SCORES & UPCOMING GAMES



CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL SCORE: (2) JEFF BUCKLEY 168, (7) Tracy Chapman 159 .......... FINAL FOUR FINAL SCORES: (7) TRACY CHAPMAN 154, (1) Joy Division 90 ..... (2) JEFF BUCKLEY 137, (1) The Cure 89 .......... ELITE EIGHT FINAL SCORES: (1) JOY DIVISION 74, (14) Low 60 ..... (7) TRACY CHAPMAN 85, (1) Elliott Smith 69 ..... THE CURE 65, (2) Radiohead 58 ..... (2) JEFF BUCKLEY 74, (1) Neutral Milk Hotel 44 ..... FINAL SWEET SIXTEEN SCORES: (1) JOY DIVISION 75, (5) PJ Harvey & Nick Cave 24 ..... (14) LOW 73, (2) Concrete Blonde (64) ..... (1) ELLIOTT SMITH 78, (4) Gary Jules 44 ..... (7) TRACY CHAPMAN 74, (6) Kate Bush 53 ..... (1) NEUTRAL MILK HOTEL 54, (13) The Church 49 ..... (2) JEFF BUCKLEY 73, (3) Sinead O’Connor 35 ..... (1) THE CURE 109, (3) Tori Amos 86 ..... (2) RADIOHEAD 76, (6) This Mortal Coil 50 ..... (1) JOY DIVISION 96, (9) Mazzy Star 91 ..... (2) CONCRETE BLONDE 76, (7) Bob Mould 28 ..... (14) LOW 60, (6) Crowded House 51 ..... (5) PJ HARVEY & NICK CAVE 65, (4) Alphaville 38 ..... (1) ELLIOTT SMITH 113, (8) Replacements 88 ..... (6) KATE BUSH 87, (3) Nirvana 64 ..... (7) TRACY CHAPMAN 99, (2) The Eels 62 ..... (3) GARY JULES 103, (12) Morrissey 63 ..... (6) Kate Bush 72, (3) Nirvana 53 ..... (3) SINEAD O'CONNOR 66, (11) Ride 27 ..... (13) THE CHURCH 106, (5) James 44 ..... (2) JEFF BUCKLEY 95, (10) Smashing Pumpkins 40 ..... (1) NEUTRAL MILK HOTEL 80, (9) New Order 56 ..... (2) RADIOHEAD 102, (7) Nine Inch Nails 99 ..... (6) THIS MORTAL COIL 61, (3) Indigo Girls 60 ..... (4) TORI AMOS 89, (5) Swans 40 ..... (1) CURE 82, (8) Tom Waits 68 ............... FINAL 1ST ROUND SCORES: (5) PJ HARVEY & NICK CAVE 93, (12) Midnight Oil 38 ..... (7) BOB MOULD 63, (10) Peter Murphy 47 ..... (1) JOY DIVISION 117, (16) Erasure 19 ..... (6) CROWDED HOUSE 98, (11) Leonard Cohen 54 ..... (7) TRACY CHAPMAN 199, (10) The Smiths 162 ..... (5) MORRISSEY 115, (12) Morphine 83 ..... (3) NIRVANA 137, (14) Slowdive 102 ..... (8) THE REPLACEMENTS 128, (9) Dream Academy 82 ..... (13) THE CHURCH 262, (4) Magnetic Fields 193 ..... (10) SMASHING PUMPKINS 165, (7) Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds 155 ..... (9) NEW ORDER 160, (8) Sarah McLachlan 78 ..... (1) JEFF BUCKLEY 204, (16) Bjork 92 ..... (4) TORI AMOS 78, (13) Echo & the Bunnymen 22 ..... (8) TOM WAITS 72, (9) The Pretenders 22 ..... (6) THIS MORTAL COIL 51, (11) Yaz 31 ..... (3) INDIGO GIRLS 71, (14) Pavement 26 ..... (9) MAZZY STAR 132, (8) REM 46 ..... (2) CONCRETE BLONDE 88, (15) Psychedelic Furs 34 ..... (4) ALPHAVILLE 71, (13) Dead Can Dance 36 ..... (14) LOW 120, (3) U2 65 ..... (1) ELLIOTT SMITH 63, (16) 10,000 Maniacs 24 ..... (2) EELS 50, (15) Counting Crows 46 ..... (4) GARY JULES 62, (13) Depeche Mode 19 ..... (6) KATE BUSH 59, (11) Sisters of Mercy 20 ..... (1) NEUTRAL MILK HOTEL 42, (16) Violent Femmes 12 ..... (11) RIDE 25 (6) Peter Gabriel 24 ..... (3) SINEAD O'CONNOR 37, (14) Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark 17, ..... (5) JAMES 24, (12) Red House Painters 23 ..... (7) NINE INCH NAILS 46, (10) Wilco 31, (5) SWANS 31, (12) Pet Shop Boys 18 ..... (1) THE CURE 50, (16) Gear Daddies 10 ..... (2) RADIOHEAD 40, (15) Liz Phair 35


