RSOAPS presents Walrus: Double or Nothing - THE REVEAL

[RSOAPS]

Bit of a Beatles knock off, the singer even sounds like Paul McCartney, still good

Recorded for EMI at Abbey Road too!

But they torpedoed the album and it wasn't actually released until 2003, you know what that means...

I didn't actually know that... Fair call...

Might just have to post a second song today in that case... 

[RSOAPS]

Since @E.N. pointed out the Aerovons song I thought was released in the 1960s didn't actually come out until 2003, here's another Something Old track for today to make up for the earlier oversight... 

I'm sure all of you know this guy thanks to some of his bigger hits, but I'm hoping this lesser known track may have slipped under the radar for most of you...

Labi Siffre - Cannock Chase

[Declan A Walsh]

Only discovered this next band quite recently myself, so I'm hoping that means no one else around here will have heard the song before...

The Aerovons - World of You

I never heard of this act before or the song. It is okay.

Since @E.N. pointed out the Aerovons song I thought was released in the 1960s didn't actually come out until 2003, here's another Something Old track for today to make up for the earlier oversight... 

I'm sure all of you know this guy thanks to some of his bigger hits, but I'm hoping this lesser known track may have slipped under the radar for most of you...

Labi Siffre - Cannock Chase

Yes indeed - I have heard a few songs by this guy, but I did not hear this song before. It is a nice wistful song.

[E.N.]

I didn't actually know that... Fair call...

Ha ha, I'd never heard of them, I just read their wikipedia page

[RSOAPS]

I didn't actually know that... Fair call...

Ha ha, I'd never heard of them, I just read their wikipedia page

Well that's obviously more than what I did... 

[RSOAPS]

Almost ready for tomorrow's reveal, going to do a final listen later on and cement the rankings, but to whet the appetite here's another of my own selections...

Samantha Fox - True Devotion

[Spears]

No gold stars for me yet..

[Declan A Walsh]

I have heard some of Samantha Fox's songs over the years. All of them would have been in the UK Top 40. I was never mad about any of those songs. Again, this is one I have not heard before - I see it stalled at Number 62! In fact, this is by far the best song I ever heard by her and is reasonably tolerable. The production reminds me of a couple of songs: Drive by the Cars and Why by Annie Lennox.

[Kol]

Wouldn't have had you down as a Samanta Fox fan. Don't know this one, its just okay. I don't think I could name one of her hits now that I think of it, she's a pretty awful singer tbf. More widely known as a page 3 girl I think

[Declan A Walsh]

Wouldn't have had you down as a Samanta Fox fan. Don't know this one, its just okay. I don't think I could name one of her hits now that I think of it, she's a pretty awful singer tbf. More widely known as a page 3 girl I think

Samantha Fox's biggest hit (mind how you say that -  ) worldwide was Touch Me (I Want your Body). It got to Number 3 in the UK and Ireland (biggest chart position in both), Number 4 in the US and Number 1 in a number of countries. it wasn't her biggest chart position in the US, however. That honour goes to Naughty Girls (Need Love To) which reached Number 3 there. Samantha was clearly very popular in Finland as she managed to get to Number 1 there with three different songs!

[Spears]

Looked up both of the above songs mentioned & they're shite 

[RSOAPS]

I had picked out these daily songs for the lead-up to each round last week (with the exception of Cannock Chase as that was only used due to an unexpected oversight) because I like being prepared, and I actually found it difficult to think of songs from the 20th Century that people might not already know and which I also just really like myself personally...

I'm far better versed and done more deep dives into 21st Century stuff, so perhaps that's good news for tomorrow's round in terms of me not knowing any of them... I mean you'd probably have to pretty unlucky to have submitted a song I already know for tomorrow's round... 

So who's feeling lucky?

[E.N.]

So who's feeling lucky?

[RSOAPS]

Its full steam ahead for the Round 1 reveal at 18.30 this evening... be there live or just catch up later, its all the same to me... 

