1001 Song You Must Hear Before You Die - 1981

smh @ this list

stevie vs. soft cell vs. rick james

went with soft cell

oh wait Yoko song is dope, i'll vote for that

This..... is.... impossible.....

Well, at least almost. For me, it's between two of my all-time favourite songs. Voting for "Ghosts", but then regretting not being able to vote for "Ghost Town", which is way better than most of what I've voted for in the other polls.

"It Must Be Love", "Girls On Film", "In The Air Tonight", "Our Lips Are Sealed", "Genius Of Love", "Tainted Love", "Super Freak" and "Radio Free Europe" are also all really, really good songs, although not in quite the same league as those two ghost songs.

At least three life-affirming tracks for me here. It Must Be Love is so beautiful with such incredible arrangements - it makes my heart swell. O Superman - one of the craziest, strangest most wonderful hit singles of all time. And then there's Ghost Town.

Thinking about it, I think O Superman has to win. One of the first songs I ever heard - it certainly didn't sound weird to my infant mind when my Dad would play it on a loop. Just womb-like and pretty as hell.

Dad here. "Radio Free Europe," no runner-up. Also: DB's' "Black and White," Minor Threat's "Minor Threat," New Order's "Dreams Never End" or "Ceremony," Undertones' "It's Going to Happen!", Waitresses' "Christmas Wrapping."

No 'Love Action'?

I certainly like a couple of these songs quite a bit but only one of them caused me to post the following:

I just want it recorded somewhere how amazingly epic I think Under Pressure is. For some reason I've heard it like 5 times in as many days and it's just so damn good. All time imo. That is all.

― ENBB, Wednesday, March 16, 2011 1:32 PM (5 months ago) Bookmark

So Under Pressure it is.

Radio Free Europe

I guess I should come out and say I secretly prefer Ice Ice Baby to Under Pressure. I know that's wrong, but pfff...

^fyr

Flash Your Rack?

x-post

Pretty sure it's not just you and that a lot of people hate it. That's OK but you're just all wrong.

I guess I should come out and say I secretly SB a lot of people on ILM every day.

I sort of forgot how good the beginning of In the Air Tonight is.

first reaction was "oh madness instant winner" and then i looked at the rest of the list

altho I am prepared to accept that the correct answer here - "O Superman" - is a vaguely idiosyncratic choice and will refrain from SBing idiots purely because they don't understand that.

Torn between O Superman and Under Pressure here...

No 'Love Action'?

No "Don't You Want Me" is worse.

OK I just heard O Superman for the first time ever.

WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT GOD AWFUL SHIT?!

You two can't be serious.

Yet, even with Human League being a glaring omission, I reckon this is probably the strongest list yet. Well, maybe save for the 1966 and 1967 ones.

OK I just heard O Superman for the first time ever.

WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT GOD AWFUL SHIT?!

OTM!

Under Pressure alone deserves a vote because it made this cover with Michael Gira happen:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ogR3IIbu6U

But then there's also Bowie going for O Superman:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5dRY_EHMjU

I think this is the worst list yet for me. Especially since it caused me to listen to that song. :[ Mad at Vadge.

OK I just heard O Superman for the first time ever.

WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT GOD AWFUL SHIT?!

You two can't be serious.

― ladies love draculas like children love stray dogs (ENBB), Saturday, August 20, 2011 2:07 AM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark

Hahaha

"Don't You Want Me" is the most boring Human League song of all time btw.

also E as much as i admire and respect you you are tippy-toeing a razor-wire tightrope here

Don't you dare!

also E as much as i admire and respect you you are tippy-toeing a razor-wire tightrope here

― Looking for Mrs Nutbar (Noodle Vague), Saturday, August 20, 2011 2:10 AM (9 seconds ago) Bookmark

NV otm here. O Superman is unfuckwithable.

idgi

That's OK though. We can all like different things!

ENBB - you know O Superman got to number 2 in the charts in 1981? It's something so engraved on my brain, it's practically part of my DNA. The repetitive "Ah ah ah ah" is like a drone for the whole track to play around. I say it's womb-like - like a mother's voice as heard by her unborn infant. And "Here come the plaaaaaanes" And then there's those synth strings that come in right at the end. It's such an oddity - a one in a million chance, and yet people bought it in droves (twice, in my Dad's case).

"Don't You Want Me" is like the theme tune from Steptoe and Son of overrated shite numpty electronic pop records that might as well have been made on paper and comb and make Status Quo sound like Messaien

x-post - Yeah I just found that out and, tbh, that's pretty mind-boggling! Huh.

