Stowaway World Cup – Group of 16 – Games 1 & 2

Game 1: Jean-Michel Jarre versus Depeche Mode

The first game after the group stages is a thrilling face-off between two giants, with the winner of Group A taking on the runner-up of Group B.

1. 3+2. No goal.
2. 2+1. Goal for most charismatic performer(s). That’s an early goal for Dave Gahan. 0-1.
3. 6+1. Goal for best song. Enjoy the Silence clinches it. 0-2.
4. 5+6. No goal.
5. 6+1. Foul. 2+3. Penalty for Depeche Mode, but no goal.
6. 5+6. No goal.
7. 5+4. No goal.
8. 1+1. No goal.
9. 3+2. No goal.
10. 2+1. Foul. 5+5. The referee didn’t see it, whatever happened. Depeche Mode win 0-2, and progress to the quarter finals.

Game 2: Kylie Minogue versus Madonna and Yazoo

The Australian goddess takes on the bizarre supergroup of Madonna and Yazoo.

1. 3+4. No goal.
2. 2+2. No goal.
3. 1+1. No goal.
4. 1+5. No goal.
5. 5+3. No goal.
6. 3+1. No goal.
7. 4+5. Goal for most hits on UK album chart. Kylie has 30 and Madonna has 28, but it looks as though the reissues bring them to around 27 each. Yazoo‘s 3 could be added on to give them a slight edge, but that seems a bit unfair too. Referee rules no goal.
8. 3+5. No goal.
9. 2+3. Goal for highest number of views of a post on this blog. Yazoo to the rescue, with 210 views for the review of Only Yazoo. 0-1.
10. 6+4. Another last minute goal. Goal for worst performance in previous games. This was added to help the underdog from time to time, but there really isn’t one here. Kylie won every game so far, whereas Madonna and Yazoo lost to Jean-Michel Jarre in the first game of the tournament, so that clinches a win for the supergroup. 0-2.

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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 33-36

Game 33: Jean-Michel Jarre versus Little Boots

1. 6+3. Goal for highest number of mentions on blog. Early lead for Jarre. 1-0.
2. 4+2. Goal for most years between first and last hit. 2-0.
3. 3+4. No goal.
4. 4+3. Goal for highest number of remixes of another artist. 2-1.
5. 5+1. No goal.
6. 1+1. No goal.
7. 5+1. No goal.
8. 5+3. No goal.
9. 6+3. Re-roll. 3+2. No goal.
10. 2+1. Goal for most charismatic performer(s). Very tough, especially at this stage in the game. I think Little Boots clinches this one. 2-2.

Game 34: Depeche Mode versus Kylie Minogue

1. 4+2. Goal for most years between first and last hit. Interesting. Depeche Mode can boast 1981-2013, while Kylie has 1988-2021, so a very slight goal for Kylie. 0-1.
2. 6+4. Goal for highest number of search engine results. This is so close (15.6-15.8 million) so I’m going to rule no goal.
3. 5+6. No goal.
4. 3+2. No goal.
5. 5+3. No goal.
6. 1+5. No goal.
7. 1+5. No goal.
8. 3+4. No goal.
9. 5+2. No goal.
10. 2+4. Goal for quality of last album. Depeche Mode‘s wasn’t great, and I haven’t heard Kylie Minogue‘s, so this has to be no goal. Kylie wins 0-1 in a shock result, taking the lead in Group B.

Game 35: Erasure versus Shit Robot

1. 3+6. No goal.
2. 4+2. Goal for most years between first and last hit. Erasure take a lead 1-0.
3. 4+3. Goal for highest number of remixes of another artist. Since Vince Clarke chose to play for Erasure, he takes a clear goal here. 2-0.
4. 2+1. Goal for most charismatic performer(s). Andy Bell FTW. 3-0.
5. 6+5. Goal for funniest band picture. Tough. Honestly, it could go either way, but since it’s unlikely to change the result of this game I’ll call this no goal.
6. 1+5. No goal.
7. 3+6. No goal.
8. 3+3. No goal.
9. 4+5. Goal for number of UK hit albums. 4-0.
10. 1+3. No goal. Erasure win comfortably, confirming the lead of their group and knocking Shit Robot out of the competition. 4-0.

