Votes are due by Saturday, April 9th at 8 PM EST: Moving forward with our Division semi-final match-ups, we arrive at K and L. In Division K Ben E. King, the last tourney survivor not named Johnny Cash who can say “people paid money to see me perform before 1960,” lines up against the Prince of Pop. On the other side, Marconi tries to mambo his way past the Man In Black. I certainly didn’t see either of these songs getting this far, so we’ll see who keeps it up- Starship or Cash.
Regardless of people’s thoughts on K, Division L looks like a powerful quartet and a good listen for sure. Dusty Springfield and Jimi tap fists to see whose ode advances, Billy Ray’s or Mary’s. And last, in a pairing that falls extremely close to this voter’s heart, Otis and Van tee off with their token songs in a battle of summer.
Grooveshark link is here, and votes are due by 8 pm on Saturday, April 9th. Vote by commenting on this post or by e-mailing LTDdotorg@gmail.com. Best of luck to all songs.
Division K Semi-Finals
#1 Stand By Me (Ben E. King) vs. #4 Billie Jean (Michael Jackson)
#6 We Built This City (Jefferson Starship) vs. #15 Man In Black (Johnny Cash)
Division L Semi-Finals
#1 Son Of A Preacherman (Dusty Springfield) vs. #13 The Wind Cries Mary (Jimi Hendrix)
#2 (Sittin’ On The) Dock Of The Bay (Otis Redding) vs. #11 Brown Eyed Girl (Van Morrison)
Living the Dream 
#1 Stand By Me (Ben E. King) 7 vs. #4 Billie Jean (Michael Jackson) 8
#6 We Built This City (Jefferson Starship) 10 vs. #15 Man In Black (Johnny Cash) 6
#1 Son Of A Preacherman (Dusty Springfield) 7 vs. #13 The Wind Cries Mary (Jimi Hendrix) 7
#2 (Sittin’ On The) Dock Of The Bay (Otis Redding) 8 vs. #11 Brown Eyed Girl (Van Morrison) 6
Punch me in the face! Brown Eyed Girl vs. Sittin on the Dock of the Bay? This is an impossible choice! I need to sleep on it.
#1 Stand By Me (Ben E. King) [8.5]
#4 Billie Jean (Michael Jackson) [7.75]
#6 We Built This City (Jefferson Starship) [7.6]
#15 Man In Black (Johnny Cash) [6]
#1 Son Of A Preacherman (Dusty Springfield) [8.25]
#13 The Wind Cries Mary (Jimi Hendrix) [7]
#2 (Sittin’ On The) Dock Of The Bay (Otis Redding) [7.5]
#11 Brown Eyed Girl (Van Morrison) [8.5]
#1 Stand By Me (Ben E. King) 6
#4 Billie Jean (Michael Jackson) 7
#6 We Built This City (Jefferson Starship) 8
#15 Man In Black (Johnny Cash) 7
#1 Son Of A Preacherman (Dusty Springfield) 5
#13 The Wind Cries Mary (Jimi Hendrix) 4.5
#2 (Sittin’ On The) Dock Of The Bay (Otis Redding) 7
#11 Brown Eyed Girl (Van Morrison) 9
Still feeling heady after assigning my first “10” in the last division. Trying to calm down, but it’s just so hard with some of these match-ups!
Stand By Me (8.5)
Billie Jean (8.5)
I can’t, I’m sorry.
We Built this City (5)
Man in Black (4)
Son of a Preacherman (6)
Wind Cries Mary (7)
This one particularly hurt — how do you choose?? Biting the bullet:
Dock of the Bay (8.5)
Brown-Eyed Girl (9)
Division K Semi-Finals
#1 Stand By Me (Ben E. King) 8.1
#4 Billie Jean (Michael Jackson) 8.2
Huh.
#6 We Built This City (Jefferson Starship) 4.6
#15 Man In Black (Johnny Cash) 1.8
I don’t know why this is the fourth Johnny Cash song. Give me Big River, Don’t Take Your Guns To Town, The Wanderer, Get Rhythm, or even Jackson over this. Starship should win this, because a We Built This City-Billie Jean final would be very representative of Division K.
Division L Semi-Finals
#1 Son Of A Preacherman (Dusty Springfield) 7
#13 The Wind Cries Mary (Jimi Hendrix) 7.5
Paging Carrie Hughes (again.)