ENBB - you know O Superman got to number 2 in the charts in 1981? It's something so engraved on my brain, it's practically part of my DNA. The repetitive "Ah ah ah ah" is like a drone for the whole track to play around. I say it's womb-like - like a mother's voice as heard by her unborn infant. And "Here come the plaaaaaanes" And then there's those synth strings that come in right at the end. It's such an oddity - a one in a million chance, and yet people bought it in droves (twice, in my Dad's case).

― Why'd You Wanna Tweet Me So Bad? (dog latin), Saturday, August 20, 2011 2:13 AM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark

This... this is beyond beautiful a description DL... <3

I haven't been voting in these for a while, but I gave 'O Superman' another one because ENBB is so RONG. Even though I probably would have voted 'Ghost Town' otherwise.

Pretty sure this book/list is made up btw. This list in partic is like the elephants's graveyard of once pretty tunes that only an OCD sufferer wd ever want to listen to ever agian.

i mean obv this is the board but

I listen to most of these (not "O Superman" obv) a lot. The pinnacle era of music was just starting in 1981, and would last for a few years more.

yeah i remember when god sent me the letter about that

also iirc sexual intercourse first began in 1983, between the end of the Pistols ban and Kajagoogoo's first lp

Dear lord, what a dropoff from 1980.

"The pinnacle era of music," gosh. Geir, you are a piece of work.

This is one of my favourite lists so far, but I can't look beyond Genius of Love.

Ghost Town, all-time top ten material.

I listen to most of these (not "O Superman" obv) a lot. The pinnacle era of music was just starting in 1981, and would last for a few years more.

― Hongroe (Geir Hongro), Saturday, August 20, 2011 2:39 AM (13 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

yeah i remember when god sent me the letter about that

― Looking for Mrs Nutbar (Noodle Vague), Saturday, August 20, 2011 2:40 AM (12 minutes ago) Bookmark

Rofflicious!

I'm starting to think "O Superman" is one of those songs where you must have had to been in the U.K. and tuned into music when it came out or something because out of context it makes zero sense to me. Anyway, I voted for The Go-Go's.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IT7P7ijpAPY

ENBB OTM re: o superman

yoko VS kraftwerk.

i like under pressure even tho i've never liked queen. edge of 17 has aged way better than expected (there's a pun in there somewhere). but overall i would've picked more R&B/rap.

By far the most impossible list for me up to this point.

I Love Rock 'n' Roll, with Under Pressure nipping at Joan's heels. Nothing else very close.

I'm deeply conflicted about "Under Pressure." Everything about it is great EXCEPT for that gawdawful scatting. It's not just that Mercury can't scat for shit (though that's certainly a large part of it), but that it sounds like, "Hey, should we write a new line or two here? Eh, fuck it."

Go Gos over Specials

Fun Boy Three over Go-Go's
(still voting for the song)

Oh that's not to you, Chap. Ghost Town is a fine song. Awful was to the winner - obv.

1982 - do 1982 now pls!!!

http://knowyourmeme.com/i/000/039/080/original/5008_9c00_420.gif?1265669754

It's true. I am a hater of that song. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

LOL ILX. I would even have voted Phil Collins before Laurie Anderson if it came to that.

i like Big Science and all but seriously ilm's stannery for that song knows no bounds

Don't blame me, I voted "Genius of Love." But "O Superman" was in the top 5 runners up.

I'm sorry I missed this. '81 was probably the best year for singles of the eighties, second only to '84. The P&J poll is unstoppable:

1. Laurie Anderson: "O Superman"/"Walk the Dog" (One, Ten/Warner Bros.) 56
The Rolling Stones: "Start Me Up" (Rolling Stones) 56
3. Grandmaster Flash: "The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel" (Sugarhill) 44
4. Kim Carnes: "Bette Davis Eyes" (EMI America) 39
Yoko Ono: "Walking on Thin Ice" (Geffen) 39 *
6. Tom Tom Club: "Genius of Love" (Sire) 36
7. Pete Shelley: "Homosapien" (Genetic import) 31
Soft Cell: "Tainted Love"/"Where Did Our Love Go?" (Sire) 31
9. Funky Four Plus One: "That's the Joint" (Sugarhill) 28
10. Prince: "Controversy" (Warner Bros.) 27
11. Grace Jones: "Pull Up to the Bumper" (Island) 26
12. Taana Gardner: "Heartbeat" (West End) 24
Billy Idol With Generation X: "Dancing With Myself" (Chrysalis) 24 *
Teena Marie: "Square Biz" (Gordy) 24
Frankie Smith: "Double Dutch Bus" (WMOT) 24
16. Go-Go's: "Our Lips Are Sealed" (I.R.S.) 23
17. Smokey Robinson: "Being With You" (Tamla) 22
18. Rick James: "Super Freak" (Gordy) 21
19. Rosanne Cash: "Seven Year Ache" (Columbia) 20
20. New Order: "Ceremony" (Factory) 18
21. Bob Dylan: "The Groom's Still Waiting at the Altar" (Columbia) 17
22. The Pointer Sisters: "Slow Hand" (Planet) 14
The Police: "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" (A&M) 14
24. Squeeze: "Tempted" (A&M) 13
25. Gang of Four: "To Hell With Poverty" (EMI import) 12
Deniece Williams: "Silly" (Columbia/ARC)

