TQR

Thanks for sharing this. This topic is right up my alley and Wolf is an absolute marvel. I'll stick to commenting on what I know though (certainly a narrower window than @msc's expert analysis) I completely agreed with his assessment of concentrated wealth. I suppose in the sense of democratic harm it brings, he's largely talking about deregulation models which your Trusses and your Sunaks get wet for. The power, insulation and influence that comes with it becomes troubling when those in power have vested interests. That's why it's so imperative we have standards committees, anti-corruption measures and independent ethics advisors - something which, funnily enough, since the last one walked out on Boris Johnson, we haven't had. Tells you all you need to know about the hopefully outgoing governing party the masses have been deceived and set back by. He painted quite a bleak picture of the fragility of democracy before offering up a few glimmers of hope, but he was well-considered throughout - it wasn't a completely anti-capitalist pitch. He could perhaps, though, have touched on socialism and the rhetoric surrounding it; how extreme capitalists in government and the media give it a false equivalence with communism. The hope for change comes from the supposition that, building on what Wolf said, there's a line at which people who've been sucked in by capitalism/deregulation/populism do eventually snap out of it and, before it's too late to do so, use democracy to turn the tide, like the opportunity we've got next week. Our trigger point was probably Brexit. As Wolf said, the years of stagnation or decline in living standards for the majority of people during times of austerity and the resultant political disenchantment led to us voting for Brexit, which was sold unequivocally as a change. The whole 'take back control' rhetoric was much more compelling than considering, y'know, facts and experts. The success of that campaign, built entirely on lies, created the route to power for charlatans like Boris Johnson. Once his extraordinary egregiousness came to the fore (Covid, Owen Paterson, Partygate, N. Ireland, Pincher...), and we were still worse off after this big change we voted for, that was that. Sunak and Truss have undeniably been awful and have banged the last couple of nails in the coffin of UK populist conservatism, but this hideous phase of our political and economic history died as a result of the side-effects of Brexit. Of course, there are still some who'll refuse to budge or acknowledge that they were sold a dud, perhaps because they don't want to entertain the possibility that they were silly enough to use their democratic vote to make things worse for themselves while making bank for those in a position to bet against the pound and short it. But as long as those people are in the minority (which, thanks to a combination of open-mindedness and impeccable assessments by superb orators like Martin Wolf, they should continue to be), these phases will at worst happen in cycles, one which it mercifully looks like we're at the promising end of.

Meh. Penny Mordaunt's "HIRE TAXIS HIRE TAXIS HIRE TAXIS" had more of a ring to it.

An hour? I’ll take a précis of it please  ‘Extreme wealth will destroy democracy’ has pretty strong face validity though. Will probs have a listen on me walk tomorrow.

Wed 26 Jun 28 Years & Years — King +4 28 Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars — Uptown Funk  27 Pharrell Williams — Happy  25 Little Mix — Black Magic 24 Adele — Hello 24 Calvin Harris — Summer 24 Kiesza — Hideaway 24 Ella Henderson — Ghost 23 Pitbull ft. Kesha — Timber 22 Magic — Rude 21 Ellie Goulding — Love Me Like You Do 21 Sam Smith — Stay With Me 21 Mr Probz — Waves 21 Oliver Heldens & Becky Hill — Gecko (Overdrive) 21 Justin Bieber — What Do You Mean? 21 KDA ft. Tinie Tempah & Katy B — Turn The Music Louder 21 Cheryl Cole ft. Tinie Tempah — Crazy Stupid Love 21 Jessie J, Ariana Grande & Nicki Minaj — Bang Bang 21 Omi — Cheerleader 21 Justin Bieber — Love Yourself 20 Clean Bandit ft. Jess Glynne — Rather Be 20 Sam Smith — Money On My Mind 20 Route 94 ft. Jess Glynne — My Love 20 Dvbbs & Borgeous ft. Tinie Tempah — Tsunami 20 Duke Dumont ft. Jax Jones — I Got U 20 5 Seconds Of Summer — She Looks So Perfect 20 Aloe Blacc — The Man 20 Sigma — Nobody To Love 20 Rita Ora — I Will Never Let You Down 20 Secondcity — I Wanna Feel 20 Ariana Grande ft. Iggy Azalea — Problem 20 Nico & Vinz — Am I Wrong 20 David Guetta ft. Sam Martin — Lovers On The Sun 20 Lilly Wood & The Prick — Prayer In C 20 Calvin Harris ft. John Newman — Blame 20 Sigma ft. Paloma Faith — Changing 20 Cheryl Cole — I Don’t Care 20 Take That — These Days 20 Ben Haenow — Something I Need 20 Sam Smith ft. John Legend — Lay Me Down 20 Jason Derulo — Want To Want Me 20 Tinie Tempah ft. Jess Glynne — Not Letting Go 20 Lost Frequencies — Are You With Me 20 David Zowie — House Every Weekend 20 One Direction — Drag Me Down 20 Jess Glynne — Don’t Be So Hard On Yourself 20 Rachel Platten — Fight Song 20 Sigala — Easy Love 19 Jess Glynne — Hold My Hand 18 Rixton — Me And My Broken Heart 18 The Lewisham & Greenwich NHS Choir — A Bridge Over You -2 17 Will.I.Am ft. Cody Wise — It’s My Birthday 17 Justin Bieber — Sorry 16 Meghan Trainor — All About That Bass 12 Ed Sheeran — Sing -2 12 Ed Sheeran — Thinking Out Loud 12 Wiz Khalifa ft. Charlie Puth — See You Again 12 Charlie Puth ft. Meghan Trainor — Marvin Gaye 12 Sam Smith - The Writings On The Wall 0 Gareth Malone’s All Star Choir — Died in its sleep -2

