Legendary rock band… “Pride (In The Name Of Love)”, “With Or Without You”, “One”, “Sunday Bloody Sunday”… I could go on for awhile…
Non-Legendary 80’s hair band… “Summertime Girls”, “Contagious”, “Don’t Be Afraid Of The Dark”… I would have to look them up to go on at all…
#8 (508) MODEST MOUSE vs. #9 (517) SIMPLY RED
Indie rockers of the 00’s… “Float On”, “Ocean Breathes Salty”, “Dashboard”, “Missed The Boat”
Soft rockers of the 80’s … “If You Don’t Know Me By Now”, “Holding Back The Years”, “Stars” and “Money’s Too Tight To Mention”.
#5 (261) A TRIBE CALLED QUEST vs. #12 (764) A FLOCK OF SEAGULLS
One of the most gifted hip-hop acts of all-time… “Scenario”, “Award Tour”, “Can I Kick It” and “Check The Rhime”.
80’s New wave act… “I Ran (So Far Away)”, “Wishing (Photograph Of You)”, “Space Age Love Song” and “The More You Live, The More You Love”
#4 (252) DIANA ROSS vs. #13 (773) PAVEMENT
Post-Supremes solo career consisted of … “Touch Me In The Morning”, “Upside Down”, “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” and “I’m Coming Out”
90’s Indie Rockers … “Summer Babe”, “Cut Your Hair”, “Rattled By The Rush” and “Trigger Cut”
#3 (133) BO DIDDLEY vs. #14 (892) BEN HARPER
Legendary blues and RNR guitarist with a number of influential hits… “Bo Diddley”, “I’m A Man”, “Who Do You Love?” and “Hey! Bo Diddley”
American singer/songwriter covering a number of genres… “Steal My Kisses”, “Fight Outta You”, “Burn To Shine” and “Diamonds On The Inside”
#6 (380) RAINBOW vs. #11 (645) FRANKIE AVALON
70’s & early 80’s hard rock/metal band… “Man On The Silver Mountain”, “Stone Cold”, “Since You Been Gone” and “Street Of Dreams”.
Singer and former teen idol Frankie Avalon topped the charts in the late 50’s/early 60’s with… “Venus”, “Just Ask Your Heart”, “Why” and “Bobby Sox To Stockings”.
#7 (389) HOWLIN’ WOLF vs. #10 (636) WYCLEF JEAN
Legendary blues singer/guitarist… “Smokestack Lightning”, “Spoonful”, “Back Door Man” and “The Red Rooster”.
Former member of Fugees, the rapper/performer has had solo success… “Gone ‘Til November”, “Sweetest Girl (Dollar Bill)”, “Perfect Gentlemen” and “911”.
#2 (124) DEAN MARTIN vs. #15 (901) BAND OF HORSES
Deano, legendary crooner… “Ain’t That A Kick In The Head”, “That’s Amore”, “Memories Are Made Of These” and “Everybody Loves Somebody”.
American indie band… “The Funeral”, “No One’s Gonna Love You”, “Is There A Ghost” and “The Great Salt Lake”
I am very iffy on Modest Mouse. I like some songs, but found The Moon and Antarctica to be difficult to get through. Good in small doses I suppose. Simply Red's cover of "If You Don't Know Me By Now" may be the most inessential cover of all time. How do you improve on Gamble/Huff/Melvin/Pendergrass' perfect original.
#5 A TRIBE CALLED QUEST
The Low End Theory is my #1 album of all time.
#13 PAVEMENT
Hugely, massively great. The artists behind the greatest album of all time, "Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain."
#3 BO DIDDLEY
Ben's not bad. I've seen him do some nice stuff. But Bo wins easily.
#11 FRANKIE AVALON
Ugly matchup. I'm going with Frankie mainly because the other voters are a little too rock-centric.
#7 HOWLIN’ WOLF
I like “Gone ‘Til November”, but some of his other stuff is bad. Again, no contest here.
