Tournament Day 8: Non-Spotify Day!

Posted on September 24, 2013 by g-mo

As you may know, there are a select number of heavy hitting bands who have opted out of Spotify. To include their songs in the tournament requires some technological flexibility on our part- with that in mind, this next set will be courtesy of YouTube! Votes due by Friday, September 27th at 5 PM EST- vote with your heartiest of hearts. Two of these match-ups have songs by the same band (aka my “two birds one stone for songs not on Spotify” strategy,) so consider them independent of each other as always.

Syd Barrett, looking completely sane as always.

The next group is pretty British heavy, going from early 60s hits to late 60s London psychedelia onto experimental rock in the mid 70s. Just to keep it weird, we’ll end with an electrorock set from the turn of the century.

  • Early British Rock Across The Atlantic 1962 (Group 3)
  • London Psychedelia 1967 (Group 7)
  • Experimental Rock Styles 1974-1975 (Group 9)
  • Electrorock 2000 (Group 16)

Listen here if the embedded playlist doesn’t work.

Vote Here!!!!

Day 6 Results: New frontrunner. Get excited.

All day.

Leiber & Stoller Definitive Hits
“Hound Dog” by Elvis Presley- 79
“There Goes My Baby” by The Drifters- 75
“Charlie Brown” by The Coasters- 64
“Smokey Joe’s Cafe” by The Robins- 58

Late 60’s U.S. Folk/Country Rock
“California Dreamin'” by The Mamas and The Papas- 86
“Happy Together” by The Turtles- 80
“Different Drum” by The Stone Poneys- 63
“Eight Miles High” by The Byrds- 54

New Rock Traditionalists
“Hungry Heart” by Bruce Springsteen- 67
“Late In The Evening” by Paul Simon- 65
“The Waiting” by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers- 62
“Private Eyes” by Hall and Oates- 56

The College Radio Station, 1988
“Stand” by R.E.M.- 63
“Where Is My Mind” by Pixies- 59
“Freak Scene” by Dinosaur Jr.- 53
“Teen Age Riot” by Sonic Youth- 51

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Battle for Best Rock Song In History: Day 7

Posted on September 20, 2013 by g-mo

Leiber, Presley, Stoller.

The results for Day 6 are below (including a tie! Which isn’t a big deal, they’ll both advance in that situation. We’ll get our 512 songs one way or another.) We had 10 voters so I think we’re getting back on track, thanks for contributing! Day 7 songs are below. The votes are due Monday, September 23rd at 11 PM EST/8 PM PST! 

Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller are two of the grandfathers of songwriting- in fact, before Phil Spector developed the Wall of Sound he served an apprenticeship under L&S. From their, we’ll go to U.S.  folk rock roots with a solid 60s set featuring The Byrds, The Mamas & The Papas, The Stone Poneys, and The Turtles. We’ll

Lookin’ good, Stone Poneys-era Linda Ronstadt

follow that with some lighter rock songs circa ’80/’81 from new traditionalists Springsteen, Simon, Hall & Oates, and Petty. Finally, we’ll finish it up with 4 college rock hits from the year 1988.

  • Leiber & Stoller Definitive Hits (Group 2)
  • Late 60s US Folk/Country Rock (Group 5)
  • New Rock Traditionalists 1980-1981 (Group 11)
  • The College Radio Station, 1988 (Group 13)

Click here to open up the voting window to rank the match-ups!

Day 6 Results

Motown 1962-1963

Do You Love Me by The Contours-71
You’ve Really Got A Hold On Me by Smokey Robinson & The Miracles-71
Pride and Joy by Marvin Gaye-58
Fingertips Pt. 2 by Stevie Wonder- 56

Exact tie. Marvin and Stevie fail to advance some of their deeper cuts featured here, but I’m confident they’ll stick around. In the meantime, can’t argue that those two are strong contenders- lotta nostalgia there. For some reason I think of Twin Peaks every time I hear YRGAHOM begin. We’ll advance both of them.

