My friend and I were having this argument...

Pretty self-explanatory
Post Reply

Which is better?

Pump It Up
7
30%
Watching the Detectives
16
70%
 
Total votes: 23

Watching_Detectives
Posts: 200
Joined: Wed Jun 04, 2003 7:39 pm
Location: Somewhere lame.

My friend and I were having this argument...

Post by Watching_Detectives »

My friend says that Pump It Up is much better than Watching the Detectives. Now, if you couldn't tell by my namey-thingy that I enjoy Watching the Detectives. Which do you think is better?
It nearly took a mircacle to get you to stay
It only took my little finger to blow you away.
User avatar
spooky girlfriend
Site Admin
Posts: 3007
Joined: Mon Jun 02, 2003 5:19 pm
Location: Huntsville, Alabama
Contact:

Post by spooky girlfriend »

I know how Elvis feels about Watching the Detectives - he says he thinks it was the first really good song he wrote. But I still like Pump It Up.

And so do all four of my kids. :)
Last edited by spooky girlfriend on Wed Jun 18, 2003 7:44 am, edited 1 time in total.
jack of parades
Posts: 7
Joined: Wed Jun 18, 2003 1:11 am

Post by jack of parades »

I've heard Elvis say the same thing about Watching the Detectives, but I've also heard him say that he believes Pump it Up to be as good a rock'n'roll record as ever came out of England. I don't know about that, but both songs are grand. I'd give it to Detectives, because its endlessly mysterious and challenging.
User avatar
noiseradio
Posts: 2295
Joined: Tue Jun 03, 2003 12:04 pm
Location: Dallas, TX
Contact:

Post by noiseradio »

Well, from a performance point of view, I like both songs so much, it's hard to say. We have played both songs every time we've ever played (along with Alison, Peace Love & Understanding, Veronica, and Oliver's Army). If we skip any of those, people throw things. While I'll admit that some nights Veronica and Alison feels like a lot of work, I never get tired of Pump It Up or Detectives. I think I like singing Detectives better, and I like playing Pump it Up more.

When I'm just listening to EC, I would probably say I like Pump it Up ever so slightly more.
"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
--William Shakespeare
Copenhagen Fan
Posts: 1192
Joined: Wed Jun 11, 2003 3:00 am
Location: København, DK
Contact:

Post by Copenhagen Fan »

hmmmm I think Elvis solved this riddle at his concert in San Diego CA during the Spinning Songbook tour.......he grabbed the arrow and placed it between Detetctives and PUMP ...and then played them both...! :lol:
User avatar
so lacklustre
Posts: 3183
Joined: Tue Jun 03, 2003 2:36 pm
Location: half way to bliss

Post by so lacklustre »

very hard to split them, wtd just for me.

So far on my 'top ten ec tracks ever' thread there have not been any votes for piu, and two for wtd with Watching_Detectives placing it first and ReadyToHearTheWorst placing it third.

Get over there and vote now!
User avatar
bambooneedle
Posts: 4533
Joined: Tue Jun 03, 2003 4:02 pm
Location: a few thousand miles south east of Zanzibar

Post by bambooneedle »

Pump It Up is a great pop song that could be taken for granted here just because it hasn't aged as well as Watching The Detectives. I prefer it as an EC pop moment but, on an overall basis, I prefer WTD. It's close.
User avatar
ReadyToHearTheWorst
Posts: 956
Joined: Wed Jun 04, 2003 5:44 am
Location: uk

Post by ReadyToHearTheWorst »

This is a close call - they're both excellent songs. However, I've voted for Watching the Detectives because that was the song that got into EC in the first place!
"I'm the Rock and Roll Scrabble champion"
Copenhagen Fan
Posts: 1192
Joined: Wed Jun 11, 2003 3:00 am
Location: København, DK
Contact:

Post by Copenhagen Fan »

The live versions of WTD are quite superiour, because there's so much room for improvisation and wackyness......I like the spookiness of the live performances...especially Steve's rinky dink weirdness and Elvis' wacko total heavy REVERB/DELAY interplay on the guitar.
cbartal
Posts: 213
Joined: Wed Jun 04, 2003 9:24 am

Post by cbartal »

Pump it Up, if only because the recording quality is so much better.
User avatar
taz
Site Admin
Posts: 340
Joined: Mon Jun 02, 2003 3:10 pm
Contact:

Post by taz »

I know it's probably for the wrong reasons but I've gotta go with WTD just because I've actually become very sick of Pump It Up...maybe I listened to it too much and if I could remove myself from the annoyance I have for it right now I'd probably vote differently.
A lot of Christians wear crosses around their necks. Do you think when Jesus comes back he ever wants to see a fuckin' cross? It's kind of like going up to Jackie Onassis with a rifle pendant on.
User avatar
sulkygirl
Posts: 531
Joined: Thu Jun 05, 2003 2:22 pm
Location: The Absolute Armpit of the USA--Yakima, Washington (***cough***)

Post by sulkygirl »

My vote has to go to "Pump It Up"...not because it's superior to WTD, but because it simply makes me want to get up & move!
"Love can be stranger than fiction..."
Watching_Detectives
Posts: 200
Joined: Wed Jun 04, 2003 7:39 pm
Location: Somewhere lame.

Post by Watching_Detectives »

Thanks guys! I think this might put my friend in her place. :)
It nearly took a mircacle to get you to stay
It only took my little finger to blow you away.
User avatar
Gillibeanz
Posts: 1697
Joined: Wed Jun 11, 2003 1:28 pm
Location: England

Post by Gillibeanz »

It has to be Watching The Detectives for me - it was just so very different from everything else at the time - although Pump It Up is a wonderful song!
COME ON YOU SPURS!!
User avatar
Jackson Doofster
Posts: 531
Joined: Tue Jun 03, 2003 4:25 pm
Location: Some far flung Canadian Club

Post by Jackson Doofster »

I have to say that whilst they are both old 'classics', I am sick up to my back teeth of both of them. If I never hear either of them live again, it will be too soon.

What is the bloody point of either of them in concert. Unless he plays a kipper with chopstick, he can't possibly do anything new with them!
"But they can't hold a candle to the reciprical war crimes which have plagued our policy of foriegn affairs."
User avatar
King of Confidence
Posts: 94
Joined: Tue Jun 03, 2003 7:19 pm
Location: Chicago

Post by King of Confidence »

I think it's the stadium factor that has worn out Pump it Up. When you've heard it a few too many times between innings at a half-empty Kingdome in the early 90s (for example), it's hard to get the feeling of it back.
User avatar
tokyo vogue
Posts: 146
Joined: Tue Jun 03, 2003 8:05 pm
Location: philadelphia

Post by tokyo vogue »

i always want pump it up to be just a smidge faster. i dunno, it sounds great in my head but the record itself drags a bit, IMHO. plus, i'm sick of it.


so, my vote's for WTD. i'd love to hear EC (or anyone, really) do a spazzy, avant-jazz-ish take on it.
if we can rock together, why can't we walk together?
Post Reply