NEW POLL! Devo's "Whip It" vs. Gary Numan's "Cars"
Added 2023-01-12 19:29:27 +0000 UTCWe are going back to 1980, back when music videos and new wave still belonged to the nerds and freaks! Who is the best beloved new-wave legend (to the people in the now)/one-hit wonder (to the rest of the world)? Vote now on Devo's "Whip It" vs. Gary Numan's "Cars"!
Comments
AND ANOTHER THING. The early synthpunk kids in the UK kinda hated Numan for cribbing their sounds (he didn't, he came upon that Minimoog by accident when the Army went to record their record) and being the guy who came out of nowhere to hit #1 (with "Friends," btw, not "Cars"). Those early, hardcore, no-sell-out purists? The Human League and Orchestral Manœuvres in the Dark - who would sell out WAY more than Gary as the '80s proceeded. Oh, and Cab Voltaire, who definitely did not. Anyway, I like pop Human League and B.E.F./Heaven 17 way more than "serious" Human League. OOOH IF YOU DO DON'T YOU WANT ME VS. WE DON'T NEED THIS FASCIST GROOVE THING I will be the only person to vote for Heaven 17.
Vince Whitacre
2023-02-09 14:04:05 +0000 UTCDammit I had to patronize just to comment about this episode. Both of these songs were huge parts of my childhood (I'm 5 years older than Lina and we had MTV from the jump) and yeah I get it, they're the biggest hits, but they're in no way are they their artists' best songs. If it was "Are 'Friends' Electric" vs. "Whip It," Numan/Tubeway Army wins in a walk. If it was "(I Saw My Baby Getting) Sloppy" or "Jocko Homo" or "Unforgettable Urge" or fuck Devo had a lot of great songs vs. "Cars," they would annihilate poor wee Gary. But as it is, we have two good songs that I saw every 2 hours at the babysitter's house as a kid. I guess I would have voted (if I'd had the sense to subscribe last month) for Numan, just because Cars and Friends are the only songs of his I'd put up against the best 20 or so Devo songs.
Vince Whitacre
2023-02-09 13:49:56 +0000 UTCNote from the episode: Devo's cover of "Head Like a Hole" was used for the American soundtrack to Jackie Chan/Michelle Yeoh's "Supercop." It feels like that's a better note on how the 90's really were than the fads and big movements. This Frankenstein's monster of throwing three things that worked in separate contexts together and is probably one step too far, but I can't be too sure (The cover is awesome, however).
Joe Straatmann
2023-01-31 06:40:57 +0000 UTC
