Jadaver

Four sets of 12 so far is such a pleasant surprise! Glad you enjoyed '...hospice' so much Herbs and Jupiter, thank you. <3

So it was Julian behind my favourite thank you for an amazing discovery! Cheers Whoddy for the points also.

Surprise, I had an emo entry up my sleeve even before 'emogate' with the thread title!! This didn't stand out in the field as much as I hoped but it scratched the My Chemical Romance itch in my brain while actual MCR have left us hanging for 4 years x Thank you dhwe and Jaz for the 12s 🤩 plus Cody and Severin for the additional points.

My contender prediction being on the money if the scoreboard was to freeze right now *.* Wonderful entry btw, Jim!

1980s TOP 10 RECAP #01 Visage - 'Fade to Grey' (1980) #02 Joy Division - 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' (1980) #03 New Order - 'Blue Monday' (1983) #04 Ultravox - 'Vienna' (1980) #05 The Jam - 'Going Underground' (1980) #06 Prince and the Revolution - 'When Doves Cry' (1984) #07 Frankie Goes To Hollywood - 'Two Tribes' (1984) #08 Pet Shop Boys - 'West End Girls' (1985) #09 The Primitives - 'Crash' (1988) #10 ABBA - 'Lay All Your Love On Me' (1980) Honourable mentions: 'Lullaby' by The Cure was the final song I cut which was particularly gutting as Disintegration is one of my favourite '80s albums, 'Where Is My Mind?' by Pixies also came very close, same with 'How Soon Is Now?' by The Smiths, would've loved to include some Adam and the Ants too as Kings of the Wild Frontier is another favourite album of the '80s, loads of other synth classics - especially 'Don't You Want Me' by The Human League and OMD's 'Enola Gay', Kim Wilde's 'Cambodia', Michael Jackson's 'Billie Jean' and 'Smooth Criminal', 'Ghost Town' by The Specials, 'Golden Brown' by The Stranglers, 'Cities In Dust' by Siouxsie and the Banshees, 'Here Comes the Rain Again' by Eurythmics, Mike Oldfield's 'Moonlight Shadow', the more obscure 'Cccan't You See' by Vicious Pink that I unleashed in the inaugural retro song contest on here, plus many many more including some artists who will instead turn up in the 1990s... Time for another short break so see you at the weekend for the nineties 🫶 please let me know what you thought of the 1980s countdown!

