The time has come, the time has come today. We’ve put together 32 songs about the radio and 32 of the finest opening tracks of all time, and now we need you to pick a winner.
Click here to soak in the full bracket, and here to view the full list of participating songs.*
For those who have participated in our past music tournaments, you know the drill. For newcomers, here is the gist: we’ll be posting four match-ups three times a week. Two match-ups will be “Radio Songs”, two match-ups will “Track Ones”. Vote by commenting below this post, giving each song a score from 1-10 (the higher the better). The song with the most points advances to the next round. Single elimination. Good times for all. Full rules and philosophy here.
And off we go. Listen to all the songs here and vote by Wednesday, 8pm (EST).
Track Ones
Black Dog (Led Zeppelin- Led Zeppelin IV) vs. Boy in the Bubble (Paul Simon- Graceland)
Where the Streets Have No Name (U2- Joshua Tree) vs. Lust for Life (Iggy Pop- Lust for Life)
Radio Songs
Do You Remember Rock ‘n Roll Radio (Ramones) vs. Mexican Radio (Wall of Voodoo)
Radio Free Europe (R.E.M) vs. Last DJ (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers)
Coming up Wednesday…Rush, Hendrix vs. Jay-Z, “Video Killed the Radio Star” and more…
*We decided to limit the tournament to one song per artist, which is why you don’t see “Radio Nowhere” by Bruce Springsteen, “Radio Song” by R.E.M, or “Radio Head” by the Talking Heads, to cite a few examples. Similarly, bands like the Beatles and Stones have a number of strong opening tracks- we went with the ones we thought would do best.
Living the Dream 
(First pair are my ratings, 2nd pair are my wife’s…she wasn’t much of a fan)
Black Dog (Led Zeppelin- Led Zeppelin IV) vs. Boy in the Bubble (Paul Simon- Graceland):
7/6, 5/5
Where the Streets Have No Name (U2- Joshua Tree) vs. Lust for Life (Iggy Pop- Lust for Life): 9/5, 9/4
Do You Remember Rock ‘n Roll Radio (Ramones) vs. Mexican Radio (Wall of Voodoo): 5/5.5 , 4/5
Radio Free Europe (R.E.M) vs. Last DJ (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers): 6/6.1, 5/4
Black Dog (Led Zeppelin- Led Zeppelin IV) 5
vs. Boy in the Bubble (Paul Simon- Graceland) 6
Where the Streets Have No Name (U2- Joshua Tree) 9
vs. Lust for Life (Iggy Pop- Lust for Life) 5
By comparison, miles and miles apart for me.
Do You Remember Rock ‘n Roll Radio (Ramones) 8
vs. Mexican Radio (Wall of Voodoo) 3
Loving some Ramones this morning; really not loving Wall of Voodoo.
Radio Free Europe (R.E.M) 5.5
vs. Last DJ (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers) 6.5
Black Dog (Led Zeppelin- Led Zeppelin IV) vs. Boy in the Bubble (Paul Simon- Graceland) = 9 to 6
The paul simon song is good but the production is abysmal. Oof, I feel like I’m wrapped in saran wrap and haven’t had a drink of water in 2 days.
Where the Streets Have No Name (U2- Joshua Tree) vs. Lust for Life (Iggy Pop- Lust for Life) = 5.5 to 7
Radio Songs
Do You Remember Rock ‘n Roll Radio (Ramones) vs. Mexican Radio (Wall of Voodoo) = 9 to 5
Radio Free Europe (R.E.M) vs. Last DJ (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers) = 8.5 to 5.5
I like the Tom Petty song’s lyrics but not the song
Black Dog (Led Zeppelin- Led Zeppelin IV) 6
vs. Boy in the Bubble (Paul Simon- Graceland) 9
Where the Streets Have No Name (U2- Joshua Tree): 8.3 Classic slow build-up.
vs. Lust for Life (Iggy Pop- Lust for Life): 8
Do You Remember Rock ‘n Roll Radio (Ramones): 9.5 Can’t get more nostalgic than this…
vs. Mexican Radio (Wall of Voodoo): 4 Actively dislike this song, but two people suggested it…
Radio Free Europe (R.E.M): 9.5
vs. Last DJ (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers): 6.3
Black Dog (Led Zeppelin) vs. Boy in the Bubble (Paul Simon) 6.0 – 5.5
Where the Streets Have No Name (U2) vs. Lust for Life (Iggy Pop) 5.5 – 5.5
Do You Remember Rock ‘n Roll Radio (Ramones) vs. Mexican Radio (Wall of Voodoo) 6.0 – 5.0
Radio Free Europe (R.E.M) vs. Last DJ (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers) 5.0 – 6.5
Black Dog (Led Zeppelin) vs. Boy in the Bubble (Paul Simon) 6.0 – 5.0
Where the Streets Have No Name (U2) vs. Lust for Life (Iggy Pop) 5.5 – 5.0
Do You Remember Rock ‘n Roll Radio (Ramones) vs. Mexican Radio (Wall of Voodoo) 5.5. – 4.5
Radio Free Europe (R.E.M) vs. Last DJ (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers) 5.0 – 6.5
Joe and I were doing beers and guitar lessons in Greenbelt- I’ve got some work to do on the barre version of chords for “Train In Vain.” Then we stopped to vote. Scores are Guillermo/Joe.
Black Dog 8.1/9
Boy In The Bubble 5.9/6.5
Where The Streets Have No Name 8.3/8
Lust For Life 6.8/6
Ramones 7.1/7.5
Mexican Radio 4/5
Radio Free Europe 7/8
Tom Petty 5.8/5
Black Dog – 8.5
Boy in the Bubble – 5
After that Page/Plant rock fest, it’s hard to bring it down so many notches to Paul Simon’s pop-y level.
Where the Streets Have No Name – 8
Lust for Life – 7.3
I’ve heard Where the Streets Have No Name at least 5 times in the past 72 hrs, either on the radio or from my own doing. This was a tough one, but sorry Iggy/Bowie, Bono takes it.
Ramones – 6.8
Mexican Radio – 3
I have to admit, it took effort to pay attention to Mexican Radio long enough to score it, but the Ramones are hard to ignore.
Radio Free Europe – 3.5
Tom Petty – 4
Always a fan of Tom Petty.
Track Ones
8- Black Dog (Led Zeppelin- Led Zeppelin IV) vs.
9- Boy in the Bubble (Paul Simon- Graceland)
9- Where the Streets Have No Name (U2- Joshua Tree) vs.
6- Lust for Life (Iggy Pop- Lust for Life)
Radio Songs
6- Do You Remember Rock ‘n Roll Radio (Ramones) vs.
3- Mexican Radio (Wall of Voodoo)
7.5- Radio Free Europe (R.E.M) vs.
6- Last DJ (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers)
Track Ones
Black Dog (Led Zeppelin- Led Zeppelin IV) 7.5
Boy in the Bubble (Paul Simon- Graceland) 6.5
Where the Streets Have No Name (U2- Joshua Tree) 8
Lust for Life (Iggy Pop- Lust for Life) 8.25
Radio Songs
Do You Remember Rock ‘n Roll Radio (Ramones) 7
Mexican Radio (Wall of Voodoo) 5
Couldn’t get to the last ones, sorry!