Day 16 Match-Ups
My independence seems to vanish in the haze, feel the same tomorrow- like you see me do, slip away instead of dreaming about tomorrow.
The sand castle virtues get up and get down, I’m back from suffragette city- money, get away.
Hurts so good in her uptown world, inside the pouring rain, glory days in the wink of a young girl’s eye.
Newsprint boats I race in sewer mains, ain’t seen the sunshine in three damn days.
Everyone I know goes away in the end, gone, gone, cause you done me wrong.
There’s a cento with lyrics from every song in our Day 16 matches- kind of a fun poem form. Votes due by Friday, November 1st at 5 PM EST- vote with your heartiest of hearts. For the weekly matches, we’ll start it out with a simple set of British Rock from the year 1965. From there we’ll go to 1972-1973 where a smattering of artists are doing some pretty innovative things on stage with a progressive rock/theatrical rock mix. We’ll jump from there to 1982-1983 for some traditionalist rock, and then close out with 21st century Country Rock crossovers. Listen on the YouTube playlist below!
Day 15 Results:
Sugar Pop, 1961-1962
“Up On The Roof” by The Drifters– 48
“Big Girls Don’t Cry” by Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons- 41
“Take Good Care Of My Baby” by Bobby Vee- 36
“Calendar Girl” by Neil Sedaka- 34
“Up On The Roof” would probably be better suited for a soul sub-genre, but these were the best contemporaneous match-ups. The Drifters average an 8 and show that the post-Ben E. King era didn’t have them losing too much of a step.
Progressive Rock Pioneers, 1969-1971
“Pinball Wizard” by The Who- 47
“A Salty Dog” by Procol Harum- 34
“Aqualung” by Jethro Tull- 34
“Nutrocker” by Emerson, Lake, & Palmer- 28
Probably threw ELP under the bus with a Christmas song at Halloween, but again, a smattering of Prog Rock pioneers and an unsurprising win for the Tommy soundtrack classic.
Early Metal & Hard Rock, 1979-1982
“Heaven and Hell” by Black Sabbath- 32
“Living After Midnight” by Judas Priest- 29
“Number of the Beast” by Iron Maiden- 29
“Nag Nag Nag” by Cabaret Voltaire- 18
Not much love here, but someone had to win. Post-Ozzy Black Sabbath makes a similar statement to The Drifters’ from earlier.
Festival Rock, 1994-1996
“Run-Around” by Blues Traveler- 41
“Only Wanna Be With You” by Hootie and the Blowfish- 38
“Ain’t Life Grand” by Widespread Panic- 33
“Push” by Matchbox Twenty- 28
I called this festival rock only because all four songs seemed reminiscent of something you’d listen to at a mid-90s summer rock festival. Maybe an easier sell with WP than M20, but at any rate John Popper reminds us why the harmonica is still relevant in the win.
Living the Dream 
Sorry to see Aqualung doesn’t advance – but the competition was stiff, I admit. Same for the Iron Maiden – but show goes on, so let’s focus on this week’s groupings. Each group has its own favorite for me, although in the first one it isn’t so simple – I’d love to see both Help! and The Last Time win this one (I know, I know, that isn’t possible), but since The Stones have greater songs and I’m not sure if it gets any better from The Beatles than this masterpiece, slight nod for them.
Second group is really the toughest, and I don’t have any clear favorite here. The thing with progressive rock is, you have to listen to the whole album to “get” individual songs, and all of the songs in this one are from concept albums. But since Suffragette City and Money work better as singles than Yes and Jethro Tull (again, such a shame for Aqualung) they get a slight advantage here.
In the third group, again a clear favorite of mine – Glory Days is simply a level above all the others. It isn’t that they are all bad, it’s just Bruce Springsteen’s song which is indeed epic. But it isn’t that big of a difference – The Police and John Cougar follow closely behind, with Joel right behind them, so I imagine it will be on exciting round here.
While with the last group there’s no doubt about it – Hurt is THE best song among these ones, and not by an inch but by a mile. And not just in this grouping but probably in this whole week and beyond. Other placements are not that important here, nobody got over a 4 – it should be a glorious victory for late Johnny Cash.
P.S. One last mention to the grand Lou Reed, thank you for all the music you gave to us.
It has been way too long since i’ve had a chance to listen and vote. Sorry to G’Mo and all others voting. Lord i miss this stuff. Also an apology to the great Bruce Dickinson and the Iron Maiden boys… Number of the Beast deserved me being here to vote, and had a good shot of advancing were i here. Six…Six-Six…the Nuuumber of the Beast! Oh well.
On with the show.
Help – Beatles – 5 I’ve never been enamored with this song. I can’t explain why, but it has always felt like it should be better. Just waking up, so the simple sound resonates a little more than usual though.
Last Time – Rolling Stones – 6 I’m not sure it should be a 6, as i don’t think it’s that much better than Help, but the two need separation in my eyes. Very similar feel to me, but just a hint more guitar edge pushed it up a notch.
Do the Freddie – Freddie and the Dreamers – 6 – Never heard this before…. and i don’t even know what to say. The underlying sound i like… like a mix of early british rock and motown… awesome feel, great little accent guitar bars … but god those lyrics suuuuuuuuuuuck. It gets a 6 because the music made me happy… but i want to find freddie and kick his ass for those lyrics.
Get Away – Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames – 4 Meh
Thick as a Brick – Jethro Tull – 8 For the second time i wish i was back at the Demartino household in high school – my buddy Steve had an LP of the Full Version of Thick, that we definitely listened to on more than one occassion in a less than… normal state. Fabulous memory, so bonus points beyond the music.
Total Mass Retain – Yes – 4 – Can’t as I retained much from that song…. enjoy the prog rock sound but that’s about it..
Suffragette City – David Bowie – 6 Very solid Bowie… bit of a weird fit in this group i must say, but that doesn’t change the fun pacing of the song. Even the repetition isn’t bugging me this AM.
Money – Pink Floyd – All around great track. Probably a touch better than Thick except for the specific memory of Thick hence the full point gap…just couldn’t make them tied. Great set.
Hurts So Good – John Cougar Mellencamp – 5 NOt much to say here.
Uptown Girl – Billy Joel – 6 similar… just a better track
King of Pain – The Police – 6 – no idea why i have no reaction to this set
Glory Days – Bruce Springsteen – 7
Oh My Sweet Carolina – Ryan Adams 5
Picture – Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow 3
Hurt – Johnny Cash – 10… song is pretty much perfect, and it reminds me of driving up to Dartmouth and playing pong with Morgan and Justin cranking that and pissing off their neighbors something fierce. Now i’m ready to start the day.
Gone Gone Gone – Robert Plant and Allison Krauss 5 – not bad way to close. Great album though.
Glad to be back at it, hopefully it stays that way.