nav[aria-label="Primary Navigation"] { padding: 0; & ul { list-style: none; width: 100%; display: flex; flex-direction: row; justify-content: start; align-items: start; gap: 30px; padding: 0; & li { margin: 0; } & ul li { list-style: none; } } }

Child Item

Homer J. Fong IS The Walrus - Grand Reveal!

[Deleted User]

Ladies and gentlemen,

Welcome to my Walrus extravaganza!

Many thanks to tusk who collected all the submissions and anonymised them for me; I will give him some bonus points at the end, just not enough to affect the overall standings! :cool:

We have 17 participants in this game, by sheer coincidence the 17 sexiest people on boards (except for yours truly, of course

) and they are:

Also Starring LeVar Burton
Barney92
beakerjoe
Electric Nitwit
Green&Red
MicksJaguar
mustang shelly
Necro
osh
phatkev
Pretzill
Rikand
Sheridan81
Spook_ie
Triceratops Ballet
Trigger
tusk

BUT we won't be referring to them by name here. My helper has kindly assigned each boardsie to a very creative alias; I have no idea which alias belongs to which boardsie, and as I'm only 3/5 of the way through scoring I don't even know which alias submitted which song in my final two rounds yet. So this is still very much an anonymised work in progress; you are all of course welcome (encouraged) to comment on submissions, praise/judge my wonderful/horrible taste in music (delete as appropriate) and speculate on who may be who, though perhaps try not to make it too obvious which alias you are when you see your song appear!

So here are the 17 aliases that we are going to be meeting tonight and who shall join us for five lovely rounds:

Aleshark
Countess Bathrobinson Bailecoffin
Fanghoward
Harmony Cullran
Hayesshine
Helraham Jamesorty
Jameslon Barspell
Kingolas
Lolliclarke
Marflutter
Marshallazora Satanwest
Mediphira
Palka Stephenflame
Rosparkle
Spencerpop
Yollins Roseverse
Yompson Hamoondancer

.....I have no idea how tusk came up with these, and I'm not sure I even want to know; artistic geniuses don't reveal their methods!

For each round I'm going to provide my pre-listening comments (my first reaction on seeing the submission), listening notes (what went through my mind as I played/replayed each song) and my final verdict. Scoring system is quite simple; first place in each round gets 17 points, second place gets 16 and so on. Also I apologise in advance if I give a low score to a beloved song of yours; one (wo)man's pain is another (wo)man's pleasure and all that. Please be assured that it's nothing personal (and even if I did want to make it personal, the anonymity killed that off!)

So we're almost ready to kick off then. A reminder of our first round:

1. "Can you paint with all the colours of the wind"

It's time to sing a rainbow, and all the other colours too! Give me a song with a colour in its title. Simples.

Will today be a Blue Monday after Storm Brendan's Purple Rain left the sky all Violet? Will someone Paint It Black before they turn a Whiter Shade of Pale and then Fade to Grey? We're all Silver Souls waiting for the Green Light.....so Let's Gold! (Sorry, I promise I won't do lame wordplay on every submission....or at least I'll try not to be!)

Find more posts tagged with

Quick Links

Comments

Spook_ie

I can neither confirm nor deny any speculation about my entries to this Walrus

Electric Nitwit

Spook_ie wrote: »

I can neither confirm nor deny any speculation about my entries to this Walrus

It would be amazing if it was an imposter!

But I can neither confirm or deny any speculation about the presence of an imposter

Pretzill

Deleted User wrote: »

And here's the Spotify playlist for Round #1, excluding The NPG's Cherry Cherry which doesn't appear to be on Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Ln8yw4icNBI7hAHyJj16y

The first track there - Is that a cover by a tribute band? Sounds strange.

(I posted this on the wrong thread originally, which didn't make any sense - just for any Alan Parsons Project fans here, I don't think that's them

)

[Deleted User]

Pretzill wrote: »

The first track there - Is that a cover by a tribute band? Sounds strange.

(I posted this on the wrong thread originally, which didn't make any sense - just for any Alan Parsons Project fans here, I don't think that's them )

Oops, you're right. Sorry.

