Nonplussed- Robert Plant
[UPDATE: Grooveshark link is fixed. For some reason, GS erased my most recent 10 playlists- maybe I hit my limit or something. Anyways, this should work, and sorry for the off-linedness.] Results for Game 2 are in, and another band picks up a Strike One. Much kudos to both U2 and the Beach Boys who turned in stellar performances. “Sunday Bloody Sunday” grabs the gold medal here with 89.5, with “I Get Around” the closest of silvers with 89.4. Unfortunately for Led Zeppelin, the crowd did not warm up to “Custard Pie,” which stumbled into the bronze at 62.1.
Current Standings:
Beach Boys:
Led Zeppelin: X
U2: X
Game 3 coming right up, and no one is holding back on these nominations. Votes are due by Wednesday night the 30th at midnight, and the playlist is here. Best of luck to all:
Royal Rumble: Game 3
U2- New Year’s Day
The Beach Boys- Help Me Rhonda
Led Zeppelin- Hey Hey What Can I Do
Living the Dream 
Royal Rumble: Game 3
U2- New Year’s Day – 6
The Beach Boys- Help Me Rhonda – 3
Led Zeppelin- Hey Hey What Can I Do – 5
U2- New Year’s Day: 6.5
Solid.
The Beach Boys- Help Me Rhonda: 7.2
Harmonies are what we need for Tuesdays after 3 day weekends.
Led Zeppelin- Hey Hey What Can I Do: 6.8
Surprised to give this the nod ahead of U2. But seriously, a lovely song. Plus how cool would I be to have a copy of the LP with Immigrant Song as the A side and Hey Hey What Can I Do as the B side? Very much so- “In the evening when the sun is sinkin’ low/ everybody’s with the one they love/ I walk the town, Keep a-searchin’ all around/ lookin’ for my street corner girl.”
U2- New Year’s Day – 5
The Beach Boys- Help Me Rhonda – 8 Love this song, but this version has some weird backing vocals. Lots of squawking.
Led Zeppelin- Hey Hey What Can I Do – 9 Maybe the greatest b-side I can think of. Mandolin! Zither! Fuck yeah!
U2- New Year’s Day: NA
The Beach Boys- Help Me Rhonda: 6
Led Zeppelin- Hey Hey What Can I Do: 7
U2- New Year’s Day – 7
The Beach Boys- Help Me Rhonda – 7.05
Led Zeppelin- Hey Hey What Can I Do – 7.25
U2- New Year’s Day: 7 Rock solid.
The Beach Boys- Help Me Rhonda: NA – Btw, in case people are wondering, this is the version that Brian Wilson had re-recorded after Rhonda was already a #1 hit. In addition to different backup vocals, it features the piano more prominently in the bridge.
Led Zeppelin- Hey Hey What Can I Do: 8 Very strong.
If you can’t get enough Rhonda and have 39 minutes to kill, here’s a recording from the studio sessions, which includes about a thousand takes and a shouting match between Brian Wilson and his drunken father Murray, who keeps telling the singers to “sing from the heart.” It’s kind of interesting to hear how they workshop the song over the course of the sessions. For a pretty simple song, it has a lot of subtle elements underneath.
http://grooveshark.com/#!/album/Help+Me+Rhonda+Sessions/5931980
U2- New Year’s Day: 6
The Beach Boys- Help Me Rhonda: 7.5
Led Zeppelin- Hey Hey What Can I Do: 6.7
U2- 6.5 I thought I liked this song more than I apparently do? Listening to it now it feels a little plodding, but the music is solid.
BB- 7.4 Not my favorite Beach Boys song, or my favorite version of it, but it’s still it’s pretty wonderful. Great example of the vocal layering.
LZ- 5 Unlike the other bands, I didn’t at all grow up with their music and have a very hard time caring about it, which I know is heresy. I’m hoping this competition changes that!
Gmo – What’s up with Grooveshark? The link is not connecting. Had to locate the songs individually and not sure I had the correct ones or the correct versions.
Same issue with the grooveshark link. Maybe they had to cut down on their support staff to save money for the legal battles that are ensuing because of all of the music they are (arguably) stealing: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57353515-93/grooveshark-now-feels-lawsuit-wrath-of-all-major-music-labels/ . I always wondered how this site could possibly make money because the revenue must be tiny compared to the EMI licensce fees. The answer seems to be that they licensced the EMI catalog back in 2009 and have since declined to actually pay for it.
U2- New Year’s Day – 6
The Beach Boys- Help Me Rhonda 5
Led Zeppelin- Hey Hey What Can I Do 6.5
My understanding is that a number of labels were promised certain revenue streams and have gotten next to nothing. Gmo and I are shocked that the site’s stayed up as long as it has.
fascinating
U2- New Year’s Day – 5 (because of the 39 blissful seconds of intro guitar before Bono screams in and ruins everything)
The Beach Boys- Help Me Rhonda – 8 (I have fantastic memories of being 10 and hearing this song live on the beach in Ocean City, singing “Help Me Ronnie” to my cousin to tease her about a boy she liked)
Led Zeppelin- Hey Hey What Can I Do 5 (Meh.)
