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BLC: Smithereens vs. Pogues

Rockin' Doc Jul 10 2006 07:53 AM

Pat DiNizio and the boys are ready to test the waters of the CPF Band Ladder Challenge. Blood & Roses Behind the Wall of Sleep Tell Me When Did Things Go So Wrong Blue Period Top of The Pops Yesterday Girl Blues Before and After Too Much Passion Only A Memory A Girl Like You You can fresh your memory here.

Willets Point Jul 14 2006 07:33 AM

Bump.

Rotblatt Jul 14 2006 02:22 PM

1. The Sunny Side of the Street (Best Of) 2. If I Should Fall from the Grace of God (Best Of) 3. A Pair of Brown Eyes (Best Of) 4. Fairytale of New York (Best Of) 5. Streams Of Whiskey (Best Of) 6. Whiskey In the Jar (Sunnyside of the Street) 7. Tuesday Morning (Waiting for Herb) 8. [url=http://www.pogues.com/Releases/WAVs/LPs/IfIShould/THOUSAND.WAV]Thousands are Sailing[/url] 9. [url=http://www.pogues.com/Releases/WAVs/LPs/RumSodomy/IMAMAN.WAV]I’m a Man You Don’t Meet Everyday (Rum, Sodomy & the Lash)[/url] 10. Misty Morning, Albert Bridge (Best Of) [url=http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/samples/B00005AQCL/ref=dp_tracks_all_1/103-1820422-0859052?%5Fencoding=UTF8#disc_1]Best Of[/url] [url=http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006957SU/qid=1143030717/sr=1-7/ref=sr_1_7/103-1820422-0859052?s=music&v=glance&n=5174]Sunnyside of the Street[/url] [url=http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000001A3T/qid=1143031004/sr=1-14/ref=sr_1_14/103-1820422-0859052?s=music&v=glance&n=5174]Waiting For Herb[/url]

Edgy DC Jul 14 2006 03:15 PM

vs. "Blood & Roses" vs. "The Sunny Side of the Street" "Behind the Wall of Sleep" vs. "If I Should Fall from the Grace of God" "Tell Me When Did Things Go So Wrong" vs. "A Pair of Brown Eyes" "Blue Period" vs. "Fairytale of New York" "Top of The Pops" vs. "Streams Of Whiskey" "Yesterday Girl" vs. "Whiskey In the Jar" "Blues Before and After" vs. "Tuesday Morning" "Too Much Passion" vs. "Thousands are Sailing" "Only A Memory" vs. "I’m a Man You Don’t Meet Everyday" "A Girl Like You " vs. "Misty Morning, Albert Bridge" Interesting Fact:I don't know if he read fantasy literature or what, but pre-Smithereen Pat DiNizio bands included Monolith, Ice Worm, and Cosmic Dust. Interesting Fact: According to the liner notes of Waiting for Herb, Shane McGowan responded to the news that he had been fired with, "What took you so long?"

Willets Point Jul 15 2006 10:23 PM

"Blood & Roses" vs. "The Sunny Side of the Street" The Smithereens "Behind the Wall of Sleep" vs. "If I Should Fall from the Grace of God" Tie "Tell Me When Did Things Go So Wrong" vs. "A Pair of Brown Eyes" The Pogues "Blue Period" vs. "Fairytale of New York" The Pogues "Top of The Pops" vs. "Streams Of Whiskey" Tie "Yesterday Girl" vs. "Whiskey In the Jar" The Smithereens "Blues Before and After" vs. "Tuesday Morning" The Pogues "Too Much Passion" vs. "Thousands are Sailing" The Pogues "Only A Memory" vs. "I’m a Man You Don’t Meet Everyday" The Pogues "A Girl Like You " vs. "Misty Morning, Albert Bridge" The Smithereens The Smithereens 4:6 The Pogues

