the full, worn-but-strong voice questioning herself over the simple accompaniment. I prefer it to the Joel song but I don't get the comparison - what elements or qualities are being compared?

― sundar subramanian (sundar), Wednesday, 13 August 2003 23:26 (twenty-three years ago)

husker du u believe in life after love?

― weasel diesel (K1l14n), Wednesday, 13 August 2003 23:26 (twenty-three years ago)

plus if you think it's about sonny it adds some 'drama'

― nnnh oh oh nnnh nnnh oh (James Blount), Wednesday, 13 August 2003 23:27 (twenty-three years ago)

Cher is a lousy singer, but she's certainly better than Bob Mould.

― Sean (Sean), Wednesday, 13 August 2003 23:29 (twenty-three years ago)

How can you hear a worn-but-strong voice through the vocoder?

I still prefer the Cher tune, but that's not to say I wouldn't gladly go back in time and shoot the composer.

― ham on rye (ham on rye), Wednesday, 13 August 2003 23:36 (twenty-three years ago)

see J0hn? see?

― nnnh oh oh nnnh nnnh oh (James Blount), Wednesday, 13 August 2003 23:37 (twenty-three years ago)

wait JB the essential indie rock heart of Believe seems clearly by the second, what am I to see? both of these songs are by Pavement and I claim my five hundred dollars

― J0hn Darn1elle (J0hn Darn1elle), Wednesday, 13 August 2003 23:40 (twenty-three years ago)

"clearer" argh

― J0hn Darn1elle (J0hn Darn1elle), Wednesday, 13 August 2003 23:40 (twenty-three years ago)

Who's the composer?

WHat the heck does "Believe" have to do with "Everybody Everybody"?

― Mr. Diamond (diamond), Wednesday, 13 August 2003 23:43 (twenty-three years ago)

they're in the same tradition

― J0hn Darn1elle (J0hn Darn1elle), Wednesday, 13 August 2003 23:59 (twenty-three years ago)

BJ's WDSTF is SBIG. However, his other tune of around the same time, Pressure, is SBIB.

― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Thursday, 14 August 2003 00:38 (twenty-three years ago)

WWAtA?

― Prude (Prude), Thursday, 14 August 2003 02:21 (twenty-three years ago)

(what's with all the abbreviations?)

― Prude (Prude), Thursday, 14 August 2003 02:21 (twenty-three years ago)

It's not that hard, ham on rye.

― sundar subramanian (sundar), Thursday, 14 August 2003 02:29 (twenty-three years ago)

"Pressure" is not from around the same time of "We Didn't Start the Fire"

― nnnh oh oh nnnh nnnh oh (James Blount), Thursday, 14 August 2003 03:34 (twenty-three years ago)

Yes it is. I am using paleolithic eras as my time scale of course. And if you correct one more fact of mine, I'll give your little jonny jewels a jubilee twist. Getting things wrong is an important part of my personality.

SBIG = so bad it's good
SBIB = so bad it's bad

― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Thursday, 14 August 2003 03:38 (twenty-three years ago)

yeah, you're wrong about that too

― nnnh oh oh nnnh nnnh oh (James Blount), Thursday, 14 August 2003 03:45 (twenty-three years ago)

*bows out gracefully*

― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Thursday, 14 August 2003 03:51 (twenty-three years ago)

haha! please don't go! < / londonbeat>

― nnnh oh oh nnnh nnnh oh (James Blount), Thursday, 14 August 2003 03:56 (twenty-three years ago)

This is the funniest thing I've read on ILM in quite some time. Ha, ha!

"Getting things wrong is an important part of my personality". Fuck, every time I think of this, I go into paroxysms of empathic hilarity.

― David A. (Davant), Thursday, 14 August 2003 06:25 (twenty-three years ago)

haha "Please Don't Go" isn't Londonbeat, you silly, it's KC & the Sunshine Band then KWS. you mean "I've Been Thinking About You," one of the greatest singles evah, not least because the guitar is straight-up Afropop

― M Matos (M Matos), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 07:19 (twenty-three years ago)

um, Londonbeat used to do it in concert, before they sold out

― nnnh oh oh nnnh nnnh oh (James Blount), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 08:05 (twenty-three years ago)

They are both great songs! But Believe is better, cause it's good to dance to, plus We Didn't Start The Fire mentions baseball too much.

― Dan I., Tuesday, 19 August 2003 09:15 (twenty-three years ago)

"Believe" came on in a pub videoscreen on Sunday night and we all agreed it was a terrific record. If it did spark the vocoder revival then it's even MORE terrific. It was probably the last big pop hit I didn't like while it was actually in the charts.

― Tom (Groke), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 09:25 (twenty-three years ago)

WDSTF was OK, but I thought "Believe" was flippin' brillibobs!!!! Decent strong voice (clue- listen to the non-vocodery bits!!!), and a tune reminiscent of classic Scottish rave combos with spangly customes like Q-Tex, TTF and QFX (Who are in the hit parade again, I see!!!!), only with even more spangly sounds!!!! So it's a bit of a super-spangly song sung by someone who was around when they still had Spangles!!!

― Old Fart!!! (oldfart_sd), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 10:12 (twenty-three years ago)

one month passes...

holy fuck blount you saw Londonbeat LIVE?! I envy you so fucking much!!!

― M Matos (M Matos), Monday, 22 September 2003 06:34 (twenty-two years ago)

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