Didn't even notice I'd grabbed a song by The Alan Parsons Tribute Project!

Have updated the playlist now; the version that's there now says 1987 Remix but it's definitely the right Alan Parsons Project!

Green&Red

Deleted User wrote: »

So here's the table after Round 1. I haven't made up the Spotify playlist yet because I'm lazy but I'll have that ready to go soon.

Thanks everyone for dropping by, hope you've enjoyed Round One. Hoping to do Round Two, "LOVE - songs" on Wednesday evening so be sure to cancel any other plans ye may have!

I have cancelled the numerous plans I had, are we still going ahead?

Spook_ie

Green&Red wrote: »

I have cancelled the numerous plans I had, are we still going ahead?

[Deleted User]

Tune in just after 7 to find out.

Electric Nitwit

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Tune in just after 7 to find out.

osh

Wouldn’t be surprised to see some duplication of songs this round

Trigger

osh wrote: »

Wouldn’t be surprised to see some duplication of songs this round

In fairness you could have said the same for colours but there was none.

Pretzill

[Deleted User]

Ok, people get ready. 'Cause there's a train a'comin....
.....a LOVE TRAIN!

2. "L is for the way you look at me"

As well as being a common theme in songwriting, "love" is also a very common word found in song titles. Whether it's a romantic love song, a sad heartache song, a bitter anti-love song or anything in between, give me a song with "love" or a related word* in its title."
*a related word here is a word like "lover", "loving", "loved", "loves" etc. They are acceptable. However, words that just contain love like "glove", "clover" etc. will not be accepted.

I must say, the standard of this round was quite high. I'm glad you all felt the love, although some will feel it more from me than others!

[Deleted User]

The luvly filling of tonight's Walrus sandwich is Yollins Roseverse, who gets 9 points and 9th place for Slade - Coz I Luv You

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDEVVSzGZdE

Pre-listening notes:
Slade are an English rock band from Wolverhampton. They rose to prominence during the glam rock era in the early 1970s, achieving 17 consecutive top 20 hits and six number ones on the UK Singles Chart. The British Hit Singles & Albums names them the most successful British group of the 1970s based on sales of singles. They were the first act to have three singles enter the charts at number one; all six of the band's chart-toppers were penned by Noddy Holder and Jim Lea. As of 2006, total UK sales stand at 6,520,171, and their best-selling single, "Merry Xmas Everybody", has sold in excess of one million copies.[2] According to the 1999 BBC documentary It's Slade, the band have sold over 50 million records worldwide.

Listening notes:
Seems we’re in glam rock territory here, as opposed to the hard-rock sound of Ruby Red. Got a nice rhythm, this song. Less of a foot-tapper and more of a stomper….hmm, wasn’t expecting to hear a fiddle though! Sounded weird at first listen but on a second spin it slots in rather nicely. This reminds me a bit of T-Rex actually, obviously Noddy Holder has a very different voice but I could imagine Marc Bolan singing this.

Verdict:
Nice agreeable song, would help flesh out a playlist rather well.

Electric Nitwit

[Deleted User] wrote: »

The luvly filling of tonight's Walrus sandwich is Yollins Roseverse, who gets 9 points and 9th place for Slade - Coz I Luv You

Always think of the old Ford Transit advert for this song!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuSdF31jD8s

[Deleted User]

Marshallazora Satanwest is tonight's 10th place finisher with 8 points for Shinedown - How Did You Love (Acoustic)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAV6P_jGE_g

Pre-listening notes:
Have never heard of this band so not sure what to expect. Interesting to see an acoustic version of a song submitted, it’s probably good that I don’t know the original version so I can judge it on its own merits rather than automatically comparing them.

Listening notes:
This guy’s certainly got a strong voice, anyway. Verses are nice, chorus is suitably sing-a-long. It feels like it’s an older song than it actually is, I’d have guessed it was from the early noughties so surprised to learn that it’s only a few years old. Maybe it's the voice but it has kind of an "emo" vibe to me?

Verdict:
If I go back in time to my very brief Kerrang! phase, I’m sure 12-year old me would have really liked this, it has that nostalgiac feel to it despite being comparatively recent. A perfectly nice three-minute listen.

