So here's what is happening there as you will see when we get to these shows. The Look is one of 4 songs rated by Joe in this region. The other 12 are rated by just me. So the 4 that Joe rated ended up with 4 of the top 5 seeds. So your 1 v 16, the 5 v 12 one, and two others, when he rates say, West End Girls, it skyrockets us the seeds. The other 12 have 65 from him, so they fall down the seeding. It's not his fault or anything, that's just how the math worked. 🤷🏼♂️ It did create some impossible choices!
A lot of great songs in here! (And also Final Countdown)
I will spend as much time bitching about the 1 vs 16 matchup in this one as I did the movie bracket. NO WAY is Just Like Heaven a 16 seed. These two songs should be facing each other in the regional semi or final at the earliest.
Good job, you guys! I had no doubt that INXS, The Cure and Pet Shop Boys would make it, but I wondered which song would you chose. The choices are impeccable. Starting the montage with "The final countown" was the best decision ever. I have many things to say about each song! And I don't think I would commit a crime, but I'd defintely throw some Charly García (and Virus, and Zas, and Los Abuelos de la Nada) if I had any input over the foreigners region 😄
Keith, I remember you singing "La cucacracha" in Boston, circa 1993! La cucaracha, la cucaracha, ya no puede caminar, porque le falta, porque no tiene, las dos patitas de atrás...
I can't wait to hear what you have to say about each song! And of course the Charly was a tip of the hat to your excellent Argentinian Pop playlist that was full of Ms. Garcia!
Was the show "Dallas" available/popular in Argentina, or are these references unfamiliar?
I am so late to this, and so far behind, but I am in fucking love with this bracket. (Although I truly believe that "Rock Me Amadeus" deserves the spot that went to "(I Just) Died in Your Arms" I love you both anyway and hate you for the votes I will have to cast.
Thanks, John! I don’t disagree with you, regarding Falco. We just really fucked him up because of when Rock Me came out. I think we tried to get it on side A but then somehow Der Kommissar got a spot…it’s all a blur now. And then I think it missed the line for ‘86 or something? I just know it’s one of our biggest misses of the whole thing. But anyway, the region is pretty solid overall, looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the voting process. I know that our next show is going to be impossible for me to decide, might be my first abstention. —K
First thing’s first: Roxette ALL THE WAY. Oh and also: Happy Thanksgiving!
The singer’s region is still my favorite, but this one’s really close. What’s wild for me is this: I know why I’m so familiar with The Cure, INXS, and Depeche Mode — those are musical hand-me-downs from a sister 10 years older than me who had good taste (my friends without older siblings wondered why I listened to emo music, before we called it “emo,” I think).
But song like The Promise, Wild Wild West, So Alive, and near-misses Don’t Wanna Fall in Love and Shattered Dreams — which I haven’t thought of in decades, probably — still hit me like a neon pink slap bracelet but I don’t have any particular experiences to anchor them to (I was too young for dances, wasn’t driving yet, etc). Maybe that’s not weird, or it’s a testimony to how very 80’s these songs are, but I’m surprised I can call these up and sing along to this day, though my biggest exposure must’ve just been listening to the radio. And damn, Steve Winwood WAS everywhere. Looking forward to these match ups!
Yeah, the closing bit was once again fantastic. (It is of course possible I love the last two because I'm name-checked, and I have a huge freaking ego)
So, I was going to talk about this in the next episode, but I'll go ahead and do this here:
My method for grabbing songs on both Side A and Side B was going through the Billboard Hot 100 for each year. Because of that, all the really great shit in this region was NOT on my radar. I was SHOCKED when Keith messaged me the breakdown of this region because so much of it are songs that I absolutely love. Just, they weren't in the Hot 100.
hahaha it's not taste, it's the algorithm you used, vs mine which was just pulling songs out of thin air, which is why I missed some like Toy Soldiers, Two of Hearts, etc., that I feel are better than some of the ones I listed! 😘
Finally finished listening to the whole thing so some thoughts on the song selection, and other things.
Just Like Heaven is spot on (despite its really really wrong seeding). I thought maybe you would go with Love Song as it was the higher chart topper in the US, I'm glad to see you ignore charts here and go with I think their most iconic single ever.
With INXS I think I would have gone with Need You Tonight from that record.
New Order, this one is tough. As a club kid, Bizarre Love Triangle is iconic. I have spent likely hundreds of hours dancing to that track. And with the line about getting down on knees it gave all of us overdramatic suburban teens a direction on the proper dance move during that part of the song. But.... True Faith I think really put them on the radar of mainstream, non-club-going kids. It was the first time they got into the American Top 40 (barely) and the video is pretty damn memorable and fairly iconic. (But you still should have had Blue Monday on side A)
I would have put both Higher Love and Rock Me Amadeus on here. Much better choices than your seeds 7 and 10.
