After his disastrous performance on Day 18, I should put in a word about Jay-Z. He has 11 straight number one albums. I wouldn’t call myself a big fan, but when I saw him live I knew all his songs, and liked many of them. He is considered the best rapper of all-time, with the possible exceptions of the long-dead Tupac and Biggie. Rolling Stone even let him pen the intro for the Top 500 article, though one reader pointed out that their distinguished list didn’t include any of his songs in the top 170. So it’s fine with me if all of Jay Z’s songs go down in flames, but I’m gonna give the man his due- at least by seeing if “Encore” and “Empire State of Mind” can get anywhere in our tournament. As for Forever Young, Juicy (Notorious B.I.G) crushed it, 88-47.
The other hot topic was Africa (Toto), which got either very high or very low songs from most of you. In the end, it went down to Changes (David Bowie), 91-93.5. Guillermo’s video was hilarious, though.
You Can’t Always Get What You Want (Rolling Stones) def. Whipping Post (Allman Brothers), 101-93. This was closer than I expected, and I tip my hat to the Allman Brothers, who will be back later with Ramblin’ Man.
Don’t Worry Baby (Beach Boys) def. House of the Rising Sun (Animals), 92-84. Ho-hum numbers, sure, but Don’t Worry Baby becomes the third song to win two matches.
Don’ t Think Twice It’s Alright (Bob Dylan) def. Feelin’ Alright (Traffic), 98-88.
Rednecks v. inner city rappers, heck yeah. But some of you gave no props at all to Sweet Home Alabama, which I found surprising. A “1” or “2”? Really? I guess you’ve never had to sing it on stage in a Berlin punk rock karaoke bar. The Furious Five take this one, 98-75.
Maybe not overrated? “Like a Rollin’ Stone” (Bob Dylan) posted the highest score of the day, taking down “Crossroads” (Cream), 89-71.
Living the Dream 