Suddenly It's Tuesday

  Still not too much controversy last week . Surprisingly - to me, anyway - the biggest outcry was around 'Mars Sparkles Down On Me' being too low (although a couple of people also suggested it was too high). A few people have asked about the process I used to arrive at the rankings. Before I explain, I should reiterate what I said in the introductory  post , i.e. that I recognise the superficial and subjective nature of the task, but hopefully it's a bit of fun for TWP fans to engage with and also something that promotes the band's work.  Several months ago, I set about compiling a definitive list of TWP songs, using the knowledge of those on Scopitones and the 'Barmy Army' Facebook page to fine tune it. The first step was to go through the list, simply giving a 'gut feeling' mark out of ten to each song. I then made a playlist of the 10s, one of the 9s, and so on. I would spend a couple of days with, say, the 7/10 playlist on repeat/shuffle and then pu...

  As we started to move into territory not so heavily populated with obscure b-sides and cover versions, it was inevitable that that the controversy would heat up a little, and so it proved with part 5 . Although I still received quite a few 'can't argue with most of that' comments, particular ire was directed at the relatively lowly placings for 'Be Honest' and, in particular, 'Rotterdam'.  I'm not intending to get into extended debates about individual songs because [a] I've already said why I've placed them where I have, [b] it's all a matter of opinion anyway and [c] I don't want to get drawn into the 'I think this', 'but I think this ' to-and-fro-ery that bedevils so much of social media. Don't think, however, that I don't value all of the comments - it's great to hear differing opinions, and I'm grateful to anyone who takes the time to read these posts and offer their views. Something that I would lik...

  Part 4  didn't see the disagreement ramp up to any significant degree, although there was some spirited defence of 'Pinch, Twist, Pull, Release' - one commenter even arguing that it merits a place in the top ten. Over on Scopitones , criticism was aimed mainly at my culinary ignorance, pain perdu not being - as I had suggested - just a posh name for eggy bread.  After further discussion regarding the frequency of the posts, I have elected to go with the sensible suggestion of Gav from Scopitones and continue to post every Tuesday, but to cover twenty songs each week rather than ten. I will split the top twenty into two, so the final post is now scheduled for 19 January.  One more thing: when I was writing my Fall blogs, one invaluable resource was bzfgt and Dan's  The Annotated Fall , which catalogues and analyses Mark E Smith's lyrics in an incredibly exhaustive (and occasionally exhausting) fashion. With this blog, I'd like to thank Leigh Hunt for putting ...

  33 songs in, and I've been quite surprised by the general agreement with the rankings so far. Not that there haven't been some specific disputes, of course, but there has yet to be any significant controversy and there have been a fair number of 'can't argue with that' comments. I think (although of course this is just postulation on my part) that this might be due to a couple of factors.  Firstly, many of the songs at the bottom of the list are cover versions. Whilst most TWP fans recognise that the band turned out a range of interesting (if hit and miss) covers over the years, Gedge's songwriting is at the heart of their love for the Wedding Present; as such (with a few exceptions) they aren't overly bothered about the covers being ranked at the bottom end. Secondly, most of those tracks in the bottom 33 that aren't covers are b-sides or one-off recordings for compilations, etc. Although a few groups (The Fall most readily spring to mind) frequently ...

  Post 2 inspired a bit more heated debate than its predecessor , although the majority of it was about the scheduling of the blog rather than the music itself. The fact that post #2 emerged only two days after #1 perturbed a few people, who were concerned about being able to keep up. Now, those of you who followed the original Fall In Fives blog will know that when the circumstances were right I quite often cranked out the posts at a brisk pace (less so with You Must Get Them All , of course, as that required a lot more research). However, the Fi5 project was basically a set of personal responses to five tracks; these, on the other hand, contain ten, and include links to original versions, alternate takes, etc. Therefore it's fair enough, I think, to give people a bit of breathing space between each one to reflect and listen to the various links. As such, I'll be updating this blog once a week on a Tuesday. (This means that - if I stay on schedule - you'll get the top te...

  Well, I emerged from the opening selection  relatively unscathed. Although some took umbrage at 'Secretary' taking the bottom slot, and there were a couple of protests regarding 'Shivers' lowly status, there was a surprising amount of concurrence. Comments included 'I don’t mind Back for Good but otherwise yup that’s about right', 'a bit harsh when it comes to Let Him Have It and Big Rat, but little else to argue with' and even 'all correct and accurate'. I doubt that this will last, however. On with the next ten, then. Once again, the majority are covers... 210 Him Or Me (What's It Gonna Be?) (B-side of Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah, 1994) A  1967 hit for Paul Revere & the Raiders (the video is worth watching for the outfits and the guitarist and bassist's dancing alone), the original was a sprightly slice of psychedelic pop. TWP take a steamroller to it, delivering an energetic if somewhat one-dimensional thrashy take on the song.  20...