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.

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Stowaway World Cup – Group Stages – Games 45-48

Game 45: The Beloved versus Client

1. 1+6. No goal.
2. 4+1. Goal for highest debut position on UK singles chart. This is tricky, as the archives now list the full chart as being 100 positions, whereas it was really 75 at the time both artists debuted. So I’m going to rule this one for The Beloved. 1-0.
3. 4+4. Goal for number of UK top ten hits. 2-0.
4. 1+1. No goal.
5. 2+6. Goal for number of permanent members. One each, so no goal. 2-0.
6. 5+1. No goal.
7. 1+3. No goal.
8. 2+2. Goal for number of studio albums to date. 2-1.
9. 1+6. No goal.
10. 2+1. Goal for most charismatic performer(s). I’ll award this to Client for a controversial 2-2 draw.

Game 46: Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark versus Enigma

1. 6+1. Goal for number of BRIT Award wins. 0-0.
2. 5+6. No goal.
3. 4+3. Goal for highest number of remixes of another artist. OMD have one, so 1-0.
4. 4+3. Re-roll. 5+5. No goal.
5. 2+4. Goal for quality of last album. OMD‘s was pretty good. 2-0.
6. 6+5. Goal for funniest band picture. 2-1.
7. 3+5. No goal.
8. 2+6. Goal for number of permanent members. No goal. 2-1.
9. 1+6. No goal.
10. 1+5. No goal. OMD win 2-1.

Game 47: The Human League versus Ladytron

1. 2+4. Goal for quality of last album. Easy goal for Ladytron. 0-1.
2. 5+5. No goal.
3. 3+4. No goal.
4. 6+5. Goal for funniest band picture. 1-1.
5. 4+2. Goal for most years between first and last hit. 2-1.
6. 3+6. No goal.
7. 1+5. No goal.
8. 3+4. No goal.
9. 2+5. Goal for best artwork. 3-1.
10. 2+6. Goal for number of permanent members. 3-2.

Game 48: The Future Sound of London versus William Orbit

1. 1+1. No goal.
2. 1+5. No goal.
3. 3+3. No goal.
4. 6+2. Goal for highest estimated total sales. Difficult to tell for sure, so no goal.
5. 2+6. Goal for number of permanent members. 1-0.
6. 6+5. Goal for funniest band picture. There aren’t a lot of either, but Orbit can have this one 1-1.
7. 4+1. Goal for highest debut position on UK singles chart. 2-1.
8. 4+1. Re-roll. 1+2. No goal.
9. 6+2. Re-roll. 6+2. Re-roll. 1+6. No goal.
10. 1+4. No goal, so a win for FSOL, 2-1.

Stowaway World Cup – Group Stages – Games 29-32

Game 29: I Monster versus Client

1. 5+3. No goal.
2. 4+4. Goal for number of UK top ten hits. Neither has any, so no goal.
3. 3+6. No goal.
4. 2+2. Goal for number of studio albums to date. I Monster‘s discography isn’t easy to decipher, but I think they have the edge. 1-0.
5. 3+5. No goal.
6. 6+3. Goal for highest number of mentions on blog. 2-0.
7. 2+2. Re-roll. 5+2. No goal.
8. 2+6. Goal for number of permanent members. Client have one, and I’m pretty sure I Monster have two, so 3-0.
9. 6+2. Goal for highest estimated total sales. There’s no real way of confirming this, so I’ll rule this a no-goal.
10. 1+4. No goal. I Monster win 3-0.

Game 30: Air versus Enigma

1. 6+6. A shocking foul at the start of the game! 1+5 tells us that a player is sent off from the right-hand team. That would be Michael Cretu playing dirty for Enigma, and since he’s their only remaining player, the game ends. 0-0, but the referee is awarding the win to Air.

Game 31: Ladytron versus Leftfield

1. 1+2. No goal.
2. 3+3. No goal.
3. 3+6. No goal.
4. 3+4. No goal.
5. 1+1. No goal.
6. 3+6. Still no goal!
7. 5+1. No goal.
8. 2+2. Finally. Goal for number of studio albums to date. 1-0.
9. 5+2. No goal.
10. 6+4. Goal for highest number of search engine results. 1-1. Draw!

