Sorry for the late post, folks, was catching up with an old friend.
Happy to take the reins back from Guillermo to close out the Round of 256. After today we’ve got Divisions N, O and P. Listen to these songs at Grooveshark (except for Let It Be) and vote by commenting below or emailing LTDdotog@gmail.com before 8pm Tuesday.
Love the diversity on display today- 5 decades of music, two of our prominent reggae anthems (Marley is still looking for his first win in the Round of 256), a landmark hip-hop song, and our old buddies, the Beatles and Stones.
Jimmy Cliff, Ray Charles, Patti Smith and the Sugarhill Gang face elimination.
#2 Let It Be (Beatles) vs. #15 The Harder They Come (Jimmy Cliff)
#7 Is This Love (Bob Marley) vs. #10 What’d I Say (Ray Charles)
#3 Tiny Dancer (Elton John) vs. #14 Rock ‘n Roll N**** (Patti Smith)
#6 Rapper’s Delight (Sugarhill Gang) vs. #11 Brown Sugar (Rolling Stones)
Living the Dream 
#2 Let It Be (Beatles) 6 vs. #15 The Harder They Come (Jimmy Cliff) 7
#7 Is This Love (Bob Marley) 7 vs. #10 What’d I Say (Ray Charles) 6
#3 Tiny Dancer (Elton John) 6 vs. #14 Rock ‘n Roll N**** (Patti Smith) 6
#6 Rapper’s Delight (Sugarhill Gang) 7 vs. #11 Brown Sugar (Rolling Stones) 5
#2 Let It Be (Beatles) 10
#15 The Harder They Come (Jimmy Cliff) 7.1
#7 Is This Love (Bob Marley) 6.2
#10 What’d I Say (Ray Charles) 8.9
#3 Tiny Dancer (Elton John) 9.5
#14 Rock ‘n Roll N**** (Patti Smith) 9.6
#6 Rapper’s Delight (Sugarhill Gang) 6.9
#11 Brown Sugar (Rolling Stones) 7.4
Let It Be (Beatles) 6
The Harder They Come (Jimmy Cliff) 8
Is This Love (Bob Marley) 10
What’d I Say (Ray Charles) 8
Ooooh, good matchup.
Tiny Dancer (Elton John) 8
Rock ‘n Roll N**** (Patti Smith) 3
Rapper’s Delight (Sugarhill Gang) 9
Brown Sugar (Rolling Stones) 7.5
Another awesome matchup.
#2 Let It Be (Beatles) 8
#15 The Harder They Come (Jimmy Cliff) 8.3
I feel like there’s a bit of a 2 seed curse- dunno, I gave Let It Be a 10 a month ago, but today, Jimmy Cliff sorta killed it.
#7 Is This Love (Bob Marley) 8
#10 What’d I Say (Ray Charles) 7.2
#3 Tiny Dancer (Elton John) 8.5
#14 Rock ‘n Roll N**** (Patti Smith) 5
The Patti Smith charm faded fast.
#6 Rapper’s Delight (Sugarhill Gang) 9
#11 Brown Sugar (Rolling Stones) 7
I just read this pretty cool article about the bassist on Rapper’s Delight (which was recorded in 1979) , http://bit.ly/eHencM :
“But the job that day puzzled Shearin: laying down the groove from the Chic song “Good Times” for an unheard-of 15 minutes.
Shearin’s role was to thump away on that bass line for a quarter-hour straight, with no mistakes.
“The drummer and I were sweating bullets because that’s a long time,” Shearin says with a laugh, sitting in his home studio in Raleigh. “And this was in the days before samplers and drum machines, when real humans had to play things.”
When they finished, Shearin asked Robinson what she was going to do with the recording.
“Sylvia said, ‘I’ve got these kids who are going to talk real fast over it; that’s the best way I can describe it,'” Shearin says.
“Nobody singing, just talking? Um, OK.””