Pretzill

Great track spook?- Yollins

[Deleted User]

Fanghoward has cast a spell that grants them 8th place and 10 points for John Grant - Love is Magic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qtTidRF2V0

Pre-listening notes:
I’m familiar with John Grant, have actually seen him live in fact (as a support act to The National) and he was quite good. However I would say he’s someone I don’t enjoy as much as I should on paper. He has a fantastic voice and some of his lyrics are brilliant, both hilarious and tragic. However I tend to find his actual tunes a bit unmemorable for the most part – the melodies just tend to not stick in my mind. I’m not sure if I know this particular song or not, so let’s hit play and find out if love is really magic…

Listening notes:
Well first of all, this video is ADORABLE! All those beautiful dogs.

Shame about the Union Jacks but sure.... Song’s a bit of a slow-burner but it’s nice. Typically tragi-comic lyrics, he’s a master of self-deprecation and dealing with really dark emotions with humour. Really like the instrumental piece that kicks off around the three-and-a-half-minute mark. Some lovely synths and bleeps throughout.

Verdict:
It’s a grower this. First three and a half minutes do plod a little but just when you think it’s starting to drag and get a bit dull the instrumental piece kicks into gear and makes for a very nice ending. Quite happy with this submission, on balance.

Electric Nitwit

Just listened to that Shinedown track and really liked the voice but it was missing some oomph for me, so I tried the original version and it's much better, what were you doing?!

[Deleted User]

Do you want a lift? Aleshark is here to oblige, giving us Aerosmith - Love In an Elevator in return for 11th place and 7 points

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3Yrhv33Zb8

Pre-listening notes:
Another case here of a song that I know of, but don’t actually know well. Aerosmith are grand in small doses, though not a band whose back catalogue I’d be rushing out to investigate. Love in an elevator sounds a bit claustrophobic to me but Mr Tyler evidently disagrees: (from wiki) “Tyler claims the song's lyrics were inspired by an experience he had at a hotel, in which he was making out with a girl in the elevator and they started having sex as the doors opened; "It felt like a lifetime waiting for those doors to close," quipped Tyler.” :pac:

Listening notes:
Nice intro to this, no pussyfooting around, just straight into some dirrrty rock n’ roll. Vocals are suitably enthusiastic and ballsy, lyrics are a bit daft, some nice guitar riffs in there. This is more RAWK than rock! m/(>_<)\m

Verdict:
Definitely seems like more of a crowd-pleaser song than one I’d listen to by myself at home – I’m sure I'd enjoy hearing this at a dive bar or at a not-shít wedding, but it’s not one I’d put on my own playlist for regular listens.

Pretzill

Electric Nitwit wrote: »

Just listened to that Shinedown track and really liked the voice but it was missing some oomph for me, so I tried the original version and it's much better, what were you doing?!

Is that the Official Youtube video EN or did someone else produced it. Great track the official ones has a lot more bounce

Electric Nitwit

Pretzill wrote: »

Is that the Official Youtube video EN or did someone else produced it. Great track the official ones has a lot more bounce

I played the album version I think, not via YouTube. It was a good tune, I'll listen to some more of them tomorrow

[Deleted User]

Mediphira is here to cause a racket and gets 7th place and 11 points for The Verve - Love Is Noise

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdTzmIgRuQ0

Pre-listening notes:
IF you ask me do I like The Verve, I’ll probably say “meh, they’re alright”. If you ask me if I’m a fan of The Verve I’d say no because I’ve never listened to a full album by them. But when I think of The Verve songs that I know – Bitter Sweet Symphony, The Drugs Don’t Work, Lucky Man and Sonnet – I wonder why I haven’t listened to them more, because all of these are damn good tunes. I think I just have an instinctive indifference to Britpop, possibly due to the arrogance and laddish swagger of some of the main architects. But if this Verve tune holds up to the quality of the ones I know then this is possibly going to do very well here.

