THE LAST SIXTEEN

Tuesday 17 to Friday 21 August

Polls commence 6pm

Voting open for 24 hours only

So here is where things get even tougher.

You’ve only ever had one choice, fact Twitter polls dictate that but now we’re down to the final sixteen debut albums, the four choice format hereon in will make for closer consideration.

The four groups will run from today until Friday with the winner of each appearing in Saturday’s grand final with the voting open for seven days.

Have fun! 🤔 🤭

TUESDAY

The Specials – The Specials
Nowhere – Ride
Kilimanjaro – Teardrop Explodes
George Best – Wedding Present

WEDNESDAY

Never Mind The Bollocks – The Sex Pistols
Marquee Moon – Television
Boy – U2
Murmur – R.E.M

THURSDAY

Blondie – Blondie
The Clash – The Clash
Unknown Pleasures – Joy Division
Roxy Music – Roxy Music

FRIDAY

In The City – The Jam
Beautiful Freak – Eels
One Step Beyond – Madness
The Velvet Underground and Nico – The Velvet Underground

THIRD ROUND DRAW

FRIDAY 6TH AUGUST

Beautiful Freak – Eels 58.5% beat Violent Femmes – Violent Femmes 41.5%

234 votes

Murmur – R.E.M – 56.5% beat Searching For The Young Soul Rebels – Dexy’s Midnight Runners 43.5%

269 votes

SATURDAY 7TH AUGUST

Inflammable Material – Stiff Little Fingers (53.5%) surprisingly lost out to Kilimanjaro – Teardrop Explodes (46.5%) – 256 voters attended.

Licensed To Ill – Beastie Boys lost out to The Clash – The Clash 70.7% in a tie that drew 409 votes.

SUNDAY 8TH AUGUST

The Ramones – The Ramones vs Unknown Pleasures – Joy Division 68.9%

453 votes

Elastica – Elastica vs Blondie – Blondie 72%

372 votes

MONDAY 9TH AUGUST

Life’s A Riot With Spy vs Spy – Billy Bragg lost to One Step Beyond – Madness 58.5%

306 votes

Rattus Norvegicus – The Stranglers lost out to The Velvet Underground and Nico – The Velvet Underground 65.9%

320 votes

TUESDAY 10TH AUGUST

Dire Straits – Dire Straits Roxy Music – Roxy Music 61.8%

318 votes

The Specials – The Specials 51.2% The Stone Roses – The Stone Roses

518 votes

WEDNESDAY 11TH AUGUST

George Best – Wedding Present 41.5%

Dry – PJ Harvey

Rattlesnakes – Lloyd Cole and The Commotions

461 votes

Marquee Moon – Television 55.8% Psychocandy The Jesus And Mary Chain

396 votes

THURSDAY 12TH AUGUST

Turn On The Bright Lights – Interpol  lost to Boy – U2 – 53.8%

316 votes

In The City – The Jam 59.7% defeated Slanted And Enchanted – Pavement

345 votes

FRIDAY 13TH AUGUST

Nowhere – Ride 51% defeated Entertainment! – Gang Of Four

243 votes

Never Mind The Bollocks – The Sex Pistols 55.8% defeated The Smiths – The Smiths

511 votes

SECOND ROUND

The second round sees 32 head to head ties and two will be posted each day.

The draw is seeded this time based on the first round performance in percentages.

The Clash (70.4%) and 14 Iced Bears (61%)  were the highest and so play each other, similarly the lowest voted for, The Cars (18.8%) and Beautiful Freak (14.3%) are adversaries this time.

The second round begins tomorrow, Monday 19th July and the full draw is as follows:

MONDAY 19TH JULY

In a close-fought contest, The Cars – The Cars (48.9%) lost out to Beautiful Freak -by Eels (51.1%). 229 votes were recorded.

