Feel free to have the video on loop as you make your selections. You don’t have to vote on all ties, but the more entries, the more fun!
The first 16 ties in Round One offer some very, very tasty match-ups; all of the songs came out via the coin and dice method and there was no match-rigging. There are a number of very tough choices facing everyone.
Deadline is Friday 19 January, midnight UK time. Results will be officially announced on Sunday 21 January.
The Lemonheads v Spoon
Hospital (from Car Button Cloth, 1994) v Waiting For The Kid To Come Out (from Soft Effects EP, 1997)
The Indelicates v Kitchens of Distinction
The Last Significant Statement To Be Made In Rock n Roll (from American Demo, 2008) v Japan to Jupiter (from Folly, 2013)
Butcher Boy v The Magnetic Fields
Imperial (from Helping Hands, 2011) v How Fucking Romantic (from 69 Love Songs, 1999)
The Feelies v Paul Quinn
Loveless Love (from Crazy Rhythms, 1980) v Stupid Thing (single by Paul Quinn & The Independent Group, 1993)
Big Audio Dynamite v The Streets
E=MC2 (from This Is Big Audio Dynamite, 1985) v Has It Come To This (from Original Pirate Material, 2002)
Talk Talk v Death In Vegas
Happiness Is Easy (from The Colour of Spring, 1986) v Dirge (from The Contino Sessions, 1999)
Sonic Youth v Billy Joel
I Love You Golden Blue (from Sonic Nurse, 2004) v Piano Man (from Piano Man, 1973)
PJ Harvey v Malcolm Ross
The Wind (from Is This Desire?, 1998) v Radio Drill Time (single by Josef K, 1980)
Associates v Edwyn Collins
This is the tie that the TV companies made a mad dash for:-
Keep On Burning (1997)
LCD Soundsystem v New Order
Yeah (Crass Mix) (12″ single, 2004) v Blue Monday (12″ single, 1983)
The Cramps v Shit Robot
I Wanna Get In Your Pants (from Look Mum, No Head, 1991) v I Got A Feeling (from the Cradle to the Rave, 2010)
Deacon Blue v The Wedding Present
The Outsiders (from The Hipsters, 2012) v Always The Quiet One (from Take Fountain, 2005)
The Police v Captain Beefheart
Invisible Sun (from Ghosts In The Machine, 1981) v Circumstances (from Clear Spot, 1972)
The Charlatans v The Mekons
The Only One I Know [acoustic version] (from Warm Sounds EP, 2011) v Teeth (from 7″ EP, 1980)
Saint Etienne v The Sugarplastic
How We Used To Live (from Sound Of Water, 2000) v Don’t Look Down (from The Powderpuff Girls soundtrack, 2000)
Tilly and The Wall v Orange Juice
Falling Without Knowing (from O, 2008) v Felicity (single, 1982)
As I said, get listening and get voting. The next 16 match-ups will be revealed next Saturday- and if you think the above lot were tough, just you wait!
STOP PRESS
With only one tie in the preliminary round, it was possible to declare a result very soon after the final whistle blew on what proved to be a titanic struggle over 60 hours.
The 12 noon kick off on Wednesday clearly suited the American art rockers as they raced into a 10-6 lead following the opening exchanges over the first four hours. The Scots beat combo fought back tenaciously, and shortly after 8pm they took the lead for the first time when DG’s contribution made it 15-14. This only seemed to rile the fans of Byrne & co and by half-time, at 6pm on Thursday, they had opened up a substantial lead with the score being 27-20 in their favour.
The Heads came out after the break looking to kill things off and scored the next three goals; the difference was now 10 and seemed unassailable. The Lobsters, however, came back under the cover of darkness with five unanswered goals between 11pm and 4am – the gap was down to five with only the final third of the game left to play.
The boys from the small town a few miles south-west of Glasgow set about their task and momentum seemed to be on their side and three Friday night goals saw the margin down to just one as we entered the final 60 minutes…..during which, incredibly, nobody added to their tally.