1980s #02 Joy Division - 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' (1980) #01 Visage - 'Fade to Grey' (1980) The 1980s portion of my countdown ends by going right back to the start, as both of my top 2 were released in 1980! I have an immense love for post-punk music, which hasn't been explored too much yet, but I'm making up for that now with an absolute classic in that field, 'Love Will Tear Us Apart'. This is Joy Division's finest moment for me although I do adore their Unknown Pleasures album from the late 1970s too. 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' was written about lead singer Ian Curtis' marital problems with wife Deborah Woodruff, as they were growing apart, while he also became interested in journalist and music producer Annik Honoré. Curtis also touches on his struggles with epilepsy in the third verse, commenting that "there's a taste in my mouth, as desperation takes hold". 23-year-old Curtis was grappling with these issues, in addition to worsening mood swings, depression and anxiety. It all became too much and he tragically took his own life, giving additional emotional weight to this song from the perspective of a man seriously bogged down by his mental health. The words 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' are inscribed on his grave. Curtis' haunting vocal performance, in addition to all of that context, makes this a pretty unique and gut wrenching experience. I cling on to every pained word. In addition to Curtis, the rest of the band - Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook and Stephen Morris, also add a lot to the experience with the instrumental. Hook provides a timeless bass riff, Morris' drums are relentless and Sumner contributes some atmospheric keyboard and guitar work too. The components all come together perfectly; I have only grown more fond over time. 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' had a profound effect on Roland Orzabal from Tears For Fears too, who was inspired to write more introspective, personal songs. This track was released as a standalone single one month after Curtis' suicide. The band managed to film a promotional video in the weeks before he was no longer with us. 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' peaked at #13 in the U.K. during 1980, although returned to the top 20 again in both 1983 and 1995, funnily enough reaching a high of #19 during both of those re-releases. Curtis' death spelled the end for Joy Division, who regrouped as New Order, but this band's legacy lives on - including on this very forum, where our anonymous Indie, Rock & Alt song contest goes by the name of Unknown Pleasures. 🖤 ... Coming out on top is a track that feels tailor-made for my taste in music! Visage join The Ronettes and Kraftwerk in the hall of fame as 'Fade to Grey' is my favourite song of the '80s. Incredibly, my top 4 is made up of groups that share members! I already explored the Joy Division and New Order story, but Ultravox and Visage also share Midge Ure and Billy Currie. There is also overlap between my '70s and '80s top 2s, as Tubeway Army member Chris Payne has a songwriting credit on 'Fade to Grey'! 'Fade to Grey' originally existed as an instrumental track. This was created by the aforementioned Billy Currie and Chris Payne during soundchecks on Gary Numan's 1979 tour. Numan was a huge Ultravox fan. Payne was the mastermind behind the bassline while Currie was responsible for the rest of the production. Midge Ure loved the music and was one track short of 10 for Visage's eponymous debut album, so asked Currie for this tune and subsequently wrote the lyrics for 'Fade to Grey', which completed the track list. This became the second single from Visage. Steve Strange, lead singer of Visage, was an important figure in the New Romantics movement due to his role as a host at the Blitz Club, with a 'weird and wonderful only' policy so strict that even Mick Jagger was once turned down by him. David Bowie was interested in the club and even invited Strange to be in the music video for the excellent 'Ashes to Ashes'. Strange is absolutely striking in the music video for this song, directed by Godley & Creme, as he appears wearing heavy, colourful make-up. He is also joined by friend Julia Fodor who mimes along to the female part in the song. Strange's vocals are pretty cold and deadpan as he takes on the role of an isolated man, whose life has gradually been drained of its vibrancy. The female, French vocals add a sophisticated contrast and are performed by Brigitte Arendt, then girlfriend of Rusty Egan, also a member of Visage and DJ from the Blitz Club days. These French vocals initially say "devenir gris" which translates to "turn grey". The more substantial female passages are merely the English verses translated into French. The production of the song also lured me in - with its icy, droning synths, keyboards and drums all creating a dark atmosphere. The synthesised strings are another melancholic layer but also double up as a more romantic feature, much like the French vocals. It all feels very mysterious, hypnotic and like the future. There's also quite an introverted appeal for me in addition to all of that synth and string glory. My one complaint is that this song is in dire need of a remaster on streaming platforms as it always sounds so quiet in my playlists! 'Fade to Grey' was Visage's biggest hit as it peaked at #8 in 1980. I've always loved this song but it was the #8s rate in the U.K. chart forum on here that recently reminded me how great it is, unsurprisingly receiving my top marks in that competition.

#70 on Spotify today!

Switching to Emma Bunton, her sophomore era was so much better for me

Hype! Will throw A Place To Bury Strangers into the ring as a contender

An act was eliminated from each category in round 1 during the first series but I think it was different last time due to the impostors twist

01 Damien Rice - 9 Crimes 02 Gary Numan - We Are Glass 03 Calvin Harris - Feel So Close (Radio Edit) 04 Lewis Capaldi - Hold Me While You Wait 05 Sam Smith - Diamonds 06 Roosevelt - Luna 07 Sam Fender - Chin Up 08 Darin - Lovekiller 09 Bladee - Cartier’god Icedancer (Intermission) 10 Tom Grennan - Found What I've Been Looking For 11 HRVY & Malú Trevejo - Hasta Luego 12 Mackenzy Mackay - Want You For Life '9 Crimes' was my favourite discovery across all three rounds, stunning! ❤️

A few oddities cropping up but I do admire that instrumentals could thrive to this extent! Shame about the Trump association these days but 'YMCA' is my favourite musically since I last commented.

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.

Well done for the 39 score in round 2 yesterday, Rollo! Jumping back in today: Round 1: 33 (didn't get: Squeeze members) Round 2: 33 (didn't get: Neil Sedaka) 3-in-10: 3 (Karma Chameleon, Church of the Poison Mind, The War Song)

01 Dido - White Flag 02 Kate Bush - Hounds Of Love 03 MARINA - Bubblegum Bitch 04 Zara Larsson - Love Me Land 05 Leona Lewis - Better in Time (Single Mix) 06 Robyn - Talk to Me 07 Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Music Gets the Best of Me 08 Adele - Hello 09 Agnes - Selfmade 10 Tove Lo - Influence (feat. Wiz Khalifa) 11 Milica Pavlović - Ona nosi Pradu 12 Jessie Ware - Sauna That top 3... 😍 a strong start from this category.