307 voters turned out to ensure Slanted And Enchanted – Pavement (61.6%) made the third round, defeating The New York Dolls – The New York Dolls (38.4%) 

TUESDAY 20TH JULY

204 votes saw a landslide victory for Licensed To Ill – Beastie Boys (92.2%) versus Almost Here – Unbelievable Truth (7.8%)

In a similar one-sided affair, 166 votes saw Rattus Norvegicus – The Stranglers (80.7%) defeat
I Am A Wallet – McCarthy (19.3%)

WEDNESDAY 21ST JULY

288 votes saw The Specials – The Specials (71.2%) defeat The Hurting – Tears For Fears while Entertainment! – Gang Of Four (57.9%) saw off Isn’t Anything – My Bloody Valentine in a tie that drew 259 votes

THURSDAY 22ND JULY

240 voters saw Fever to Tell – Yeah Yeah Yeahs lose out to Life’s A Riot With Spy vs Spy – Billy Bragg (55%) while Turn On The Bright Lights – Interpol (59.7%) easily saw off Signing Off – UB40 in a tie that drew in 211 votes.

FRIDAY 23RD JULY

A low turnout of just 202 votes Friday on #BestDebutAlbum saw Dire Straits debut (57.4%) incredibly prove to be too strong for Script Of The Bridge while in the other tie, The Pretenders were slain by the magnificent Stiff Little Fingers debut Inflammable Material (52.6%) with 228 voters taking part.

SATURDAY 24TH JULY

Saturday on #BestDebutAlbum and 227 votes saw Searching For The Young Soul Rebels – Dexy’s Midnight Runners (81.1%) win hands down against Hopes And Fears – Keane while Dry – PJ Harvey (56.1%) defeated The Kick Inside – Kate Bush. 285 votes recorded in that tie.

SUNDAY 25TH JULY

A lower than average turnout of 189 votes saw Kilimanjaro – Teardrop Explodes (52.4%) defeat Welcome To The Pleasuredome while in a surprise development, Ride’s Nowhere (58.4%) saw off Big Country’s The Crossing in a tie of 249 recorded votes

MONDAY 26TH JULY

Blondie – Blondie (55.3%) comfortably defeated Pink Flag Monday on #BestDebutAlbum from 264 recorded votes while the Roxy Music debut survived the challenge of Live At The Witch Trials, amassing 56.5% from the 237 votes.

TUESDAY 27TH JULY

In the end, Boy – U2 (58.6%) saw off the Icelandic challenge of Bjork in a tie that drew 447 voters.

In the other Tuesday tie, The Ramones – The Ramones (78.7%) defeated Parachutes – Coldplay and could potentially face Rattus Norvegicus (The Stranglers) in round three.

WEDNESDAY 28TH JULY

In a round that attracted 276 votes, Killing Joke – Killing Joke (38.7%) lost out to In The City – The Jam – (66.7%).

And Orbital – Orbital lost out by a hefty margin to Psychocandy – The Jesus And Mary Chain (73.5%) in a round that drew 287 votes.

THURSDAY 29TH JULY

George Best – Wedding Present (56.5%) defeat
Three Imaginary Boys – The Cure – 331 votes.

The Stone Roses – The Stone Roses (70%) defeat
Straight Outta Compton – N.W.A.- 353 votes.

FRIDAY 30TH JULY

The Velvet Underground and Nico – The Velvet Underground (41.6%)

Pablo Honey – Radiohead (40.6%)

Look Sharp! – Joe Jackson (43.9%)

Marquee Moon – Television (43.8%)

SATURDAY 31ST JULY

Hot Fuss – The Killers (44.5%) versus Elastica – Elastica (43%)

One Step Beyond – Madness (42.5%) versus Lexicon Of Love – ABC (42.5%)

SUNDAY 1ST AUGUST

Never Mind the Bollocks – The Sex Pistols (69.1%)

404 votes

Murmur – R.E.M. (84.7%)

255 votes

MONDAY 2ND AUGUST

The Clash – The Clash (70.4%)

14 Iced Bears – 14 Iced Bears (61%) 

The Smiths – The Smiths (59.4%)

The Psychedelic Furs – The Psychedelic Furs (53.8%)

ORIGINAL POST

They say that you never forget your first.