One last 20th Century song from me to get you in the mood for Something Old, and I had this picked out before @E.N. mentioned S Club 7 the other day, but it seemed apt for today given our time has come to kick off the first reveal...

This song was only included as a bonus track on the S Club Party single, and possibly on a like a Japanese edition of the debut album, but definitely hard to come by, you won't find it on Spotify anyway, so hopefully one most of you won't have heard before, it's my favourite track of theirs...

S Club 7 - Our Time Has Come

[Declan A Walsh]

I would not be over-familiar with any of their material but I do believe I have not heard it before. I like the instrumentation, but I am not overly keen on the song itself.

[Irish Aris]

Hello everyone, hope you all had a great weekend!!!
Haven't been online much the last few days, real life got in the way

I get a star for that lovely Samantha Fox song. I have her S/T album - was 15 at the time and was listening to this style of pop music a lot. . . and still do to this day!!
I have also seen her live. . . - well kind of: she sang live (off key and everything) but there was no band, pre-recorded music and only her and her dancers on stage - great great fun!!!

I am fairly confident for my selections in general (and for the female round in particular) - though I think that RSOAPS will know at least one of my selected songs - I think they will still like it though

[RSOAPS]

Okay, let's get this party started... The First Round Reveal is...

Something Old 
(any song released in the 20th Century)

I'll be starting the reveal from the middle of the pack and working outwards, and I'll be doing the reveal reasonably speedy, before taking an obligatory tension building (albeit short) pause before the Top 3 and Bottom 3

Will anyone come out of this round with a big fat zilch after submitting something I knew already, or did you all make it through the 20th Century unscathed? Time to find out...

Roll call bitches, we're starting...

@aaronjennings
@Butty Brennan
@Declan A Walsh
@DejaBoo
@E.N.
@Edser
@Hello 2D Person Below
@Irish Aris
@Jluv
@jp liz v1
@Kol
@Necro
@osh
@Sawduck
@Sephiroth_Dude
@ShaneU
@Spears
@Tigger
@Wichita Lineman

[aaronjennings]

I'll be happy just to get points in this round

[RSOAPS]

10th Place with 20 points is Tigger

Roxy Music - If There Is Something



Heard It Before: No

Review: The only Roxy Music I had heard prior to this was "More Than This" which I'm not much a fan of, so my expectations for this were very low going in… Thankfully, I had nothing to worry about as it's a great piece of music, the vocal parts probably drag it back just a tiny litte bit for me, I don't feel they quite match the epicness of the music itself, but that's only a minor criticism that separates it just slightly from the crème de la crème of this round that have ranked above it

[RSOAPS]

11th Place with 18 points is Butty Brennan

Sugarloaf - Don't Call Us We'll Call You



Heard It Before: No

Review: Don't think I've ever heard of Sugarloaf, but this was a solid introduction, nice and funky - if the rest of their songs are in any way close to this I think I'll really like them. The '70s can be very hit and miss for me in general, but this is certainly one of the hits as far as I'm concerned. Very strong round, so despite ranking in the double digits, this was very very good

[RSOAPS]

9th Place with 22 points is Spears

Pantera - Cemetery Gates



Heard It Before: No

Review: I'm actually a bit ashamed that I've never listened to Pantera because I've always been very much aware of them. There was a lad I was in school with who adored Pantera, but he was on the fringes of my friend group rather than a close friend, and given this was a pre-streaming (hell, pre-limewire) era, unless you went out and bought a CD or whatever, you couldn't really explore new bands. There was a time I was gonna go buy an album of theirs specifically to check 'em out, but I opted for Megadeth in the end instead, and by the time music became more accessible, I kinda just forgot to check out Pantera, but this is really really good, I love it. Good choice.

