The Wedding Present Cup: Stage 1, Group 2

  



Group 2

  • Sports Car
  • The Trouble with Men
  • Holly Jolly Hollywood
  • That Would Only Happen In A Movie
  • Monochrome
  • Nothing Comes Easy 
  • Memento Mori
  • Queen Anne
  • Telemark
  • Let's Make Some Plans
  • 2, 3, Go
  • Bad Thing
  • It's A Gas
  • Falling
  • Don't Give Up Without A Fight
  • Deer Caught in the Headlights

The Results

Overall, this was a far more divisive group than group 1. Whereas 'My Favourite Dress' got a mark from everyone, all of the top six here got a zero from at least three of the panel. In group 1, only one non-qualifier got one of the panel's top two marks; here there were seven 10/12s among those who didn't make it through.

One of those was Keg's ten for 'Holly Jolly Hollywood'. Although panned by the overwhelming majority (Steve M, for example, thought that 'the title and lyrics are excruciating'), Keg found a lot to love: 'Just a splendid slice of indie pop with a brilliantly catchy chorus. It's a track I always look forward to playing in my Christmas playlist. Just cast off your cycnicism and enjoy the ride. The video is a hoot too'.


'Don't Give Up Without A Fight' had its admirers, but even though many liked some other aspects of the song, the '2-4-6-8' section came in for a lot of stick. 'An unfathomably terrible chorus,' thought Ali. Most of the rest of the 24 Songs tracks in this batch fared only slightly better. 'That Would Only Happen In A Movie' was 'a welcome foot off the pedal' according to Johnny, and James thought it had 'some good gear changes.' Bob, on the other hand, was unimpressed: 'Nothing more than a title that I reckon he felt he had to write a song to fit, then got fed up.' John found 'Monochrome' 'achingly beautiful,' but Ian derided the lyric: '"There’s no colour; life’s just duller"? Do me a favour.' 'Telemark's spoken-word intro divided the panel, with Ali describing it as 'nonsense' and Kirk commenting that the 'second half of song is better but takes too long to get there.' Johnny liked the whole thing ('I love a bit of spoken word and this hits the spot') but Bob's verdict was 'woeful.'


The best performance of a 24 Songs track came from 'Memento Mori', which qualified in seventh place and attracted this striking comment from Johnny: 'Ahh, the thrashing, flapping sound of a frantic pollock hauled onto the deck of the trawler. Brilliant!'


As for the two covers, 'Let's Make Some Plans' - which was the highest-placing non-original on my Suddenly It's Tuesday blog - did well, qualifying in fifth, despite both Keg and Harry preferring the original (and the latter suggesting that there's a better cover). 'Falling' got a respectable 48. 'Majestically loud,' was Bob's view, although it's one of Mandy's 'two most disliked TWP tracks ever' and Ali accompanied her zero with the comment 'I'd give it less if I could.'

Take Fountain era B-side 'Bad Thing' garnered a couple of positive comments, but some of the panel confessed that they didn't really remember it. 'The Trouble With Men' (the other of Mandy's most disliked tracks) gained only faint praise. 'It makes a lot of promises,' noted Harry, 'and fails to deliver most of them.'


At the top end, 'Queen Anne' triumphed despite getting three zeros. A few of the judges found that it brought back happy memories of that era; Steve M thought that 'sometimes it gets forgotten how good this is, as its "the one before Perfect Blue".' Keg, however, found that, taken in isolation from the rest of the album, 'it sounds a bit weak.' 'Deer Caught in the Headlights' was a particularly divisive one, even by the standards of this round. It got top marks from five judges (Kirk: 'Don't think any post-2005 song has had such an impact in the live set') but the 'painter' line lost it any chance of points from Bob ('the worst bit in any TWP song ever'). Johnny was even more succinct: 'I’d run the fooker over.'

Both '2, 3, Go' and 'Sports Car' attracted a mix of strong praise and indifference, the 'Zambezi' line in the former being a sticking point for a few. It was the same story for early b-side 'Nothing Comes Easy'. Mike considered that it 'hadn't aged well,' and John thought it 'a bit of a plodder.' On the other hand, Harry found it to be 'an unappreciated gem,' while Ali praised its 'jangly nostalgic loveliness.' The last qualifier was 'It's A Gas'. It got solid if unspectacular marks from the majority, although not from Johnny ('a gaseous emission, that's what it is') and Kirk ('30 years on I still think it’s pish').






Comments

  1. The co-ordinatorMarch 4, 2024 at 5:44 AM

    I adore The Trouble With Men. One of Nothing Comes Easy or Queen Anne wouldn't make the cut.

    ReplyDelete

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