Chart for stowaways – April 2021

Some very old oldies clogged up the chart in April – here are the singles from midway through the month:

1. Tiësto – The Business
2. Riton/Nightcrawlers/Mufasa – Friday
3. Pet Shop Boys – West End Girls
4. Morrissey & David Bowie – Cosmic Dancer
5. Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark – Enola Gay
6. William Orbit – Barber’s Adagio for Strings
7. Alesso & Armin Van Buuren – Leave A Little Love
8. White Town – Wanted
9. New Order – Blue Monday
10. Moby – Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?

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Stowaway World Cup – Quarter Final 4

Now we reach the last of our quarter finals, where David Bowie meets New Order. Both teams walked the group stages, and both teams led their last stage match by three goals. So both are very strong contenders – which of them will progress? Here’s the first half:

1. 2+5. Early goal attempt. Goal for best artwork. The referee rules that this has to be Music Complete. 0-1.
2. 3+4. No goal.
3. 2+4. Goal for quality of last album. Music Complete again. 0-2.
4. 4+2. Goal for most single releases. 1-2.
5. 2+5. Foul. 5+2. Penalty and a chance to equalise for David Bowie, which misses.

So, an aggressive first half for goal scoring, with New Order slightly ahead at half time. Let’s see what happens now in the second half:

1. 5+6. No goal.
2. 2+1. Goal for most charismatic performer(s). Tough. Very tough. I think we have to hand this to Bowie. 2-2.
3. 1+4. No goal.
4. 5+2. No goal.
5. 6+4. Goal for worst performance in previous games. This one keeps coming up, and will decide this match. The referee rules that it’s New Order, who scored considerably fewer goals in the group stages, while conceding only one less.

Was the referee biased? Maybe. New Order progress to the semi-finals, where they will meet Pet Shop Boys in a couple of days’ time.

Stowaway World Cup – Week 3

After the relative excitement of Erasure versus Kraftwerk yesterday, this seems a good time to take a quick breather. The last week has seen us work through the group of 16 and half of the quarter finals, so we now know half of our semi-finalists. We’ve had a number of shocks and surprises, and there are two quarter finals left:

1. Pet Shop Boys versus Air, which will be played tomorrow
2. David Bowie versus New Order, coming up on Wednesday

So this is what the semi-finals look like right now:

1. Depeche Mode versus Erasure, which will be on Thursday
2. Pet Shop Boys or Air, versus David Bowie or New Order, on Friday

Hopefully Depeche Mode‘s match against Erasure won’t involve another penalty shoot-out, as Erasure‘s last two games have been thrilling, nail-biting, events. Would have been, anyway, if this contest were actually of any interest to anybody.

Saturday will see the battle for third and fourth place, and the all-unimportant final is this Sunday. So let’s enter the last week of this “thrilling” competition, and see how it all pans out.

Stowaway World Cup – Group of 16 – Games 7 & 8

Game 7: David Bowie versus The Future Sound of London

Surely Bowie has to be the favourite – he decisively led Group G, and plays the runner-up of Group H here.

1. 5+1. No goal.
2. 3+4. No goal.
3. 4+2. Goal for most single releases. 1-0.
4. 2+2. No goal.
5. 4+5. Goal for most hits on UK album chart. 2-0.
6. 4+5. Foul. 5+3. David Bowie is awarded a penalty, and scores! 3-0.
7. 5+3. No goal.
8. 5+5. No goal.
9. 3+5. No goal.
10. 1+2. No goal. Bowie wins decisively, again, 3-0.

Game 8: New Order versus The Human League

Two behemoths of 80s music, the winner of Group H and runner-up of Group G.

1. 6+2. Goal for best album. That’s probably Music Complete or Secrets. 1-0.
2. 4+1. Goal for most weeks on UK single chart. Blue Monday helped a lot. 2-0.
3. 4+2. Goal for most single releases. 3-0.
4. 1+2. No goal.
5. 3+3. No goal.
6. 5+5. No goal.
7. 5+6. No goal.
8. 4+6. Goal for most weeks on UK album chart. Dare decides this late goal for The Human League. 3-1.
9. 2+3. Goal for highest number of views of a post on this blog. That’s New Order, scoring again with the post about their 1988 Demos (590 views). 4-1.
10. 3+1. No goal. Easy win for New Order, 4-1.

