Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 24, 2021 14:24:41 GMT
A
TV21 - Snakes and Ladders
B
TV Personalities - Part Time Punks
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Post by bungo the mungo on Jan 24, 2021 16:02:09 GMT
blimey, of all the TVPs tracks to choose from! despite being a huge fan, i'm almost tempted to vote for A as PTP is such an unoriginal choice.
the trouble is, i didn't enjoy A very much due to the earnest vocals.
B
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Post by sloopjohnc on Jan 24, 2021 16:23:02 GMT
I remember reading the review of TV21's debut album in Melody Maker and compared it to U2's debut, which had come out a short time before.
I love this song and hate TV Personalities.
A
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rayge
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Post by rayge on Jan 24, 2021 17:35:57 GMT
Here's an extraordinary thing, a match-up between two singles I own(ed), although in 2018 I sold my copy of the Bill Grundy EP for north of £100.
I bought two or three singles by TV21, but never played them much - this was a time when I was buying dozens of singles a month (albums too) and they kind of got lost if they didn't grab me after a couple of plays. Skope has the right word for the vocals, earnest and declamatory, but still better and poppier than the execrable Gang of Four. Pretty decent otherwise. 55/10
Of course the TVPs made a lot better than this, more tuneful and out there, which maybe reflects back on their earlier stuff and diminishes them, but as a debut that obviously fit into the punk/independent ethos but was basically an introduction to post-punk, the EP was just great, and this track, with the ferocious strumming and laconic, funny lyrics, was the best on it. And kudos to the picker for getting a youtube clip that sounds true to the single. 6.5/10
B
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Post by Crunchy Col on Jan 24, 2021 18:40:16 GMT
Whatever you throw at TVPs as criticism, their fans throw the same thing back at you as praise. It's rubbish! yes, isn't it rubbish! I love it! he can't sing and they're not making an effort! no that's what I love about them!
I've never liked them much apart from one or two songs which are so-so. This is just dreadful. We covered it in a band years back until I sulked and said I wasn't playing it any more.
So it's
A
by default (altho' it's not bad)
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toomanyhatz
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Post by toomanyhatz on Jan 24, 2021 19:30:00 GMT
B was already dated in 1978. I feel like I've heard some TVP that I've liked, but...add in the willfully tuneless vocals and, nah...
A is pretty typical, but it sounds fairly fresh by comparison.
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Post by T. Willy Rye on Jan 24, 2021 21:10:17 GMT
Odd choices.
Abstain.
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Post by DarknessFish on Jan 24, 2021 21:34:17 GMT
I'm surprised I've never heard TV21 before, I've got tons of this kinda second-division post-punk with a professional studio sheen. Reminds me of Furniture (who I almost picked in the cup), or even The Bolshoi in an upbeat mode. It is that strident vocal coupled with the rolling rhythm section thing, there was loads of it about back then. All of it better than U2, btw. Still, it does veer a bit close to The Alarm, or possibly even Then Jericho or something.
B's kind of amateurism appeals to me, but I kinda wish it was more amateurish, or naive, or do a little bit more with the song. It wouldn't have had to do too much to better A, would it, but as it is it's not even a half-thought out idea. It's just a comedy-tie of a record, a cartoon sock.
A
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 24, 2021 23:40:22 GMT
When the TV21 record came out, it seemed like the missing link between Wah Heat and The Teardrop Explodes, combining, as it did, the anthemic intensity and jangly guitars of the former and the trumpet driven pop urgency of the latter, although they were from Scotland rather than Liverpool. Whilst I agree the righteous stridency of the vocal is very much of its time, its a cracking tune with a great momentum to it. It's strange really that Part Time Punks has become the best known TVP song given it's such a slight song, almost a novelty song really. The lyrics give it a period charm, but its basic repetitiveness means that, for me, it wears out its welcome long before the end; you're thinking 'not another round of that chorus'.
A
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osgood
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Post by osgood on Jan 25, 2021 8:51:14 GMT
A got me very interested, a band I had not heard of before and with the right mix of pop sensibility and, yes, earnest vocals, it left me wishing to know more.
B reminded me a lot of the Spanish punk bands of the era, and believe me, that's not a good thing.
A
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fange
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Post by fange on Jan 25, 2021 12:01:07 GMT
Oh man. These... are not my thing. A is musically ok but the vocals really grated and i found it hard to listen all the way through. Sorry A. Same with the TVP song, sorry B.
I may come back to listen again, otherwise it's an abstain.
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Post by Half Machine Lipschitz on Jan 25, 2021 15:06:43 GMT
The only thing I like about either of these is the "la la la"s of PTP. A is shouty existential nonsense, and B is just dumb.
Sorry.
B for the aforementioned "La la la"s.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 25, 2021 15:11:49 GMT
The only thing I like about either of these is the "la la la"s of PTP. A is shouty existential nonsense, and B is just dumb. Sorry. B for the aforementioned "La la la"s. A has a lot of "ba ba ba's" (2.42) if that's any use?
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Post by Half Machine Lipschitz on Jan 25, 2021 15:19:13 GMT
The only thing I like about either of these is the "la la la"s of PTP. A is shouty existential nonsense, and B is just dumb. Sorry. B for the aforementioned "La la la"s. A has a lot of "ba ba ba's" (2.42) if that's any use? True, but it doesn't really need my vote.
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nolamike
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Post by nolamike on Jan 25, 2021 15:55:09 GMT
Easily the TVP song for me. Sure, it's rubbish, it's dumb, it's ridiculous... but I like it, by golly. A is complete... meh.
B.
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