#2 (Sittin’ On The) Dock Of The Bay (Otis Redding) 9
#11 Brown Eyed Girl (Van Morrison) 9.2
This hurts my heart. This was a tie. Then just to try to find a way to break it, I found a version with the original “making love in the green grass” lyric. That was the extra 0.2.
http://vimeo.com/10738004
You know Janos loves Man in Black…
Stand By Me (7.1)
Billie Jean (6.5)
Amazing vocals and lyrics on Stand By Me. The instrumentals start out good, but those strings start getting cheesy by the end. Billie Jean is more versatile as a song. Vocals can’t quite match Stand By Me for depth of emotion. Its production is more polished by several orders of magnitude. The little echoes Michael does are kinda funny. I keep wavering between a 5.5 and an 8.5. So 7.5 it is.
We Built this City (3.9)
Man in Black (6.7)
We Built this City is painfully dated. It wants so badly to rock, and yet with its tinny synthesizers and wacky vocals it simultaneously exemplifies everything that made music STOP rocking in the 80s. The lyrics are goofily earnest, and its definitely just what the doctor ordered for certain mold remediation jobs, rubble clearing, rebar pounding, or road trips… but nostalgia aside, its not a very good song. Surprised its still in it.
Man In Black is lyrically potent, and has solid guitar twang. Its good at what it does, and it does it nice a quickly without dragging. I had it rated lower, but had to bump it up.
Son of a Preacherman (9.3)
Wind Cries Mary (9.7)
Son of a Preacherman is awesome. Really sweet and melodic with instruments that match the vocalists perfectly. Great tempo, nice crescendo. Solid song all around. Not too long.
Jimi’s intro is phenomenal. Trippy lyrics, incredible guitarwork. Tough choice. I absolutely adore Jimi’s little trailing off guitar riffs, they’re just so damned cool. Both these songs would demolish the first four songs we reviewed today.
Dock of the Bay (9.5)
Brown-Eyed Girl (8.1)
Had these both at 10s, Otis kept it together, while Van’s voice wore it down to an 8.1…
wait, so you wavered between 5.5 and 8.5 and chose 7.5. But then gave the song a score of 6.5. Even though between 5.5 and 8.5 is 7.0?
I always think of mold remediation, Kuhn Street, December 05 when I hear We Built This City, I’m happy you mentioned that.
It is a scattered day for us today: First Matchup
Billie Jean:
Dave: 5
Dennys: 7
Kate: 8
Kevin: 5
Tony: 6
Stand by Me:
Dave: 8
Dennys: 7
Kate: 10 (feeling eternally guilty that Grapevine lost by 1 lousy point, I am now much more generous with the 10s)
Kevin: 8
Tony: 7
We Built This City:
Kate- 8 on pure sentimentality alone. Like Catholic Nick this song makes me think of HOUSA mold removal days.
Man in Black:
Kate- 6 Not my favorite Cash song
Son of a Preacher Man:
Dave:5
Kate: 9 Oh, so true
Wind Cries Mary:
Dave: 7
Kate: 5
#1 Stand By Me (Ben E. King) 5.5
#4 Billie Jean (Michael Jackson) 9
#6 We Built This City (Jefferson Starship) 6
#15 Man In Black (Johnny Cash) 7.5
#1 Son Of A Preacherman (Dusty Springfield) 4
#13 The Wind Cries Mary (Jimi Hendrix) 8.5
#2 (Sittin’ On The) Dock Of The Bay (Otis Redding) 6.5
#11 Brown Eyed Girl (Van Morrison) 4.5
Stand By Me (Ben E. King) 8
Billie Jean (Michael Jackson) 6
We Built This City (Jefferson Starship) 4
Man In Black (Johnny Cash) 7
Son Of A Preacherman (Dusty Springfield) 8
The Wind Cries Mary (Jimi Hendrix) 6
(Sittin’ On The) Dock Of The Bay (Otis Redding) 9
Brown Eyed Girl (Van Morrison) 9.5
I expected Brown Eyed Girl to feel more “old” in the sense that I’ve heard it many more times than Sittin’ On The Dock of the Bay. Maybe it’s cus I’m at school way too early on a Saturday and I needed something a little peppier to get me going… Still, love both songs and hate that only one can go on.