So most of us will have a favourite debut album.

I’ve selected my favourites for this tourno, 128 of them in fact.

Your mission will be to use your judgement and skill in voting these albums down until we have an ultimate winner.

Notable omissions apropos big artists include Genesis and Pink Floyd.

But The Velvet Underground are here, also David Bowie and others that are considered classics and could not be excluded.

In the first round of voting #BestDebutAlbum there are four titles per group.

You have only one selection but the top two most voted will go through to round two and from thereon in it will be head to head battles until the grand final.

There will be no semi-finals. Instead the four albums will appear in a grand final with the voting being open for seven days.

Here’s the complete draw compiled by RANDOMLIST.

Saturday 19 June

1. The Clash – The Clash
2. Wa Do Dem – Eek A Mouse
3. New York Dolls – New York Dolls
4. Third Eye Blind – Third Eye Blind

A total of 318 votes saw The Clash (70.4%) and New York Dolls (18.9%) progress to round two.

Sunday 20 June

A total of 283 votes saw The Fall (34.6%) and Dire Straits (29.7%) progress to round two.

Monday 21 June

A total of 315 votes saw Killing Joke (38.7%) and Pink Flag (34.9%) progress to round two.

Tuesday 22 June

In a thrilling, close-knit affair, a total of 307 votes saw Inflammable Material – Stiff Little Fingers (29.3%) and Entertainment! – Gang Of Four (24.4%) reach round two with Outlandos d’Amour – The Police missing out by just 0.3%.

Wednesday 23 June

In the highest turnout so far, 381 voters decided that Placebo’s magnificent debut didn’t cut it and so Nowhere – Ride drawing 32.8% and Dry – PJ Harvey (31%) went through to round two.

Thursday 24 June

Parachutes – Coldplay with 35.8% and Big Country’s The Crossing (33%) progressed to the second round in a total of 349 votes.

Friday 25 June

I was a little surprised at how popular Hot Fuss – The Killers album still is. And it chewed up 44.5% of the 218 votes (lowest turnout so far) with Script Of The Bridge – The Chameleons in second spot with 29.4%.

Saturday 26 June

In what quickly became a two-horse race, Three Imaginary Boys – The Cure won through with 39.2% of the 385 votes with The Hurting – Tears For Fears finishing in second spot with 24.7%.

Sunday 27 June

The Durannies were quickly disappointed as a new record number of voters (476) saw Roxy Music’s debut (34.2%) finish second behind the aptly-named Debut by Bjork(36.8%).

In another round that threatened the 500 vote count, Boy – U2 ran out the winner drawing 36.3% with Isn’t Anything – My Bloody Valentine (25.7%) securing second spot.

Monday 28 June

Monday’s round saw One Step Beyond – Madness prove really popular drawing 42.5% with the eighties epic, Welcome To The Pleasuredome – Frankie Goes To Hollywood in second place (33.8%).

Tuesday 29 June

350 voters said that Straight Outta Compton – N.W.A.(38.9%) was the best with The Pretenders – The Pretenders the runner-up (29.4%). Leaving the building were Tori Amos and Verve.

Wednesday 30 June

In a record number of 519 votes, Wednesday’s winners were The Velvet Underground and Nico – The Velvet Underground drawing 41.6% of the pie and Elvis Costello’s My Aim Is True surprisingly succumbed to Licensed To Ill – Beastie Boys (20.6%).

Thursday 1 July

The Psychedelic Furs debut ran out strong winners with the highest majority so far, pulling 53.8% of the 247 votes. Signing Off – UB40 (28.7%) was second with Th’ Faith Healers and (unsurprisingly) Johnny Hates Jazz missing out.

