37 replies to this topic

[jimjim]

Well, here it is. Can't believe the generosity of everyone's opinions on this so far. Thank you all. I hope it lives up to the hype. Big kudos, of course, goes to MV and Scala for giving me the nod.

So, I bet you're all asking how do we do this? Well, as you might have guessed it's a 'song' contest so that set us some limits as to what will be in the competition. By my reckoning (and I have checked, double-checked & triple-checked this), there will be 221 songs taking part. Here are the rules I've used to get this figure:

1. No live versions of existing studio material. There are so many live tracks on B-sides, promos and on albums proper that it makes for a quite a large contingent of material (for example there's about 7 or 8 versions of 'One' out there). The only exception I'll make to to this rule are 'unique' songs done live e.g covers of non-U2 songs ('All Along The Watchtower') or songs U2 never released studio versions of ('She's A Mystery To Me', springs to mind).

2. No Remixes. Cos there's just too many of them!

3. No 'alternate' versions, mixes or edits. What I mean is something like an 'acoustic' mix of an already released track. I'm allowing only 2 examples which sort-of flout this rule but with good cause: 'Boomerang' & 'Holy Joe'. The two versions of each song were released on the same disc at the time so deciding which was the 'original' and which was the 'alternate' is impossible to verify. Hence both versions of each song is included.

4. No solo tracks. I know there will be quibbles about how many members appear on a track and whether this constitutes 'The Full U2' or not but if it says U2 on the label, it's goddamn U2! Ok? Appositely, any collaboration song U2 has done will also be added to list e.g. 'One' with Mary J Blige is in.

5. No unreleased songs! . I know it's stating the obvious, but just in case anyone asks about 'Mercy' or 'Womanfish' I thought I'd make that clear. They weren't released so they don't count!

The chronology of the list starts in 1978 (with the 'Early Demos EP' from the Complete U2 set) and ends with 'The Ballad of Ronnie Drew' single released earlier this year. It encompasses songs released on 7"s, 12"s, LPs, CDs and MP3s. From 'Acrobat' to 'Zooropa'. And just for the record - and this will be controversial - The Passengers material will be classed as U2 material! The Complete U2 set lists it as a U2 release, ok?

So, let's get started!

Because we have 221 songs, this falls a little short of 256 which would have allowed us a straight sprint to the end (256->128->64->32->16->8->4->2->Winner). So, rather than trying to wangle some way of crushing the numbers from 221 to 128 (and having to do a big prelim round before the big 1st round), I've come to a compromise.

I'm going to pick 35 songs at random from the list and give them byes into Round 2. This will leave 93 matches in round 1 which added to the lucky 35 will give us 128. Like the 35, all the matches in each round will be drawn at random so big hitters may end up fighting each other in this 1st round. You can vote for up to 48 hours and I'll state which time (NZ time) the counting will stop. If there is a tie in one match then after the last of the set of matches I've set up for that period, I will take into account any 'late' votes. MV has said I can't lock threads once so, keep voting as the late votes may act as a tie breaker. I'll start with 10 or so today and in my next post I'll tell which 35 songs are given byes into Round 2.

Here are the 35 lucky songs (chosen via a Random Number generator on www.random.org) who are through to Round 2:

Quote

Staring At The Sun
Flower Child
Sixty Seconds In Kingdom Come
The Sweetest Thing
Touch
The Electric Co
Heartland
Stories For Boys
Is That All?
The Playboy Mansion
Lady With The Spinning Head
One (with Mary J Blige)
The Hands That Built America
I Fall Down
Bottoms (Watashitachi No Ookina Yume)
The Ballad of Ronnie Drew
Plot 180
Holy Joe (Guilty Mix)
Love You Like Mad
Alex Descends Into Hell For A Bottle Of Milk/Korova 1
If God Will Send His Angels
Silver And Gold
Daddy's Gonna Pay For Your Crashed Car
The Three Sunrises
Walk To The Water
Original of the Species
Always
Theme From The Swan
Levitate
Gone
Even Better Than The Real Thing
Walk On
A Room At The Heartbreak Hotel
When I Look At The World
The Saints Are Coming

What an odd bunch! Should make Round 2 interesting!