1968 UK Rock
Sympathy For The Devil by The Rolling Stones- 73
Astral Weeks by Van Morrison- 62
Spoonful by Cream-59
1983…(A Merman Should I Turn To Be) by Jimi Hendrix-55

This shook out exactly how I thought it would. Thanks for the patience with the Hendrix, everyone!

Mid-70’s Rock Battles
Rebel Rebel by David Bowie- 67
Walk This Way by Aerosmith- 66
Rhiannon by Fleetwood Mac- 61
Philadelphia Freedom by Elton John- 55

Aerosmith (and specifically “Walk This Way”) drop two close ones already in this tournament as Bowie ekes this one out.

Early 90’s Female Pioneers
Strong Enough by Sheryl Crow- 59
Never Said by Liz Phair- 49
Closer To Fine by The Indigo Girls- 47
Rebel Girl by Bikini Kill- 47

Ms. Crow had no problems here, albeit with a sub-6 average.

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Battle for Best Rock Song In History: Day 6

Posted on September 16, 2013 by g-mo

“Rebel Rebel” jumps into the mix.

Alright everyone- sorry for the delay in posting, I had been hoping we could get the numbers up a little bit (with 8 respondents I wasn’t feeling super great about my degrees of freedom, ha.) However, the show must go on. Results are below, as we gear up for Day 6. Votes due by Friday, September 20th at 5 PM EST! Take a second, tell your friends, and hope you enjoy these next songs!

The next group features a bit of Motown, a quartet of British(and Irish) slices of 1968, an eclectic mix of rock from 1974/1975 from both sides of the pond, and a nod to female singer/songwriters from the early 90s. Elton John gets a chance to make it two in a row after winning a close group in the most recent matches.

  • Motown (Group 3)
  • Late 60s UK Rock (Group 6)
  • Mid 70’s Rock Traditions (Group 9)
  • Early 90’s Girl Rocking (Group 10)

Vote Here!!!!

Day 5 Results: No strong contenders emerged from our last set- high average goes to Elton John’s “Your Song” with 6.88.

Singer Songwriters 1969-1971
“Your Song” by Elton John- 55
“Wild World” by Cat Stevens- 52
“Something In The Way She Moves” by James Taylor- 51
“Vincent” by Don MacLean- 49

90’s Metal Rock
“Closer” by Nine Inch Nails- 42
“The Beautiful People” by Marilyn Manson- 40
“Bulls On Parade” by Rage Against The Machine- 39
“A.D.I.D.A.S.” by Korn- 24

The Deep Roots of Country Western
“Pistol Packin’ Papa” by Jimmie Rodgers- 39
“Blue Yodel” by Jimmie Rodgers- 38
“Going Down To Cripple Creek” by Fiddlin’ John Carson- 36
“Soldier’s Joy” by Gid Tanner and the Skillet Lickers- 34

New Wave Arrives
“Heart of Glass” by Blondie- 52
“Psycho Killer” by The Talking Heads- 45
“Less Than Zero” by Elvis Costello- 39
“Satisfaction” by Devo- 39

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Battle for Best Rock Song In History: Day 5

Posted on September 6, 2013 by g-mo

The results for Day 4 are below, and please peruse- for now though, Day 5 playlist is below. The votes are due Monday, September 9th at 11 PM EST/8 PM PST! Votes still open for this match-up! Give it a whirl if you haven’t yet!

As always we truly appreciate your listens over the quite diverse group of songs involved in this tournament. Word of advice for parents- 90s Metal Rock is most certainly not kid-friendly. That said, in addition to the RATM/Korn/Marilyn Manson/NIN dark rock quartet, we are going deep into the earliest of country western recordings, slowing down to reflect on the singer songwriters of the early 70s, and closing things out at the end of the set with some late 70’s New Wave. Have a wonderful September weekend!!!

Also I am not sure there is any other webpage in history with Jimmie Rodgers next to Zack de la Rocha. Trailblazing.

  • Singer-Songwriters 1969-1971 (Group 7)
  • 90s Metal Rock (Group 15)
  • The Deep Roots of Country Western (Group 1)
  • New Wave Arrives, Late 70’s (Group 10)

Click here to open up the voting window to rank the match-ups!