Stowaway World Cup – Week 2

So, we reach the end of the group stages, in this entirely pointless competition. There were a few surprises. Group A saw Jean-Michel Jarre and Madonna and Yazoo advance. Group B was led by Kylie Minogue and Depeche Mode, while Sparks crashed out without a single win. Group C was led by Erasure and Massive Attack, and Group D by Kraftwerk and Goldfrapp. Group E saw The Beloved knocked out, with Pet Shop Boys and I Monster leading the pack. Group F was led by Air and Röyksopp, with OMD and Enigma knocked out. Group G was led by David Bowie and The Human League, and Group H by New Order and The Future Sound of London.

So those are the Group of 16, with some tricky games coming up this week, and at the end of this week we’ll also enter the all-unexciting quarter finals. So it’s a good time for some tweaks to the rules for the remainder of the competition.

Going forward:

1. You need an outright win – no more draws. We’ll have 4 throws of extra time, followed by penalties.
2. 6+6 is no longer a foul. Instead, a repeated throw is a foul, but only if it was going to be a goal attempt. If it’s a pair, we’ll ignore it, but if not, the foul was committed by the higher-scoring side (left = left team, right = right team). If the sum of the dice is even, it’s a scored penalty.
3. To reduce the number of goal chances, any double throws are no goal from now on.
4. Most of the goal-scoring categories will change to a new set of spurious deciders.

Stowaway World Cup – Group Stages – Games 37-40

Game 37: Pet Shop Boys versus I Monster

1. 5+6. No goal.
2. 2+4. Goal for quality of last album. Easy goal for Pet Shop Boys. 1-0.
3. 1+3. No goal.
4. 1+3. No goal.
5. 5+4. No goal.
6. 4+6. Goal for total weeks on UK album chart. 2-0.
7. 5+2. No goal.
8. 2+4. Re-roll. 2+4. Re-roll. 5+5. No goal.
9. 4+4. Goal for number of UK top ten hits. 3-0.
10. 2+4. Re-roll. 5+2. No goal. Pet Shop Boys win 3-0.

Game 38: Röyksopp versus Air

1. 2+2. Goal for number of studio albums to date. 0-1.
2. 4+2. Goal for most years between first and last hit. Röyksopp can claim 2001-2014, and Air just 1998-2004. 1-1.
3. 6+4. Goal for highest number of search engine results. Air cheat a bit by having such a common name, and I couldn’t really get the results down to a sensible number, so we’ll say no goal.
4. 3+3. No goal.
5. 4+3. Goal for highest number of remixes of another artist. Looks likely to be Röyksopp, so 2-1.
6. 2+6. Goal for number of permanent members. No goal.
7. 6+1. Goal for number of BRIT Award wins. No goal.
8. 3+3. No goal.
9. 1+6. No goal.
10. 5+2. No goal. Röyksopp sneak a 2-1 win over the leaders of their group.

Game 39: David Bowie versus Leftfield

1. 5+1. No goal.
2. 1+6. No goal.
3. 6+1. Goal for number of BRIT Award wins. 1-0.
4. 4+2. Goal for most years between first and last hit. 2-0.
5. 1+2. No goal.
6. 5+5. No goal.
7. 2+3. Goal for quality of first album. Easy goal for Leftfield. 2-1.
8. 6+1. Re-roll. 4+6. Goal for total weeks on UK album chart. 3-1.
9. 4+5. Goal for number of UK hit albums. 4-1.
10. 1+6. No goal. Bowie, undefeated in his group, wins 4-1.

Game 40: New Order versus The Radiophonic Workshop

1. 6+2. Goal for highest estimated total sales. 1-0.
2. 2+5. Goal for best artwork. New Order, for Music Complete and probably various others. 2-0.
3. 1+3. No goal.
4. 1+5. No goal.
5. 5+2. No goal.
6. 4+2. Goal for most years between first and last hit. 3-0.
7. 1+2. No goal.
8. 1+2. No goal.
9. 2+6. Goal for number of permanent members. Since The Radiophonic Workshop has been something of a revolving door, this is likely New Order, but it would be near-impossible to verify. Since it won’t make a difference to the result, we’ll rule this to be no goal.
10. 6+1. Goal for number of BRIT Award wins. New Order, with one. They win 4-0.