Hey Keith, I own that Jane Child album! (on cassette no less) You could have squeezed it in there, the album came out 1989. She really didn't do much, it was almost like she played music as a hobby and not a career.
It would have been great to put something from Sinead's debut album in here. But I also know it's not very "80s" as she was so unique. And at the time it was a pretty small number of us listening to it.
Four things I think this bracket is missing - Depeche Mode, Siouxsie & The Banshees, Kate Bush, and the song "Crash" by The Primitives.
I started typing this comment to Deni, then got a phone call, and lost the comment before it posted, so let's try again! First off, to both of you, thanks for your continued listening! 😁
Alas, the Depeche songs I know (heavy radio play songs--I didn't have their albums) either came out before side B (Some Great Reward , 1984) or after side B. (Violator is from 1990). And yeah, they shoulda been on Side A, Deni, I agree!
I believe they had an album between those, but I don't know any of the songs from it. 😞
I definitely didn't know Siouxsie until the 90s. Also, not sure any of their songs were well-known enough by me to have listed them?
Exposé, Dead or Alive, Sade, and B52s were all on my initial list but didn't make it. Neneh Cherry and Soul II Soul, I remember, but hadn't listed as 80s enough for my top ranks.
And there's a comment reply to Deni that addresses the seeding issues in this region... but yeah a 16 feels low to me also. I think for this region, just throw out the seeds and vote with your heart! 😁
The two albums that would have been in the "side B" era are Black Celebration and Music For The Masses. Black Celebration is beloved by longtime Depeche Mode fans for it's bleakness. Great record to wallow in during your teen years and contemplate cutting your wrists. Good times. But there is probably nothing on there for this show.
To me, Music For The Masses is their masterpiece. I think it's better than Violator - and I LOVE Violator - and it was that tour when I saw them for the first time. I would have put Strangelove on here. They performed it at the MTV video awards (well, they lip synched it) and the 12" "Pain Mix" was especially popular at the dance club.
Masses really made them a much bigger band and they had a live album and documentary come out in '89. The live album had a single for an older song called Everything Counts. The documentary kind of sucked because in between live songs they were following around a group of fans who won a contest to get on a bus and follow their tour. So the doc was about their fans, and the ones they chose for it all turned out to be insufferable twats.
Shit, I also forgot to mention that Erasure is also missing. They finally had some mainstream success in '88 with A Little Respect.
The real question is, if you’d put in, say, “Personal Jesus” (released in 1989), would it suffer the same issue as Never Gonna Give You Up — because it was boosted by the late 90’s “Personal Jesus dance”?
Basically I dropped the ball by missing the window on "People Are People" on Side A, wanted to fix it on this side, then realized the only songs I knew were from 1990. Then I blew THAT fix by not noticing the album had an ultra-popular lead single in late '89. I just can't do this band justice!
But I really think I didn't know this song until the 90s, so it was probably more of a retroactive intended nomination than an authentic one for me anyway. I think we make up for this in the Legends bracket?
I wanted to add this song, but the album, Violator, I knew was 1990... are you saying this song was out before the album? I didn't even look it up because of the album coming too late. 😔
According to Wikipedia, it came out in August of 1989. I only looked it up because I was trying to think what Depeche Mode songs were most well-known and thought of the damn dance. 😄
I'm just sneaking into this conversation 😉 but with a sugestion... what about an "alternative / progressive" region in the legends season? DM, Kate Bush... would fit perfectly in there.
Happy thanksgiving, guys! Oh, and I have to congratulate Joe for his impeccable spanish accent while pronnouncing "Charly García"! I totally forgot to mention it while commenting the episode.
Best. Bracket. Yet. (And the show endings recently have been fan-f'ing-tastic!)
Thanks! Not sure the quality of these endings can be sustained, but what the hell, we can try!
I also think that 5 and 12 should be swapped. New Order has to be way more favored than Roxette.
So here's what is happening there as you will see when we get to these shows. The Look is one of 4 songs rated by Joe in this region. The other 12 are rated by just me. So the 4 that Joe rated ended up with 4 of the top 5 seeds. So your 1 v 16, the 5 v 12 one, and two others, when he rates say, West End Girls, it skyrockets us the seeds. The other 12 have 65 from him, so they fall down the seeding. It's not his fault or anything, that's just how the math worked. 🤷🏼♂️ It did create some impossible choices!