Johnny Dickshot Jul 17 2006 10:52 AM

"Blood & Roses" vs. "The Sunny Side of the Street" --Smithereens "Behind the Wall of Sleep" vs. "If I Should Fall from the Grace of God" --The ideal Smithereens song, combining that British Invasion feel with big old American guitars. "Tell Me When Did Things Go So Wrong" vs. "A Pair of Brown Eyes" --Tie "Blue Period" vs. "Fairytale of New York" --Normally when a rock band replaces their gigantic, plugged-in Rickenbachers with cellos, and employs Belinda Carlisle to sing harmonies, its a sure sign that Fonzie's on waterskis. But Blue Period's really a nice song, even if you don't vote for it you should listen to it. Note the harpsichord break completely ripped off from "In My Life." "Top of The Pops" vs. "Streams Of Whiskey" --Smithereens. "Yesterday Girl" vs. "Whiskey In the Jar" --Smithereens. Good background vocals on this one. "Blues Before and After" vs. "Tuesday Morning" --More good background vocals which are really frontground vocals. "Too Much Passion" vs. "Thousands are Sailing" --See, this is where the trade of guitars for strings doesn't work IMO. I think this tune is eh, though the rest of the USA did -- it was the 'Reens' best performing single on the Hot 100 (#37). I figure since everyone thinks the Pogues are the greatest thing ever that "Sailing" is a good song, so I'll give this one to them. "Only A Memory" vs. "I’m a Man You Don’t Meet Everyday" --"In a world of pain I have no peers." I find this a typical Smithereens song, which is to say it's pretty good but not great. Tie. "A Girl Like You " vs. "Misty Morning, Albert Bridge" --The riff "AGLY' is based on is just ferocious. Smithereens win my card handily, 8-2, and mighta done better had variety been eschewed and Groovy Tuesday, Strangers When We Meet and Time and Time Again (from the 'Especially for You') been included.

Willets Point Jul 17 2006 02:12 PM

I hope someone challenges the Smithereens with the Smiths.

sharpie Jul 18 2006 09:56 AM

Not a lotta action here. Must confess: I don't know the Smithereens' music at all. I'll try to listen to clips but I dunno. Meanwhile, even the sponsors haven't showed up for this one.

Johnny Dickshot Jul 18 2006 12:07 PM

Smithereens, 4-piece combo from Jersey that plays blue-collar, hook-laden power-pop that borrows sound from the British Invasion with often melancholy guy-lost-girl lyrics. Big guitar sound, hardworking rhythm section, quiet-cool singer without much range but knows it. They never really came up with that one rock classic ('Wall of Sleep' comes awful close) to elevate them to the kind of band everybody knows, and instead became a kind of hall of fame bar-band whose fans are always trying to turn their friends onto them.

Edgy DC Jul 18 2006 12:23 PM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Jul 18 2006 12:37 PM

Blood and Red Roses for Me. "Blood & Roses" vs. "The Sunny Side of the Street" “B&R” for a good guitar solo. Smithereens. "Behind the Wall of Sleep" vs. "If I Should Fall from the Grace of God" Pogues. "Tell Me When Did Things Go So Wrong" vs. "A Pair of Brown Eyes" Pogues by a hair. There’s something too derative about this Smithereens track. "Blue Period" vs. "Fairytale of New York" Pogues "Top of The Pops" vs. "Streams Of Whiskey" I’ll throw this to the Smithereens for the chanted chorus. "Yesterday Girl" vs. "Whiskey In the Jar" Smithereens again. That’s the same sixties jingle-jangle that XTC loves. "Blues Before and After" vs. "Tuesday Morning" Pogues. I think Smithereens took their title here from a Style Council lyric. “Tuesday Morning” is terrific. More terrific than anybody expected. "Too Much Passion" vs. "Thousands are Sailing" Pogues, Pogues, Pogues. By the way, how did this Crowded House track get on a Smithereens record? "Only A Memory" vs. "I’m a Man You Don’t Meet Everyday" Smothereens. "A Girl Like You " vs. "Misty Morning, Albert Bridge" Wow. I’m going Smithereens here because of an awesome outro and great chick backup vocals. Tie at 5-5. Does that mean I can’t be a fanboi anymore?

Edgy DC Jul 18 2006 12:24 PM

]'Wall of Sleep' comes awful close. I think "A Girl Like You" comes closer.

Willets Point Jul 18 2006 12:25 PM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Jul 18 2006 12:34 PM

I find the Smithereens are a great singles band although they don't have any great hits they do have a dozen or so songs that got some airplay on the stations that matter. That of course is a big advantage in this contest but on the other hand I don't think they have much depth. Their album tracks generally bore me. In this contest they do well against the Pogues, but if we did album vs. album instead of song vs. song the Pogues would crush them (on edit: refering to my ballot only of course). I never knew they were from New Jersey. That's pretty cool.

Rotblatt Jul 18 2006 12:26 PM

I have no idea who the Smithereens are. Does that make me a bad person? Anyway, I'm passing on this one too--don't know enough about 'em to vote!

