CD 7 Results - Mick B's Summary

Here is a copy of Mick B's email, verbatim:

G'day Each,

All results are now in, so see the attachment.

Simon is the clear winner - sorry, no trophy - with Love Spreads (Stone Roses) which is fine as it's my top allocation.  The vote for this was unusually polarised, with four 12 pointers.  Katja (The Future Heads) was looking a cert for gold at the halfway mark, but did herself no favours by giving her 12 to Love Spreads, but nevertheless this is a remarkably successful debut with 3rd and 4th places. Chris 'Hurricane Love' Phillips is a solid silver with 8 scores averaging 7 points each.

Interestingly (or possibly not), these three also have the highest combined two-track scores, but this time Katja (98) handsomely leads Simon (85) and Chris (84).

Pete has most submitter hits with 8 correct, but if we eliminate local knowledge this drops to 6, level with Simon, leaving Neil on top with 7. Pete's innovative assignment strategy could mark a new era, with 4 guesses for Chris, 3 for Jasper, Neil and Simon, and 2, 1, or 0 for the rest of us.  Despite unspectacular scoring success, I had the consolation of topping the unpredictability chart as nobody tagged me for the Machine Head cover of The Police.

I had great difficulty in the points allocation stakes with such a variety of good stuff.  For example I found that wooden spooner Johnny Winter, who I'd never heard of, is seriously talented, but I only had 3 points left.  I guess these encounters are what it's about.

Enough of this - it's nearly on a par with election inquests.

If you want me to host another I'm very willing as I've got a stack of CD -Rs to clear.

We also need to arm-wrestle for theme selection (if we want to continue with the theme meme).

Some suggestions so far (excluding brown animals) are:

   Alphabet (two random letters assigned to each person, artists to start with these - this excludes the totally free choice option but is novel)

   Not a love song

   Steel (you can go off people, Neil!)

   Place names

And here's another.  Cerys Matthews (Saturday Guardian's Dr Crotchety), answering a question on suitable music for lakeside camping, says about water "It's precious stuff and has inspired countless songs - there's a theory that every album has a reference to it somewhere."  

Dialogue open,

Mick.

Co7ers - Who Chose What and Scores

CD Club #7 - Co7ers & faves				Awards
Track No.	Title	Artist	Chosen By
1	Baby I Don't Care	Tranvision Vamp	Jasper	21
2	Beacause the Night	Patti Smith	Howard	40
3	Dallas	Johnny Winter	Mick L	3
4	Dear Prudence	Siouxsie and the Banshees	Howard	19
5	Fake Plastic Trees	Show of Hands	Pete	29
6	Gagarin	Public Service Broadcasting	Neil	32
7	God Knows (You Gotta Give To Get)	El Perro del Mar	Ailish	10
8	Hallelujah	Rufus Wainright	Allan	29
9	Hounds of Love	The Future Heads	Katja	51
10	Love Spreads	The Stone Roses	Simon	65
11	Message In A Bottle	Machine Head	Mick B	27
12	Nowhere To Go	Hurricane Love	Chris	56
13	Our Lips Are Sealed	Fun Boy Three	Ailish	40
14	Pleasant Valley Sunday	The Wedding Present	Neil	36
15	Respect	Aretha Franklin	Jasper	11
16	Smooth Criminal	Alien Ant Farm	Allan	17
17	Statesboro Blues	Allman Brothers	Mick L	24
18	Strange Brew	Cream	Mick B	16
19	Swords of a Thousand Men	The Real McKenzies	Simon	20
20	Thank You For The Days	Luke Kelly	Pete	17
21	We Gotta Get Out Of This Place	Space	Chris	28
22	Your Ghost	Kristin Hersh	Katja	47

My Thoughts on the Co7ers Tracks

Well I know some of who put what on, but haven't yet seen a definitive list or the final scores, but I thought it might be a good time to share my thoughts on the tracks ...

1. Baby I Don't Care - I've always liked this and despite being familiar with it, gave it 2 points.

2. Because The Night - Good, but just the kind of track that I'd enjoy in the background

3. Dallas - Hmm, Blues, I find the whole genre very steady - I like the occasional song, but wouldn't want to listen to a whole load strung together. There is some great guitar playing, but in the end, no points from me.

4. Dear Prudence - I remember when this came out and all the weirdos in the arty 6th form common room tended to like Siouxsie - well I think prejudice made me dislike the track ... well luckily I got over that and came to like what I'd previously dismissed - 1 point from me - I now prefer this to the original which I used to enjoy playing and singing to myself.

5. Fake Plastic Trees - I'm going to have to say it - whilst this cover doesn't exactly pull any trees up or break new ground, I just love the song and I've tried to score things on how much I enjoy hearing them when they came on - this therefore scored 10 points from me!

6. Gagarin - This is a great track from a great album which Neil has talked about elsewhere 

The Other Side - 7 points in the end - maybe should have been more.
7. God Knows (You Gotta Give To Get) - Hmm my view on this seems to change depending on how I listen to it - through headphones I like it, through anything else it seems insubstantial. In the end, I didn't give it any points.
8. Hallelujah - Good song, and good version, but I'd still rather listen to Leonard Cohen sing it, and I find Rufus a bit too serious, not that I should let that influence me, but I have.
9. Hounds Of Love - Well, this is right up my street - love the original, but love that this is so different as to be another song entirely - 6 points.
10. Love Spreads - There's a whole story here ... I thought I had the supposedly disappointing second Stone Roses album, but I'd actually never heard this track before - love the track, love the guitar, love the Stone Roses - full 12 points from me and a mission to listen to the disappointing second album.
11. Message In A Bottle - I enjoyed listening to this, but not enough to give it any points.
12. Nowhere To Go - One of mine - see my previous post.
13. Our Lips Are Sealed - I wasn't really a fan at the time of Fun Boy Three, and that hasn't really changed.
14. Pleasant Valley Sunday - Like the original, and like this version too - I almost went for a Wedding Present cover myself - apparently they have done many. 5 points.
15. Respect - Probably like many, I knew this version before realising it was an Otis Redding cover. It's a great song and reminds of The Blues Brothers which is always a pleasant thing ... however, no points.
16. Smooth Criminal - I used to like this more than I do now. It's much better than the original, but I didn't like the original very much and let that shade my judgement - 0 points.
17. Statesboro Blues - More blues - much the same sentiment - 0 points.
18. Strange Brew - Here we go again - next (0 points by the way) [really sorry for being so dismissive and I do actually enjoy listening to these - but not as much as the others]
19. Swords Of A Thousand Men - Good version of a good song - not hugely different, but I don't mind that - 4 points
20. Thank You For The Days - Enjoyed listening - like the original a lot too which helps here - 3 points.
21. We Gotta Get Out Of This Place - One of mine, see my previous post.
22. Your Ghost - Yep - really like this - Michael Stipe again? Well at least we know it's not Katja, she wouldn't put him on twice in a row ... oh, hang on! 8 points

Co7ers - My Choices

OK, well I think all the votes are in now, although we haven't been issued the results, but I think that means that I am safe to talk openly about things without fear of giving anything away.

I'll probably end up doing a few posts, but the main purpose of this one is to talk about my choices, which were ... Hurricane Love and Space.



I can't really say a lot about Hurricane Love as this is the only track by them that I like. It pretty much typifies everything I like in a song - a strong driving rhythm, a few layers of sound, great melody and great harmonies. A bit of variation in the levels - i.e a quiet bit in the middle.

OK and now Space:



Again, I just think that this is a cracking song and I think that this is a cracking version of it. I know there are some amongst the club who think that this is sufficiently different from the original to make it worthwhile. I'm not sure I completely agree - it's definitely got their stamp on it, and I think to have varied the structure or the tempo would have made it worse.

I've just had another thought! Why the hell didn't I go for Goldbug - Whole Lotta Love? So many excellent covers. Oh well.



I'm looking forward to results day.

In The Run-Up To The Deadline ...

Well, I think there's about a week or so until the deadline for the votes to be submitted for the Co7ers CD, so I can't really say too much about it yet for fear of revealing my hand as it were. I can, however, post another track I considered for my cover version. Whilst we were having one of our First Thursday/CD Consortium Steering Committee sessions, in Woodseats, Neil suggested several criteria which would make a cover version worthy of his vote. I can't remember them all (which is ironic in light of the track I'm about to post), but I think points were scored for originality/unfamiliarity, for being sufficiently different to the original, and stamping the artist's identity on the song. Well this song qualifies for all of those, and in some regards, I wish I'd submitted it as it's a great song, and in my mind, an improvement over the original (which might not be that well know to people in the first place).

The song is I Can't Forget, and it's a Pixies cover of a Leonard Cohen song.



Here's the original:



I'm looking forward to the Big Reveal.
Bye for now,
Chris

Co7ers - Track Listing

Well, the wait is over, and CD 7 'Co7ers' is out. So, to recap, 11 contributors, 22 songs - looks a lot like two each, at least one of which has to be a cover.

1 Baby I Don't Care Tranvision Vamp
2 Beacause the Night Patti Smith
3 Dallas Johnny Winter
4 Dear Prudence Siouxsie and the Banshees
5 Fake Plastic Trees Show of Hands
6 Gagarin Public Service Broadcasting
7 God Knows (You Gotta Give To Get) El Perro del Mar
8 Hallelujah Rufus Wainright
9 Hounds of Love The Future Heads
10 Love Spreads The Stone Roses
11 Message In A Bottle Machine Head
12 Nowhere To Go Hurricane Love
13 Our Lips Are Sealed Fun Boy Three
14 Pleasant Valley Sunday The Wedding Present
15 Respect Aretha Franklin
16 Smooth Criminal Alien Ant Farm
17 Statesboro Blues Allman Brothers
18 Strange Brew Cream
19 Swords of a Thousand Men The Real McKenzies
20 Thank You For The Days Luke Kelly
21 We Gotta Get Out Of This Place Space
22 Your Ghost Kristin Hersh

It's a cracking CD as far as I'm concerned, so well done to all.

I will save any writing about the tracks until people have had a guess at who put what on - and it looks like we have quite a long time to deliberate as votes have to be in for Friday 24th April.