Colm

Our flag loses very important detail when shrunk down. :(

The Imperial Ensign for the People of Spod [Ceremonially referred to as The Spodic Empire]

Strongest semi since I joined the contest. Scotland 2 to dark horse it.

The most senior textile laureate in the Spodic Empire has been tasked to design a ensign that represents all peoples in the Empire.

1 Mike Oldfield - Moonlight Shadow 2 Eurythmics - Here Comes the Rain Again 3 Bronski Beat - Smalltown Boy 4 Lionel Richie - Hello (a poor selection - no standouts) 5 Harold Faltermeyer - Axel F 6 Kate Bush - Running Up That Hill 7 The Housemartins - Happy Hour 8 Peter Gabriel & Kate Bush - Don't Give Up 9 Steve Silk Hurley - Jack Your Body (a poor selection - no standouts) 10 Pet Shop Boys - Rent 11 Krush - House Arrest 12 Morrissey - Everyday Is Like Sunday 13 Womack and Womack - Teardrops 14 Neneh Cherry - Buffalo Stance 15 Neneh Cherry - Manchild 16 Richard Marx - Right Here Waiting 17 Depeche Mode - Enjoy the Silence 18 The La's - There She Goes 19 Queen - Innuendo 20 U2 - The Fly 21 Shakespears Sister - Stay 22 Crowded House - Four Seasons in One Day 23 Jon Secada - Just Another Day 24 Annie Lennox - Love Song for a Vampire 25 New Order - Regret 26 Crowded House - Distant Sun 27 Smashing Pumpkins - Disarm 28 The Prodigy - No Good (Start the Dance) 29 Erasure - I Love Saturday 30 N-Trance - Set You Free 31 Portishead - Sour Times 32 McAlmont and Butler - Yes 33 Radiohead - Street Spirit (Fade Out) 34 George Michael - Jesus to a Child 35 Suede - Beautiful Ones 36 Monaco - What Do You Want From Me? 37 Texas - Halo 38 The Verve - The Drugs Don't Work 39 Cornershop - Brimful of Asha (Norman Cook Remix) 40 Embrace - Come Back to What You Know 41 Robbie Williams - No Regrets 42 Cher - Believe (a poor selection - no standouts) 43 The Chemical Brothers - Hey Boy Hey Girl 44 Melanie C - Northern Star

I have a lot of re-listening to do from Now 31 onwards.

I take your point about songs not being on Spotify.

If there's a need to reduce the number of songs that we need to include in any rate, they can be reduced to the 5/10/20 with the most streams.

And you managed to exclude Monaco and Mansun.:o

I was thinking this too. I was going to list my top 3 of each.

She or her record company didn't authorise inclusion. - sorry, I missed PCF's reply

46 - Simple Minds - Don't You (Forget About Me) CdqoNKCCt7A 65th best seller of 1984 Chart Run 22-8-7-8-10-13-23-32-38-46-69-72.......73-67-66-71-64-69-61-74............72.......74-62-68 Simple Minds hit big, internationally, with this song which had been written by Steve Schiff and Keith Forsey while they were scoring the film The Breakfast Club. The song had been offered to several other major singers and bands (among whom, reportedly, were Bryan Ferry and Billy Idol). Simple Minds weren't immediately enthusiastic about recording a song written by someone else but decided to do it having been convinced that it would break them in the US. It did. Hitting number 1 there and in Canada along with Top 5 in Austria, Belgium, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Germany. Back home it fared less well but it would become a trickle seller over the following 2 years. After its initial run of 11 weeks in the UK top 100, it re-entered the chart 11 more times over the following 18 months accruing 54 more weeks between positions 62 and 100. The band would continue to be chart regulars until 1998 with some minor hits in 2002 and 2005.

48 - The Pointer Sisters - Jump (For My Love) uyTVyCp7xrw 65th best seller of 1984 Chart Run 24-6-6-7-9-11-23-24-40-52 Second appearance for the Pointer Sisters with the energetic Jump (For My Love). They were following up their biggest hit, Automatic, which had reached number 2 earlier in the year. The Sisters were more versatile than the other trios coming out of the disco era. They ventured into bebop, blues, soul, funk, and even country - winning the Best Country Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group Grammy in for their song Fairytale in 1975. Jump (For My Love) and Automatic also earned them Grammys for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, and Best Vocal Arrangement for Two or More Voices, respectively. They continued to release singles into the 90s but didn't have a hit after 1985 in the UK. We're all familiar with blistering electro-pop remake by Girls Aloud, which is probably the only cover the Girls did that really suited them.

49 - Adrian Gurvitz - Classic FBlLyLrQH7k 66th best seller of 1982 Chart Run 65-73-50-50-22-18-12-10-8-12-21-41-66 Fairly sleepy ballad and only top 40 hit for Adrian Gurvitz. Gurvitz had found fame as an on-off member of The Graeme Edge Band in he 70s - Graeme Edge being the drummer with the Moody Blues. Backing vocals on this sound suspiciously like Robert Palmer.

Absolutely. I do have less world music than would normally be on a moods album.

I've updated the compilation thread with my Pure Moods

Disc 1 https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5cCLuGubN...a1b430efad948bd Disc 2 https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6O7LfY3mx...aa2992707204cde From a discussion in the Number 2s thread.

An overlap of 8 and a further 6 artists overlapped. I also had a handful of the others shortlisted. I

As there was so much discussion about Pure Moods during the listen through I thought I'd create my own version - some of the Pure Moods classics are included along with many more similar pieces. Tracklist and Spotify Playlist coming this week! Artwork is my own.

Easily her best this century but a tad too long. Her voice really became a lot smoother around this time. The closing part of Virginia is one of the most beautiful things she's ever done.

Is there a table of most vetoes kept? :kink:

It was a day to remember. We had to meet for the sound check with Tom (Conchita) in the afternoon. He was so kind. Not in the least bit Diva-ish. He just wanted us to enjoy it.

The LGBT choir I sing with were invited to perform backing vocals for a surprise performance of Rise Like A Phoenix when Conchita performed at Dublin's oldest gay bar The George this year. I still find it difficult to believe that I got to sing my absolute favourite Eurovision performance ever with Conchita herself. The sound is terrible because it was recorded on a phone. We come down the stairs half way through. NRBQ4SqOGqk

:lol:

:o That's possibly the most controversial thing I've ever seen you say!