[RSOAPS]

12th Place with 16 points is DejaBoo

Melissa Etheridge - If I Only Wanted To



Heard It Before: No

Review: Knew the name Melissa Etheridge, but I don't know if I've ever listened to any of her stuff. I look forward to checking out more from her though because this was a really good song. I'm also a bit of a sucker for the woodblock, so nice to hear that used throughout. Not much more to say about this one, really enjoyed it, good pick

[RSOAPS]

8th Place with 24 points is Declan A Walsh

Supertramp - Fool's Overture



Heard It Before: No

Review: This is a very cool piece. There's certain movements within it that I like just a bit more than others, but overall as a whole I very much enjoyed it, and think it's an excellent choice for this round. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, this was a strong round overall and in previous games I've ran this could've easily nabbed a Top 3 spot in a lot of rounds, but people brought their A game to this, and it makes it a bitch to rank everything.

[RSOAPS]

13th Place with 14 points is Jluv

Cream - Lawdy Mama



Heard It Before: No

Review: Cream are a band I've seen mentioned a lot over the years, and I think I do know at least one of their other songs, but I've never bothered to go check them out properly and have a proper listen to any of their stuff, but this has inspired me to correct that wrong as I really enjoyed this one. Very good choice, it's just a really tough round to rank highly in

[RSOAPS]

7th Place with 26 points is aaronjennings

Chris de Burgh - The Getaway



Heard It Before: No

Review: Obviously I have some familiarity with Chris de Burgh (who doesn't know Lady In Red?), so when I saw the name I did cringe a bit because I wasn't expecting anything near as good as this. I definitely had him down as more of an old school crooner, but that chorus is infectious and quality track all around. This was probably one of the bigger surprises of the round for me in terms of how much I liked it compared to my preconceptions of what it would be, and the more I heard it the more I liked it, so it ended up leapfrogging the couple of tracks below it on my final listen

[RSOAPS]

14th Place with 12 points is Kol

Toronto - Ready To Make Up



Heard It Before: No

Review: Had never heard of Toronto before, but this was a nice introduction, definitely enjoyed it, and it does make me want to check out more of their stuff. Between listens though I did kind of forget about it and it didn't quite have the "wow" factor to set it apart from any of the songs ranked above it here, so couldn't justify ranking it any higher than this

[RSOAPS]

6th Place with 28 points is Sawduck

Echobelly - Insomniac



Heard It Before: No

Review: I know the name Echobelly and may have heard some other stuff from them, but can't remember any of it, and this one is definitely completely new to me. A really great song, the chorus is especially enjoyable. Had a quick gander at the Echobelly wikipedia page and the first paragraph says they were often compared to Blondie and The Smiths, and I was like… "Yes, that's exactly what this sounds like"

[RSOAPS]

15th Place with 10 points is Necro

The Saw Doctors - Me Heart Is Livin' In The Sixties Still



Heard It Before: No

Review: To me the Saw Doctors are one of those novelty bands that play college bars (they did play the Student Bar when I was in college, and I was there, but very very drunk and if they played this one, I have zero recollection of it) and aside from I Useta Love Her and N17 being thrown on towards the end of a wedding and everyone losing their minds over it, I've not paid them much notice. I did enjoy this one though and may check out some more Saw Doctors off the back of it, but it never shifted into enough of a gear to get it any further up the table in this round

[RSOAPS]

5th Place with 30 points is Irish Aris

Front 242 - Headhunter



Heard It Before: No

Review: Have never even heard of Front 242, so this isn't something that I could claim having any sort of knowledge of going into it, and had zero idea what to expect, so I was pleasantly surprised. In some of the previous games I've hosted this could've topped the majority of rounds (I really do feel like by the end of this entire Walrus I'll be like a broken record saying something along these lines), which is a testament to the overall quality in this round that it has only ranked here, but an excellent choice nonetheless

[RSOAPS]

16th Place with 8 points is Edser

Auto Da Fe - All Is Yellow (Hot,Hot,Hot)



