Motorhead steps up to the plate this week.
The results for Day 1 are below, and please peruse- for now though, Day 2 playlist is below. The votes are due Friday at 5 PM EST/2 PM PST! We’ll keep operating like that- a set of match-ups for the larger work week and a set for the weekend.
- Bang Your Head (Group 11)
- Then Go Get A Milkshake At The Drive-Thru (Group 2)
- Then Pick Up That Wallet Chain You’ve Been Eyeing At Pac Sun (Group 15)
- Then Take It Easy On The Swing Set And Make Out (Group 5)
Click here to open up the voting window to rank the match-ups!
Highest score of the round? No big deal.
Day 1 Results: After a spirited weekend, the results are in for our first set of match-ups with four songs securing spots in the Round of 512. As stated earlier, any song that doesn’t win its group can potentially still advance based on its average score- we’ll have a better sense of what that cut-off might look like as the tourney continues.
Fight For Your Right To Party by The Beastie Boys: 93
Walk This Way by Run DMC/Aerosmith: 90
You Give Love A Bad Name by Bon Jovi: 80
Talk Dirty To Me by Poison: 69
Pretty clear here that the people prefer the rap/rock hybrid work coming out of New York over the pop metal options.
Piece Of My Heart by Janis Joplin: 105
Somebody To Love by Jefferson Airplane: 94
I Feel Like I’m Itching To Die Rag by Country Joe & The Fish: 73
That’s It For The Other One by The Grateful Dead: 60
No contest here, although Grace Slick may be in a decent position to grab an at-large spot for the next round. The people did not like the other two songs for the most part, although Country Joe did manage to grab both a 1 and a 10 from voters.
Sing Sing Sing (With A Swing) by Benny Goodman: 102
Take The A Train by Duke Ellington: 86
Well, Get It! by Tommy Dorsey: 82
String of Pearls by Glenn Miller: 77
I got a lot of shit from G and Chaz for stating that “Sing Sing Sing” was from the movie The Mask- apparently it is from many other pop culture things beyond that Jim Carrey classic. Advances with a fury.
Rock’n Me by Steve Miller Band: 85
Show Me The Way by Peter Frampton: 84
Foreplay/Long Time by Boston: 84
Life In The Fast Lane by The Eagles: 79
Closest group- perhaps a handful of “take ’em or leave ’em” classic rock selections, but simultaneously not a terrible set of four songs to hear on a Sunday afternoon working on a truck. Steve Miller noses this one out from Phoenix, Arizona all the way to Tacoma.
Living the Dream 
Thank you for standardizing the scoring.
Group 1: Nothing can touch Crazy Train in this division. My first sub-4 for Breaking the Law.
Group 2: A questionable Chuck Berry entry, but such a strong division, not sure anything besides Johnny B Goode would’ve had a shot. Blueberry Hill is one of the most lovely tunes of all time. See if you can find a version with bouncier vocals, sounds like he was an old man for this version.
Group 3: Praise allah that this musical era is dead and buried.
Group 4: Not sure what category this was precisely, but all pleasant sugar gum pop.
Sadly, Spotify is blocked in my office, so my opportunity to vote in this tournament will be greatly reduced. I did get a chance to vote today, though.
Alright, my votes for public consumption:
“Ace Of Spades” by Motorhead Epic (9)
“Crazy Train” by Ozzy Osbourne Fantastic (8)
“Breaking The Law” by Judas Priest Really Good (6)
“Voodoo” by Black Sabbath Average (4)
Ace of Spades gets me going more than Crazy Train, but I have been on a bit of a Motorhead jukebox kick the last three weeks or so.
“Long Tall Sally” by Little Richard Fantastic (8)
“Blueberry Hill” by Fats Domino Average (4)
“School Day” by Chuck Berry Good (5)
“Reet Petite” by Jackie Wilson Great (7)
Reet Petite was Jackie Wilson’s first single and was written by Berry Gordy Jr. in 1957 before Gordy started Motown, so there’s that for history. Love for Blueberry Hill aside, this is a mood match-up and I was voting on these later in the evening. Long Tall Sally is a great one. Fun fact- James Brown used to play back-up in Little Richard’s band in the late 50s, and got kicked out because LR thought JB was upstaging him. He probably was.
Also, this?
“Semi-Charmed Life” by Third Eye Blind Really Good (6)
“Let Her Cry” by Hootie and the Blowfish Average (4)
“Two Step” by Dave Matthews Band Epic (9)
“3 AM” by Matchbox Twenty Average (4)
This is no contest for me. Two Step is epic and gets my blood rolling every time I hear it. Few greater crescendo buildups in 90s hits. The rest of these songs I could take or leave, and would probably change the radio station on mid first-chorus.
“Working My Way Back To You” by Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons Great (7)
“Cherry, Cherry” by Neil Diamond Good (5)
“Good Lovin'” by The Rascals Great (7)
“Daydream” by The Lovin’ Spoonful Bad (3)
Yeah- these are all songs lumped into “The American Response To The British Invasion” according to my lecture notes. They were also all released in 1966. Working My Way Back To You surprised me on the listen- Good Lovin’ is the heavy hitter here, but The Four Seasons can run some RBIs in too. Neil Diamond drew the short stick here. Lovin’ Spoonful’s still got “Do You Believe In Magic” somewhere down the line so we’ll hear from them again.