Ultimate 80s Poll - Knockout Round Results
The full knock-out results are here!
The group stage results are here
The first Knock-Out Round - 64 have become 32.
The 16 Group Winners v the 16 Group Runners Up
Analysis
The Casualties:
Notorious only had three surviving tracks from the group stage - and they were all knocked out.
Big Thing and Seven and the Ragged Tiger have only one survivor each. This means only one post-85 song survives.
Rio succumbed in a big-beast battle with its album cousin.
7 singles were knocked out (though two of them were against other singles).
Marching On
14 of the 16 group winners qualified
The Rio album tracks, The Chauffeur, Hold Back The Rain and New Religion are the strong favourites, but could be drawn together now that it is a free-draw in the remaining rounds.
Election Day performed well, as did Late Bar (55%).
Friends of Mine and Seventh Stranger are both well-received songs dug back out for the recent mini US tour.
Only 7 of the 16 survivors were singles (including Election Day) with one of them being a failure (Careless Memories).
32 has become 16...
The Round of 16, a random draw for the right to go through to the Quarter Final.
Analysis
It was close, but an all-1981/82 quarter-final was avoided at the last by the success of Wild Boys and Election Day.
The two (strong) remaining b-sides fell at this hurdle, as did the sole remnants of Seven and The Ragged Tiger and Big Thing. 'Big Beast' A View To A Kill was not even a close match for an album track from Rio.
The three strong favourites, The Chauffeur, Hold Back The Rain and New Religion, were all drawn apart in this round, giving them a clear run to the QF.
There was a fair Twitter storm about whether Late Bar was just a Duranie hipsters' choice. CL's resident thorn-in-the-side Ruth Galvin merrily waded in: "There’s something else gong on here, and it’s not honest appraisal. Nostalgia, dare I say a little bit of fan elitism for folks who know their deep cuts? Because of the disproportionate performance of b-sides in this poll, because I’ve been reading forums for years and I see the fan dynamics. Ridiculous “willie waving” of knowledge."
There was bite-back. All Tomorrow's Parties countered that "You seem to be assuming that people who prefer b-sides, or lesser works as you call them, over A-sides or hits don't have good taste. That's elitism."
Bittersweet Machines said: "I get the point. Late Bar captures our favourite band at the beginning of their journey and because it’s a B-Side it’s like a secret gift for those pure of DD heart. It represents something more than it is."
Melissa Mihali offered another view: "I’ve always liked Late Bar. Especially like playing the live version loud on hot summer days with windows rolled down. Guys can’t figure what band that rocking guitar is from, but they smile at you."
CL's resident voice-of-reason C.K. Shortell added: "Can I offer a different perspective? What if people are just sick of the hits and that influences their voting? After hearing the ‘81-‘85 hits for 30+ years now - from the radio to MTV to our Walkmans and CDs and iTunes and concerts- can we objectively rate them anymore? I will never forget the first time I heard Save a Prayer on the radio in 1982. Pure magic. Have never felt that way about a song since, but would kill to. And yet, now I have to force myself to recall that, and I’m sticking Box Full O’ Honey and What Happens Tomorrow in my playlists instead "
However, he also went on to add, "Of course, The Chauffeur kinda kills my theory. Have always viewed it as the worst song on Rio - then, now, and forever more!"
The question of Election Day's legitimacy to be in this Ultimate Duran '80s poll is also now being raised... This may be questioned further if it makes the semi-final...
After the drama of the Round of 16, the quarter finals passed off relatively peacefully. Planet Earth ran Hold Back The Rain close - for a while. the others ran away with it. Save A Prayer was fortunate to survive the last two rounds, but cruised through this one.
The draw was kind to Rio by keeping their four tracks apart, and maybe that is for the best. Whilst diversity makes a play-list, a tournament wants the most popular fighting it out. The others had their chance.
The interesting thing to note is that Hold Back The Rain never featured at all in the Cherry Lipstick Reader's Polls of the 1990s. Save A Prayer was the favoured '80s song back then. Will it win this time?
The Semi-finals saw The Chauffeur take on New Religion which would probably have been a favoured final. It was the toughest test for The Chauffeur which is passed pretty easily in the end.
The other semi saw Hold Back The Rain ultimately hold off Save Prayer in a very close contest. So the track that never featured in the CL polls of the 1990s hurtled itself from the pack to be the 2 of the starting 64 to make the final.
Friends of Mine returned to just pip Planet Earth to the title of Best Of The Rest (or 'Best Not-Rio Track').
Both the remaining match-ups were a march to the finish for New Religion and The Chauffeur. Your ultimate winner was probably never in doubt and it is a worthy winner. You chose two album tracks for your final, showing the incredible strength-in-depth of Duran's output in the 1980s. The final showed a pop anthem against a musical delight, with a gorgeous covering of Nick Rhodes' genius.
The Chauffeur was your World Cup Winner. Thank you all for voting.