#2 DEAN MARTIN
He's worse than Tony Bennett, who I voted down a few rounds ago. But I guess I enjoy his outsized, sloshed persona and how it translates on record. And I've yet to get into Band of Horses.
BRACKET #17
#1 (5) U2
#8 (508) MODEST MOUSE
#5 (261) A TRIBE CALLED QUEST
#13 (773) PAVEMENT
#3 (133) BO DIDDLEY
#6 (380) RAINBOW
#7 (389) HOWLIN’ WOLF
#2 (124) DEAN MARTIN
#1 (5) U2
#8 (508) MODEST MOUSE
#5 (261) A TRIBE CALLED QUEST
#13 (773) PAVEMENT
#3 (133) BO DIDDLEY
#6 (380) RAINBOW
#7 (389) HOWLIN’ WOLF
#15 (901) BAND OF HORSES
1. U2
8. Modest Mouse
5. A Tribe Called Quest
13. Pavement
3. Bo Diddley
Abstaining on Rainbow/Frankie Avalon.
7. Howlin’ Wolf
15. Band of Horses (It’s impossible for me to dislike Dean Martin, the last American public figure to make drunk seem suave, but seriously, folks…)
****
MOST UNDERRATED
Pavement (UMT 773, AM 89); Modest Mouse (UMT 508, AM 228).
MOST OVERRATED
Dean Martin (UMT 124, AM 2105); Frankie Avalon (UMT 645, AM n/a); A Flock of Seagulls (UMT 764, AM 2031).
SORT OF CLOSE
Band of Horses (UMT 901, AM 848); Bo Diddley (UMT 133, AM 173).
#1 U2
#8 Modest Mouse - 2 things; I didn't realize that Modest Mouse had any success other than "Float On", certainly not enough to merit a #8. And second, I HATE SIMPLY RED MORE THAN ANY OTHER BAND, EVER! I'm not hateful, really, I just hate a lot of music.
#12 A Flock of Seagulls - So, this is all about "I Ran", but hey, they were the right place at the right time (for both the music and the hair).
#4 Diana Ross - supremely successful solo career
#3 Bo Diddley
#1 (5) U2
#9 (517) SIMPLY RED
#5 (261) A TRIBE CALLED QUEST
#13 (773) PAVEMENT
#14 (892) BEN HARPER
#6 (380) RAINBOW
#7 (389) HOWLIN’ WOLF
#15 (901) BAND OF HORSES*
*I've always thought Dean Martin was a fucking awful singer to be honest...
#1. U2
#8. Modest Mouse
#5. A Tribe Called Quest
#4. Diana Ross(I had no intention of voting in this one but only voted solely for the purpose of voting against Pavement)
#3. Bo Diddley
#6. Rainbow
#7. HOWLIN’ WOLF
#15. Band of Horses
Not the world's biggest U2 fan by any stretch, and I think Achtung Baby is atrocious, but their post-punk stuff is pretty good.
2. Modest Mouse
Simply Red is actually my parent's favorite band. They bought plane tickets to London to see the farewell tour. Sorry folks.
3. A Tribe Called Quest
Pretty hard to argue against. Created two of the greatest hip-hop albums ever, and Q-Tip is still great live.
4. Pavement
I dunno Schwah, it must be something about growing up in Union County that makes this band so irresitable. Really hoping they pull the upset over Ross.
5. Bo Didley
Something about being "The Originator."
6. Abstain
7. Howlin' Wolf
My favorite of all the 50's blues artists. He still sings better than pretty much everyone else.
U2 92.9% / Y&T 7.1%
Modest Mouse 78.6% / Simply Red 21.4%
A Tribe Called Quest 82.1% / A Flock Of Seagulls 17.9%
Pavement 60.7% / Diana Ross 39.3%
Bo Diddley 85.2% / Ben Harper 14.8%
Rainbow 79.2% / Frankie Avalon 20.8%
Howlin' Wolf 70.4% / Wyclef Jean 29.6%
Dean Martin 57.7% / Band Of Horses 42.3%