64 is a big number. Not just because it’s bigger than all numbers between 1 and 63, but more so because it’s a number we can all finally wrap our heads around. Janos and I have run 64 song tournaments in the past, and some of our voter base may have as well. And I know that Nos has even run bigger tourneys than that. But the difference between those and what we have now is this: it’s one thing to pick 64 songs and go. It’s a completely different thing to pick 55o+ songs and see who survives into a round of 64. This is a special, special group.

That said, I’d like to first and foremost do a “flashback” to those songs that defeated songs in a play-in round. 57 songs have defeated 3 songs to survive, but 7 songs have defeated 4 songs to get to where they are today. Here they are, in no particular order- I can almost completely guarantee you will be surprised.

Play-In Recap

Call Me (Blondie) beat Man In The Mirror (Michael Jackson), 128-119
Son of a Preacherman (Dusty Springfield) beat Angie (Rolling Stones), 127-117
Lookin’ Out My Backdoor (Creedence Clearwater Revival) beat Wave of Mutilation (Pixies), 103-85
For What It’s Worth (Buffalo Springfield) beat Let’s Get Together (Youngbloodz), 107-96
Wind Cries Mary (Jimi Hendrix) beat Helpless (Neil Young), 118-104
Wavin’ Flag (K’Naan) beat New Day (Wyclef w/ Bono), 91-71
Train In Vain (Clash) beat Sleeping Aides and Razorblades (Exploding Hearts), 64-58

We have everything here from 1 seed “Son of a Preacherman (Apparently Tim was right when he told Nos last December he refused to vote on it because Dusty should have been in the tournament automatically) to up-start “Call Me”, who has been slashing powerhouses left and right for months now.

Second, would like to just send some additional encouragement to all regular voters to try and get your friends involved. We are in the final stretch of getting to the heart of the best song that has survived this winter and spring of voting, and we will be done by May 1st. Now more than ever is the time to increase the pool and get more opinions into the mix!

Pumped for the Round of 64. T-minus 80 minutes.