#2 Let It Be (Beatles) [9.25]
#15 The Harder They Come (Jimmy Cliff) [6.5]
#7 Is This Love (Bob Marley) [7.5]
#10 What’d I Say (Ray Charles) [7.75]
#3 Tiny Dancer (Elton John) [8.25]
#14 Rock ‘n Roll N**** (Patti Smith) [7]
#6 Rapper’s Delight (Sugarhill Gang) [7.5]
#11 Brown Sugar (Rolling Stones) [7]
Let It Be (Beatles) 7.5
The Harder They Come (Jimmy Cliff) 8
Is This Love (Bob Marley) 7
What’d I Say (Ray Charles) 8
Tiny Dancer (Elton John) 9
Rock ‘n Roll N**** (Patti Smith) 3
Rapper’s Delight (Sugarhill Gang) 8
Brown Sugar ( Rolling Stones) 7
#2 Let It Be (Beatles) 8.1
#15 The Harder They Come (Jimmy Cliff) 7.3
#7 Is This Love (Bob Marley) 8
#10 What’d I Say (Ray Charles) 8.3
I thought Bob had this in the bag based on the instrumental… but Ray just kept coming and coming.
#3 Tiny Dancer (Elton John) 6.3
#14 Rock ‘n Roll N**** (Patti Smith) 5
Patti had energy… but still not feeling the song generally. I’m just not going to get into Tiny Dancer. Don’t know why, but such is life.
#6 Rapper’s Delight (Sugarhill Gang) 7.5
#11 Brown Sugar (Rolling Stones) 8.1
I know I’ve said it before… but there are 3-5 minutes of Rapper’s Delight that could be yanked out without trouble and the song would be much better, without the up and downs.
Let It Be (Beatles) 8 8 8
The Harder They Come (Jimmy Cliff)7.5 7 8.5
Is This Love (Bob Marley) 7.5 8.5 9
What’d I Say (Ray Charles) 9 9 8.5
Tiny Dancer (Elton John) 9.5 8.5 7
Rock ‘n Roll N**** (Patti Smith) 8 8 10
Rapper’s Delight (Sugarhill Gang) 6 8 6
Brown Sugar ( Rolling Stones) 7.3 9.5 8.5
Oh, I thought I had titled it “Janos, Gayleem, Cristina”, lest someone think I was just schizophrenically voting three times.
Tonight I have voting with me my roommate Alithea and her friend Robert. The votes go Aiko/Alithea/Robert.
Let It Be (Beatles) 7/6/6
The Harder They Come (Jimmy Cliff) /9.5/4*
*This is Robert’s vote unless he’s scoring the beginning of a Kevin Kline romantic comedy, in which case it would be a 9.
Is This Love (Bob Marley) 7/8.5/10
What’d I Say (Ray Charles) 5/7/6.5
[Robert had to leave at this point so the last two are just Aiko & Alithea]
Tiny Dancer (Elton John) 8/8
Rock ‘n Roll N**** (Patti Smith) 5/6.5
Rapper’s Delight (Sugarhill Gang) 7.5/7.5
Brown Sugar ( Rolling Stones) 5.5/6
You got a Jimmy Cliff score for yourself?
#2 Let It Be (Beatles) 9
#15 The Harder They Come (Jimmy Cliff) 5
#7 Is This Love (Bob Marley) 6
#10 What’d I Say (Ray Charles) 6.5
#3 Tiny Dancer (Elton John) 9
#14 Rock ‘n Roll N**** (Patti Smith) 2
#6 Rapper’s Delight (Sugarhill Gang) 6
#11 Brown Sugar (Rolling Stones) 6
Initially was heavily favoring rapper’s delight…but jesus that song is too long.
Let It Be (Beatles) vs. The Harder They Come (Jimmy Cliff) = 6.5 to 8
Is This Love (Bob Marley) vs. What’d I Say (Ray Charles) = 5 to 6
Tiny Dancer (Elton John) vs. Rock ‘n Roll N**** (Patti Smith) = 7 to 3
Rapper’s Delight (Sugarhill Gang) vs. Brown Sugar (Rolling Stones) = 5 to 6.5