Death Goes to the DiscPOLL: Pulp Songs Voting/Discussion Thread! (Deadline: October 31st, MONDAY MORNING)

http://i54.tinypic.com/51auw.jpg

Oh boy! My time has come. I've been listening to Pulp songs all week in anticipation, and it's starting to influence the way I look at people on the street. Seeing the world through Jarvis eyes - a bizarre world indeed.

As in other polls, I am accepting ranked ballots and will assign the following scores. Unranked ballots will assume the top of the list is your #1 choice and points awarded accordingly. In the spirit of the Blur poll (and because I've no sound on my work computer) I will not be posting Youtubes but instead picture clues in advance of each reveal. If anyone wants to post Youtubes I'd adore that; I'd try myself but without sound it's hard to judge if non-singles are actual versions of the songs, or if they've been edited or otherwise weirdified.

The ranking will earn points as follows:
01:40, 02:36, 03:33, 04:30, 05:27, 06:25, 07:24, 08:23, 09:22, 10:21, 11:20, 12:19, 13:18, 14:17, 15:16, 16:15, 17:14, 18:13, 19:12, 20:11

Send your ballots to i m a g i n a r y f i l m at gmail dot com. Deadline is about midnight on October 28th, I've never been good at deadlines but do your best or at least send me an email saying you'll be sending one shortly if you find yourself out of time. I hope to prepare the list over the weekend and then starting posting results the following Monday.

Please use this thread to drum up interest in the b-side or lesser known album cut of your choice! Not too many awesome concert stories, please - Pulp only came to Toronto three times and I only caught one show. I had to fly to England just to get a second peek. My fragile little heart couldn't handle hearing about their recent summer tour again.

NB: Please do not read the lyrics whilst listening to the recordings

FYI - Anyone who forgets to include Ciao! will have their #3 pick struck from the list and replaced. I'm not so mean as to take away your #1 or #2.

Shit - I did not mention that this is open to ALL PULP SONGS, SOLO PROJECTS AND GUEST APPEARANCES.

You can find a comprehensive looking list of Pulp songs here: http://www.pulpwiki.net/Pulp/Songs
This link will lead you to what appears to be an accurate list of side projects/solo work: http://www.pulpwiki.net/Pulp/BandMembersProjects
Most 'Pulp' appearances (i.e. Ciao!) are found under Jarvis' solo page: http://www.pulpwiki.net/Jarvis/JarvisSongList

Have at it!

Not going to rep for any Pulp or Jarvis stuff, if you're going to vote you'll probably know the work anyway. However this is a real gem which may get overlooked, I wish they'd done a whole album together.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_gyHemA95g

http://open.spotify.com/track/50RQ9ZNTo7fS2Gfp9e0maE

Always loved Pink Glove and its great synth lines.

one week is ludicrously short. also booo at doing this when edwardo is stuck in Poland

Is it short? I thought it was the norm, I'm happy to extend it! When is E back? Blame everyone else for premature polljaculation ;)

I think they usually run for a couple of weeks but tbh I don't look at many of these and was just grumbling that I wouldn't have time to listen to everything to decide properly.

ty for that video Billy!

picture clues is good and makes it fun imo btw

i love all the albums from His N Hers forward but don't know any early/non-LP stuff, so i'm open to any suggestions people want to make

run don't walk to get Intro, which is a Japanese Whispers-style compilation of the three singles* and b-sides immediately before His N Hers, which is thusly the birth of "modern" Pulp.


*Babies is one of them, which was remixed for the Sisters EP on Island** - the whole EP is great and all thematically linked, with one song a direct sequel to Babies. The Babies remix was a bonus track on the CD of His N Hers, when that was a thing you did to make people buy CDs, and it's a shame it didn't get to move back with the rest of its pals onto the second disc of the remaster.

