3 minutes ago, Mangø said:

I know Texas aren't thought of too highly but honestly they've got some absolute bangers and this is one of them! They also have a certain other song which would get maximum points from me no matter what it went up against

The temptation to quote Ella Langley again

What a start by the Vengaboys! Brilliant song!

It’s the only one I’ve heard from this list too, so I’m looking forward to discovering the rest.

1. M83 feat. Susanne Sundfør - Oblivion

2. iamamiwhoami - play

3. Years & Years - Take Shelter

4. Ultravox - Sleepwalk

5. Fontaines D.C. - A Lucid Dream

6. New Order - Ruined in a Day

7. Dead or Alive - Misty Circles

8. Sade - The Sweetest Taboo

9. Bananarama - Na Na Hey Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye)

10. Depeche Mode - See You

11. Texas - When We Are Together

12. Vengaboys - We Like to Party! (The Vengabus)

not the sender going all in already with oblivion ijbol x it's a dece group!

01 = Years & Years - Take Shelter (Fave)

02 = Ultravox - Sleepwalk

03 = Depeche Mode - See You

04 = Vengaboys - We Like to Party! (The Vengabus)

05 = Texas - When We Are Together

06 = New Order - Ruined in a Day

07 = M83 feat. Susanne Sundfør - Oblivion

08 = iamamiwhoami - play

09 = Dead or Alive - Misty Circles

10 = Bananarama - Na Na Hey Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye)

11 = Fontaines D.C. - A Lucid Dream

12 = Sade - The Sweetest Taboo

Take Shelter was probably always going to take my top spot as the whole Communion album is great, some good finds with those Ultravox/ Depeche Mode tracks. Vengaboys and Texas are some solid picks too. Some of the rest aren't my faves; Sade have some good songs, but the track felt a bit long/ like it didn't go anywhere, so didn't stand out amongst the others..

"See You" one of the greatest DeMo songs for me. At 2 the Vengabus Party followed by a great smooth soul classic and two great Synth-Pop songs. Also beyond that many good songs.

Depeche Mode - See You (fave)

Vengaboys - We Like to Party! (The Vengabus)

Sade - The Sweetest Taboo

New Order - Ruined in a Day

Ultravox - Sleepwalk

M83 feat. Susanne Sundfør - Oblivion

Years & Years - Take Shelter

Texas - When We Are Together

Fontaines D.C. - A Lucid Dream

iamamiwhoami - play

Dead or Alive - Misty Circles

Bananarama - Na Na Hey Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye) (least fave)

Hoping some of these songs will be growers - a lot of new stuff for me to get stuck into :)

1. Texas - When We Are Together

2. Vengaboys - We Like To Party

3. Years and Years - Take Shelter

4. Sade - The Sweetest Taboo

5. M83 - Oblivion

6. iamamiwhoami - Play

7. Dead Or Alive - Misty Circles

8. Uktravox - Sleepwalk

9. Fontaines - A Lucid Dream

10. New Order - Ruined In A Day

11. Depeche Mode - See You

12. Bananarama - Na Na Hey Hey

I think I only like 4 songs here, I’m gonna get a gooood 80s education in the next few months!

01 Fontaines D.C. - A Lucid Dream

02 Depeche Mode - See You

03 iamamiwhoami - play

04 New Order - Ruined in a Day

05 Ultravox - Sleepwalk

06 M83 - Oblivion (feat. Susanne Sundfør)

07 Bananarama - Na Na Hey Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye)

08 Vengaboys - We Like to Party! (The Vengabus)

09 Texas - When We Are Together

10 Sade - The Sweetest Taboo

11 Years & Years - Take Shelter

12 Dead or Alive - Misty Circles

AND YOU'RE PROWLING THE TRACK LIKE A CAT ON THE BACK OF A CHAAAAAIR 🎸

I wasn't sure what was going to top this group for me but 'A Lucid Dream' was sounding particularly electric today!