Game 36: Goldfrapp versus Bent

1. 1+2. No goal.
2. 4+1. Goal for highest debut position on UK singles chart. Astonishingly, Human and Swollen tie at number 87 (just two weeks apart in March 2001), so no goal.
3. 5+6. No goal.
4. 5+3. No goal.
5. 1+6. No goal.
6. 4+5. Goal for number of UK hit albums. 1-0 to Goldfrapp.
7. 3+6. No goal.
8. 1+4. No goal.
9. 5+2. No goal.
10. 5+3. No goal. Tight win for Goldfrapp there, 1-0, but I think this unfortunately means that neither progresses to the group of 16.

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 17-20

Game 17: Jean-Michel Jarre versus Delerium / Front Line Assembly / Conjure One

1. 1+2. No goal.
2. 4+5. Goal for number of UK hit albums. Easy goal for Jarre. 1-0.
3. 5+3. No goal.
4. 3+2. No goal.
5. 4+6. Goal for total weeks on UK album chart. Jarre again. 2-0.
6. 4+1. Goal for highest debut position on UK singles chart. Surprising goal for Delerium, who peaked at number 3 with Silence. 2-1.
7. 5+3. No goal.
8. 3+6. No goal.
9. 3+2. No goal.
10. 5+2. No goal. Win for Jean-Michel Jarre, 2-1.

Game 18: Depeche Mode versus Sparks

1. 1+5. No goal.
2. 4+5. Goal for number of UK hit albums. Sparks have a lot more albums, but a big gap in their chart history. 1-0.
3. 5+4. No goal.
4. 5+4. No goal.
5. 3+5. No goal.
6. 4+1. Goal for highest debut position on UK singles chart. Wow, Sparks equalise, having started their career at number 48. 1-1.
7. 3+6. No goal.
8. 4+6. Goal for total weeks on UK album chart. 2-1.
9. 6+2. Goal for highest estimated total sales. Has to be the Mode. 3-1.
10. 2+5. Goal for best artwork. Tricky, as both have some epic wins and some epic fails. I’ll award it to Depeche Mode, for Violator. 4-1.

Game 19: Erasure versus Saint Etienne

1. 1+6. No goal.
2. 3+2. No goal.
3. 4+4. Goal for number of UK top ten hits. Goal for Erasure. 1-0.
4. 6+2. Goal for highest estimated total sales. Goal for Erasure. 2-0.
5. 6+3. Goal for highest number of mentions on blog. Another for Erasure. 3-0.
6. 6+2. We’ve had that before, so let’s throw again. 3+2. No goal.
7. 3+6. No goal.
8. 6+5. Goal for funniest band picture. Another goal for Erasure. 4-0.
9. 3+4. No goal.
10. 4+5. Goal for number of UK hit albums. An outstanding win for Erasure. 5-0.

Game 20: Goldfrapp versus Kraftwerk

1. 2+4. Goal for quality of last album. Kraftwerk‘s last wasn’t a fan favourite, but I think it was easily better than Goldfrapp‘s. 0-1.
2. 6+1. Goal for number of BRIT Award wins. Goldfrapp were nominated once, but no goal.
3. 6+4. Goal for highest number of search engine results. Easy goal for Kraftwerk. 0-2.
4. 4+4. Goal for number of UK top ten hits. Goldfrapp have three. 1-2.
5. 1+2. No goal.
6. 2+4. We’ve had before, so re-roll. 2+4. Same. 3+1. No goal.
7. 3+2. No goal.
8. 5+3. No goal.
9. 1+3. No goal.
10. 1+1. No goal. Kraftwerk win 1-2.

Stowaway World Cup – Group Stages – Games 1-4

Game 1: Jean-Michel Jarre versus Madonna and Yazoo

1. 3+2. No goal.
2. 4+1. Goal for debut position on UK singles chart. Jean-Michel Jarre entered at number 22, Madonna entered at 53, and Yazoo entered at 72, so Jean-Michel Jarre leads 1-0.
3. 3+2. No goal.
4. 6+2. Goal for selling price of rarest item. Jean-Michel Jarre‘s single-copy Musique pour Supermarché sold for 10,500 Euros in 1983, which seems to trump anything I can find by the other two. Jean-Michel Jarre leads 2-0.
5. 6+3. Goal for highest number of mentions on blog. At the time of writing, Jean-Michel Jarre had 227 posts, Madonna had 59, and Yazoo had 50. Jean-Michel Jarre leads 3-0.
6. 5+3. No goal.
7. 5+5. No goal.
8. 2+2. Goal for number of studio albums to date. Jean-Michel Jarre just released his 23rd, Madonna has 14, and Yazoo had just two. Jean-Michel Jarre is now leading 4-0 in this “thrilling” game.
9. 2+1. Goal for most charismatic performer(s). Tricky. Jarre has lasers and citywide spectaculars, but Madonna seems to put on a good show too. It probably has to be Jean-Michel Jarre, putting him up to 5-0.
10. 5+5. No goal. Jarre wins 5-0.