** the Intro singles all came out on Gift, which was a fake label set up by Warp in order to make the band's then-current label Fire think no-one bigger was interested in signing them, and release them from their contract. The sessions were actually paid for by Island.

beyond that, the Countdown compilation is a rly good 2-CD best-of of the albums and singles from the early lineups, and charmingly runs in reverse chronological order

OMG

I can't do this!!!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Pink Glove is all time, yes.

i meant specific songs i should check for -- i know what comps exist of the early stuff

Also, my dear Alexis, THERE ARE SOME OF US WHO HAVE NEVER SEEN THEM!!! >:o

<3

i saw them live once, when the did i think 3 songs at the '98 Tibetan Freedom Concert just as i was getting into them.

I'm saying the whole Intro comp is worth checking for

but there are no individual songs you're voting for and would lobby others to vote for?

aside from that you need to hear Ciao!, by Lush, as FFM notes. None of the Different Class-era b-sides are bad. The video for Bad Cover Version is beyond crucial. I love Jarvis & Steve's remix of Black Box Recorder's The Facts Of Life as The Chocolate Layers. You might have heard Galang by M.I.A. before? Steve co-wrote and produced that. I liked Don't Let Him Waste Your Time by Nancy Sinatra, which Jarvis wrote, and was disappointed that he recorded it himself later EXCEPT that the video was possibly his best ever.

don't be forgetting 'set the controls for the heart of the pelvis', the barry adamson/jarv collab

oh god i'm going to take such a crap in the results thread if "galang" places

xpost: I will definitely vote for Sheffield Sex City and Razzamatazz* and possibly Inside Susan: A Story in 3 Parts

*which was apparently ANOTHER bonus track on the US CD of HNH?

listening to some stuff from the deluxe version of This Is Hardcore right now...really love this era of the band. "Glory Days" way better as "Cocaine Socialism"

razzmatazz was def on the aus version of H&H

i remember years ago flirting with being a bigger Pulp fan and looking at the expensive import singles with b-sides with cool song titles and deciding against it, and now i can just pull this stuff up at will on Spotify :)

and yes, other beyond crucial outside things:

Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Pelvis - this should be top five in everyone's lists
Into U, off the Richard X album
Walk Like A Panther, All Seeing I single written by Jarvis and sung by Tony Christie
The 1st Man In Space, ^, sung by Phil Oakey

also Quite Good:
the Billy Jack/Sexualized double A-side by Relaxed Muscle
Happy Birthday Nicola (sung by TC on the All Seeing I album)
Drive Safely Darlin' (sung by Jarvis on etc)

fave

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkEiP4x06Xg

The 1st Man In Space, ^, sung by Phil Oakey

forgot this, it's totally wonderful

official video with Phil as a tennis umpire not on youtube, but here's two TOTP versions back to back - one mimed, one live

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBdSvgy6txk

really hoping something from the Jarvis solo albums places -- "Big Julie" and "You're In My Eyes (Discosong)" are my two big favorites but really anything from those records i'd be happy to vote for

I'm voting for the side-project Blouse's hit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVibsNPXBx0&feature=related

My favorite pre-H&H song remains "Death II." I can't think of any tune that sounded like this in '92.

I haven't listened to the first Cocker solo abum in AGES.

i always really liked this b-side from the caff 45, 'sickly grin'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EA95Hqy5uKw

"You're In My Eyes (Discosong)"

this reminded me of the Pilooski remix of this song which reminded me of this SUPER-ESSENTIAL JAM FROM 2011:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gq2L-tlNUNA

I read about "Everybody's Problem", and eventually tracked it down viaa cheap Cherry-Red comp.

It's alright, actually.

NB: Please do not read the lyrics whilst listening to the recordings

Yeah, I was going to ask about this. Do you guys rate Pulp higher for their lyrics or the music? Because I've had a playlist of most of their songs playing in the background last week, and I'm afraid none of them really jumped out at me. Except for 'Styloroc (Nites of Suburbia)' and 'This Is Hardcore' (the song).

I'll take this week to do some more serious listening.

