80s Cup 2015 GRAND FINAL Match 4 *FINAL*

[never/ever]

A

Laura Branigan - Self Control


B

Rites of Spring - For Want Of

[The Modernist]

There's nothing 'guilty pleasure' about A for me, it's just an immaculately constructed pop record. An Italian disco track given a widescreen Hollywood production. It's like some great smorgasbord full of great different hooky bits that all act as their own chorus. B wasn't my thing at all.

A

[Georgios]

I feared the worst from B but it turned out to be a perfectly acceptable - though far from spectacular - pick. Not that it stands a chance against Self Control here you understand. There's no fucking with that track.

A

[Fonz]

Yeah. A is Eighties through and through. She's dead now.

A

[naughty boy]

A isn't terrible.

[Penk!]

I'm surprising myself here by going with my teenage rocker instinct and voting B. I like A but it's something of a curate's egg whereas B has a fire and fizz that was normally sorely missing as the Americans dragged punk on and on and on.

[Polishgirl]

I know it's a good pop song, but I think I listened too much to A at the time; now, it just leaves me feeling cold, jaded and a little bit dirty.

Hadn't heard it before, it's got shouting and noisy guitars, so I'm going

B

[Polishgirl]

Phil's also going

B

[Purgatory Brite]

A

[C]

A is not really my cup of Darjeeling - sorry

However, B was awesomely robust and hit the spot nicely!!

B





.

[Samoan]

I don't love A but it really does epitomise the Eighties.

A

[trans-chigley express]

Dislike both.

A for having a tune at least.

[fange]

The LB is just a bit too slick for me - there's a decent pop song in there, but it's buried too far under the candy floss 80s production and her vocals. Never heard B before, and while i don't love it it's got enough energy to win this one.


B

[Loki]

Easy

[martha]

Bleurgh. What the fuck. Pass.

[toomanyhatz]

A is the living, breathing example of everything I hate about the 80s. Technically impressive state-of-the-art production masking the fact that there's absolutely no inspiration to be found anywhere.

Short of actually causing me or someone I love some sort of physical pain, there's not really anything B can possibly do to lose this. And believe me, it doesn't do much.

[funky_nomad]

Surprising myself with a vote for A

[whodathunkit]

Double yuk.

Abstain

[Darkness_Fish]

"A" is absolutely wretched, the worst kind of big-screen plastic-pap power ballad. B is interesting in the way that it has someone sounding rather furious about how lightweight the guitar riff sounds. Which I kinda like.

B

[never/ever]

The original by Italian singer Raf was an Italo-classic before it got hijacked by Branigan. Good Harold Faltermeijer-arrangement though to keep it memorable.
Rites Of Spring was early Fugazi, wasn't it? It sounds remarkably English, with its melodic guitar passage sounding like Big Country. Good stuff!


B