#1 Stand By Me (Ben E. King) 5.1
#4 Billie Jean (Michael Jackson) 7.5
Stand By Me just felt underwhelming. MJ just seems to different from everything else at this point, that I feel like he’s getting novelty points, no matter how many times I’ve heard the song.
#6 We Built This City (Jefferson Starship) 4.8
#15 Man In Black (Johnny Cash) 7.1
#1 Son Of A Preacherman (Dusty Springfield) 8
#13 The Wind Cries Mary (Jimi Hendrix) 3
#2 (Sittin’ On The) Dock Of The Bay (Otis Redding) 5.3
#11 Brown Eyed Girl (Van Morrison) 9.5
Stand By Me (Ben E. King) 6.5
Billie Jean (Michael Jackson) 6
We Built This City (Jefferson Starship) 7.2
Man In Black (Johnny Cash) 4
Son Of A Preacherman (Dusty Springfield) 9.6
Wind Cries Mary (Jimi Hendrix) 9.3
Too tough to choose between these two in a meaningful way…
(Sitting’ On The) Dock Of The Bay (Otis Redding) 7
Brown Eyed Girl (Van Morrison) 8
Ok so Brown eyed Girl vs. Sittin On the Dock of the Bay? This is a twisted and cruel event. Both songs are embedded in so many of my life’s events. I mean Brown Eyed Girl is Summer Camp and the first time I ever heard a love song with my features, brown eyes! As a homely 11 year old this was pretty significant. Then there is Otis- at the end of the day, there is a poignancy to Otis that I can’t get away from. This song has scratched my itch and soothed my soul after many a long day..sitting here resting my bones and this loneliness won’t leave me alone. At the end of the day, if I only had one mix CD this song would be on it.
Brown Eyed Girl: 9
Dock of the Bay: 10
today’s votes coming outta philly (natalie /sudeshna):
stand by me – 8 / 8
billie jean – 4 / 4
billie jean is fun, but we both thought it’s not the kind of song we would just sit alone in a room & listen to
we built this city – 2.5 / 1
man in black – 4 / 3
there was a lot of groaning from sudeshna during “we built this city”
son of a preacherman – 10 / 9
the wind cries mary – 5.5 / 8
dock of the bay – 7.5 / 8
brown eyed girl – 6 / 6
#1 Stand By Me (Ben E. King) 9.5
#4 Billie Jean (Michael Jackson) 10
#6 We Built This City (Jefferson Starship) 9
#15 Man In Black (Johnny Cash) 9
#1 Son Of A Preacherman (Dusty Springfield) 8.5
#13 The Wind Cries Mary (Jimi Hendrix) 8.3
#2 (Sittin’ On The) Dock Of The Bay (Otis Redding) 8
#11 Brown Eyed Girl (Van Morrison) 8.2
Stand By Me (Ben E. King) 9.5
Billie Jean (Michael Jackson) 4
We Built This City (Jefferson Starship) 3 [chorus is amazing and everything else makes me cringe.]
Man In Black (Johnny Cash) 1.5 [music is fine but self-righteous there much Johnny? You know, sometimes the reason why you do something is better left a mystery.]
Son Of A Preacherman (Dusty Springfield) 6.5
Wind Cries Mary (Jimi Hendrix) 5
(Sitting’ On The) Dock Of The Bay (Otis Redding) 7.5
Brown Eyed Girl (Van Morrison) 4.5
Stand By Me (Ben E. King) 8.5
Billie Jean (Michael Jackson) 5
We Built This City (Jefferson Starship) 2.0
Man In Black (Johnny Cash) 1.0
Son Of A Preacherman (Dusty Springfield) 10
Wind Cries Mary (Jimi Hendrix) 1.5
(Sitting’ On The) Dock Of The Bay (Otis Redding) 3.5
Brown Eyed Girl (Van Morrison) 7.5
Stand By Me (Ben E. King) 9
Billie Jean (Michael Jackson) 7
We Built This City (Jefferson Starship) 7
Man In Black (Johnny Cash) 9
Son Of A Preacherman (Dusty Springfield) 9.7
Wind Cries Mary (Jimi Hendrix) 8.8
(Sitting’ On The) Dock Of The Bay (Otis Redding) 9.5
Brown Eyed Girl (Van Morrison) 9.1