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Big Time Mix-Tape Poll

Which Gabriel song makes the cut?

1) "Big Time"	0 votes
2) "Biko"	4 votes
3) "Digging in the Dirt"	0 votes
4) "Don't Give Up" (with Kate Bush)	0 votes
5) "Games Without Frontiers"	1 votes
6) "I Don't Remember"	0 votes
7) "In Your Eyes"	0 votes
8) "Mercy Street"	0 votes
9) "Red Rain"	1 votes
10) "Shaking The Tree" (with Youssou N'dour)	0 votes
11) "Shock the Monkey"	3 votes
12) "Sledgehammer"	2 votes
13) "Solsbury Hill"	3 votes
14) "Steam"	0 votes

Edgy DC Aug 17 2007 09:11 AM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Aug 17 2007 10:20 PM

Peter Gabriel's solo career is, quite simply, quality all over. In a theoretical Solo Act Ladder Challenge, he'd be a Dylanesque juggernaut, sledgehammering everything in his path (except, of course, Dylan). Narrowing this down was painful and unwieldy. My rule was to stick to singles with promo videos, but fans of "San Jacinto" and "I Have the Touch" (I know you're out there) are welcome to write in their favorites. "Biko" is something of a compromise, as the "video" is a live performance cut with scenes from Cry Freedom, but the judges said "Yea." So there's a lot to pick from (unlike, say, A Flock of Seagulls). But you really can't go wrong here. You've alternately got some of the saddest and most hopeful stuff that's ever going to come out of a radio on the way to the beach. Among these videos, you'll see a handful that didn't see much airplay stateside, which is cool. One thing to see in reviewing these is that his visual sense was always there. In his time, you might have thought, "What's with the guy painting his face like a flower with big petals flying out the sides?" but his promo videos, even from the blushworthy late seventies, really stand up. Outside of his Jim Kerr nest of a hairdo in "Shaking the Tree," brother knew interesting ways to present himself. I don't know if duets are allowed on desert island mix tapes, but there are two here. Feel free to ignore. 1) "Big Time" ("My heaven will be a big heaven") 2) "Biko" ("You can blow out a candle, but you can't blow out a fire") 3) "Digging in the Dirt" ("This time you've gone too far") 4) "Don't Give Up" (with Kate Bush) ("No one wants you when you lose") 5) "Games Without Frontiers" ("If looks could kill, they probably will") Too good to embed. Go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bz-qeJOo7cs 6) "I Don't Remember" ("What's gone is gone and I do not give a damn") 7) "In Your Eyes" ("The grand façade, so soon will burn") 8) "Mercy Street" ("Wait until darkness comes") 9) "Red Rain" ("I can't watch any more") 10) "Shaking The Tree" with Youssou N'dour ("You know you are nobodys slave") 11) "Shock the Monkey" ("Fox the fox, rat on the rat") 12) "Sledgehammer" ("This is the new stuff") 13) "Solsbury Hill" ("Had to Listen, had no choice") 14) "Steam" ("It's going to blow, it's going to break")

soupcan Aug 17 2007 09:15 AM

Coincidentally I have a mix tape that I made some years back and it was 'Biko' that made the cut.

Edgy DC Aug 17 2007 09:17 AM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Aug 17 2007 09:39 AM

Your vote, then is easy. Will the poll get more votes than options? There's the challenge. Tell your friends. Log on and vote!

metirish Aug 17 2007 09:21 AM

Right now I am leaning towards five songs on that list,I'll choose later tonight when I can give the list my full attention.....music and lyrics that meant something but also great melodies ,hard to beat really.

Vic Sage Aug 17 2007 09:28 AM

i love them all. I went with Biko, because of its epic nature.

Edgy DC Aug 17 2007 09:37 AM

metirish wrote: Right now I am leaning towards five songs on that list,I'll choose later tonight when I can give the list my full attention.....music and lyrics that meant something but also great melodies, hard to beat really. My New Jersey friend Claire had Irish parents who sent her back to Ireland every summer to live with her aunt and uncle. She said the 11-year-old summer of 1978 was always deeple etched in her mind, because "Solsbury Hill" hit number one, and despite every damn station playing it, nobody got sick it. Grandmothers would be rocking babies to sleep singing "Me heart going boom-boom-boom" and the babies would sing it right back at them. She came back to the US and nobody had heard of the song, and she resolved then and there that the US sucked.

TransMonk Aug 17 2007 10:45 AM

I went with "Shock the Monkey". I'm not a huge Peter Gabriel fan, but I respect all of his work. The video for "Monkey" really made an impact on me as a seven-year-old child. It's kind of freaky, but I couldn't take my eyes of it any time it came on. It was really the first music video I can ever remember seeing that was really groundbreaking and artistic...not just a live shot of a band on a sound stage or a kooky vignette of some lame pop song. "Monkey" is always the song that I'll associate with Gabriel.

Johnny Dickshot Aug 17 2007 10:57 AM

I agree with what Monk said. Voting for "Monkey," attracted by its awesome video, and also that, you know, he's OK, I guess. Whoever votes "In Your Eyes" gets a kick in the crotch.

Edgy DC Aug 17 2007 11:05 AM

Dickshot vs. Lloyd Dobler

Gwreck Aug 17 2007 11:06 AM

"In Your Eyes" is still a great song, before Cameron Crowe used it in his film, or it was played 10,000 times on the radio, or whatever. I voted "Red Rain," probably of my favorite Gabriel tunes, independent of the videos (and there are several great ones). Saw him in concert several years back. Great show, but a little sad in that nobody seemed to tip his promoters off that not releasing an album for 10 years can hurt your popularity. Think there were only 12,000 people in the Garden that night, and it was among the best-attended shows of the tour. To his credit, didn't stop him from putting on a fine performance.

metirish Aug 17 2007 11:06 AM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Aug 17 2007 11:17 AM

"Say Anything" wouldn't be a fave movie of your I'm guessing JD. I thought Ione Skye was hot....never knew much about her and her dio surprised me. Bio...sorry and I forgot to link it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ione_Skye

Edgy DC Aug 17 2007 11:15 AM

Her Dio?

metirish Aug 17 2007 08:03 PM

WOW,hadn't seen any of those videos in years.....voted for Biko...even hearing the song after all these years it's still powerfull.

seawolf17 Aug 17 2007 08:10 PM

I'm the lone "Games Without Frontiers" vote. Back in the college radio days, Peter Gabriel routinely came up as our "classic cut" in our hourly rotation. Everybody always chose one of the big hits, so I always went with "Games." Just dug the beat, the tune... enjoyable.

Johnny Dickshot Aug 17 2007 08:14 PM

'Games' wuz my close 2nd.

sharpie Aug 20 2007 08:45 AM

Lotta good songs there. I went "Biko" -- love the way the drums sound and the chorus voices, the whole thing. Usually don't like "issue songs" but this one sounds too cool.

Edgy DC Aug 20 2007 08:53 AM

Tiebreaker.

Willets Point Aug 20 2007 06:20 PM

Peter Gabriel is too good for one of these polls.

Edgy DC Aug 20 2007 07:24 PM

Maybe. I'm not sure what the standard is. I guess 13 or more easy choices is high.

Johnny Dickshot Aug 20 2007 08:40 PM

I have a solution in mind for the better bands ( 'Blue Album/Red Album'), but to me it's been more fun and challenging considering lesser band material. IMO Peter Gabriel's perfect for this challenge cuz he's a guy nobody ever forced me to consider before. I think if he gave his albums titles I'd have been more interested in him, especially at the beginning.