Poll: TMBG - Pre-Elektra B-Sides - Part 1

This week's polls are dedicated to selected B-sides before TMBG was signed to Elektra Records. Basically, their B-sides from the 1980s.

Don't forget to include Hey, Mr. DJ, I Thought You Said We Had a Deal, even though it's not a B-side. Otherwise it won't be included at all. Or does it just go in the 'songs that don't belong anywhere else' category, with songs like Counterfeit Faker and Rat Patrol?

Will Long Tall Weekend be included? Or the Factory Showroom Sessions? That was a widely enough copied bootleg that it should be included. What about They Got Lost? Are both versions of Sensurround going to be in the polls, or just the S-E-X-X-Y one, since the Power Rangers one was never released by TMBG?

I think once we hit about 2002, there's going to need to be a clearer definition of what gets included, because between TMBG Unlimited and podcasts and live-only songs, this could really go on for ever with songs no one likes or cares about and still have no chance of beating Birdhouse or Ana Ng.

Really, are there any songs that anyone likes or cares about from 1997-2006, released or not? ;-)

Heh, good point.

Now there are some good songs in that period... of course none of the albums would have a chance against the first three or four.  By the way, oddly, I heard "We're the Replacements" long before I heard "Radio Radio" by Elvis Costello-- and when I finally heard the Costello classic, I realized that WTR owes much to it!  Also "She Was A Hotel Detective" owes a lot to "Everyday I Write the Book." 

...not to be confused with (She Was A) Hotel Detective which doesn't sound like any Elvis Costello song I've heard.

To answer your question, here is an overview for the TMBG song tournament:

Pink Album
Lincoln
Pre-Elektra B-Sides
Flood
Apollo 18
John Henry
Factory Showroom
Elektra B-sides
Long Tall Weekend
Mink Car
No!
The Spine
The Else
Post-Elektra B-Sides

Pre Elektra B-Sides consist of:

We're The Replacements

When It Rains It Snows

The Famous Polka

For Science

The Biggest One

Mr. Klaw

It's Not My Birthday

I'll Sink Manhattan

Nightgown Of The Sullen Moon

Hey, Mr. DJ

Lady Is A Tramp

Birds Fly

Elektra B-Sides

Stormy Pinkness

Ant

Cabbagetown

Siftin'

Welcome To The Jungle

I Blame You

Moving To The Sun

Why Does The Sun Shine?

Jessica

Whirlpool

Ondine

She Was A Hotel Detective

Mrs. Train

Sensurround

Unforgotten

We've Got A World That Swings

Post-Elektra B-Sides

Doctor Worm

About Me

Doctor Evil

Boss Of Me Your Mom's Alright

Rest Awhile

I Am A Human Head

Empty Bottle Collector

On The Drag

Am I Awake?

Caroline, No

The Spine Surfs Alone

Now Is Strange

I'm All You Can Think About

Fun Assassin

Skullivan

The Other Side Of The World

Canada Haunts Me

There will be two wild cards that will make up the round of 16.

 

Long Tall Weekend
Mink Car

I know it'll never happen, but it would be funny if the winners of these were both Older and they faced each other...

Also, will Your Mom's Alright and Boss of Me be included in the Mink Car poll?

And what about the Power Rangers version of Sensurround, which was actually good, unlike the horrendous S-E-X-X-Y version?

Older will only be used on the Mink Car poll.
Boss Of Me and Your Mom's Alright will be included on the Post-Elektra B-sides poll (Thanks for reminding me)
As for Sensurround, whichever version you choose.

The only song that will have more than one version on the entire poll is Hotel Detective, because the Pink Album version and the Back To Skull version are completely different songs.

Older will only be used on the Mink Car poll.

oh, ick. the LTW version actually doesn't suck, though.

You're not necessarily voting on the Mink Car version.  You're voting on whatever version you want, it just happens to be in the Mink Car poll.

I don't think that's really the right argument. Unless it's explicitly clear from the start, people are going to assume you mean the version that's on the album, just like they did for the Früvous poll.

Not that it matters, because there are better songs than Older on both LTW and Mink Car, but the point is, it's not a fair competition when people aren't necessarily able to apply the same standards to their voting.

So just list it as "Older (either version)" or something to that effect.

Actually I never assumed it meant the album version on the Fruvous poll. It was about picking the best Fruvous song and that was simply a convenient way of organizing them. It is just like the Grammys, when they mean the best recording they call it "best record" not best song."

Isn't it the other way around?  There's "best song" that goes to the songwriter, and "best record" that goes to the performer.  Or is that what you were saying?

See, I did.... I think it's very important to pick the version on the particular album, not just the song in general.

That opens up FAR too many possibilities that not everyone has heard...

actually I think best record goes to the producer and best performance or vocal performance or some variation on that goes to the performer. We could of course check this very easily. Not that you see me rushing to do it.