70s Cup Final Round Match 7 *Masked Man 16- PB 10*

[never/ever]

A

Ultravox! - The Wild The Beautiful & The Damned





B

Cat Stevens - Into White

[sloopjohnc]

A

[Dayodead]

Another easy A

[naughty boy]

fucking Christ's backside both of these are horrible

ABSTAIN

[C]

A good match.

I love Ultravox - with or without the exclamation mark and I adore John Foxx's voice (and solo records)

Nice violin from Billy Currie and a good axe solo from Stevie Shears

The Cat Stevens track is beautiful - real talent and a great voice.

A corker of a track from the Tillerman album - full of oooofness.

Sorry A but Cat really hit the spot on this sunny Sunday morning

-+B+-




.

[Darkness_Fish]

Hmm, I can see A winning this one, but I'm buggered if I'm accepting this as being as good a track as my pick of "Artificial Life" earlier in the cup. I mean, it's a decent track, I have a lot of time for Ultravox!, but you could imagine Teardrop Explodes doing this, it's a fairly straight-ahead pop rock song with a slightly annoying chorus. There's very little of the synthpop spirit, or post-punk invention about this.

I also have quite a bit of time for Cat Stevens, if I'm to have 70s pop icons rubbed in my face, I'd like them to have the intelligence, melody, and lyricism of Yusuf. Unfortunately, he's also forgotten to bring any of those aspects to this track, and instead it sounds like a nursery rhyme or Christmas carol, and it's delivered in a condescending infant school teacher style. It's awful.

A

[naughty boy]

delivered in a condescending infant school teacher style

Cat? NEVER

[Purgatory Brite]

B

[The Modernist]

DF is right that this is a far more mainstream sound than what we tend to associate with Ultravox mark one. Other than the slightly pretentious lyric, it's closer to the pub than the art school. Still I've always liked it - great fiddle and a rousing chorus. I can buy into its melodrama.

Never been keen on Cat Stevens and don't quite understand the esteem he's held in by some. He seems like the British John Denver to me, his records have this prim, orderly quality to them which I really don't like. This has a prettier, more sophisticated arrangement than you often get from him, but it still leaves me a bit cold.

A

[Polishgirl]

I like the counterpoint of the vocals in A's chorus, but otherwise not keen.

I have a major soft spot for Cat Stevens' voice-there's something so beguiling about it, and this is a beautiful song. Plus, of course, there aren't nearly enough lyrics that involve red legged chickens.

Easy over B

[Diamond Dog]

Fuckinng Ada... that Ultravox track sounds like it was written by a pre-pubescent school band... and the lyrics... horrible.

I don;t like B particularly but it has to win here.

[Loki]

I would like A a lot more if it was more guitar-driven and less fiddly.

And I love Tea for the Tillerman.

[kath]

i actually liked the gweetar *and* fiddly parts of A, especially in combination about midway through. the rest of it, though, the chorus, just kinda meh.

i get that cat isn't everyone's cup o' tea for the tillerman. i love it. a lil strange to pick one of those more subtle, quieter pieces built on the vibe of imagery, but that's the same reason i like it as a pick. i think it's a lovely track. track and album.

[Osgood]

I love Tea for the Tillerman since back in the day, and no matter how familiar it has become, I still can enjoy any track that pops up here or there, and this is one of its finest moments.
The Ultravox thing left me cold.

B

[trans-chigley express]

delivered in a condescending infant school teacher style.

Exactly, Cat Stevens always sounds like this to me.

Unfortunately A merely supports my belief that Midge Ure era Ultravox were better than Foxx era which leaves me with a tough choice as I'm not fussed about either of these but I'll go with Cat

B

[Belle Lettre]

A

[toomanyhatz]

A is just too twitchy. It'd be quirky and interesting at 2 minutes, at almost 6 it's just annoying.

I'm a better candidate for the likes of B than most of us here, of course; give me an acoustic guitar, English session players, and a slightly nasally voice and you can generally count me in, though I would prefer a bit more of the rhythmic quirkiness you sometimes get with Cat. In any case, "pleasant enough" does the job here...

[fange]

Sorry, i find it hard to choose one of these. I may come back later.

[The Modernist]

Not understanding why the Ultravox track is attracting so much negativity. Seems a little undeserved.

[Jumper K]

A.