Stowaway World Cup – Week 1

So we reach the half way point of the group stages, and we’ve already had a lot of surprises. I’m sure you won’t have missed them in all the excitement, but just in case, here’s a recap.

Group A

The group is currently firmly led by Jean-Michel Jarre, with the Delerium / Front Line Assembly / Conjure One supergroup as runners-up, but any of the teams could still qualify.

Group B

Depeche Mode are well ahead, and after two disappointing losses for Sparks and a surprise win for Kylie Minogue, the latter currently looks likely to sneak into the group of sixteen.

Group C

Erasure have a strong lead, with Saint Etienne just holding onto second place, but with a game in hand.

Group D

Kraftwerk lead with two strong wins, and Hot Chip are currently holding onto second place after drawing against Goldfrapp in their first game.

Group E

Pet Shop Boys are leading, and after two dirty games from The Beloved, I Monster currently hold the runner-up spot.

Group F

Big surprises here. The favourites are currently right at the bottom of the table, with Enigma in first place, Air in second, and Röyksopp and OMD in third and fourth.

Group G

David Bowie is comfortably leading, with The Human League in second place.

Group H

New Order lead, with The Future Sound of London in second.

Stowaway World Cup – Group Stages – Games 21-24

Game 21: Pet Shop Boys versus The Beloved

1. 2+5. Goal for best artwork. Happiness is particularly good, but it’s not Mark Farrow. 1-0.
2. 5+3. No goal.
3. 4+2. Goal for most years between first and last hit. 2-0.
4. 3+1. No goal.
5. 6+6. That’s a foul. 2+5. Would be a penalty, but we’ve had that throw before, so one of the right-hand team is sent off. That’s Jon Marsh from The Beloved. As we mentioned last time he was sent off, he’s currently the only member, so the game is a win for Pet Shop Boys. 2-0.

Game 22: Röyksopp versus Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark

1. 3+6. No goal.
2. 2+1. Goal for most charismatic performer(s). Interesting call. Slight goal for OMD. 0-1.
3. 5+2. No goal.
4. 1+3. No goal.
5. 6+2. Goal for highest estimated total sales. 0-2.
6. 2+3. Goal for quality of first album. That would probably be Melody AM, by a slight margin. 1-2.
7. 6+3. Goal for highest number of mentions on blog. 2-2.
8. 3+5. No goal.
9. 1+4. No goal.
10. 3+6. No goal. That’s a 2-2 draw.

Game 23: David Bowie versus The Human League

1. 4+4. Goal for number of UK top ten hits. Easy goal for Bowie. 1-0.
2. 6+1. Goal for number of BRIT Award wins. Also Bowie. 2-0.
3. 3+1. No goal.
4. 1+5. No goal.
5. 6+5. Goal for funniest band picture. Has to just be Bowie. 3-0.
6. 1+5. No goal.
7. 5+1. No goal.
8. 4+3. Goal for highest number of remixes of another artist. I’m going to say no goal. 3-0.
9. 4+1. Goal for highest debut position on UK singles chart. That’s Bowie again. 4-0.
10. 2+2. Goal for number of studio albums to date. Huge, easy win for Bowie. 5-0.

Game 24: New Order versus The Future Sound of London

1. 2+6. Goal for number of permanent members. New Order have held on to two, while FSOL have only ever had two. No goal.
2. 1+5. No goal.
3. 6+4. Goal for highest number of search engine results. New Order score. 1-0.
4. 2+6. Re-roll. 5+3. No goal.
5. 5+3. No goal.
6. 6+1. Goal for number of BRIT Award wins. New Order have just one. 2-0.
7. 6+2. Goal for highest estimated total sales. 3-0.
8. 1+4. No goal.
9. 1+6. No goal.
10. 2+3. Goal for quality of first album. Slight goal, but much too late in the game, for The Future Sound of London. 3-1.