Willets Point Jul 18 2006 12:38 PM

Rotblatt wrote: I have no idea who the Smithereens are. Does that make me a bad person? Doesn't make you a bad person, just makes you someone who doesn't know the Smithereens. Since you are a fan of Velvet Underground, the Pogues, Parliament, and the Pixies I think you're a person of immecable taste. I still think you should take a quick listen to the samples and if you hear nothing that interests you, you can vote for your band with a clear conscience.

Johnny Dickshot Jul 18 2006 01:02 PM

Holy shit. The Mets couldn't possibly have been the only thing to capture your attentions in 1986. For me it was my dormitory neighbor Chris Ryan (with whom I'd dissect every note and the album covers of REM) who called me over waving a cassette of 'Especially for You' above his head and saying "You've gotta hear this! It's on ENIGMA Records!" He said it that way so as to highlight the indy nature of the whole thing. Chris had aspirations of being a rock star at the time but I suppose had no illusions of big-label success even then. Anyway, I thought, "What an ugly album cover!" but just got blown away by Wall of Sleep. While 'Girl Like You' is obviously the bigger hit, I go with 'Wall of Sleep' because there's something artsy to the pronoun-heavy lyrics matching the bam-bam of beats that begin each line: She had And she She was If she'd Now I Then I Well she And she Now I And I've Got your Called you Now I And I've Now I Then I Maybe it's not artsy but I like it. Jeanie Shrimpton back in 1965

Rockin' Doc Jul 18 2006 01:21 PM

I, like Rotblatt, have refrained from voting in this match up because I am only familiar with two or three of the Pogues songs. I think it would be unfair to the Pogues for me to try try forming an opinion of their music based on 30 second sound bites (though I have listened to them). If I am not familiar with both bands in a match up, I avoid voting in the contests. That is why I have only voted in roughly 65% of the BLC contests.

ScarletKnight41 Jul 18 2006 01:22 PM

]Holy shit. The Mets couldn't possibly have been the only thing to capture your attentions in 1986. Let's see - there was finishing up law school....graduation....studying for the bar exam....moving back to New York from Boston....job hunting....starting a new job.... I was a little busy that year.

sharpie Jul 18 2006 02:42 PM

Time is up but only 3 votes cast. I say leave it up for a few days to get people time to listen to the band that they don't know.

Edgy DC Jul 18 2006 02:44 PM

Neither sponsor is on board either.

sharpie Jul 18 2006 02:54 PM

Each sponsor doesn't know the other band so won't vote. I would say that it should be at least encouraged to challenge bands that you know so that you don't abstain.

Johnny Dickshot Jul 18 2006 03:00 PM

Goddamn it. Just pretend this is Journey v. Styx!

Frayed Knot Jul 18 2006 03:43 PM

Johnny Dickshot wrote: Goddamn it. Just pretend this is Journey v. Styx! Well in that case all 20 songs suck!

Willets Point Jul 24 2006 05:23 PM

Sponsors, I implore you to vote now!!! and get this thing over with. I don't care if you don't know the other band.

TransMonk Jul 24 2006 05:36 PM

"Blood & Roses" vs. "The Sunny Side of the Street" "Behind the Wall of Sleep" vs. "If I Should Fall from the Grace of God" "Tell Me When Did Things Go So Wrong" vs. "A Pair of Brown Eyes" "Blue Period" vs. "Fairytale of New York" "Top of The Pops" vs. "Streams Of Whiskey" "Yesterday Girl" vs. "Whiskey In the Jar" "Blues Before and After" vs. "Tuesday Morning" "Too Much Passion" vs. "Thousands are Sailing" "Only A Memory" vs. "I’m a Man You Don’t Meet Everyday" "A Girl Like You " vs. "Misty Morning, Albert Bridge" The Smithereens 9-1 over The Pogues

Rockin' Doc Jul 24 2006 09:55 PM

I have throughout the entire BLC, refrained from voting based on 30 second sound bites and I'm not going to change now. Using a clip to refamiliarize yourself with a song is one thing, but to listen to a brief clip of a song you have never heard and vote based on that is irresponsible in my opinion. And if we're just voting without knowing what we're voting on, then this whole endeavor is a waste of time. Apparently, these are two bands that are not widely recognized by our members.

seawolf17 Jul 25 2006 08:24 AM

Rockin' Doc wrote: Apparently, these are two bands that are not widely recognized by our members. Most definitely. Once again, popularity rears its ugly head.