Wed 26 Jun 56 David Bowie - Life on Mars? 54 Mott the Hoople - All The Young Dudes +4 50 Gerry Rafferty - Baker Street -6 36 Electric Light Orchestra - Don’t Bring Me Down 24 R. Dean Taylor— There’s A Ghost In My House 22 The Jam - The Eton Rifles 19 David Bowie - Sound and Vision 17 ABBA - Money, Money, Money 14 ABBA - Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight) 10 Suzi Quatro - 48 Crash

Tell you what, we’re gonna get severe whiplash going from this to the 1950s!

Tory Chairman Richard Holden has had a load of his campaign leaflets sent to the good people of Wickford. Problem is, that's the wrong constituency.

What a legend

DL GE2024, live on 4th July, featuring contributions from: David Quimbleby En Passandrew Neil DCI Kay Burnside Krishnan RoverAndMurthy Gary Bibliogibbon Reeta ChakraToastie Tom Brad252by Beth Willzby Chris Mscon Clorox Myrie Trevor Phillipheybrookbays jeremyportvinecity Astro Kampbell Sod's Lawry Stewart Sly Ron Curtice Laura Cremsberg (ignored)

For fuck, and I can't stress this enough, sake. Channel 4 have signed up Nadine Dorries to join them for their election night coverage. Oh well. Laughing at a sobbing Laura Cremsberg on the BBC it is, then.

To be fair to myself, I spent approximately 90% of 2014 completely off my face, and in rare moments of lucidity my music 'scene' was elsewhere. I've since caught up but this one had passed me by until a couple of hours ago. I'm afraid I've already largely forgotten what it sounds like.

Cheers, I'll play again. But it's looking likely this bonus here^ will be waaaay out of reach. Also, did we have a final scoreboard on the 2019-24 game?

The only one I wasn't aware of in this list was Lilly Wood & The Prick. Didn't dislike it but it's hardly a gamechanger. Robin Schulz was in the mix on that track so it should really be Lilly Wood, The Prick and That Other Prick.