Stowaway World Cup – Group Stages – Games 5-8

Game 5: Pet Shop Boys versus Client

1. 3+1. No goal.
2. 5+4. No goal.
3. 6+3. Goal for highest number of mentions on blog. Clear goal for Pet Shop Boys. 1-0.
4. 3+3. No goal.
5. 3+2. No goal.
6. 5+4. No goal.
7. 4+6. Goal for total weeks on UK album chart. 2-0.
8. 4+2. Goal for years between first and last hit. 3-0.
9. 6+2. Goal for estimated total sales. 4-0.
10. 1+2. No goal, but an easy win for Pet Shop Boys.

Game 6: Röyksopp versus Enigma

1. 6+1. Goal for number of BRIT Award wins. Neither has any, so no goal.
2. 6+1. Goal for number of BRIT Award wins. Since we’ve had this twice, let’s say that since Röyksopp were nominated and Enigma weren’t, we’ll tweak the rules and call this 1-0.
3. 4+2. Goal for years between first and last hit. Röyksopp had their first in late 2001, and their last in 2014, so 13 years. Enigma can claim 1990 to 2000, so just 11. 2-0.
4. 6+5. Goal for funniest band picture. Tricky – Michael Cretu from Enigma had some pretty tragic hair in the 1980s, whereas all of Röyksopp‘s silly pictures seem to be intentional. 2-1.
5. 2+3. Goal for quality of first album. That would be Melody AM versus MCMXC a.d. Very tough. Let’s give it to Enigma, so 2-2.
6. 2+2. Goal for number of studio albums to date. Tight goal for Enigma. 2-3.
7. 2+4. Goal for quality of last album. Enigma have been in decline recently, so that’s an equaliser for Röyksopp. 3-3.
8. 6+1. Third time, so let’s throw again. 6+6. Foul! 2+2. Goal for number of studio albums to date, which we’ve also had before. 4-6. Goal for total weeks on UK album chart. Very close, but another tight goal for Enigma. 2-4.
9. 6+6. Another foul. This is getting silly, so I’m blowing the whistle on this game. 2-4 to Enigma.

Game 7: David Bowie versus Ladytron

1. 2+3. Goal for quality of first album. I’m sure some people like Bowie’s first album, but probably not many. Early goal for Ladytron. 0-1.
2. 1+4. No goal.
3. 5+1. No goal.
4. 3+5. No goal.
5. 5+2. No goal.
6. 5+6. No goal.
7. 4+1. Goal for debut position on UK singles chart. Space Oddity entered at number 48 in September 1969, while Ladytron have barely ever had a hit that big. Equaliser for Bowie. 1-1.
8. 4+3. Goal for number of UK #1s. Easy goal for David Bowie. 2-1.
9. 4+4. Goal for number of UK top ten hits. 3-1.
10. 2+5. Goal for best artwork. They’ve both had some hits and misses. Let’s call that a missed goal. Bowie wins 3-1, and since we had so many chart-related goals this time, I’m going to remove one from the future list.

Game 8: New Order versus William Orbit

1. 5+4. No goal.
2. 3+6. No goal.
3. 4+4. Goal for number of UK top ten hits. Easy goal for New Order. 1-0.
4. 5+5. No goal.
5. 3+5. No goal.
6. 1+2. No goal.
7. 6+6. Foul. 1+5. William Orbit is sent off, and now has no players left, so the game is over. 1-0.

Stowaway World Cup – Start of Play

So, as of yesterday’s post, we know how the groups are looking. The upcoming week will see four games per day, so in a week’s time we should be starting to have a feel for how the results are starting to shape up.

As a reminder, we’re about to start the group stages, with eight groups:

• Group A, with Jean-Michel Jarre as favourite, but any of the other three could qualify
• Group B, a competitive group containing Depeche Mode, Sparks, and Kylie Minogue
• Group C, another competitive group with Erasure, Saint Etienne, and Massive Attack
• Group D, with Goldfrapp, Kraftwerk, and Hot Chip
• Group E, with Pet Shop Boys and three other strong contenders
• Group F, with Röyksopp, OMD, Air, and Enigma
• Group G, with David Bowie and The Human League
• Group H, with New Order and three other strong teams

The excitement begins (and potentially also ends) tomorrow. Stay tuned!