St. Etienne - So Tough POLL

leafhound

damn

today it's "no rainbows for me"

only got to know this album properly this year and utterly adore it

calico disqualified because it ends/fades too abruptly - q-tee's "goin' anywhere..." is a great send-off but needs another 30-60 seconds after that srsly

railway jam, leafhound and no rainbows for me are my other runners-up

but its got to be avenue

This album is perfect, innit? I just got Sound of Water a few days ago, the third or fourth disappointing SE album. I keep looking for sequels to this.

their albums are all great, this one's songs are, shall we say, "so tough" to choose from

;-)

sound of water is the bomb, totally perfect. it probably took me 7-10 listens to "get it" though

I was kindof in love w Avenue at 14 or so, kinda doomed

"Join Our Club" is listed on the album cover but not included in the poll?

I voted Railway Jam but think I may love Hobart Paving a bit more. Perfect album. Love the entire thing. This was their peak.

Q: Do you think a girl should go to bed with a fella if she doesn't love him?
A: No. Unless it's me.

sound of water is my favorite one. this was good too

avenue. railway jam is a cool instrumental. do not get the love for hobart paving or sound of water. so tough and foxbase are in a superior class tbh

I always used to think one of the samples went "I'm Helen Stevens, we're having a party downstairs and all the other tenants are there, we'd be delighted if you came"
"Fuck"

Avenue!!

avenue'll sweep this

Hobart Paving or Leafhound. The UK Hobart Paving being slightly better than the US one.

I dunno - "Mario's Cafe" is rather perfect.

Avenue is my favorite St. Etienne song and my favorite song from the '90s. I'm kind of upset it's not on youtube.

Lots of songs off this're perfect, but Avenue's LONG and ROMANTIC and has that nutso break

I'll go with Railway Jam since it's the one I would put in almost every mixtape I made when I was 14, and the one I listened to the most by consequence. The album is full of pop masterpieces tho.

I suppose most of you haven't heard this song since it's sung in Spanish but my mother use to play it all the time when I was a child. Mecano was huge in the 80's in all the spanish-speaking countries:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYQkoUf0Rck

Always reminds me of this particular St. Etienne album and viceversa. If you dig it search for the original version, this video sort of ruins the song by adding some pretentious spoken word pieces all over the course of the song.

mario's cafe got me hooked on them but Avenue is probably my favorite on here.

I came across two versions of this album with two different mixes of "You're in a Bad Way." Don't know if it was US version vs. UK version or what. The first mix I heard (on the cassette I bought when this album came out) had more synth flourishes. The other version, which I heard later on a CD, seemed more stripped down and subdued.

If they did a "worst", it'd have to be that one with the Rush sample.

damn skip that one sometimes...

(Join our club not on the orig, presumably that's the US version, with the single take of "Bad way")

HOBART PAVING, god.

The 'skits' kinda spoiled this album for me last time I listened to it.

The mix of 'You're in a bad way' on the US album is probably the single version produced by Alan Tarney (Cliff Richard, A-ha), don't know why they used an alternate version on the British version. Not having the single version is the only thing which spoils it for me.

(Join our club not on the orig, presumably that's the US version, with the single take of "Bad way")"

Yes at the tail end of the US version, a voice (Stanley or Wiggs?) announces, "And now for your listening enjoyment, the Chicken Soup mix of Join Our Club."

The lyrics of Join Our Club seem like a put-on, somehow. "teen spirit is a 90's scene"

Haven't listened to this for ages, but I voted Avenue. I love the little skits - it wouldn't be the same album without them.

It's perfect, this album. How can I choose just one?

I am boring and going for "You're In a Bad Way".

I always used to think one of the samples went "I'm Helen Stevens, we're having a party downstairs and all the other tenants are there, we'd be delighted if you came"
"Fuck"

me too. i still do.

Avenue must win or I will no longer be able to take ilxor seriously.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Avenue ftw

haven't heard this in a while, but agree its a perfect album. shame didnt see the poll till now. would have liked to considered properly, but from memory will go with avenue, then calico, then conchita martinez

i know the 'fat legs with chunky shoes' one is from The Family uk tv show, the bogarde poem and the Lord Of The Flies sample but what's the '...unless it's me' sample from? and how about the laughing one?

Mario's Cafe means the most to me; Avenue and Hobart Paving also stone-cold classics. This is one of the first albums I bought on CD so I listened to it a disproportionate amount. It's perfection.

Didn't realise until I read the reissue sleevenotes that the girl on the cover is a young Sarah Cracknell.

cant choose

tbh tho i dont think i ever really listen to individual songs on this, its such a great piece of work as a whole and i love listening to it from front to back & i wonder if i could really even identify individual tracks

Also, cannot imagine a "Richard X" remix adding anything. But can imagine it subtracting loads.

k, well, feel free to not listen to the new stuff then

he could add another minute or so to Calico xp

xpost

yes, i am nervous about "so tougher".

i just picked this up! and it's really good

but, this:

tbh tho i dont think i ever really listen to individual songs on this, its such a great piece of work as a whole and i love listening to it from front to back & i wonder if i could really even identify individual tracks

― max, Tuesday, November 10, 2009 6:39 AM (5 hours ago) Bookmark

i think i'd pick the one where SC makes a charmingly terrible jj fad

if you're talking about 'calico', that's q-tee (w/sarah cracknell on background vox)

q-tee also did 'filthy'

Sorry guys but aside from Turnpike House this must be my least fave Saint Etienne record. Not that there aren't some great tracks on it (Calico, Leafhound, Rainbows, Mario's), but, I dunno, it feels like a Foxbase Alpha b-side or something.
+ the skits got old fast for me, and I like the thought of Avenue more than I do having to listen to all of it. It's kinda draggy.

So Tougher was clearly a joke. Won't happen. If it did, and it won't, but if it did, Weatherall would be a better choice for remix duties. Rick Smith from Underworld can do Tiger Bayier.

Every SE album plays better in the mind than on the stereo/computer except for the singles comps.

what about in the car?

Can I just add at the bottom that the one with the Rush sample is deeply irritating.

I don't even mind the Rush song, but heck!

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Oh! The Clown's no good!

Calico 1
No Rainbows For Me 1

What?? People prefer Railway Jam to these?

hell yeah

the vocal version of Railway Jam on the deluxe edition really doesn't work tho

"avenues" is otm but railway jam and mario's cafe are close imo

This album is one of the most front-loaded albums ever. I don't like any songs after "You're in a Bad Way" and I love all the songs before and including it

I guess I could lose "Date With Spelman"

It never occurred to me to chase this down in all my years of loving this song, but of course:

http://www.hobartpaving.co.uk/

xp you're crazy

Avenue for sure but so many classics. Conchita unjustly neglected in this poll.

30 years old today, blimey.

Today marks the 30th anniversary of one of my all time favourite albums, and probably one of the most important of my teenage years, So Tough by @bobpetesarah. And though noone entertained my arguably stupid idea to do dub versions, I still love it dearly, so here's a thread... pic.twitter.com/nPzZpYkhG8

— wrongtom (@TheWrongtom) February 22, 2023

I for one would love to hear Peter Noone's dub versions!

The best album of the '90s.

with (for me) all-time great b-side!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PowzoZH11m4

yup xp