The final whistle brought an enthralling and exciting match to a close with the scoreboard showing :-
Talking Heads 31 Close Lobsters 30
The New Yorkers, despite scoring only one goal in that final third, had managed to hold on. The decisive intervention came at 6.37 pm, with Ian saying ‘Talking Heads. Back of the Net.’ We will be hard pushed to get such a frantic match again in the remainder of the competition….or will we?
The reward for the winners is a home tie against Massive Attack in Week 2 of Round 1. Good luck with that one.
Huge thanks to everyone for such a great response. I hope the interest can keep up over the next 27 Saturdays.
JC
PS : The Saturday Scottish Song was originally posted as planned, but it made for a very long read when combined with the above. I’ve taken it down with a view to re-posting it one day next week….and that will likely be the case for the regular series while the World Cup is in progress.
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 
Love it. Great series
OK I’m going to get in early. But I am devastated by the LCD Soundsystem vs New Order match up. Like asking me if I want cream or custard that I want both.
Anyway in order of those I really want to win
Lemonheads KoD the streets Div Sonic Youth PJ Edwin LCD (just) Shit Robot Wedding Present Charlatans Saint Etienne Tilly.
Swc.
Next up, and with a newly awakened interest in the game I’ll focus on the most interesting matches.
Winners are: Paul Quinn, Talk Talk, PJ Harvey, The Associates, New Order, St Etienne and Orange Juice.
great idea…and surely this round will be a nightmare to work out??
for what its worth: lemonheads / talk talk /PJ Harvey / Edwyn Collins/ New order/Orange Juice
here goes
Lemonheads
Kitchens of distinction
Butcher boy
Feelies
Big Audio Dynamite
Death in Vegas
Sonic Youth
PJ Harvey
Edyn Collins
New Order
The Cramps
Wedding Present
The Police
Mekons
St Etienne
Orange Juice
Already murdering my darlings
This is already difficult.
Spoon.
KOD
Mag Fields
Paul Quinn
BAD
DiV
Sonic Youth
Malcolm Ross
Edwyn
New Order
The Cramps
Wedding Present
Beefheart
Mekons (based on the song choice offered, Charlatans would have won if it had been the single version)
St Etienne
Orange Juice
Lemonheads
Kod
Butcher boy
Paul quinn
Bad
Talk talk
Billy joel (as the original ica was so convincing)
Pj harvey
Edwyn coll
Cramps
New order
Deacon blue (because they will get tanked and deserve a consolation goal)
Police
Mekons
Orange juice
Saint ettiene
Some really tough choices, but that’s the luck of the draw.
Spoon
Kitchens of Distinction
Butcher Boy
Paul Quinn
Big Audio Dynamite (One of the goals of the round nominees)
Death In Vegas
Sonic Youth
Malcolm Ross (a close fought match if ever there was one)
Edwyn Collins (not at his best, but Breakfast was quickly dealt with_
New Order
The Cramps
The Wedding Party
The Police (with their only shot on goal)
The Charlatans
Saint Etienne
Orange Juice (I had Felicity down for scoring the winner in the final)
Lemonheads
Indelicates
Magnetic Fields just beating the plucky underdog
Feelies
Big Audio Dynamite
Talk Talk – on penalties after a turgid 0-0 draw
Sonic Youth
PJ Harvey
Edwyn Collins – after extra time
New Order
Cramps -highest scoring tie of the round
Wedding Present
Police -an instantly forgetable match
Mekons
Superplastics – shock of the round
Orange Juice
Some of the big boys will be bowing out early doors – such is the romance of the cup
Lemonheads
KoD (will I find myself voting against my own contributions? not this time…)
BAD
Talk Talk
Billy Joel (ha! Really!)