Game 32: William Orbit versus The Radiophonic Workshop

1. 2+4. Goal for quality of last album. William Orbit scores! 1-0.
2. 2+5. Goal for best artwork. Some great options for both teams, but I’m going to say 1-1.
3. 1+2. No goal.
4. 5+3. No goal.
5. 4+2. Goal for most years between first and last hit. William Orbit has a few hits, while The Radiophonic Workshop don’t appear to have any (I don’t entirely believe this). 2-1.
6. 3+5. No goal.
7. 3+4. No goal.
8. 6+2. Goal for highest estimated total sales. 3-1.
9. 3+4. No goal.
10. 5+5. No goal. William Orbit wins 3-1.

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 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!

Stowaway World Cup – The Draw

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.

The Enigma House

If you had stumbled upon this blog a couple of decades ago, I imagine you would have found a lot of posts about Michael Cretu, the Romanian-born driving force behind the chillout act Enigma. There’s something about those first three albums, MCMXC a.D. (1990), The Cross of Changes (1993), and Le Roi Est Mort, Vive Le Roi! (1996) that you can’t quite deny makes him a master of his art.

Things started to go a bit wrong after that, though – The Screen Behind the Mirror (2000) is fine, and still has some lovely moments, but it just seems a bit unnecessary. Voyageur (2003) is terrible, A Posteriori (2006) a decent comeback, Seven Lives Many Faces (2008) variable, and I don’t think I’ve ever even bothered to track down The Fall of a Rebel Angel (2016) – I think partly because most purchase options seemed to also require the purchase of a narrated version.

In his sixties now, Cretu has had something of an illustrious career, having left Romania to study in Paris in the 1960s, and then playing keyboards for Boney M‘s megahit Rivers of Babylon in 1978. New wave solo hits followed across Europe over the next decade, but it was the Enigma project which really cemented his legacy, with over 70 million units sold in the thirty years that have followed.

Those sales led to healthy revenues, and Cretu settled on the Spanish Balearic island of Ibiza. Known in the early 1990s as the quintessential trance party island, it also features a stunning hinterland. This was the setting for Cretu’s 3,000 square meter Moroccan-style mansion, at a reported price tag of €18 million ($26 million), which involved shaving three metres of ground off the peak of a hill near Santa Agnès. Construction started in 1996, and was finally completed in 2001, so the then-state-of-the-art A.R.T. Studios, designed by Gunter Wagner and Bernd Steber, is presumably where Voyageur, A Posteriori, and also some side projects were devised and recorded. Contemporary photographs show that it was pretty stunning.

https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m14!1m12!1m3!1d1203.8722290741048!2d1.308329520014409!3d39.034791015487926!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!5e1!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1610390595760!5m2!1sen!2sus

Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be. A new mayor took over in 2003, and started investigations. After years of ongoing legal action, the Spanish supreme court ruled that the property had been built illegally in a conservation area with an illegal building licence, and had to be demolished. Work to remove the property started in May 2009, and it took a matter of weeks to destroy the dream home. Cretu, feeling understandably betrayed, appears to have sold multiple properties on Ibiza and moved to Germany.

He initially fought for compensation, but a criminal case followed in 2013, focusing strongly on the fact that construction was over a considerably larger area than the permit had allowed, and seems to have resulted in a threatened six-month jail sentence for Cretu. This was converted to a fine of €21,600 plus liability for demolition costs, and the mayor and numerous other municipal employees were acquitted. The rubble that now remains on the site is a magnet for urban explorers, who captured this amazing bank of images in late 2016.

The court case seems to have been conclusive, so maybe I’m wrong, but I think it’s hard to take sides in this particular story. Yes, obscene amounts of money were involved, and a building was constructed in a protected area, but it isn’t really clear to me whether Cretu himself knowingly broke any laws. Either way, it was probably fair that he should take responsibility – a property on the site was permitted by the town’s mayor in April 1997, although that permit was very late and for a much smaller property. Someone was definitely up to something fishy, but it’s difficult to say whether it was Cretu himself, or people in his employ colluding with the town mayor. The outcome – a ruined mansion sitting on top of a hillside – doesn’t seem ideal for anybody, so it’s tempting to feel a degree of sympathy for someone who thought they were building a dream.

You can also read more coverage here.

Random jukebox – Enigma

One of the great things about Enigma is their (his) absurdly pretentious videos – sometimes they hit the mark, and other times, they miss spectacularly. I’ll let you make your own mind up about The Eyes of Truth.

Random jukebox – Michael Cretu

I think this is probably my favourite track from Michael Cretu‘s pre-Enigma Die chinesische Mauer album. I chose the German version, because the lyrics are infinitely better – here’s Zinnsoldat: