70s KnockOut Cup- SS 5 *DRAW*

[never/ever]

A

Stevie Wonder - Living For The City





B

Aphrodite's Child - Babylon

[The Modernist]

There was something pleasingly eccentric about B and the way it threw together so many different things (trumpet fanfare! Random crowd noises! Hendrix twiddly solo!) and the tune itself rattled away in a very diverting manner. I like it a lot more than "Four Horseman.." which is the one that's usually picked.
The Stevie number is rightfully a classic of course. But playing it just now, I didn't get into it as much as I normally do, I even found myself vaguely bored by its repetitive nature. It's still great of course, but I'm giving this to B for giving me such a fresh listen.

B

[sloopjohnc]

A

I thought about choosing this one too.

[GoogaMooga]

B is tremendous and a reminder that I need the album, but A is among Stevie's most exciting productions, right up there with Sir Duke.

[Diamond Dog]

Novelty or genius?

A ffs.

[C]

AC ROCKS!!

SW doesn't but is very robust and seminal. A very very very safe choice which is a negative

-+B+-






.

[Purgatory Brite]

B

[Neige]

A is fucking amazing.

[naughty boy]

What I've heard by Aphrodite's Child was fine - atmospheric, a little odd, nicely dated. But THAT one! ooo-eee! what a dud! a great example of how clueless they are 'on the continent' when it comes to rock music

A is, of course, a beaut

[Darkness_Fish]

Is this the first bit of Stevie Wonder we've had in this cup? That seems quite staggering given this boards' general taste, and the fact he strides across the early 70s like a cultural colossus. Even I own this album. I don't listen to it often, mind. It does seem a ridiculously safe choice of track, but it's ridiculous that Stevie hasn't been much more prevalent in the 70s cups. That widdly synth break annoys me a tad, but it has to be said that the song is a pretty strong effort for this kinda thing. I'd forgotten about the amateur dramatics in the middle, too, reminds me of The Wu Tang's shit skits.

B was nothing like I expected. I guess I don't really know what I expected from Aphrodite's Child, I'm only really familiar with Demis Roussos, so I expected something much more cheese-infested. This comes across as a livelier effort by The Who, with less of the bluster. This properly canters out the blocks, the trumpet touch is a proper joy, and it gets out of the way long before it becomes boring. I thought that was a bit of a delight, to be fair, a big bag of fun. Loved it, well played with a riskier choice, B.

B

[toomanyhatz]

I love A - and points for picking the album version, though that might be happenstance more than anything else - but of all the Wonderful (heh) tracks of his, why the one I heard for the thousandth time when I was 11?

B qualifies as prog, I guess, but it's the farthest thing from stodgy. I wish all prog epics were this playful and spirited, as well as all over the place musically. Now I want to explore the record, which I've never knowingly heard.

[kath]

B was so very enjoyable. a groovy pick. you would think with my general proclivities, i would bend that way.

but no. i am a fanatic for this stevie track. circa 1.5 seconds into it, i am sucked in for good. i love it. love it like a freakazoa. it makes my muscular-skeletal system move all of its own accord. so there's that.

[Count Machuki]

A

This track just came up in conversation last week I've never heard anybody speak of Aphrodite's Child in real life.

[trans-chigley express]

A is fantastic but as safe as they come. B is a little cracker with a irresistible rolling rhythm and random blasts of trumpet.

It's a bit of a David vs Goliath fixture but I'm siding with the underdog.

B

[Osgood]

I like a lot of Stevie's 70s stuff, but this is not particularly amongst my favourites. I could go for the single version but the second part of the album track gets a bit unpleasant

I have heard a couple of times 666 and I recall my impression that there were some nice pieces, a lot of fillers and a few rather annoying. B falls into the first cathegory and unexpectedly gets my vote.

B

[Loki]

I prefer A here.

[Dayodead]

marginal vote for A, though it could have done without the middle section...

[Rayge]

a - well, everyone* already knows what I think of 'Big" Stevie and his 1970s' stoner/Bea*les stye, so I'm just going to give B a quick listen to see if I can do the CoDs a favour by not getting their prostates in a twirl with more of my, ahem, trenchant analysis (pass the smelling salts, Alice, me vapours are back) ...Oh, we have a winner, no need to listen to this. I have heard it before. No mark
b - All I knew of this band was Demis, and all I know of him is caftans and very high voices (wasn't Vangelis in it too?). Oh fuck, there are trumpets, but on the brighter side, lots of other things too, and they're taking their cues from ’60s Brit psychedelia and general gung-hoery rather than Abigail's Party swooning. And all over in single's length, too. A palatable mess. Could have done without the audience, though, -1 for that, leaving 4 / 10,

B


* everyone who has ever read a 'soul' thread, anyway

[Penk!]

A encapsulates Stevie Wonder in the '70s very well: moments of genius, moments of inexplicable naffness. That synth sound should not be in that song.

B is nutty, and is also a mixture of the fun and the foolhardy, but for being fresher and more fun...

B

[Polishgirl]

Well; it probably does have to be

A