Friday 2 July

It was tricky for Run-DMC as Lexicon Of Love – ABC ran out a clear winner with 42.5% of the 365 votes. Turn On The Bright Lights, the Interpol debut took second spot with 28.2%.

Saturday 3 July

In an expected lower turnout of voters (262) Hopes And Fears – Keane made it through to the second round pulling 32.1% while Look Sharp! – Joe Jackson ran out the winner with 43.9%.

Sunday 4 July

As expected, Unknown Pleasures – Joy Division ran off into the hills with 75.5% of the 355 votes with Violent Femmes – Violent Femmes (14.9%) taking second place. As things stand, Joy Division will face The Clash in round two.

Monday 5 July

488 votes saw The Smiths – The Smiths (59.4%) run out comfortable winners and in a tense finish, just 0.4% separated Beautiful Freak – Eels (14.3% ) from Young Team – Mogwai. The Smiths could face The Psychedelic Furs in round two.

Tuesday 6 July

Never Mind the Bollocks – The Sex Pistols, hailed as the greatest album ever made by one voter, drew 57.8% of the 429 votes with Slanted and Enchanted – Pavement
also heading to round two with 19.8%.

Wednesday 7 July

A new record of 584 votes saw The Stone Roses – The Stone Roses (39%) run out comfortable winners but incredibly just 0.1% meant that The Specials – The Specials prevailed over Dummy – Portishead.

Thursday 8 July

Morrissey’s Viva Hate made an early exit as In The City – The Jam with 38.2% ran out the winner with The Kick  Inside – Kate Bush (30.9%) taking second spot.

Friday 9 July

Though showing much early promise, the Boston debut album finished last with Life’s A Riot With Spy vs Spy – Billy Bragg fetching 26% of the 327 votes and Kilimanjaro – Teardrop Explodes winning the round with 33.9%.

Saturday 10 July

Elastica – Elastica drew a healthy 43% of the 342 votes in which Fever to Tell – Yeah Yeah Yeahs took second spot with 27.2% – that album could face Life’s A Riot or Turn On The Bright Lights in the second round.

How can Ash outscore The Ruts said a few. And some may have raised an eyebrow as George Best – Wedding Present (40.2%) outscored The Ramones – The Ramones (36.1%) in a round that attracted 435 votes. A possibility now that George Best could face Three Imaginary Boys in round two.

Sunday 11 July

The lowest turnout of voting so far saw just 141 nominate I Could Live In Hope – Low (45.4%) and I Am A Wallet – McCarthy (22%) go through to the second round.

In part two of Sunday’s double-header, Orbital – Orbital (37.3%) finished runner-up to Pablo Honey – Radiohead (40.6%) in a low turnout poll of just 276 voters.

Monday 12 July

It was tough on Tracy Chapman, missing out by just 0.8% but in a tough battle for second spot, The Cars – The Cars won through with 18.8% of the 383 votes.

The La’s – The La’s (51.4%) proved to be the clear people’s favourite and could face Low’s I Could Live In Hope in round two, depending on other scores.

Tuesday 13 July

In an incredibly low turnout of 59 punters, 14 Iced Bears – 14 Iced Bears (61%) and Almost Here – Unbelievable Truth (20.3%( won through to round two.

Wednesday 14 July

Patti Smith’s Horses was edged out in a group that saw 434 voters decide that Marquee Moon – Television (43.8%) and Psychocandy – The Jesus And Mary Chain (37.1%) made it through to round two.

Thursday 15 July

511 voters turned out to help push Murmur – R.E.M. (48.7%) over the line and Rattus Norvegicus – The Stranglers finished second with 23.3%.

At the moment Murmur is set to play I Could Live In Hope while Rattus Norvegicus could face I Am A Wallet in the second round head to heads that begin Monday.

Friday 16 July

Blondie – Blondie with 35.1% narrowly outscored Searching For The Young Soul Rebels – Dexy’s Midnight Runners (32.3%) in the last group of the first round in which 493 voters took part.