ScarletKnight41 Jul 25 2006 08:28 AM

It's not popularity as much as it's familiarity. In this case, if you stopped me on the street, I couldn't name one song by either band. In other challenges, I may know one of the bands and not the other, or I may not be familiar with the songs involved in the challenge. So I'll vote when I'm reasonably familiar with the songs involved in the challenge, but I'll skip the challenges when I'm not up on the competing tunes.

seawolf17 Jul 25 2006 08:30 AM

And that's why this BLC drives me crazy every single day. I want this to be this referendum on the great bands of all time, and I want this list to be a definitive list of said bands, but it's not, and I need to get over that.

ScarletKnight41 Jul 25 2006 08:48 AM

It can't be. There are too many diverse bands out there for a group of our size to have a sufficient knowledge base.

metirish Jul 25 2006 09:01 AM

Blood & Roses" vs. "The Sunny Side of the Street" - The Pogues "Behind the Wall of Sleep" vs. "If I Should Fall from the Grace of God" - The Pogues "Tell Me When Did Things Go So Wrong" vs. "A Pair of Brown Eyes" - The Pogues "Blue Period" vs. "Fairytale of New York" - The Pogues "Top of The Pops" vs. "Streams Of Whiskey" - The Pogues "Yesterday Girl" vs. "Whiskey In the Jar" - The Pogues "Blues Before and After" vs. "Tuesday Morning" - The Pogues "Too Much Passion" vs. "Thousands are Sailing" - The Pogues "Only A Memory" vs. "I’m a Man You Don’t Meet Everyday" - The Pogues "A Girl Like You " vs. "Misty Morning, Albert Bridge" - The Pogues The Pogues - 10...

Edgy DC Jul 25 2006 09:25 AM

sharpie Jul 25 2006 09:33 AM

Need one more lousy vote to get to the 6-vote minimum. As I said before, I know all of these Pogues songs and none of these Smithereens songs so I can't really vote in good conscience.

Johnny Dickshot Jul 25 2006 09:53 AM

Go out at lunch today and buy a copy of "Especially for You" or a 'Reens best-of. I'm not saying it to end the contest, or even impact the results, but just because it belongs in any collection. Well, not a stamp collection, but...

Edgy DC Jul 25 2006 10:18 AM

]And that's why this BLC drives me crazy every single day. I want this to be this referendum on the great bands of all time, and I want this list to be a definitive list of said bands, but it's not, and I need to get over that. Well, besides needing to relax, perhaps you might consider figuring out how to build a website devoted to this project, which draws votes by the hundreds, rathare than by the ones. I really think we (Dickshot's inititative I think) struck on a rich vein by making the matchup about the songs, and drawing peeps away from their brand prejudice.

sharpie Jul 25 2006 10:54 AM

The genesis as I remember it: JD wondered aloud whether he should go see Queen with Paul Rogers. I said no, that some bands, like Queen or the Doors shouldn't go on without their singers. JD went on about how Queen is better than the Doors (since disproved). I mentioned that the Doors first album is so far beyond any Queen album that the discussion is ridiculous. JD went on about how only songs mattered, not albums. I disagreed but said that a list of 10 Doors songs would beat a list of 10 Queen songs. Edgy ramped it up into the opening BLC Smackdown. The rest is history.

Johnny Dickshot Jul 25 2006 11:02 AM

That's pretty accurate. btw, I want to divorce myself from this perception that I'm some kind of Queen fanatic. They come and go with me; I believe when this discussion first came up I'd just recently seen SHAWN OF THE DEAD which has a great scene with a Queen song in it that re-awakened me, sort of like how I got with the Cars last time around. I never did splurge for them $85 Queen + Paul Rodgers tixx.

Willets Point Jul 25 2006 11:14 AM

Johnny Dickshot wrote: I want to divorce myself from this perception that I'm some kind of Queen fanatic. But I love that perception. It's an image of you that I hold dear.

Edgy DC Jul 25 2006 12:03 PM

While we're at it, i'd like to divorce myself from the perception that I'm a Hootie Patootie. I just think they get a bum backlash. The next Hootie record I buy will be my first.

Willets Point Jul 25 2006 12:09 PM

I always get Hootie & the Blowfish confused with about a half-dozen other bands including Blues Traveler, Counting Crows, and Sister Hazel. There was just a certain bland sameness to mid-90's music I couldn't differentiate. Oddly the best songs of all these bands make a great album.

Willets Point Jul 28 2006 05:36 PM

I propose that for all future challenges that the sponsor initiating the challenge be required to vote. If the sponsor doesn't vote in the 48 hour window then 10 votes are automatically awarded to the opposing band. This will make sponsors think twice about challenging bands they don't know and then abstaining leading to standoffs like this.