Well, I wanted Flo and the Mo, but I wanted the round to end more. Anyway, have a look at this next batch here. I promise the next two rounds are smaller! 2014-15 Tue 25 Jun 24 Years & Years — King +4 20 Pharrell Williams — Happy 20 Pitbull ft. Kesha — Timber 20 Clean Bandit ft. Jess Glynne — Rather Be 20 Sam Smith — Money On My Mind 20 Route 94 ft. Jess Glynne — My Love 20 Dvbbs & Borgeous ft. Tinie Tempah — Tsunami 20 Duke Dumont ft. Jax Jones — I Got U 20 5 Seconds Of Summer — She Looks So Perfect 20 Aloe Blacc — The Man 20 Sigma — Nobody To Love 20 Kiesza — Hideaway 20 Mr Probz — Waves 20 Calvin Harris — Summer 20 Rita Ora — I Will Never Let You Down 20 Sam Smith — Stay With Me 20 Secondcity — I Wanna Feel 20 Ed Sheeran — Sing 20 Ella Henderson — Ghost 20 Oliver Heldens & Becky Hill — Gecko (Overdrive) 20 Ariana Grande ft. Iggy Azalea — Problem 20 Will.I.Am ft. Cody Wise — It’s My Birthday 20 Rixton — Me And My Broken Heart 20 Cheryl Cole ft. Tinie Tempah — Crazy Stupid Love 20 Magic — Rude 20 Nico & Vinz — Am I Wrong 20 David Guetta ft. Sam Martin — Lovers On The Sun 20 Lilly Wood & The Prick — Prayer In C 20 Calvin Harris ft. John Newman — Blame 20 Sigma ft. Paloma Faith — Changing 20 Jessie J, Ariana Grande & Nicki Minaj — Bang Bang 20 Meghan Trainor — All About That Bass 20 Cheryl Cole — I Don’t Care 20 Gareth Malone’s All Star Choir — Wake Me Up 20 Band Aid 30 — Do They Know It’s Christmas 20 Take That — These Days 20 Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars — Uptown Funk 20 Ben Haenow — Something I Need 20 Ellie Goulding — Love Me Like You Do 20 Sam Smith ft. John Legend — Lay Me Down 20 Jess Glynne — Hold My Hand 20 Wiz Khalifa ft. Charlie Puth — See You Again 20 Omi — Cheerleader 20 Jason Derulo — Want To Want Me 20 Tinie Tempah ft. Jess Glynne — Not Letting Go 20 Lost Frequencies — Are You With Me 20 David Zowie — House Every Weekend 20 Little Mix — Black Magic 20 One Direction — Drag Me Down 20 Charlie Puth ft. Meghan Trainor — Marvin Gaye 20 Jess Glynne — Don’t Be So Hard On Yourself 20 Rachel Platten — Fight Song 20 Justin Bieber — What Do You Mean? 20 Sigala — Easy Love 20 Sam Smith — Writing’s On The Wall 20 KDA ft. Tinie Tempah & Katy B — Turn The Music Louder 20 Adele — Hello 20 Justin Bieber — Sorry 20 Justin Bieber — Love Yourself 20 The Lewisham & Greenwich NHS Choir — A Bridge Over You 14 Ed Sheeran — Thinking Out Loud -6

Day 27 of this round. It's the longest KoS round ever, both enormous and contentious. But come on, almost there.

Fucking shambles, not following the established rules

W'all treat this game with about the right level of enthusiasm and respect. This is a prestigious contest, don't you know. A musical institution which Deathlist dot net is incredibly lucky to be the home of.

Well, that confused me for a second, but the scores are all good correct.

Tue 25 Jun 52 Mott the Hoople - All The Young Dudes +4 51 David Bowie - Life on Mars? 44 Gerry Rafferty - Baker Street -6 37 Electric Light Orchestra - Don’t Bring Me Down 29 R. Dean Taylor— There’s A Ghost In My House 24 ABBA - Money, Money, Money 24 The Jam - The Eton Rifles 21 Suzi Quatro - 48 Crash 19 David Bowie - Sound and Vision 18 ABBA - Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight) 15 America - A Horse With No Name

Tue 25 Jun 80 John Newman — Love Me Again 68 Lorde — Royals 67 Gotye ft. Kimbra — Somebody That I Used To Know 58 Daft Punk ft. Pharrell Williams — Get Lucky 58 David Guetta ft. Sia — Titanium 27 OneRepublic — Counting Stars -6 20 Florence & The Machine — Spectrum +4

It's physical AND mental health. Sunak's snappiness, ridiculous decision making and inability to empathise suggest poor mental health. And besides, Starmer is a keen footballist. It's only really age where Sunak has the upper hand.

…can we make it five cunts in a row??

Yep. Though it has at least trained some of us out of thinking "Ooh, update after a period of silence, must be dead!". Now, it's just the marker of an attention seeking twat.

A Redfield & Wilton poll on leadership characteristics, Starmer v Sunak. Starmer's lead on 18/18 of these has been growing steadily during the election campaign.