Listening notes:
Bit more uptempo than the Verve songs I know. Nice noise effects in the background – the “woo-ooh, woo-ooh, woo-ooh, ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah” riff (for want of a better description) that runs throughout is quite cool.
“Love is noise, love is pain,
Love is these blues that I’m singing again” – like this chorus, simple but effective.
Yeah, I quite like this. Doesn’t blow me away like The Drugs Don’t Work does but it’s still a nice tune. Quite easy-listening, considering how biting the lyrics are.

Verdict:
After listening to this I looked up its release date and surprised that it was 2008. Seems this was The Verve’s comeback single after their nineties’ heyday? It’s quite a good comeback tbf. Wouldn’t say it quite stands up to the quality of their 90’s output but it’s certainly a good enough tune in its own right. Yeah, I’d stick this on a playlist.

Electric Nitwit

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I must say, the standard of this round was quite high. I'm glad you all felt the love, although some will feel it more from me than others!

It really is, loving the songs so far. If this is the middle of the pack it's a great selection to come

[Deleted User]

Time to turn our attention to the dancefloor now, as Spencerpop gets 12th place and 6 points for Gorgon City Feat. MNEK - Ready For Your Love (Florian Paetzold Remix)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3vc6yp1_hg

Pre-listening notes:
I’m not familiar with Gorgon City but I do know of MNEK, he has a song called Tongue that I rather like. When I started on this one I actually listened to the “original” of this song first instead of this remix, because I’m an idiot who didn’t read the submission properly! But I have the right version now so let’s get cracking.

Listening notes:
I like MNEK’s voice, deep and soulful without being overblown. Seems like it’s been taken down a key here, sounds lower pitched than usual. The overall sound compared to the original is a bit mellower and more mournful. But it’s quite good, very listenable. It’s more like background music to me than a tune that invites active listening but sometimes that’s ok.

Verdict:
Initially I somewhat negative about this as I was somewhat unfairly comparing it to the original that I had earlier heard, and quite liked. On repeated listens I was able to judge it more objectively on its own. It’s certainly pleasant enough to not make me want to turn it off, but if you were to ask me where I’m most likely to hear this kind of music I’d probably say at the barber’s while waiting for my haircut! Oftentimes this kind of music passes me by without me really paying much attention but this one has some nice ingredients cooked into it. It’s a decent piece. I have to say that I do prefer the original/non-remix version though.

[Deleted User]

We're at 6th place now and it's time for everyone's favourite local band and its universally adored frontman!

Palka Stephenflame gets 12 points for U2 - Pride (In the Name of Love)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHcP4MWABGY

Pre-listening notes:
We’re in familiar territory here, of course. Wouldn’t say this is my favourite U2 song but it’s certainly a good one. I remember writing about the lyrics in the last verse of this song in my 1st year CSPE class (something about human rights, which led on to MLK and then this) and my teacher was very impressed with me!

Listening notes:
Nice chiming intro, rush of drums and chugging bass. Comfortable familiarity. Love the subject matter of this song – say what you will about Bono, he knows how to write some good stuff (particularly during the eighties and early-mid nineties). Also probably up there with his best stuff vocally, you can particularly hear the passion when he roars “what more in the name of love”.

Verdict:
Good solid entry. Not likely to win the league but a safe enough bet to be in the mix for European qualification. (I use sports analogies because I’m a man and I like sportsball, obviously)

[Deleted User]

Kingolas got the most love in Round 1 but must be content with 13th place and 5 points this time round for Pulp - F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooJAFlU-0FQ

Pre-listening notes:
Like everyone, I know Common People and Disco 200. That’s about as much as I know about Pulp though. They’ve sort of passed me by. Will this inspire further listening?

Listening notes:
Rolling drums and then some nice bass in the intro….waiting for vocals….Jarvis giving us a bit of the ol’ sprechgesang here, I hear. Quite like the lyrics of the first verse, reads like a nice bit of poetry….although he’s lost me in the second verse with the “like a modern shopping centre” line, bit of a clunky forced simile there. We’ve got singing now, and I'm not crazy about his voice sadly….this riff at about two and a half minutes reminds me very strongly of "The Look" by Metronomy, did they (Metronomy) just rip that off from this song I wonder? I don’t care much for "The Look" anyway tbh, and this one isn’t doing a whole lot more for me either I’m afraid. I definitely don’t hate it but I think it’s adding up to a little less than the sum of its parts.

