The Wedding Present Cup: Stage 1, Group 1
Before we get started with the first group, a reminder that the panel (all members of the Something & Nothing forum) are voting 'Eurovision style', i.e. 12 / 10 / 8 / 7 / 6 / 5 / 4 / 3 / 2 / 1 marks. The top 8 go through to the next stage...
Group 1
- Montreal
- Nickels And Dimes
- Nobody's Twisting Your Arm
- End Credits
- Bells
- White Christmas
- Bear
- We Should Be Together
- Signal
- At the Edge of the Sea
- My Favourite Dress
- No
- Twenty Jackies
- Boo Boo
- I Lost the Monkey
- Why Are You Being So Reasonable Now?
The Results
'White Christmas' was universally panned: 'an excruciatingly bad cover of an excruciatingly bad song' (Steve M); '[Gedge] sounds like he just downed a bottle of Harvey’s Bristol Cream' (Ian); 'Why? There is no point in covering this' (John). Keg had a slightly more forgiving view, even if he didn't give it any points:
Perfunctory cover. Doesn't really do much for me, although the surfy lead guitar is a nice touch. It's one of those songs I play once a year as part of my Christmas playlist, then pack it away in the metaphorical box of decorations to be put back into the attic for another twelve months.
'Signal' (a cover that appeared on a various artists compilation) gained a few points from a couple of the panel, but most were not impressed. 'It exists; it starts; it plods along; it ends' was John's summary; 'It sounds like a backing track in search of vocals,' thought Keg. Harry went as far as to say that it was 'the absolute low point' of the group's career (a little harsh in my opinion).
The third cover version in this group fared a little better. 'We Should Be Together' ('a pleasant slice of indie pop,' according to Keg) picked up a seven from three of the panel and made it through in seventh place.
I think that Going Going is weakened by a run of very samey songs in the middle, but 'Bells' is one of the more memorable ones. Apart from Harry - who gave it 10 points - the rest of the judges were less impressed. James and I declared our love for 'Bear', but we were in the minority. John was a big fan of 'Montreal' ('great storytelling - heartbreaking and devastating'), but although it picked up a few points from the majority of the panel, it fell eight points short of qualification.
The other song that made an early exit was El Rey's 'I Lost The Monkey'. I placed it as high as number 67 in the blog, but apart from Johnny, Steve M and Harry, the panel had a less positive view. 'Trying too hard,' commented Ian; 'plodding album filler,' thought Keg.
At the top end of the table there weren't too many surprises, although even with the highest-rated tracks there were one or two dissenting voices. 'My Favourite Dress' predictably stormed the group, triumphing by an impressive 41-point margin, but Kirk thought it only worth three marks. Silver medallist 'No' was 29 points ahead of its nearest rival despite my zero (I've always found it rather dreary and obvious). 'Nobody's Twisting Your Arm' gained a very respectable 106 points, but got nothing from either Harry or Kirk.
'End Credits' did the best of the post-Hit Parade tracks. It was blanked by Bob and Mandy, but Keg was a big fan:
"End Credits" somehow flew under my radar for a few years until I saw the WP in December 2016 in Kendal when the song was in the set with the two drummers. Wow, it was a revelation. It sounded bloomin' excellent live. My appreciation of the song rocketed and so it's now a firm favourite.
Of the remaining qualifiers, 'Boo Boo' was the most divisive. Four of the panel put it in their top three, but another five gave it either one or zero. Keg was its biggest critic, finding it hard to get past the 'cringe-inducing title... it induces queasiness.'
After the Fall Cup I can now catch up with this! Bear would be well up my list. Montreal would probably be in too. We Should Be Together and At the Edge of the Sea would miss out. (Paul G)
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