That top 5 is so good - living for how much dark, '80s synth music is in this edition.

Apologies to those towards the bottom as I didn't dislike anything in this group.

1. Vengaboys - We Like to Party! (The Vengabus)

2. iamamiwhoami - play

3. M83 feat. Susanne Sundfør - Oblivion

4. Ultravox - Sleepwalk

5. Depeche Mode - See You

6. Fontaines D.C. - A Lucid Dream

7. Sade - The Sweetest Taboo

8. New Order - Ruined in a Day

9. Years & Years - Take Shelter

10. Bananarama - Na Na Hey Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye)

11. Texas - When We Are Together

12. Dead or Alive - Misty Circles

1. Vengaboys - We Like to Party! (The Vengabus) (genius song - starting off with one of their two undisputable all-time classics is a big move but it will see them through)

2. iamamiwhoami - play (legendary BJSC entry! Not listened to this in ages but it's still great and should have won)

3. Texas - When We Are Together (I've always had a soft spot for Texas/Sharleen Spiteri and this is effortlessly joyful and brings back happy memories)

4. Bananarama - Na Na Hey Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye) (one of their early classic singles – I've always loved their schitck of singing every word together in tandem, it gave a very distinctive sound)

5. Sade - The Sweetest Taboo (a very nice song from a class act, I'm probably more familiar with the Glamma Kid cover but this is superior)

6. New Order - Ruined in a Day (one of many excellent songs from New Order)

7. Ultravox - Sleepwalk (nice discovery, good melody and production on this)

8. Depeche Mode - See You (a strong start from another quality 80s act)

9. Fontaines D.C. - A Lucid Dream (I do have a handful of songs I love by them which I hope are used, this isn't one of them but is decent)

10. Years & Years - Take Shelter (good start from Years & Years, looking forward to see what is on offer from them)

11. M83 feat. Susanne Sundfør - Oblivion (unfortunately this never clicked with me and I didn't vote for it when it won BJSC - on paper an amazing soundscape so I'm not sure why that is)

12. Dead or Alive - Misty Circles (I couldn't get into this I'm afraid)

01 Texas - When We Are Together I've always been a sucker for this kind of Motown-influenced pop and this is up there with the best! There's lots more I'm looking forward to from Texas too.

02 Depeche Mode - See You Easily one of their best 80s singles, looking forward to more from them.

03 Bananarama - Na Na Hey Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye) They've always been one of my absolute favourite girl groups and while this isn't quite in their top 5 for me, it's certainly up there!

04 Vengaboys - We Like to Party! (The Vengabus) So cheesy but the good kind.

05 Sade - The Sweetest Taboo A very soulful classic.

06 Years & Years - Take Shelter This is not bad but they/he have a lot better!

07 Ultravox - Sleepwalk This was new to me, quite catchy.

08 New Order - Ruined in a Day I love a lot of New Order songs but sadly this is not one of them.

09 M83 feat. Susanne Sundfør - Oblivion Not doing much for me sadly.

10 iamamiwhoami - play Not my cup of tea.

11 Fontaines D.C. - A Lucid Dream I like some stuff by them but not this one!

12 Dead or Alive - Misty Circles Really could not get into this one.

Let's do the groups first then...

01 iamamiwhoami - play (best) - I've been listening to yammywhammy quite a lot over the past month and Play still stands up as being one of her best (although still better to come imo so hoping that they get through a few rounds at least)

02 Vengaboys - We Like to Party! (The Vengabus) - haha, the catchiness and fun levels are just difficult to deny! I bought this back when it was out and genuinely really enjoyed listening to it again, great example of 90s europop/dance done really well.

03 Bananarama - Na Na Hey Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye) - I was a bit meh when I saw this in the line up but then ended up enjoying it way more than I expected, the chanting chorus is actually one of their most distinctive and I'd forgotten how good it is.