I will definitely vote for Sheffield Sex City and Razzamatazz* and possibly Inside Susan: A Story in 3 Parts

"Sheffield Sex City" is a total gem. Other awesome b-sides for your consideration: Street Lites, The Babysitter, Seconds, Deep Fried in Kelvin, Your Sister's Clothes, His N Hers, Ansaphone, PTA, Mile End...

"O.U." has always been a favourite of mine. Vote for it.

OU will be in my top 5

So many great B-sides to pick from, especially from the His 'n' Hers era. This one will be very high on my list.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sln6sKCXdg

Do you guys rate Pulp higher for their lyrics or the music?

Impossible to separate when dealing with any good band.

yeah, they're obviously very much a 'lyrics band' but if i didn't think the melodies and production and instrumentation weren't great too i wouldn't bother.

oops double negative

Sliding Through Life on Charm for Marianne Faithfull is maybe his greatest work as songwriter-for-hire - the autobiographical song she couldn't write herself:

If Marianne was born a man she'd show you all
A way to piss your life against the wall.
Go ahead why don't you leave me to these thugs?
And creeps who want to fuck a nun on drugs.
Is it such a sin I never, ever tried too hard?
I had to know how far was going too far

Hi all

Late to this thread. PULP are my favourite band of all time - no question. I can find value in just about everything they've ever done - they're also one of the most thrilling live bands of all tiiiiime. Seconds is indeed one of their best songs - no question about it. Also from the debut:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbEqwgD8MWk

Weird to think IT was recorded before the first Smiths album.

Anyway please go back and listen to the pre-his n hers stuff if you haven't as their so much to explore. Even if it's not all good it's at least interesting.

Sliding Through Life on Charm for Marianne Faithfull is maybe his greatest work as songwriter-for-hire - the autobiographical song she couldn't write herself:

Oh I agree, and thanks for reminding me.

weirdly mr finefinemusic, the first or second time I saw Pulp at reading festival I met a lone canadian who had flown over just to see them and was blown away by how so many people knew all the words to the songs he loved but that nobody at home gave a shit about.

album wise Separations is probably the first 'modern pulp' LP - freaks and IT both sound like different bands. but yeah some great stuff on Separations and it's unjustly ignored

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Kh68FKyZPo

and it obviously also has Countdown and My Legendary Girlfriend which are two of their best ever singles. they played Countdown at Brixton last month and i almost exploded with joy (sorry)

Oh man, so many posts and I have so little time today at work. Separations is definitely a stellar, underlooked album. Be back soon!

Another huge recommendation for 'Intro' CD, if I get around to voting I think much of it will be represented.

As a side note, where are the first seven poll things? Can only see the last two (S Wonder and GBV).

Thanks for the title change! Man.. I just posted a request and then saw IT HAD ALREADY BEEN DONE. The voting is coming from inside the house! 0_0

So I entered my ballot directly into my empty Excel file, and then started adding the rest, sorted the songs, and.. now I don't have a copy of what my ballot was, haha. Alas.

Six more ballots came in, which brings us to about 20 IIRC! Happy to see that!

Oh God are these due today? I'm totally going to be lame and most of mine will be off three albums. :(

(Deadline: October 31st, MONDAY MORNING)

Erica, I'd wait half my life for you babygirl!

I think I've settled on my #1 but it's really hard to rank order the rest of the list.

I've been surprised by how much fun this has been to think about, mainly because it's made me listen to loads of tracks that i haven't bothered with for an age.

YAY!

x-post <3

Good, now I have three more days to figure out how I'm going to rank my list.

Some of Jarvis' solo stuff (and the collabs, especially with Charlotte Gainsbourg), are really good, but as good as the best of Pulp? I feel like I want to vote for "Don't Let Him Waste Your Time", but I'm not sure.

i was thinking of adding that one in as well but had already decided on running the world. both feels disproportionately generous to that record, although i do rather like it.

