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.

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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 – 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 – 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.

Random jukebox – Ladytron

There are a couple of versions of the Evil video, but this definitely seems to be the most fun. From Ladytron, a very long time ago:

Greatest Hits – Covid Edition

I’m all too aware that there haven’t been a lot of new reviews around here lately – sorry for that. For now, with the lockdown firmly in place, let’s roll back to some of the reviews from the last couple of years that you might have missed!

• Camouflage – Relocated
• Deep Forest – Made in Japan
• Elektric Music (Karl Bartos) – Esperanto
• Faithless – No Roots
• Gotan Project – La Revancha del Tango
• Joy Division – Unknown Pleasures
• Ladytron – Peel Session – 5 December 2001
• Shit Robot – We Got a Love
• Sparks – Exotic Creatures of the Deep
• Voodoo Child (Moby) – Baby Monkey

Chart for stowaways – Albums 2019

These are the top albums for stowaways for last year:

1. Hot Chip – A Bath Full Of Ecstasy
2. Jean-Michel Jarre – Equinoxe Infinity
3. Ladytron – Ladytron
4. Jean-Michel Jarre – Planet Jarre
5. Sparks – Past Tense – The Best Of
6. The Future Sound of London – My Kingdom (Re-Imagined)
7. Sparks – Gratuitous Sax & Senseless Violins
8. Kylie Minogue – Step Back In Time – The Definitive
9. The Future Sound of London – Yage 2019
10. Dido – Still On My Mind
11. Erasure – Wild!
12. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Ghosteen
13. The Chemical Brothers – No Geography
14. The Radiophonic Workshop – Possum (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
15. Madonna – Madame X
16. Divine Comedy – Office Politics
17. Rammstein – Rammstein
18. The Prodigy – No Tourists
19. Pet Shop Boys – Inner Sanctum
20. Lighthouse Family – Blue Sky In Your Head

Chart for stowaways – Singles 2019

Here are the top singles for 2019:

1. Pet Shop Boys – Agenda EP
2. Frances Barber & Pet Shop Boys – Musik (Original Cast Recording) – EP
3. Hot Chip – Hungry Child
4. Pet Shop Boys feat. Years & Years – Dreamland
5. Ladytron – Horrorscope
6. The Beloved – For Your Love
7. Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark – Almost
8. Marshmello Ft Chvrches – Here With Me
9. Jean-Michel Jarre – Flying Totems
10. The Future Sound of London – Yage
11. Tiësto / Jonas Blue / Rita Ora – Ritual
12. Ladytron – The Animals
13. Sparks – Let’s Go Surfing
14. The Beloved – Your Love Takes Me Higher (Evil Mix) / Awoke
15. Mark Ronson Ft Lykke Li – Late Night Feelings
16. The Radiophonic Workshop – Arrival Home
17. New Order – Ceremony
18. Gesaffelstein Ft Weeknd – Lost In The Fire
19. Tiësto & Mabel – God Is A Dancer
20. The Beloved – It’s Alright Now

Chart for stowaways – 18 May 2019

Continuing with last month’s catch-up from April, here are the albums from mid-May:

1. Jean-Michel Jarre – Equinoxe Infinity
2. Jean-Michel Jarre – Planet Jarre
3. Ladytron – Ladytron
4. Chemical Brothers – No Geography
5. Dido – Still On My Mind
6. Pet Shop Boys – Inner Sanctum
7. John Lennon & Yoko Ono – Wedding Album
8. Maps – Colours Reflect Time Loss
9. Various Artists – Electrospective
10. David Bowie – Pin Ups

Chart for stowaways – 13 April 2019

Time now for a much-belated check-in on the chart for stowaways! Here are the singles from mid-April:

1. Pet Shop Boys – Agenda EP
2. Ladytron – Horrorscope
3. The Beloved – Sweet Harmony
4. Marshmello feat. Chvrches – Here With Me
5. Ladytron – The Animals
6. The Beloved – It’s Alright Now
7. Chemical Brothers – Free Yourself
8. Jean-Michel Jarre – Flying Totems
9. New Order – Ceremony
10. The Beloved – Celebrate Your Life