A lot of great songs in here! (And also Final Countdown)
I will spend as much time bitching about the 1 vs 16 matchup in this one as I did the movie bracket. NO WAY is Just Like Heaven a 16 seed. These two songs should be facing each other in the regional semi or final at the earliest.
😂 As annoying as Final Countdown is, I felt like it belonged for fitting the show criteria! (But I don't wanna spend much time listening to it!)
--K
Good job, you guys! I had no doubt that INXS, The Cure and Pet Shop Boys would make it, but I wondered which song would you chose. The choices are impeccable. Starting the montage with "The final countown" was the best decision ever. I have many things to say about each song! And I don't think I would commit a crime, but I'd defintely throw some Charly García (and Virus, and Zas, and Los Abuelos de la Nada) if I had any input over the foreigners region 😄
Keith, I remember you singing "La cucacracha" in Boston, circa 1993! La cucaracha, la cucaracha, ya no puede caminar, porque le falta, porque no tiene, las dos patitas de atrás...
You taught me those lyrics, so yes, that WAS an inside reference to that in 1993!!
I just realized that! Those were fun times and I'm glad we found a new way -thanks to you and Joe - to reconnect through music!
Thank you, Alejandro!! ♥️
I can't wait to hear what you have to say about each song! And of course the Charly was a tip of the hat to your excellent Argentinian Pop playlist that was full of Ms. Garcia!
Was the show "Dallas" available/popular in Argentina, or are these references unfamiliar?
--Keith
"Dallas" was a huge worldwide hit! That doesn´t mean it was a good show, though 😂 "Falcon Crest" and "Dynasty" were also pivital.
I am so late to this, and so far behind, but I am in fucking love with this bracket. (Although I truly believe that "Rock Me Amadeus" deserves the spot that went to "(I Just) Died in Your Arms" I love you both anyway and hate you for the votes I will have to cast.
Thanks, John! I don’t disagree with you, regarding Falco. We just really fucked him up because of when Rock Me came out. I think we tried to get it on side A but then somehow Der Kommissar got a spot…it’s all a blur now. And then I think it missed the line for ‘86 or something? I just know it’s one of our biggest misses of the whole thing. But anyway, the region is pretty solid overall, looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the voting process. I know that our next show is going to be impossible for me to decide, might be my first abstention. —K
Soooo many good songs! But, seriously, If You Don’t Know Me by Now is not there but Forever Young, a song I’ve never fucking heard of, is???
First thing’s first: Roxette ALL THE WAY. Oh and also: Happy Thanksgiving!
The singer’s region is still my favorite, but this one’s really close. What’s wild for me is this: I know why I’m so familiar with The Cure, INXS, and Depeche Mode — those are musical hand-me-downs from a sister 10 years older than me who had good taste (my friends without older siblings wondered why I listened to emo music, before we called it “emo,” I think).
But song like The Promise, Wild Wild West, So Alive, and near-misses Don’t Wanna Fall in Love and Shattered Dreams — which I haven’t thought of in decades, probably — still hit me like a neon pink slap bracelet but I don’t have any particular experiences to anchor them to (I was too young for dances, wasn’t driving yet, etc). Maybe that’s not weird, or it’s a testimony to how very 80’s these songs are, but I’m surprised I can call these up and sing along to this day, though my biggest exposure must’ve just been listening to the radio. And damn, Steve Winwood WAS everywhere. Looking forward to these match ups!
Also, my favorite foreign accent hack is “Beer can” in a British accent = “Bacon” in a Jamaican accent.
All I can say about this is: WOW 🤯
File under, "Things I Never Considered."
--K
Thanks for this experiential recounting of your story... can't wait to find out which ones you find more 80s and why! --Keith
Yeah, the closing bit was once again fantastic. (It is of course possible I love the last two because I'm name-checked, and I have a huge freaking ego)
Thank you!
You earned those name checks! 😁
So, I was going to talk about this in the next episode, but I'll go ahead and do this here:
My method for grabbing songs on both Side A and Side B was going through the Billboard Hot 100 for each year. Because of that, all the really great shit in this region was NOT on my radar. I was SHOCKED when Keith messaged me the breakdown of this region because so much of it are songs that I absolutely love. Just, they weren't in the Hot 100.
And, I probably have shittier taste.
hahaha it's not taste, it's the algorithm you used, vs mine which was just pulling songs out of thin air, which is why I missed some like Toy Soldiers, Two of Hearts, etc., that I feel are better than some of the ones I listed! 😘
Finally finished listening to the whole thing so some thoughts on the song selection, and other things.
Just Like Heaven is spot on (despite its really really wrong seeding). I thought maybe you would go with Love Song as it was the higher chart topper in the US, I'm glad to see you ignore charts here and go with I think their most iconic single ever.
With INXS I think I would have gone with Need You Tonight from that record.
New Order, this one is tough. As a club kid, Bizarre Love Triangle is iconic. I have spent likely hundreds of hours dancing to that track. And with the line about getting down on knees it gave all of us overdramatic suburban teens a direction on the proper dance move during that part of the song. But.... True Faith I think really put them on the radar of mainstream, non-club-going kids. It was the first time they got into the American Top 40 (barely) and the video is pretty damn memorable and fairly iconic. (But you still should have had Blue Monday on side A)
I would have put both Higher Love and Rock Me Amadeus on here. Much better choices than your seeds 7 and 10.
Hey Keith, I own that Jane Child album! (on cassette no less) You could have squeezed it in there, the album came out 1989. She really didn't do much, it was almost like she played music as a hobby and not a career.
It would have been great to put something from Sinead's debut album in here. But I also know it's not very "80s" as she was so unique. And at the time it was a pretty small number of us listening to it.
Four things I think this bracket is missing - Depeche Mode, Siouxsie & The Banshees, Kate Bush, and the song "Crash" by The Primitives.
I will absolutely defend "Heart and Soul."
Thanks, Dr. Janet!
Great song! But I personally feel like it sounds more like that early 90s sound?
I started typing this comment to Deni, then got a phone call, and lost the comment before it posted, so let's try again! First off, to both of you, thanks for your continued listening! 😁
Alas, the Depeche songs I know (heavy radio play songs--I didn't have their albums) either came out before side B (Some Great Reward , 1984) or after side B. (Violator is from 1990). And yeah, they shoulda been on Side A, Deni, I agree!
I believe they had an album between those, but I don't know any of the songs from it. 😞
I definitely didn't know Siouxsie until the 90s. Also, not sure any of their songs were well-known enough by me to have listed them?
Exposé, Dead or Alive, Sade, and B52s were all on my initial list but didn't make it. Neneh Cherry and Soul II Soul, I remember, but hadn't listed as 80s enough for my top ranks.
And there's a comment reply to Deni that addresses the seeding issues in this region... but yeah a 16 feels low to me also. I think for this region, just throw out the seeds and vote with your heart! 😁
Welcome back, Dr. Janet! Happy Thanksgiving!
--Keith
All right, time for some Depeche Mode schooling.
The two albums that would have been in the "side B" era are Black Celebration and Music For The Masses. Black Celebration is beloved by longtime Depeche Mode fans for it's bleakness. Great record to wallow in during your teen years and contemplate cutting your wrists. Good times. But there is probably nothing on there for this show.
To me, Music For The Masses is their masterpiece. I think it's better than Violator - and I LOVE Violator - and it was that tour when I saw them for the first time. I would have put Strangelove on here. They performed it at the MTV video awards (well, they lip synched it) and the 12" "Pain Mix" was especially popular at the dance club.
Masses really made them a much bigger band and they had a live album and documentary come out in '89. The live album had a single for an older song called Everything Counts. The documentary kind of sucked because in between live songs they were following around a group of fans who won a contest to get on a bus and follow their tour. So the doc was about their fans, and the ones they chose for it all turned out to be insufferable twats.
Shit, I also forgot to mention that Erasure is also missing. They finally had some mainstream success in '88 with A Little Respect.
this is awesome, man! i am not familiar with these albums, should give them a listen!
The real question is, if you’d put in, say, “Personal Jesus” (released in 1989), would it suffer the same issue as Never Gonna Give You Up — because it was boosted by the late 90’s “Personal Jesus dance”?
Basically I dropped the ball by missing the window on "People Are People" on Side A, wanted to fix it on this side, then realized the only songs I knew were from 1990. Then I blew THAT fix by not noticing the album had an ultra-popular lead single in late '89. I just can't do this band justice!
But I really think I didn't know this song until the 90s, so it was probably more of a retroactive intended nomination than an authentic one for me anyway. I think we make up for this in the Legends bracket?
I wanted to add this song, but the album, Violator, I knew was 1990... are you saying this song was out before the album? I didn't even look it up because of the album coming too late. 😔
Well, dang.
According to Wikipedia, it came out in August of 1989. I only looked it up because I was trying to think what Depeche Mode songs were most well-known and thought of the damn dance. 😄
I'm just sneaking into this conversation 😉 but with a sugestion... what about an "alternative / progressive" region in the legends season? DM, Kate Bush... would fit perfectly in there.
Happy thanksgiving, guys! Oh, and I have to congratulate Joe for his impeccable spanish accent while pronnouncing "Charly García"! I totally forgot to mention it while commenting the episode.
An excellent idea, Alejandro!! I will pass your compliments on to Joe!