Day 4 Results: No upsets here- MJ starts out undefeated, and we have a new top seed for the next round.

Grungefest
Heart Shaped Box by Nirvana- 66
Black by Pearl Jam- 50
Would? by Alice In Chains-49
Epic by Faith No More- 44

Mid-60’s Folk Rock
The Sound of Silence by Simon and Garfunkel- 76
Turn! Turn! Turn! by The Byrds- 61
Eve of Destruction by Barry McGuire- 59
Subterranean Homesick Blues by Bob Dylan- 58

The Rise of Funk
ABC by The Jackson Five- 62
Super Bad by James Brown- 52
Stand! by Sly and the Family Stone- 45
Psychedelic Shack by The Temptations- 45

80’s MTV Megastars
Billie Jean by Michael Jackson- 66
Let’s Go Crazy by Prince- 51
Lucky Star by Madonna- 46
Don’t Stand Another Chance by Janet Jackson- 35

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Battle for Best Rock Song In History: Day 4

Posted on September 3, 2013 by g-mo

The results for Day 3 are below, and please peruse- for now though, Day 4 playlist is below. The votes are due Friday, September 6th at 5 PM EST/2 PM PST!
Hope everyone had a lovely Labor Day Weekend- mine consisted of a lot of karaoke in Renton, backyard campfires that on two out of three occasions lasted until dawn, visiting the town in which they filmed the show Twin Peaks wherein I drank a damn fine cup of coffee, and launching a Dart Olympics battle with my roommate up at the Beachcomber. Fast times in South Seattle.

I’m going to start including links to the historical references for each of the groups of songs as per my August lecture releases- may help with some of the historical context questions I’ve been getting from various voters. Enjoy!

Click here to open up the voting window to rank the match-ups!

Day 3 Results: Twelve voters over a holiday weekend- thanks for logging in, listening, and contributing everyone! Some close ones but four winners ultimately emerged.

Wagon Wheel by Old Crow Medicine Show- 90
Little Lion Man by Mumford and Sons- 89
Home by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes-84
Ho Hey by The Lumineers- 74

This one was tied up to the last vote between OCMS and Mumford- glad to see Old Crow getting the nod. Hard to imagine that that song didn’t have some sort of influence on the consequent three acts. “Wagon Wheel” is now tied with “Piece Of My Heart” for 1 seed for the next round. On another note, the last place song in this group would have won another group, implicitly proving our bias in songs of our own adulthood. Adrock, get your mom and dad back into this, yeah?

The Locomotion by Little Eva- 74
Please Mr. Postman by The Marvelettes- 66
Chains by The Cookies- 58
The One Who Really Loves You by Mary Wells- 49

Little Eva was Berry Gordy Jr.’s babysitter. He heard her singing one day, said “Why don’t you come into the studio?”, and walla. Somebody somewhere gave “Please Mr. Postman” a 1, which makes me want to give said person a hug. Maybe a bad day.

Ramblin’ Man by The Allman Brothers Band- 81
Can’t You See By Marshall Tucker Band- 78
La Grange by ZZ Top- 70
We’re An American Band by Grand Funk Railroad- 68

This one was rough, although I thought La Grange would have been closer to ABB- I mean, that guitar riff to me IS Southern blues rock. That said, good strong showing from all.

 

God Save The Queen by The Sex Pistols- 76
White Riot by The Clash- 65
Oh Bondage, Up Yours! by X-Ray Spex- 58
The Modern World by The Jam- 50

Yeah, that was bound to happen. I didn’t mind that X-Ray Spex song though. Learning new tunes is always a blast. The Jam was maybe a little too polished for what was happening in this group.

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Battle for Best Rock Song In History: Day 3

Posted on August 30, 2013 by g-mo

The results for Day 2 are below, and please peruse- for now though, Day 3 playlist is below. The votes are due Monday at 11 PM EST/8 PM PST! We’ll keep operating like that- a set of match-ups for the larger work week and a set for the weekend. Given that it’s a holiday weekend and I’m hoping some people will be blasting some tunes while hanging out on docks and porches, tried my best to put a pretty sick group of sixteen songs together ripe for hard thinking about scores.