CURRENT GAMES BELOW — PAST GAMES ARCHIVED AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE

Tuesday, March 8, 2016

First Round Matchup: CONCRETE BLONDE vs PSYCHEDELIC FURS

(2) Concrete Blonde, "Joey"

“Joey” remains my favorite song from my high school self’s favorite album, Concrete Blonde’s Bloodletting. Yes, it’s kinda about vampires, but it’s mostly about loving doomed people. And Joey is the most doomed, “somewhere drunk / and passed out on the floor.” Joey offers no endearments or excuses, he’s not even really present in the song, which, despite the video, feels like a song sung in lead singer’s Johnette Napolitano’s head to an absent lover (Napolitano later confirmed that the song is about Marc Moreland of Wall of Voodoo, who eventually died of liver failure). She offers him money, forgiveness, and love, but the song’s last lines “Oh / Joey, I’m not angry anymore” feel more like resignation than hope. The song was the last one recorded for Bloodletting, because Napolitano didn’t want to sing it. 



And if you like it, give this a listen too.

vs

(15) Psychedelic Furs, "Heartbreak Beat"

Not to get meta, but “Heartbreak Beat” is not a sad song so much as it is a song about sad songs. It’s about wishing you felt more, but knowing that the world’s endless soundtrack of love songs are not about you, that in your relationship “...the world don’t stop / Every time that you call.” So maybe you end that relationship and go looking for that “perfect kiss, somewhere out in the dark.” But then! “Heartbreak Beat” comes on the jukebox just when you catch a glimpse of your ex across the bar. For a second, it feels like love, but then you remember. You brace yourself for the sadness, but instead you feel nothing. Which is sad, no?





Which is sadder? Vote by 9am 3/9

Heartbreak Beat
Joey
Quiz Maker

7 comments:

  1. "Heartbreak Beat" doesn't meet the criteria for this tournament, but I voted for them anyway because I adore this song. A lot. To the point where I won't listen to reason. So the Furs over Heart for me.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh man. This is an absolutely brutal matchup for me. Concrete Blonde's "Bloodletting" was a dominant force in my life circa 1990-91, because I was reading a lot of Anne Rice and in my pseudo-goth/vampire phase and also because it's just an awesome album, and Johnette Napolitano's voice broke my brain and my heart when I saw her live (with Concrete Blonde and Wall of Voodoo). I can hear "Joey" in my head today without even having to play the video.

    But...the Psychedelic Furs were THE attitudinal soundtrack of my teens and early twenties. I wanted to be Richard Butler--chain-smoking, cynical, wielding that sarcastic sneer as a sword fighting off love. And yet...this is one of their worst songs, on their worst sell-out post-Pretty In Pink album. In fact their majestic, sprawling, noisy, grossly under-appreciated follow up, "Book of Days" was basically a conscious decision to lose all those teenage girl fans who had started showing up at their shows in pink dresses. Because Pretty in Pink isn't a song about a cute redhead in a pink dress--it's a song about that woman that everybody used and tossed aside. But I digress. "Heartbreak Beat" isn't a bad song, really, and in truth that was my introduction to the Furs, from where I retroactively discovered their superior pre-"Heartbreak" work. However, "Here in My Head," from the Furs final album in 1991, or "Am I Wrong," from the Richard Butler-helmed "Love Spit Love" album are actually sadder songs. But I digress. Again. So...

    Heart wants Psychedelic Furs, for their complete body of work and significant imprint on my 19-year-old self. But "Joey" is one of the saddest songs ever--and my pick to win it all.

    ReplyDelete
  3. And I had forgotten how execrable that "Heartbreak Beat" video was. Ugh. Watch the "Dumb Waiters" to help you forget:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrX9Mg4ersQ

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  4. For me this is the high point of the Psychedelic Furs, but I'm not much of a fan, to be sure. Care to send me a mix CD to change my mind?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Definitely. Do you want existential melancholy Furs or snotty, punk-ish, indifferent Furs?

      Delete
    2. I think you should choose the best stuff in your view. I've never really been moved by them (though I've liked Heartbreak Beat since the first time I heard it). Never liked "Pretty in Pink" much. I like "Love My Way" ok, Heaven ok, "The Ghost In You" ok. I think that's actually all I know, so I anticipate the education.

      Delete
  5. Joey should get a bye to round 16. This is insulting to Joey. Joey says "Ni!" to all of you.

    ReplyDelete