New Year’s Day (U2) 7
This song has a great guitar tone, and great piano melody. I actually like that this U2 song is actually lyrically cryptic.
Help Me Rhonda (The Beach Boys) 5
I get it Brian Wilson, or maybe Al Jardine needs help, specifically from Rhonda.
Hey Hey What Can I Do (Led Zeppelin) 8
I’ve said it here a ton of times sex sells. Great guitar, great mandolin.
U2- New Year’s Day: 5
I lied. Maybe everything off of War isn’t as awesome as I thought. Songs take on a completely different tone when not listened to as a whole album. Some songs can completely stand as singles others sound better when surrounded by the rest of the album, this falls into the former. This was a decent song when I was listening to War, but on it’s own I just feel “meh” about it.
The Beach Boys- Help Me Rhonda: 4
I just really haven’t been in a Beach Boys mood in quite a while. It’s better than some of the rest, it just isn’t my cup of tea. I do like the idea of using women to get over heartbreak. Hmmm….
Led Zeppelin- Hey Hey What Can I Do: 7
It’s Led Zeppelin goodness. Enough said.
U2- New Year’s Day: 6.8
My “Bono smug-alert” meter is conspicuously low on this, plus great accompaniment/content
The Beach Boys- Help Me Rhonda: 7.1
Give it up to the Beach Boys to have such a peppy song about some depressed dude who just lost his girl.
Led Zeppelin- Hey Hey What Can I Do: 6.4
Not sure why this isn’t higher; think it’s just not as amped up as how I like my LZ songs.
U2- New Year’s Day = 5.5
The Beach Boys- Help Me Rhonda = 6
Led Zeppelin- Hey Hey What Can I Do = 9
New Year’s Day sounds like driving in a car in the middle of winter with no snow on the ground.
John Paul Jones.
This is how the artists and labels make money:
http://www.soundexchange.com/
They register their band with this not-for-profit site according to some law created by the Federal government. There are different revenue formulas depending if you are a large online streaming website (like grooveshark or pandora) or a small online streaming website (random college radio station with a music app on their website) or if you are satellite based (like SiriusXM). But the government decided that the person who owns the rights to the song makes a % of a penny per play of a song, which is probably why pandora will only let you skip so many songs in a row unless you are a paying subscriber. But if you are an artist who did not register your band with this website, you are NOT getting your money. How the fuck will they know who to give it to? It will just get redistributed to all those lucky sons of bitches who had the foresight to register their band already. Did I mention that the a bunch of people from the RIAA is on the board of this organization?
How do I know all this? I am an auditor, and I’ve audited SoundExchange.
Now that. Is fascinating.
Actually I kind of want to do a podcast about this.
Do it!! Get Katie Baron on the podcast too!
In the article posted by Adam S, there is a line that says “royalties on a music licensing pact signed in 2009.” That is the piece of legislation I’m talking about up there.
U2- New Year’s Day .7.8
One of my favorite U2 tracks, definitely a good energizer for late afternoon.
The Beach Boys- Help Me Rhonda 5.5
Usually like this a lot more… not sure if its the version, the repetition or following U2. Was expecting a much better score.
Led Zeppelin- Hey Hey What Can I Do *
U2 – 4.5
I thought I liked this song a lot more than I actually do.
BB- 8.5
One of my favorite BB songs…interesting version.
Led Zeppelin – 6
Solid.
U2 – 7.8
Now that I’ve sat through this song for the first time in a long, long while, I realize this song totally sounds like the Clash and Morrisey had a love child. I still like it though…
BB – 2
I don’t really get it. I agree with Greg, that the Beach Boys might have been awesome when I was much younger or if I was born 3 decades earlier.
LZ – 8
Thoroughly enjoyed this one. 90% of the reason is that Robbie boy isn’t squawking it up the whole time.
I was born 3 decades earlier (or more). I didn’t get it then and I don’t get it now.
U2- New Year’s Day: 6
The Beach Boys- Help Me Rhonda: 7.8
Led Zeppelin- Hey Hey What Can I Do: 6.5
U2- New Year’s Day 6.0
The Beach Boys- Help Me Rhonda 7.0
Led Zeppelin- Hey Hey What Can I Do 7.5
U2- New Year’s Day 5.0 Meh ++
The Beach Boys- Help Me Rhonda – 5.5 Listenable, but not repeatedly. After a while they all run together because they sound alike.
Led Zeppelin- Hey Hey What Can I Do 7.5 Continuing to find a new twist from song to song.
U2- New Year’s Day – 3
When I was seven I ate way too many Sun Chips once, and to this day I still can’t eat them. Are they even still making them? Anyway, my point is, that is how I feel about Bono.
The Beach Boys- Help Me Rhonda – 7.8
I like this version. It’s a little more mellow. This is the perfect time of year for the Beach Boys, but that’s because it’s been a stressful year and it’s almost summer.
Led Zeppelin- Hey Hey What Can I Do – 4.5