OK, time for the all-important draw. Pot A consists of the top 8 artists by mentions on this blog:
- Pet Shop Boys
- Depeche Mode
- Jean-Michel Jarre
- Röyksopp
- Erasure
- New Order
- David Bowie
- Goldfrapp
Pot B consists of the next eight, except that Moby is busy getting vegan tattoos, so won’t be taking part this year. Delerium, Front Line Assembly, and Conjure One are pretty much the same people anyway, so they have formed a single team together.
- Saint Etienne
- Kraftwerk
- Sparks
- Delerium / Front Line Assembly / Conjure One
- The Human League
- Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
- The Future Sound of London
- The Beloved
Pot C sees a few disqualifications, with Vince Clarke taking part as part of Erasure, and Martin L. Gore playing for Depeche Mode:
- Air
- Little Boots
- Massive Attack
- Kylie Minogue
- I Monster
- William Orbit
- Ladytron
- Hot Chip
Finally, Pot D sees Dave Gahan disqualified for being part of Depeche Mode, plus U2 and Coldplay disqualified for not being very good. Yazoo formed a team with Madonna, for no particularly good reason.
- Madonna and Yazoo
- The Radiophonic Workshop
- Leftfield
- Everything But The Girl
- Shit Robot
- Client
- Enigma
- Bent
After the draw, the eight groups look like this:
- Group A: Jean-Michel Jarre, Delerium / Front Line Assembly / Conjure One, Little Boots, Madonna and Yazoo
- Group B: Depeche Mode, Sparks, Kylie Minogue, Everything But The Girl
- Group C: Erasure, Saint Etienne, Massive Attack, Shit Robot
- Group D: Goldfrapp, Kraftwerk, Hot Chip, Bent
- Group E: Pet Shop Boys, The Beloved, I Monster, Client
- Group F: Röyksopp, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Air, Enigma
- Group G: David Bowie, The Human League, Ladytron, Leftfield
- Group H: New Order, The Future Sound of London, William Orbit, The Radiophonic Workshop
So the first game will be Jean-Michel Jarre versus Madonna and Yazoo, in a couple of days’ time.
Music for stowaways 