Heard It Before: No

Review: On first listen I really really liked this one, thought it was pretty unique and I really like the singers voice so had this up a bit higher in the rankings, but on repeated listens the novelty wore off a bit and I wasn't feeling it as much as I had on first impression. While the majority of the songs in this round I feel I would listen to on a regular basis, this is probably more something I'd only throw on once in a blue moon. Good song and its uniqueness elevated it a bit, but doesn't have the same relistenability factor

[RSOAPS]

4th Place with 32 points is ShaneU

Sandra - Maria Magdalena



Heard It Before: No

Review: Really loved the song and the whole vibe and energy it had going on, and I always really enjoy discovering '80s songs I wasn't already familiar with. I don't think I've ever even heard of Sandra, the name didn't ring any bells anyway, although she does look vaguely familiar. Solid choice for this round, and I wish I could have given so many people the top spot, because this was also up there with the best of the best Walrus Submissions I've ever had.

[RSOAPS]

I see we have a couple of people following along, which is great, as I was concerned this early bird reveal timeslot would be ghost town city... 

We're down to the Top 3 and Bottom 3 of this first round and thus far no one has fallen into the Nothing part of the Double or Nothing trap... Might I have caught out any of the Top 3 of the Bottom 3? It really suck to rank in the Top 3 here and end up with zero points, wouldn't it? 

Still awaiting their fates this round, in alphabetical order, are:

E.N.
Hello 2D Person Below
jp liz v1
osh
Sephiroth_Dude
Wichita Lineman

Who are the kings and queens of the hill and who are the unlucky last in this really really strong round (so strong I feel bad putting anyone at the bottom)...

[RSOAPS]

17th Place with 6 points is Hello 2D Person Below

Luke Kelly - The Shoals of Herring



Heard It Before: No

Review: If I had never heard Luke Kelly sing before, this would probably rank a lot higher, because I do think hearing him sing for the first time is an experience. Hadn't heard this one before, and I do like listening to a bit of Luke Kelly from time to time, but I do feel that if you've heard one of his songs you've probably heard them all. Don't get me wrong, I did like it, it just didn't bring anything new to the table for me and I struggled to rank it any higher

[aaronjennings]

None of the songs so far are familiar to me based on name alone, I'll have to listen to them afterwards to see if they ring any bells

[RSOAPS]

3rd Place with 34 points is Sephiroth_Dude

Smashing Pumpkins - Window Paine



Heard It Before: No

Review: Funnily enough, although I've always liked what I've heard from The Smashing Pumpkins, which is mostly just some of the bigger singles that would've gotten a lot of airplay in the '90s, I've never thought to scratch beyond the surface and explore more of their stuff, but this is phenomenal. Really the top three in this round are some of the best I've ever gotten in a Walrus. This was the first song submitted and it was a good sign of the overall quality to come from everyone. I was genuinely surprised that two songs came along and managed to knock it from the top spot, because it really is class, and I'll be making a point of doing a deep dive on the Pumpkins going forward

[ShaneU]

I heard Pantera and Cream before that's it

[Irish Aris]

Keep forgetting how young many of yous are - and also that Sandra wasn't very popular in this part of the world.
Maria Magdalena was a huge huge hit in mainland Europe and it's a staple of any self-respecting 80's pop party!!!

[RSOAPS]

18th Place with 4 points is Wichita Lineman

The Silencers - Razor Blades of Love



Heard It Before: No

Review: This is a nice song, easy to listen to, but it does kind of meander along a bit, and really started to fade into the background compared to other songs in the round unfortunately, so it kept falling lower down the ranks as others shone through more and more

[RSOAPS]

2nd Place with 36 points is E.N.

James - Tomorrow



Heard It Before: No

Review: I do know a couple of James songs (Sit Down and Laid), so I knew the name and was expecting something probably that would've ranked middle of the pack at best. So I was pleasantly surprised when I played this through and it was automatically up there at the top of the group. These are the type of '90s gems I live for, just hits all the right notes for me. I did at one point think nothing could come along and knock this out of the top spot, so this is a very very respectable silver medal in this round

[osh]

Well this is going to plan, I figured you'd either love it or hate it!