  • 21st Century Folk Rock (Group 16)
  • Early 60s Girl Groups (Group 3)
  • Southern Blues Rock, 1973 (Group 8)
  • UK Punk, 1977 (Group 10)

Click here to open up the voting window to rank the match-ups!

Day 2 Results: Numbers were a little down compared to weekend voting, but we still had a good number of folks contributing opinions on this diverse hexadecachoron of a playlist.

Crazy Train by Ozzy Osbourne- 83
Ace of Spades by Motorhead- 75
Breaking The Law by Judas Priest-54
Voodoo by Black Sabbath- 46

Blueberry Hill by Fats Domino- 76
Long Tall Sally by Little Richard- 74
School Day by Chuck Berry- 72
Reet Petite by Jackie Wilson- 64

Two Step by Dave Matthews Band- 65
Semi-Charmed Life by Third Eye Blind- 64
3 AM by Matchbox 20- 60
Let Her Cry by Hootie and the Blowfish- 55

Good Lovin’ by The Rascals- 89
Working My Way Back To You by Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons- 66
Cherry, Cherry by Neil Diamond- 66
Daydream by Lovin’ Spoonful- 65

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Battle for Best Rock Song In History: Day 2

Posted on August 26, 2013 by g-mo

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.

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Battle for the Best Rock Song In History: Day 1

Posted on August 23, 2013 by g-mo

Note: Votes due Monday, August 26th at 11 PM EST/8 PM PST

And we’re off! Today’s matches include 4 categories w/ 4 songs each:

  • Killin’ It In ’86 (Group 13)
  • Late 60’s Bay Area Psychedelia (Group 6)
  • Great-grandpa Gets Down: Dance Numbers Pre-1955 (Group 1)
  • Late 70’s FM Rock Monsters (Group 9)

The Spotify playlist is below- or if you are having trouble with the widget, you can access the direct link here. If you click on the voting window link before that, a new tab or window (depending on your browser) will open where you can provide each song a score between 1 and 10. If you are having a voting party, you can only enter one set of results at a time- not as easy as just putting numbers in the comments section like last time, but better for accuracy as well as our sanity.)

If you need a refresher on the rules, you can view them here. Or if you want to glance at the other songs in the groups, we’ve got those posted here. Good kickoff set! Pre-game on this over the weekend and get some scores in. And comment below on any agonizing decisions you had to make in throwing numbers down. Results will be up Tuesday morning along with Day 2!

(Note: I do not personally have Spotify Premium, but my understanding is that those who do can actually listen to this playlist on a smartphone on the go! Little bonus if you have that, but you can just as easily listen on a computer.)

Click here to open up the voting window to rank the match-ups!

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Battle for Best Rock Song In History Groups Up

Posted on August 22, 2013 by g-mo

Set up some pages today: will continue working tomorrow, but here is the info on the tournament (also under the Music tab up top, which has gone through some significant updates as well)….and here are the groups for the first round.

We start tomorrow.

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Bonus Tracks: 2000 and Beyond

Posted on August 20, 2013 by g-mo

Got these two lovebirds in, and a few more.

So one last commentary before we get started on this huge tournament (10 rounds.) I’ve been collaborating with some folks over the last few weeks to try to identify a good and diverse selection of songs that came out in the 21st century that would be appropriate for a bonus group of songs. This is the list we’ve come up with- we’ll give the general population until Thursday evening to nominate anything you think is:

1) Critical to the development of rock after the year 2000
2) Includes a supplemental explanation of why it’s critical or not accurately represented by any existing songs on our list.

We are definitely not perfect so please, please let us know what we might have missed so we can make sure to include it! Remember, should be after the Year 2000. I’ll include a Spotify playlist below of what we have right now, or you can check out or nominations at the bottom of the main Nominations Board, starting at Row 990.

Excited to start soon!

G-mo

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