Edgy DC Jul 28 2006 06:06 PM

Interesting proposal, I say.

Rockin' Doc Jul 29 2006 09:35 AM

If it's simply votes you want, why not credit both bands a 10-0 vote from each of their sponsors. I think such votes are ridiculous, but I believe your newest rule proposal may result in a multitude of such votes. I believe there are already more than enough 10-0 votes under the premise that, "I really like this band or I wouldn't have nominated them." Or "I don't even know any songs for the other group so I voted 10-0 for my band." I respect Rotblatt for not voting when he isn't familiar with a band. Personally, I think the fairest and most unbiased way for the contest to run is for sponsors to not be allowed to vote in any contest in which they are sponsoring a band. But, that's just my personal opinion.

sharpie Jul 29 2006 09:51 AM

I agree with Willets' proposal. Challenge bands you know.

Rockin' Doc Jul 29 2006 10:45 AM

Granted, I can control who I challenge. In the future, I will not challenge bands that I am not familiar with. However, I can not control who challenges me. I think that if people are challenged by a band they don't know and are forced to vote, there will be a large number of 10-0 votes. Even if a person tries to listen to a brief cut of the of each song from the other band, I personally don't believe they can vote objectively. As more and more bands keep getting nominated, the number of bands that various people aren't familiar with will likely continue to grow. Obviously, few people on the forum are familiar enough with the Pogues and/or the Smithereens to fairly cast a vote in this challenge.

Edgy DC Jul 29 2006 11:33 AM

Listen to the clips. If that's not enough, vote your prejudice. Or dial up rhapsody.com where it's like $.02 a listen. If people's sponsorees lose because they nominate an unknown band, they probably entered prepared for that. Or else they would've nominated Fleetwood Mac.

Willets Point Aug 14 2006 01:37 AM Re: BLC: Smithereens vs. Pogues

All right, I've found 14 of these 20 songs in their (mostly) full versions so you can watch or just listen and say to yourself "Holy *$%&! I never knew such brilliant music existed!" or "How do people listen to such awful stuff?" but most importantly, YOU CAN VOTE!!!!! Blood & Roses vs. "The Sunny Side of the Street" Behind the Wall of Sleep vs. "If I Should Fall from the Grace of God" "Tell Me When Did Things Go So Wrong" vs. "A Pair of Brown Eyes" Blue Period vs. "Fairytale of New York" "Top of The Pops" vs. "Streams Of Whiskey" "Yesterday Girl" vs. "Whiskey In the Jar" (Not the Pogues, but the same song) Blues Before and After vs. "Tuesday Morning" (weird Lord of the Rings fanvid, but it's the right song) "Too Much Passion" vs. "Thousands are Sailing" (incomplete, weird fanvid) Only A Memory vs. "I’m a Man You Don’t Meet Everyday" A Girl Like You vs. "Misty Morning, Albert Bridge"

sharpie Aug 14 2006 09:08 AM

I'll try to vote by the end of the day.

sharpie Aug 14 2006 09:09 PM

Thanks, Willets. Got through 'em all. "Blood & Roses" vs. "The Sunny Side of the Street" SMITHEREENS "Behind the Wall of Sleep" vs. "If I Should Fall from the Grace of God" POGUES "Tell Me When Did Things Go So Wrong" vs. "A Pair of Brown Eyes" POGUES "Blue Period" vs. "Fairytale of New York" POGUES (by a mile) "Top of The Pops" vs. "Streams Of Whiskey" POGUES "Yesterday Girl" vs. "Whiskey In the Jar" POGUES "Blues Before and After" vs. "Tuesday Morning" Tie "Too Much Passion" vs. "Thousands are Sailing" POGUES "Only A Memory" vs. "I’m a Man You Don’t Meet Everyday" POGUES "A Girl Like You " vs. "Misty Morning, Albert Bridge" SMITHEREENS POGUES 7.5 SMITHEREENS 2.5 I'll wait til tomorrow to count 'em up in case someone else wants to go through this. Beats watching tonight's wretched Met game. I liked many of the Smithereens songs (but not that one with Belinda Carlisle -- was that a shark jump?) but they're no Pogues.

Willets Point Aug 14 2006 10:46 PM

Bless you sharpie. The Smithereens have far better songs than Blue Period but still won't catch the Pogues.

sharpie Aug 15 2006 04:37 PM

I'm putting this one out of its misery: Pogues 31.5 Smithereens 28.5