^^^^
about 800% better than this book's 1981 list

even #12-#21 make my mouth fall open

^^^^

I am seeing some essential similarities between them. This list and the P&J list both have a horribly and overlong piece of "avant garde" wank on top, and neither include anything from the marvellous "Dare!" album. But the book is better because it does at least have "Ghost Town" and "Ghosts" in there....

there was a kid on my little league team in 1981 named denny davis

he did not enjoy being serenaded by kim carnes or any of her fans

Jeez, been seven years since I did the 1981 mixes. . . 30 years ago now, instead of only 22 when I started the project!

http://musicophilia.wordpress.com/2009/05/13/musicophilia-the-complete-1981-box-set/

Not really where my ears have been the last few years--but the stuff still holds up as some of the best "rock/pop" music ever made, imo.

o superman winning otm. would probably make my top five overall songwise.

note: not british

o superman

o jjjuuuuusten

omfg we won

props to Rick James tho

Well you don't know me, but I know you. And I've got a message to give to you.. Here come the plaaaaaaannnnneeeesssss.....

Top Comments

I like the part where it goes...

"huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh".
PIlotrcm 3 months ago 114

a horribly and overlong piece of "avant garde" wank

how do you account for it reaching #12 in the charts then you dolt

#2, even

It's been said before, but some of the lyrics in O Superman are remarkably prescient.

I quite like "Walk The Dog" on the b-side too. And the shadow-puppet motif as well. This is the kind of song that sounds great on vinyl. The "ah ah ah ah" layer kind of syncs up with the light crackle and pop of the turntable. It made me think it would be great to have a deck of about nine 7" turntables all playing different loops which you can speed up and slow down to create different rhythms and tones, using the records' blemishes as a kind of natural metronome.

omfg we won

― Countdown to Alma Cogan (Noodle Vague), Thursday, 25 August 2011 09:05 (2 hours ago) Bookmark

I'm feeling this. We came out of nowhere. Veni vidi vici.

There was a poll a little while ago where we had to vote for a bunch of songs and O Superman won. Then we voted for the worst of those songs and O Superman won that one again, so it's a real Marmite track.

I'm not going mad am I? There has been a minimal house cover of O Superman, right?

A line like "here come the planessszzzzzz", um, means something else thesedays I guess.

I'd love to have heard it slipped into an "Immer"-style set.

They're American planes, made in America.

certainly were.

how do you account for it reaching #2 in the charts then you dolt

Some things are just unexplainable. :)

People Bought it.

Explanation ends.

There's some M.A.N.D.Y. vs. Booka Shade O Superman remixes on Spotify.

Yes, I remember that one now, but I found it a bit disappointing. I'd love to hear a really slow dub-pulse version.

The Audiofly X one's pretty good. Audiofly X mix of M.A.N.D.Y. vs. Booka Shade mix that is. ffs.

If "Seven Year Ache" had been a choice it might have been tough not to vote for it over the Go-Go's.

how do you account for it reaching #2 in the charts then you dolt

Its novelty.

"Novelty Avant Garde" is absolutely right. I mean that in the best way. It manages to be arty, new wavey, proto techno/ambient, and memorable.

also, not that difficult to understand!

The sad thing is that I find it impossible to imagine "O Superman" making #2 in the charts today. Or making the charts at all, for that matter.

^why the 80s rules always and forever

nnooooooo 70s>>>80s

yeah the 70s charts had way more weird shit than the 80s did

i think it would have been difficult to imagine it getting to #2 in any other time. It really was an astral alignment. a complete one-off. plus these days isn't there a length limit to tracks in the charts?

watch and marvel

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

lol meant in the whole 80s v. 90s poll (which I see finished when I wasnt looking)

the donk remix of o superman was rly good i wish i had saved it before donkdj went offline

Somehow, that's like the most ILM post I've ever seen.

the original is fine but it lacked the weird schaffelly phasing effects of the donk remix

a worthy winner itp anyway

pigbag - papa's got a brand new bag