I'd vote in this but my ballot would basically be:

1. Common People
2. This Is Hardcore
3. Seductive Barry
4. The Fear

... FIN

I don't get what people see in the lyric, Jarvis has done that whole "you'll never do better than me/him/her" social counselling thing a million times.

For me, it's all about the "sad imitations that got it so wrong" in the last verse. I don't know, comparing an ex's new beau to late, bad episodes of Tom and Jerry and cheap cornflakes, of all things, is so ridiculous, it's hilarious.

It's like a later "Tom & Jerry" when the two of them could talk
Like the Stones since the Eighties, like the last days of Southfork.
Like "Planet of the Apes" on TV, the second side of "'Til the Band Comes in"
Like an own-brand box of cornflakes: he's going to let you down my friend.

i was thinking of adding that one in as well but had already decided on running the world. both feels disproportionately generous to that record, although i do rather like it.

you could have voted for the original then!

Dan, spend the weekend listening to every song linked or recommended in this thread

solid advice imo

two reposts for Dan's consideration:

Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Pelvis by Barry Adamson (1996) [audio only]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtpKMqKLzE4

Synchronize by Discodeine (2011)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gq2L-tlNUNA

Yes, more votes for "Synchronize" please!

oh I forgot all about "Set Controls For The Heart of the Pelvis"

Bump Bump Bump

Thanks Gukbe! Bumpity bump!

I posted it up thread but I'm posting it AGAIN

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsWqh0AcSAc

I was only about eleven when this happened.
We were living in a big block of flats with a central courtyard.
All the bedroom windows opened onto this court,
and sometimes in the middle of the night,
in that building it sounded like a mass orgy.
I may have only been eleven,
but no-one had to tell me what all that moaning and yelling was about.
I'd lie there mesmerised, listening to the first couple.
Invariably, they'd wake up other couples,
and like some kind of chain reaction,
within minutes the whole building was fucking.
I mean, have you ever heard other people fucking, and really enjoying it?
It's a marvellous sound.
Not like in the movies, but when it's real.
It's such a happy, exciting sound.

Twelve more hours! More or less. Vote and vote away!

Voted!

Whew, that was an ordeal. Sending in my ballot now.

just sent mine in -- i wonder if i'll end up with the most This Is Hardcore-heavy ballot in the poll

I might be right there with you- I have 3 in my top 7, one of which I ranked #1.

Ballot sent. For me, this was easily the toughest ballot out of all the ILM polls. I have deep personal connections to so many of these songs, it's just impossible to rank them.

pulp pump bump

found myself surprised by how many tracks i ended up including off different class as i imagined myself to be more attached to this is hardcore. happy with my ballot though.

Had a tough time compiling this ballot. I didn't want to overlook the first two albums, re-listening them again I forgot how beautiful they are, especially the debut record.

re-listening them again I remembered how beautiful they are

I included several song from the first album too. (just sent my ballot in)

Thrilled to see how many ballots came in over the weekend! I'll be at work in a couple of hours and will tabulate then!

(feel free to send 'em if you've got 'em!)

I sent a ballot last. I had trouble once I got to fifteen.

*last NIGHT.

I saw yours!

You didn't send out confirmations did you? If so, I didn't get one.

No, I didn't. Hangover weekend. Will reply to those I've got!

Oh I don't want to give you more work, was just wondering! :)

It's all good! I tried to send a quick message to all just now. Hard on the iPhone though!

Came through, thanks Lex! ;)

How many ballots have come in so far?

Looks like 20 in my inbox, plus my own, so a lucky 21!

My mistake! 28 in my inbox (The other eight were on page 2.. whoops!) so 29 total! Good show!

AAAHHHHHHHH can I send one now if I get it done in the next 15 mins?!

Okay! Yeah what the hell btw? Hahaha. I will smoke and then once your ballot comes in, it's on!

SORRY!! I thought the deadline was tonight! I am the worst. :(

It's all good!

Webmailed you!

Got it, and results are NOW OPEN!!

Do You Remember The First Poll? - ILM Artist Poll #11 - PULP - Results Thread!