Edited by jimjim, 05 June 2008 - 05:49 AM.

[Scarla]

The thought that's gone into all this is impressive, jimjim!

I've moved all these topics from the main Games forum into this specially dedicated one, and pinned this topic to the top. The format seems okay at present, but we may have to organise each round into separate sub-folders if it gets unwieldy... we'll see.

If you want to close the polls it's not a problem, just let me know which ones (via PM) and I'll do it for you.

All the best with the game, I hope it sees lots of action!

[Mike]

Nice work, jimmy! One suggestion, though... I think you need to keep the voting going for much longer than just a couple of days. Things are so quiet here at the moment that you may only get four or five votes per poll... unless you leave them open for at least a couple of weeks. We'll help promote your game in the next edition of the U2//NZ email newsletter, which I'll look into either later tonight or tomorrrow.

[jimjim]

MV, on 5th June 2008 - 03:29 am, said:

Nice work, jimmy! One suggestion, though... I think you need to keep the voting going for much longer than just a couple of days. Things are so quiet here at the moment that you may only get four or five votes per poll... unless you leave them open for at least a couple of weeks. We'll help promote your game in the next edition of the U2//NZ email newsletter, which I'll look into either later tonight or tomorrrow.

Ooh. I'm gushed.

Okay, new rule: after this set of 10, I will allow a longer vote time for the next lot. Say, 5 days? How about that? The only reason I said 48 hours is that there are 83 matches after this lot and I was worried that people might not want it to go on and on if I made the voting period longer? If you're happy with that, great I'll change it.

Now, I forgot one other important rule: if there is still a tie after the time period ends, I will run a play off for a shorter period. If after that there's still deadlock, I will using my casting vote to decide who goes through. Now, I should point out I WILL NOT vote in these matches unless there is deadlock. The power is in your hands, people!

[jimjim]

MV, on 5th June 2008 - 03:29 am, said:

Nice work, jimmy! One suggestion, though... I think you need to keep the voting going for much longer than just a couple of days. Things are so quiet here at the moment that you may only get four or five votes per poll... unless you leave them open for at least a couple of weeks. We'll help promote your game in the next edition of the U2//NZ email newsletter, which I'll look into either later tonight or tomorrrow.

Hi guys..well in a way you u got your wish. Dagnabbit! Something has come up and so I will have to delay the end of the polls. My apologies. Let's make it the same time, Monday! All 10 polls will carry on! Have fun!

[jimjim]

First batch all done...bar one. Match 10 was a draw (5-5) so the voting is open for another 48 hours. If its still tied after then, I cast my vote. Please keep voting!

Shocked that Please & Slow Dancing are out!

Next set of draws to come out sometime tomorrow! I'll try and do them at work! LOL.

[IrishRock]

jimjim, on 9th June 2008 - 08:24 am, said:

First batch all done...bar one. Match 10 was a draw (5-5) so the voting is open for another 48 hours. If its still tied after then, I cast my vote. Please keep voting!

Shocked that Please & Slow Dancing are out!

Next set of draws to come out sometime tomorrow! I'll try and do them at work! LOL.

Hey Jimjim,

Just logged on for "The First Time" "In a Little While"............. love the comp idea, have cast my votes, must say definitely some hard decisions there, esp Desire/40, Sometimes/I remember...... but "With or Without you vs Boy/ Girl ? hmmmmmm.

Looking forward to results......................

[garryc]

Lucky for all you didn't include all those remixes found on the fruit and spice bootlegs as this wouldn't finish up until around 2015 (if the bomb doesn't go off first)

Not sure how long this will take as it is??? 3 - 4 months maybe???

Still keeps things interesting until the new album rolls around late Oct early November

[jimjim]

Second batch all done. Only one ended as a draw - Match 18 - and it is still open for votes. Next set coming soon..

You have until 8am on the 21st for this batch!

Edited by jimjim, 15 June 2008 - 11:41 PM.

[kiwigene]

Any chance we can have another pinned topic with a running tally of the results? - saves having to look through all the previous polls.