Attempted a top 25 as well: 01 Slayyyter - WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA 02 Mandy, Indiana - URGH 03 Olivia Rodrigo - you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love 04 TOMORA - COME CLOSER 05 Fcukers - Ö 06 Charli xcx - Music, Fashion, Film 07 Gorillaz - The Mountain 08 Phoebe Bridgers - Lost Weekend 09 Charli xcx - Wuthering Heights 10 hemlocke springs - the apple tree under the sea 11 Cannelle - CINNA 12 Kelela - New Avatar 13 Ariana Grande - petal 14 Overmono - Pure Devotion 15 CFCF - L.U.V. 16 Mitski - Nothing's About to Happen to Me 17 Eartheater - Heavenly Body: If I'm The Bottle You're The Message 18 Vioflesh - Melancolia 19 Grace Ives - Girlfriend 20 James Blake - Trying Times 21 Cobrah - Torn 22 deary - Birding 23 mary in the junkyard - Role Model Hermit 24 The Twilight Sad - It's The Long Goodbye 25 ADULT. - Kissing Luck Goodbye

Pleased to see 'hate that i made you love me' was certified Gold this week!

😮 oh wow! I think my non-'Vienna' favourites are 'Dancing With Tears In My Eyes' and 'The Thin Wall'. Intrigued to see how they do in the Pop Factor contest on here! I'm pleased that you also rate 'Vienna' and 'Blue Monday'! I agree 'Bizarre Love Triangle' is a discography highlight as well <3 jealous you've seen them live 🤩 Here's hoping it'll be a clean sweep of songs you like for this decade...! Love that we're in sync with those Jam and Prince favourites 💜 'True Faith' is brilliant so cannot knock that as anyone's New Order preference! 'The Winner Takes It All' is absolutely stunning ❤️ and 'It's A Sin' would be in my PSBs top 3 for sure. That must have one of the most striking intros ever! You're right, something clicked in my brain during that listen of 'Going Underground' on SyncTube, so forever grateful for that <3 I probably should've checked them out way sooner, especially considering their '60s influences as a group, but better late than never. Happy to hear both that and 'Blue Monday' would also make your own top 10! All shall be revealed soon... #mysteryandintrigue I need to refresh myself on your top 1000 songs thread but did remember 'Vienna' featuring in there! Great to see quite a few '80s acts in the Pop Factor this time. Thanks all for the comments <3 the 1980s concludes tonight!

Yeah not feeling Omar so far either! There's something off about Lynx for me too, thought him mentioning women in the context of "breeding" was a red flag, gives off a bit of a sleazy vibe Overall a promising cast though!

A heated argument over God being spelt as Dog backwards is the kind of petty drama I've missed on this show in recent years

Yay!! My first round of noms... 2016 Ariana Grande - Touch It Paradis - Toi Et Moi Tove Lo - True Disaster 2017 BROCKHAMPTON - JUNKY Lorde - Homemade Dynamite Vitalic - Waiting For The Stars (feat. David Shaw and The Beat)

This looks like a strong bunch! I particularly love the choices for Depeche Mode, Fontaines, iamamiwhoami and Ultravox.

Lewis Capaldi off to a good start as that is his best song by far for me! I also like the Calvin Harris, Gary Numan and Sam Smith picks

Love the choices for Dido, Kate, MARINA and Zara! Colour me surprised 'White Flag' was deployed this early too 😮 she's definitely not going anywhere at least.

