[Introspective] Final results of poll comparing other "electropop pioneers" to PSB

[Wayne Studer]

The final results are in for my poll this past week, in which I asked my 
site visitors to compare various fellow "electropop pioneers" to the Pet 
Shop Boys. And the final results are both complex and rather fascinating, if 
I do say so myself. Here we go --

* The artist who came out on top, based on a mathematical scoring method 
that I explain along with the results, is Depeche Mode, with an "average 
score" of 2.360.

* The artist who scored highest in the "Better than PSB" category, however, 
was New Order, designated as "Better than PSB" by 6.1% of the voters.

How did Depeche Mode beat out New Order, then, with a higher average score? 
Because although more voters regarded New Order better than PSB than felt 
that way about Depeche Mode, even *more* voters regarded New Order as "not 
nearly as good as PSB" than felt that way about Depeche Mode. In other 
words, New Order seemed to evoke more extreme opinions more often than 
Depeche Mode did. As I said, fascinating.

And, by the way, Thompson Twins came out at the very bottom in average 
scoring. To see the complete results, please visit my "Commentary" site at 
http://www.geowayne.com/psbhtml.htm and click the "Past Survey Results" 
button in the left navigation bar.

More or less "by popular demand" -- that is, quite a few people wrote to me 
to ask for it -- my new poll for the week ahead is a sequel. I've selected a 
group of additional artists (most if not all of whom have created "synthpop" 
for at least part if not most of their careers) and I'm asking the exact 
same question about them as well. How would you compare them to the Pet Shop 
Boys? (I've selected these particular artists based on frequency of their 
being recommended in emails and poll comments.) So please take a few minutes 
to check them out and make your choice right there on my home page. And 
thanks to those of you who made these suggestions!

Thanks as well to everyone who voted in last week's survey! I hope you all 
have a terrific week ahead!

Wayne
http://www.geowayne.com/psbhtml.htm