04 M83 feat. Susanne Sundfør - Oblivion - I love most things with Susanne's vocals on them and this is no different. Very solid choice.

05 Sade - The Sweetest Taboo - I'm looking forward to hopefully getting to hear more from Sade as I don't know them well at all aside from their two main hits. This was a nice vibe and I liked the chilled nature of it... they're often cited as a band that influenced trip hop acts so I'm really intrigued by them.

06 New Order - Ruined in a Day - I bought this back when it came out but it wasn't as strong as I remember it being. The production was quite dated and not one of the songs I return to often from the Republic album (I prefer the likes of Regret (obvs), Spooky (totally underrated) and Young Offender.

07 Fontaines D.C. - A Lucid Dream - A decent starter for them, it's not one that I'm particularly familiar with as I kinda skimmed past them before Romance.

08 Ultravox - Sleepwalk - Another decent starter. I don't know that much Ultravox outside of the Vienna album if I'm honest and thought this had potential to grow.

09 Depeche Mode - See You - This absolutely pains me as I love Depeche Mode and many of their songs will rank highly for me... but this one just isn't a favourite of mine, I'm much more into their darker sounding material. It's not bad though.

10 Years & Years - Take Shelter - This actually reached #1 on my personal chart back when I compiled them so I was really looking forward to hearing it again - but it really didn't do much for me now. Hopefully they will progress through fine though as I know I still like a lot of their other singles.

11 Texas - When We Are Together - I think I bought this single when it was released but I don't recall playing it very often. I wouldn't turn it off if it came on the radio but it's not something I'd go back to again these days really.

12 Dead or Alive - Misty Circles - I'm really sorry to whoever has sent this because I genuinely do admire you for choosing a less obvious act and I went into it hoping that I'd like it... but if I'm honest it didn't do much for me at all, quite of its time and could have been more distinctive.

Fave

Vengaboys - We Like to Party! (The Vengabus)

Sade - The Sweetest Taboo

Texas - When We Are Together

Bananarama - Na Na Hey Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye)

iamamiwhoami - play

Depeche Mode - See You

Years & Years - Take Shelter

New Order - Ruined in a Day

Ultravox - Sleepwalk

M83 feat. Susanne Sundfør - Oblivion

Dead or Alive - Misty Circles

Fontaines D.C. - A Lucid Dream

Least Fave

1. Vengaboys – We Like to Party! (The Vengabus)

2. Texas – When We Are Together

3. Ultravox – Sleepwalk

4. New Order – Ruined in a Day

5. Sade – The Sweetest Taboo

6. Fontaines D.C. – A Lucid Dream

7. Bananarama – Na Na Hey Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye)

8. Depeche Mode – See You

9. Years & Years – Take Shelter

10. iamamiwhoami – play

11. Dead or Alive – Misty Circles

12. M83 feat. Susanne Sundfør – Oblivion

Vengaboys are smashing this round!! Early favourites to win?

Edited September 16Sep 16 by Mangø

1 minute ago, Mangø said:

Vengaboys are smashing this round!! Early favourites to win?

Would love them to do well but the person behind them needs to be clever - they don’t have as many big hitters as other acts

Just now, Herbs said:

Would love them to do well but the person behind them needs to be clever - they don’t have as many big hitters as other acts

Yeah, true - they've got 7 top 10 hits but they're likely the only ones that people will know, so the other ones need to be good choices and played at the right time!

1 minute ago, Mangø said:

Yeah, true - they've got 7 top 10 hits but they're likely the only ones that people will know, so the other ones need to be good choices and played at the right time!

Someone mentioned their ballad before (which I adooooooore), but even that could be a risky move.

Interesting though that the groups and solo men seems more accessible for risky choices vs the female solo category who will be eliminated with one minor mis-step!

35 minutes ago, Herbs said:

Someone mentioned their ballad before (which I adooooooore), but even that could be a risky move.

Their ballad was really drab!

Rocket to Uranus to slay