1980s #04 Ultravox - 'Vienna' (1980) #03 New Order - 'Blue Monday' (1983) I recently mentioned Take That's Progress era in my commentary for the Pet Shop Boys and it is once again relevant to the countdown - as the melody from my #4 choice for the '80s, 'Vienna' by Ultravox, was interpolated on the track 'Eight Letters' from that album! 'Vienna' originally dates back to 1980, when it appeared on Ultravox's fourth studio album of the same name. It was released as the project's third single right at the start of 1981. Ultravox members Warren Cann and Billy Currie, the latter of whom was classically trained, wanted to create something that sounded like it had been written by a late 19th century romantic composer. Lead singer Midge Ure was initially hesitant about the overly classical, romantic feel of the song and uttered the now iconic line: "this means nothing to me". Producer Conny Plank responded with "well, sing that then". Ure soon pieced together the rest of the lyrics and this song became about a holiday romance, in a beautiful place. However, he immediately puts a dark spin on this tale when setting the scene in the first verse, where the air is cold and there is an empty silence. I enjoy the juxtaposition of romance in a stunning place with a detached sadness, capturing the fleeting nature of this relationship well. Midge Ure also nails the vocal performance, which effectively conveys a melancholic mood and builds towards a soaring chorus. The production of 'Vienna' is just as breathtaking as the vocals. It opens with the futuristic, chilling sound of drum machines and synths, matching the coldness of the air in the story. The instrumental soon evolves to include some beautiful piano playing, which lives up to the rest of the drama in the chorus. The peak of the instrumental has got to be the break that transitions into an epic final chorus. The tempo excitingly shifts and the faster synths merge with a viola solo, which captures the intended classical, romantic moodboard perfectly. The song concludes with Ure's fading memories of that whirlwind romance one last time, accompanied by piano and synths. That heightened, cinematic pay-off is always such a rush. Midge Ure claimed that the soundscape of 'Vienna' was inspired by The Walker Brothers' 1978 single 'The Electrician'. I've just reminded myself of that source material and feel those eerie synths would slot perfectly into the soundtrack of A Clockwork Orange. 'Vienna' had to settle for #2 in the U.K. for four weeks, as it was initially kept off the top by John Lennon's 'Woman', then Joe Dolce's 'Shaddap You Face' infamously blocked Ultravox for three weeks. Ure was offered the chance to meet Dulce but declined, as he said the conversation around the song had already been dominated by that chart battle for 40 years, so he didn't want to spend his remaining years now talking about the two meeting! 'Vienna' was voted Britain's favourite ever single to peak at #2 when a poll was conducted by BBC Radio 2 and the OCC back in 2012. ... I'm pretty sure I've said 'Blue Monday' is my favourite song of the '80s in the past so it may come as a shock that two songs have now leapfrogged it in my affections. But it's still a 10/10 for me nevertheless. I think 'True Faith' is slightly more well regarded on the forum and I do love that too, but am especially attracted to the sound of 'Blue Monday'. Joy Division members Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook and Stephen Morris regrouped as New Order in 1980, after lead singer Ian Curtis tragically took his own life. They also recruited Gillian Gilbert as a keyboardist and second guitarist, in addition to Sumner's lead guitar. Their earlier singles largely feel like a sonic continuation of Joy Division, with a post-punk sound. However, 'Blue Monday' would signal more of a shift towards the dancefloor. It's no wonder I'm so hot on 'Blue Monday' when two of its biggest inspirations are artists who appeared in my '70s top ten. Firstly, this song has more than just a passing resemblance to the production of 'Our Love' by Donna Summer, another late '70s track of hers that was clearly ahead of its time. In addition to this, my beloved Kraftwerk can also be pulled into the conversation, as 'Blue Monday' directly samples the choral vocals taken from their song 'Uranium'. 'Blue Monday' is another track that greatly appeals to me due to its duality. On one hand, this is quite a dark song, as Bernard Sumner delivers a haunting vocal performance while embodying a protagonist who is feeling pretty down and abused. My favourite line is: "I see the ship in the harbour, I can and shall obey" due to the 'shall obey' / 'shallow bay' double entendre. Away from the words, the track has this relentless dance-floor ready confidence to it. Sad banger alert! This song begins with a commanding, staccato drum machine intro. The iconic, driving synth melody of 'Blue Monday' is then heard and padded with further electronic layers. Peter Hook's atmospheric, spaghetti western style bass is also introduced within the first two minutes, in addition to the haunting choral Kraftwerk sample, before Sumner finally starts singing. The remainder of the lengthy duration continues to be a masterclass in rhythmic structure and feels like the future of electronic music at this point in time. A truly timeless record. 'Blue Monday' had its own reference points and has since become one itself, even in the pop girl world, as Kylie Minogue incorporated the track in a mash-up with her own 'Can't Get You Out Of My Head', billed 'Can't Get Blue Monday Out Of My Head', of course. Rihanna's 'Shut Up And Drive' also samples the song. 'Blue Monday' is the best-selling 12" single of all-time and peaked at #9 in the U.K. as part of a lengthy run. A remix of the song dubbed 'Blue Monday '88' would chart even higher, at #3. The less said about the song's shambolic Top of the Pops performance the better...