As I wrote yesterday, we are about to launch an epic single elimination music tournament to determine the best rock song of all-time.

This was originally conceived as a nine-round, 512-song tournament, but in coming up with the final list, there were too many tough calls, and I opted for a 164 song play-in for the final 82 spots.

As promised, below are the 430 songs that are automatically qualifying for the tournament, in alphabetical order by artist.

A couple words on the songs chosen:

1.The songs below are chosen because of their awesome they are, their historical importance, and how easy they are to just kick back and listen to over and over again.  That’s a mixture of subjective and objective, of course, but there is ample consensus on a lot of these songs.

2. The biggest flaw in the Rolling Stone Top 500 list was its utter hostility to new songs.  I’ve made sure to include a large number of songs from the 1990s and the ‘Naughts, while still paying respect to some of the greats from the 50s.

3. A lot of Beatles, a lot of Stones, I know.  But this list actually has fewer of them than the Rolling Stone list, and actually offers more eclectic genres than these lists generally afford. One can quibble about which songs to pick from the all-time legends, but at some point you have to cut off even the Beatles.

4.  Some artists here, like Paul Simon and the Grateful Dead, have gotten more props than usual.  That’s because I’ve watched these lists and countdowns for years, and seen them constantly underrated.   Let’s see how they do in the tournament.

5. The list of 164 is considerably more diverse than the list below, so worth checking back tomorrow to see if it’s made that cut.  If there’s still a glaring omission, I can remedy it on Thursday.

6. On Thursday night the first match-ups will be announced.  Anyone is eligible to vote on any match-up within 48 hours of it being posted.

7. I am not the most social media savvy person, but there is a Facebook page I just started. Join it for updates.

Now…the Top 430…