Verdict:
It’s certainly not bad but doesn’t scream “oh yeah, you want to listen to this again” at me. I understand the appeal but it’s not one that would be put on my regular-listening playlists. I think I prefer Jarvis Cocker as a songwriter more than a vocalist; I don’t think I’d be able to listen to a whole album of him singing tbh. Though tbf I’d say the same about Ian Brown, Damon Albarn and the Gallagher brothers.

Electric Nitwit

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Like everyone, I know Common People and Disco 200. That’s about as much as I know about Pulp though. They’ve sort of passed me by

You should definitely listen to Different Class, it's an amazing album. Those singles aren't the highlight, probably Monday Morning for me. I love Feeling Called Love too, that and I Spy bring some real darkness that might not be expected

And then, if the darkness tickles your fancy, the next album, This Is Hardcore, is really weird. In a good way!

[Deleted User]

Round 1's wooden spoon is a distant memory for Yompson Hamoondancer, they laugh in its face while collecting 5th place and 13 points for Andrea Bocelli & Katharine McPhee – Can’t Help Falling in Love

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLS0kRAsSoo

Pre-listening notes:
Sacrilegious confession time: I am not a fan of Elvis Presley. He did have some classics (Suspicious Minds is undeniably brilliant) but I dislike how he oversang the hell out of anything – belting and uh-uhing when there is no need to belt or uh-huh. His voice may have been strong but its tone just irritates me a bit. I’m on safer ground with Andrea Bocelli, while I don’t know much about classical or opera it’s clear that he’s a wonderful talent. Katharine McPhee I vaguely recall was on American Idol, which I probably watched years ago but can’t remember too much of her now.

Listening notes:
As expected, I’m liking Andrea’s version of this more than Elvis’s; while Andrea can belt when required, he holds back a bit here and just sings this sweetly and in tune rather than show off his vocal trills. Waiting for Katharine to join in…..yeah, she’s grand. I would say her voice is technically great but not particularly distinctive – I imagine there are several perfectly competent female singers out there that sound exactly like this. But overall this is still a very solid package, my dislike of Elvis’s voice probably masks the fact that the song itself is quite lovely. Might even be one for my wedding playlist! (Just need to find someone who'll marry me first...

#foreveralone)

Verdict:
This works well and deserves a high score. Andrea is lovely to listen to and Katharine is perfectly pleasant but I wonder if it would perhaps work better with a more notable female singer, someone with a bit more distinct voice and character. But this is probably nit-picking, overall I did very much enjoy listening to this and I am usually not one for slushy, romantic songs so I'd actually consider this a pretty risky submission!

Electric Nitwit

Ooh, first time I've really disagreed with you Homer - I love Pulp and that version of Can't Help Falling In Love makes my skin crawl!

[Deleted User]

For 14th place and 4 points, Jameslon Barpsell is here to soothe us all with some relaxing, ambient sounds.....lol jk, it's Meatloaf - I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9X_ViIPA-Gc

Pre-listening notes:
I’ll have to put aside Mr Loaf’s unfortunate recent outbursts re Greta Thunberg and resist the temptation to mark this down just because he’s a bit of a knob. Come to think of it I’m not sure if I’ve ever actually listened to all 7+ minutes of this song in full from start to finish before. Well now it’s time has come!

Listening notes:
Lol, this is even more absurd and over the top than I recall! The video just adds to the ridiculousness - Phantom of the Opera is wanted by the police, yet finds time to leave his haunted mansion and go spy on woman shooting a shampoo commercial. It’s all very theatrical but also pretty hollow – Mr Loaf has a powerful set of lungs but his histrionics don’t really convey any real human emotion. I like the female vocal, she has a nice rasp in her voice. The entire package is just a bit too overwhelming though – lots of style, not so much substance.

Verdict:
Clearly a lot of work went into this song and if you like your power ballads with emphasis on power then this is certainly a classic rock classic. This song is definitely tailor-made for a certain audience, but I’m afraid I’m not a member of said audience. It’s a bit like the house party guest who’s great craic at first but then long overstays their welcome.