Walrus Again - Reveal

Let’s get ready…

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@MimosaDef
@smrk4
@pyatnitski
@Pauwl
@skydiver8
@Rexx

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and…
@zikzak
@microbet
@DodgerIrish
@suzzer99
@cassette

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As before I’ll get about half way through these then break for dinner, resuming after a couple of hours and finishing plenty of time before the Super Bowl.

Category 3, A track with a saxophone

This was another very strong category that was difficult to rank. Another day I might order some of these differently.

I was quite surprised no one chose Walk On The Wild Side which closes with a marvellous sax solo, but I’d probably have opted for something not a natural fit for other likely categories, like one of the best live bands around in the early 80s with their unique blend of subversive Dada jazz/punk.

“The Fish Needs A Bike” by Blurt

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On with the motley.

In 11th place for 1 point, DodgerIrish and “Rump Shaker” by Wreckx-N-Effect

I always feel bad about the last place (I’ve had a few of them) especially when it’s a type of music that I can’t stand and never listen to.

Based around a sample of Darkest Light by Lafayette Afro Rock Band :smile: this really isn’t my cup of tea, though it improved a bit after the third listen. Sorry.

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10th place for 2 points goes to the winner of the last round, zikzak with “The Swinging Detective” by Barry Adamson

I remember Adamson from Magazine and The Birthday Party (Nick Cave’s pre Bad Seeds band), when he was one of the most sought after bass players of that period so I was looking forward to hearing this.

Crime-film soundtrack music is a radical departure for him (the title is a pun on The Singing Detective 80’s TV series by Dennis Potter), which it’s well suited to, though it doesn’t really work for me as a stand alone piece of music in its own right.

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I can’t listen right now but I love the idea of Dodger submitting “Rump Shaker” :joy:

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In 9th place for 3 points, smrk4’s entry “All Wrong” by Morphine

Here’s a band that benefits from the saxophone. I think this is perfectly standard alt rock typical of the early 90s, and the unusual addition of a sax part helps buff up a fairly thin song. I didn’t like the vocals much and the lyrics sound a bit cliched to me, though.

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Ooh I forgot about Morphine! Used to love Cure for Pain

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In 8th place for 4 points, suzzer99 with “Jungleland” by Bruce Springsteen.

I’m not familiar with a lot of Brucey boy’s work and never really got him in the way others did. I guess his descriptions of blue collar American life are such an integral part of his songs that they don’t translate quite as well over here (though he’s had a decent following), but he does have a knack of capturing something essential about American youth that people have identified with for a long time.

Born To Run, the title track from this song’s album, is a classic but although this track is evocative in a romantic sense this paean to himself and his pal running for their lives through the backstreets in sunny evenings doesn’t do much for me, and it all seems a bit overwrought and dare I say it, contrived.

I know that’s probably sacrilege, but there it is.

Barry’s been in off his own little world for 30 years. It’s a nice place to visit sometimes if you’re in the mood, but admittedly not for everybody.

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7th place and 5 points goes to Rexx and “Baker Street” by Gerry Rafferty

Oh. This is the one I was half expecting microbet to choose as he’s mentioned it elsewhere.

The best bit for me was seeing shots in the video reminding me of how Baker Street looked in the mid 70s. It was such a huge hit that it’s hard to distance myself from this song to rank it fairly. I mean musically it’s good and is elevated by having not one but two great solos, but he comes from the No Voice school of 70s soft rock and it’s just too familiar.

Only entry I’ve seen and I’m declaring this category a SHAM for it coming in last

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You’re a bump ‘n’ grind man, I see. :joy:

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I will say it’s a little long for what it is and most of my enjoyment of it is based on nostalgia but it’s still a fun tune. Maybe the rest of the category is just stacked!

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Ok, here to convince mjiggy that there are better songs comes skydiver8 in 6th place for 6 points, and “Room A Thousand Years Wide” by Soundgarden

skydiver says “I played the saxophone all the way thru high school…of course that was back in the 80s when everyone and their dog’s band had a sax player.”

I like the middle section starting at 3 mins with the sax and screeching and wailing a lot. Damn it’s over already lol.

Ok, I mean the final section. What preceded it was a bit ABC staccato prog metal for me albeit with an unusual time sig :+1: . Hard to rate this track because of its split personality and for being unsure whether to award or dock points for repeated use of the word “begat”, but I found it improved with subsequent listens, though not enough to displace the mixture of classics and outstanding tracks in this category that follow after my dinner.

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Well zikzak’s choice was surprisingly good (not because of zikzak but because not usually my thing) so maybe this category really is super deep.

I’d be surprised if you didn’t like the winner, but there’s no accounting for folks.

Did anyone submit this? Not technically a song