Game 2: Depeche Mode versus Everything But The Girl

1. 6+6. Foul, decided by another dice roll. 6+2. Goal for selling price of rarest item. Depeche Mode‘s was $3,392.87, which seems to trump anything by Everything But The Girl. Depeche Mode lead 1-0.
2. 2+2. Goal for number of studio albums to date. Depeche Mode lead 2-0.
3. 1+5. No goal.
4. 5+5. No goal.
5. 1+5. No goal.
6. 6+6. Another foul! The higher die in the next pair is playing dirty! 5+6. So Ben Watt is sent off.
7. 3+6. No goal.
8. 6+5. Goal for funniest band picture. Depeche Mode win hands down, taking their lead to 3-0.
9. 3+4. No goal.
10. 2+6. Goal for number of permanent members. Depeche Mode have three, whereas EBTG have two, one of whom was sent off, so Depeche Mode win conclusively, 4-0.

Game 3: Erasure versus Massive Attack

1. 3+1. No goal.
2. 5+3. No goal.
3. 6+2. Goal for selling price of rarest item. I couldn’t find much of note for either, so we’ll call this no goal, and from now on we’ll replace this with a new goal category.
4. 2+2. Goal for number of studio albums to date. Goal for Erasure. 1-0.
5. 5+4. No goal.
6. 5+4. No goal.
7. 6+3. Goal for highest number of mentions on blog. Goal for Erasure. 2-0.
8. 5+6. No goal.
9. 6+2, which we’ve had before, so 2+6. Goal for number of permanent members. Well, Erasure have only ever had two, whereas Massive Attack have evolved a lot over time. Wikipedia thinks that only 3D is a permanent member, so goal for Erasure. 3-0.
10. 6+4. Goal for highest number of search engine results. I quoted their names and added “band”, so I got 14.2m for Erasure and 1.3m for Massive Attack. Another goal for Erasure. 4-0.

Game 4: Goldfrapp versus Hot Chip

1. 4+1. Goal for debut position on UK singles chart. Goldfrapp had some early minor hits, at 87 and 62, while Hot Chip didn’t even manage to chart with the singles from their first album, so their debut was Over and Over at number 32. Hot Chip lead 0-1.
2. 1+5. No goal.
3. 4+3. Goal for number of UK #1s. Neither has any, so no goal.
4. 2+4. Goal for quality of last album. Goldfrapp have been struggling recently, so goal for Hot Chip. 0-2.
5. 5+6. No goal.
6. 6+6. 3+3. We’ll have to send someone off from both teams.
7. 3+3. No goal.
8. 2+1. Goal for most charismatic performer(s). Very tough, but while Hot Chip are great, they aren’t exactly charismatic. 1-2.
9. 3+4. No goal.
10. 6+6. 2+3. Goal for quality of first album. Clear win for Felt Mountain over Coming On Strong. 2-2, so that’s our first draw!

So that’s it for day 1 – three very decisive wins, and one draw. Let’s see what day 2 holds!

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.

Chart for stowaways – February 2021

The singles have barely changed since Christmas, except for a slight peppering of oldies, but here they go anyway:

1. Tiësto – The Business
2. Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark – Enola Gay
3. Riton/Nightcrawlers/Mufasa – Friday
4. Pet Shop Boys – West End Girls
5. The Future Sound of London – Cascade
6. David Bowie – Mother
7. Jean-Michel Jarre – Oxygène (Part 10)
8. Grace – Not Over Yet
9. Depeche Mode – Master and Servant
10. Sparks – The Number One Song in Heaven

Preview – Jean-Michel Jarre

Like buses, Jean-Michel Jarre albums have seemed to come in threes in recent years. Having started the new year at a virtual Notre Dame Cathedral and his Welcome to the Other Side concert, he now returns with a studio album, Amazônia. It’s based around a photographic exhibit by Sebastião Salgado, and uses samples of Amazonian sounds and voices. There’s a sample below.

https://player.vimeo.com/video/527203238