PJ Harvey
New Order
Cramps
Wedding Present
Police
Charlatans
Saint Etienne
Orange Juice
The Lemonheads
The Indelicates
Butcher Boy
Paul Quinn
Big Audio Dynamite
Talk Talk
Billy Joel
Edwyn Collins
New Order
The Cramps
Deacon Blue
The Police
The Charlatans
The Sugarplastic
Orange Juice
SC
Winners of First Round Ties:
Spoon
Kitchens Of Distinction
Magnetic Fields
Paul Quinn
Big Audio Dynamite
Talk Talk (a very cerebral match)
Sonic Youth
Malcolm Ross
Associates (a very polite match)
New Order (there were quite a few yellow cards in that one)
Cramps
Deacon Blue
Captain Beefheart
The Mekons
Saint Etienne
Orange Juice
First batch…
Lemonheads
Kitchens Of Distinction
Butcher Boy
The Feelies
Big Audio Dynamite
Talk Talk
Goin’ with:
Spoon
Kitchens Of Distinction
Butcher Boy (because JC personally handed me a treasured BB 7″)
Feelies
B.A.D.
Talk Talk
Sonic Youth (ageism?)
PJ Harvey
Collins
LCD Soundsystem (who are New Order again?)
Cramps
Wedding Present
Police
Mekons
The Sugarplastic
Orange Juice
Lemonheads
Kitchens of Distinction
Magnetic Fields
Feelies
BAD
Death In Vegas
Sonic Youth
PJ Harvey
Edwyn Collins
LCD Soundsystem
Cramps
Wedding Present
Police
Charlatans
Saint Etienne
Orange Juice
Lemonheads
PJ Harvey
Charlatans
The Police
New Order
Orange Juice
The Wedding Present
BAD
Spoon
Kitchens of Distinction
Butcher Boy
The Feelies
BAD
Talk Talk
Sonic Youth
Malcolm Ross
Associates
New Order
The Wedding Present
The Police
The Charlatans
The Sugarplastic
Orange Juice
Missed one… The Cramps
Hey JC
I listened to all of them in order yesterday afternoon – they make a surprisingly good mix – there wasn’t one that was skipped – some tough choices were made but here’s my results…
Lemonheads
Indelicates
Butcher Boy
The Feelies
BAD
Death In Vegas
Sonic Youth
PJ Harvey
Edwin Collins
New Order
Shit Robot
Wedding Present
The Police
The Charlatans
Sugarplastic
Orange Juice
Some of us just don’t have the time to sit down and play a whole load of tunes during the day………..ok, that doesn’t hold for me………here goes:
Spoon.
The Indelicates
The Magnetic Fields
The Feelies
The Streets Death In Vegas
Sonic Youth
PJ Harvey
Edwyn Collins
LCD SOundsystem
The Cramps
The Wedding Present
Captain Beefheart
The Mekons
The Sugarplastic
Orange Juice
Can we have an independent inquiry into the Police vs. Beefheart match, there is surely evidence of massive bribery here to influence what the bookies had as an easy win for The Captain
Lemonheads
Kitchens Of Distinction
Butcher Boy
Paul Quinn
Big Audio Dynamite
Death In Vegas
Sonic Youth
PJ Harvey
Edwyn Collins
New Order
Cramps
Wedding Present
Captain Beefheart
Charlatans
Sugarplastic
Orange Juice
Lemonheads
Kitchens Of Distinction (Bathrooms Of Notable Splendour?)
Butcher Boy
The Feelies
(Discovered The Feelies late last year, so they win at the moment)
Big Audi Dynamite
(BAD vs The Clash may have been a tough tie. As it is against The Streets, BAD romp it)
Talk Talk
Billy Joel
(Piano Man is a brilliant tune, and the short bloke from New York wins it)
PJ Harvey
Associates
New Order
(Blue Monday may be the most obvious, overplayed NO track, but one forgets how good they really were. The track itself may not win, but the history ensures progression)
Cramps
Wedding Present
The Police
(Great band, not as annoying as history and hyperbole would have us believe)
Charlatans
St Etienne
Edwyn Collins
Lemonheads
Indelicates
Butcher Boy (maybe they will regret this stand out performance so early)
The Feelies
BAD
Talk Talk (surprising result but Dirge was a poor performance for me)
Sonic Youth
PJ Harvey
Associates
New Order
Cramps
The Wedding Present
Police (my fav track of theirs)
Charlatans
St Etienne (I know what you said about saint v st)
Orange Juice
What a brilliant concept, mate, congratulations! Alas I was too busy last week and just discovered it, otherwise I’d have voted for The Close Lobsters! Some of the “matches” above could be compared to what we can expect in the ‘real’ world cup later this year, rather boring in fact and you wouldn’t stay up late to watch them anyway, a bit like Serbia vs. Panama, if you know what I mean! Others were just brilliant, nearly in a true Brazil vs. Germany 2014 semi-final – style (game ended 1:7, just in case you forgot …:-)).
Either way, here you are:
Spoon
Indelicates
Butcher Boy
Feelies
B.A.D.
Talk Talk
Sonic Youth
PJ Harvey
E. Collins
New Order
Cramps
Wedding Present
Cpt. Beefheart
Charlatans
St. Etienne
Orange Juice
Very glad to see that The Cramps – at least as per today – clearly seem to be heading towards the final rounds: apparently I have convinced at least a few people with my ICA!
Sorry, add Paul Quinn and Edwyn Collins for me too, please!
Lemonheads
KOD
Butcher Boy
Feelies
B.A.D.
Talk Talk
Sonic Youth
Malcolm Ross
Edwyn Collins
New Order
The Cramps
Wedding Present
Captain Beefheart
Charlatans
Saint Etienne
Orange Juice
Great Idea. First round winners for me.
Spoon
KoD
Butcher Boy
Paul Quinn
BAD
Talk Talk
Sonic Youth
Malcolm Ross
Associates (after extra time)
New Order
Cramps
Deacon Blue
Capt Beefheart
Charlatans
Saint Etienne
Orange Juice
Lemonheads
Kitchens Of Distinction
Butcher Boy
Paul Quinn
Big Audio Dynamite
Talk Talk
Sonic Youth
Malcolm Ross
Associates
New Order
Shit Robot
Wedding Present
Captain Beefheart
Charlatans
Saint Etienne
Orange Juice
Not that difficult, surprisingly apart from St Etienne, don’t like that song so no vote there.
Indelicates
Magnetic Fields
Paul Quinn
The Streets
DiV
Sonic Youth
Pj Harvey
Edwyn
New Order
The Cramps
The Wedding Present
Captain Beefheart
The Charlatans
Orange Juice
Not perhaps the most sensible thing to have sat here and listened to all these straight after returning from a weekend away…
Lemonheads
Kitchens Of Distinction
Butcher Boy
Paul Quinn
Big Audio Dynamite
Talk Talk
Billy Joel (yes – gave Sonic Youth 60 seconds of a tuneless intro before plumping for a pleasant-ish Joel ditty)
Malcolm Ross
Edwyn Collins (really tough call that one)
New Order
Cramps
Wedding Present
Police
Charlatans
Sugarplastic (a rare Saint Etienne tune that I’m not that fussed about causes a shock defeat)
Orange Juice
Lemonheads
Kitchens of Distinction
Butcher Boy
Paul Quinn
BAD
Death in Vegas
Billy Joel (You’ll have to do better than that to beat the mighty Billy)
Josef K (Malcolm)
Edwyn Collins (very tough call)
New Order (playing best track first round, risky strategy)
Cramps
Wedding Present
Police (another leading with best, and only winning track)
Mekons
Saint Etienne
Tilly and the Wall (made easier by Edwyn’s earlier win)
Lemonheads
The Indelicates
Butcher Boy
Paul Quinn
BAD
Talk Talk
Billy Joel
PJ Harvey
Associates
New Order
Cramps
Wedding Present
Police
Charlatans
Saint Etienne
Orange Juice
The Lemonheads
The Streets
Talk Talk
Billy Joel
PJ Harvey
Edwyn Collins
New Order
Deacon Blue
The Police
The Charlatans
Saint Etienne
Orange juice
Deep breath
The Lemonheads
Indelicates
Butcher Boy
BAD
Death in Vegas
Sonic Youth
Malcolm Ross
Edwyn
New Order
Wedding Present
Charlatans
St Etienne
Orange Juice
Missed a couple out where i didnt like either
Spoon
Kitchens of Distinction
Butcher Boy
Paul Quinn
BAD
Talk Talk
Sonic Youth
Malcolm Ross
Associates
New Order
Cramps
Wedding Present
Police
Mekons
Sugarplastic
Orange Juice
Cheers, Jim
Lemonheads
Kitchens of Distinction
Butcher Boy
The Feelies
Big Audio Dynamite
Death in Vegas
Sonic Youth
PJ Harvey
Associates (tough match, very tough….)
(LCD Soundsysten v New Order was a no score draw)
The Cramps
The Wedding Present
Captain Beefheart
The Charlatans
St Etienne
Orange Juice
My votes:
The Lemonheads
Kitchens of Distinction
Butcher Boy
The Feelies
Big Audio Dynamite
Talk Talk
Billy Joel
PJ Harvey
Edwyn Collins
New Order
The Cramps
The Wedding Present
The Police
The Charlatans
Saint Etienne
Orange Juice
Nice. I found a place where my vote matters. Here are the winners:
Spoon
Kitchens of Distinction
The Magnetic Fields
Paul Quinn
The Streets
Talk Talk
Sonic Youth
PJ Harvey
Associates
New Order
The Cramps
The Wedding Present
The Police
The Charlatans
Saint Etienne
Orange Juice
I must apologise – all this football jargon is making this contest very difficult for a non-footballer to follow. I thought we were doing each round one at once (which, admittedly might have taken forever… but I’ve got the time).
Anyway, judging by the above, I presume I’m expected to pick a winner from the battles listed above, so…
Lemonheads
Indelicates
Magnetic Fields
Feelies
Streets
Death In Vegas
BILLY JOEL
PJ Harvey
Edwyn Collins
LCD Sound System
Cramps
Wedding Present
Captain Beefheart
Charlatans
Saint Etienne
Orange Juice
Here goes:
Lemonheads
Kitchens
Butcher Boy (poor MF song made this an easier choice than expected)
Paul Quinn
Streets
DIV
Sonic Youth
Malcolm Ross
Associates
New Order
The Cramps
Weddoes (though DB song was nowhere near as bad as I expected, and might have even enjoyed it!)
Beefheart
Mekons (that Only One I Know version is rubbish, given its a song I’ve long loved)
Saint Etienne
Tilly and The Wall (going with the underdog as it’s the equivalent of an EPL side playing a full strength team v Vanarama Conference)
Cheers Rol.
To do it one contest at a time would have taken a staggering 128 weeks (or more than two and a half years!!)
The plan is to whittle it down quickly from 128 to 64 – this will be done over four weeks. After that, there will be a maximum of four ties per week, and we areon schedule to have the final played 24 hours before the World Cup Final itself,taking place this coming summer in Russia.
Thanks for bearing with me….I know it’s asking a lot of folk to participate on such a grand scale, but that’s why I’m saying that votes don’t need to be cast for all matches – you can go for as few or as little as you like.
The Lemonheads
Kitchens of Distinction
Butcher Boy
The Feelies
Big Audio Dynamite
Talk Talk
Billy Joel (don’t tell anyone I even listened to this)
PJ Harvey
Edwyn Collins
New Order
The Cramps
The Wedding Present
Captain Beefheart
The Mekons
Saint Etienne
Tilly and The Wall
Lemonheads
Kitchens
Paul Quinn
The Streets
DIV
Billy Joel
Malcolm Ross
Associates
New Order
Cramps
TWP
Police
Mekons
Neither
Orange Juice
The Lemonheads
The Indelicates
Butcher Boy
Paul Quinn
BAD
Death In Vegas
Sonic Youth
Josef K
Edwyn Collins
New Order
The Cramps
The Wedding Present
The Police
The Mekons
The Sugarplastic
Tilly And The Wall
Thanks JC – looking forward to the next batch.
Spoon
Kitchens
Butcher Boy
Paul Quinn
The Streets
Death in Vegas
Billy Joel
Malcolm Ross
Associates
New Order
The Cramps
The Wedding Present
The Police
The Mekons
Saint Etienne
Orange Juice
Any votes cast after this comment will not be counted!