BRITS SWEEP FIRST FOUR BRACKETS

Welcome to the official postgame show of bracketology; each week’s results will appear in this thread, both so it’s easy to find and so that everything is in one place when it’s time to start round 2.

The winner in each group is in ALL CAPS. I’ve shown each song’s original seeding, and after each song I’ve shown its point total and the number of first-place votes it got (I double-checked all the math).

Bracket 1
48. THE VERVE, “BITTERSWEET SYMPHONY” (63 points / 9 first-place votes)
209. OutKast, “Ms. Jackson” (58 / 5)
81. Chuck Berry, “Maybellene” (49 / 5)
176. Amerie, “1 Thing” (30 / 1)

The Dirty South wouldn’t go away, but the Verve led most of the week.

Bracket 2
17. THE KINKS, “YOU REALLY GOT ME” (70 / 10)
145. The Beatles, “In My Life” (56 / 6)
112. Them, “Gloria” (42 / 2)
240. Desmond Dekker, “The Israelites” (32 / 2)

Strong consensus here; decisive win for the Kinks.

Bracket 3
49. THE ROLLING STONES, “SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL” (64 / 12)
177. Public Enemy, “Bring the Noise” (51 / 5)
208. The Isley Brothers, “Shout” (44 / 2)
80. Run-D.M.C., “Walk This Way” (41 / 1)

The man of wealth and taste blew out the field; the other three songs were very tightly bunched.

Bracket 4
144. DAVID BOWIE, “ZIGGY STARDUST” (63 / 7)
16. The Who, “My Generation” (61 / 8)
113. Underworld, “Born Slippy” (44 / 3)
241. Justin Timberlake, “My Love” (32 / 2)

They died before they got old. Very, very close—the lead changed a few times, and Ziggy only squeaked ahead of the Who on Saturday to pull off the only upset of the week.

So the Verve, Kinks, Stones and Bowie move on to the round of 64, which will begin in October. Congratulations to the winners (and to jonmarck, the only voter who put all four of them #1 on his ballot).

Nice results. Funny, that even in a relatively small pool of twenty voters, not a single song on the list failed to be someone's number one for its bracket.

The results from Brackets 5-8, in which songs by artists out of New York, Los Angeles, Detroit, and Hibbing, Minnesota move on to the round of 64.

Bracket 5
33. STEVIE WONDER, “SUPERSTITION” (76 points / 17 first-place votes)
96. The Beatles, “Yesterday” (56 / 4)
224. Bob Dylan, “Blowin’ in the Wind” (47 / 1)
161. Fatboy Slim, “The Rockafeller Skank” (41 / 0)

The writing’s on the wall: huge win for Mr. Wonder.

Bracket 6
32. THE DOORS, “LIGHT MY FIRE” (60 / 7)
225. James Brown, “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World” (56 / 5)
97. Rod Stewart, “Maggie May” (54 / 5)
160. Patsy Cline, “Crazy” (50 / 5)

The Doors couldn’t get much higher than the other songs in this bracket. This was—by far—the most competitive group to date. Only ten points separated #1 from #4, which is smaller than the margin between #1 and #2 in the other three brackets—and look at those first-place votes.

Bracket 7
65. LOU REED, “WALK ON THE WILD SIDE” (74 / 13)
64. Percy Sledge, “When a Man Loves a Woman” (63 / 6)
192. The Supremes, “Where Did Our Love Go” (42 / 1)
193. Woody Guthrie, “This Land Is Your Land” (41 / 2)

Sweet Lou accomplishes the week’s only upset (if #65 beating #64 can count as an upset).

Bracket 8
1. BOB DYLAN, “LIKE A ROLLING STONE” (81 / 19)
129. Talking Heads, “Once in a Lifetime” (56 / 1)
256. Pearl Jam, “Jeremy” (43 / 2)
128. The Beach Boys, “Don’t Worry Baby” (40 / 0)

How does it feeeel to claim a very strong bracket by a 25-point margin?

Congrats to the winners. Four of 22 voters picked all four winners: Midaso, jonmarck (again), Harold Wexler, and marc.

Whew! I'm glad 'Light My Fire' took out that group and not one of the inferior ones below it.
Definitely agree with all 4 No.1s

Week 3 looks like it's going to be a close one.

Yeah, I have to stop myself from adding the points myself.. need to know.. must.. know...

Let me set your mind at ease with the

WEEK 3 RESULTS

Upsets galore this week—three of the four top-seeded songs were eliminated (and the fourth only narrowly escaped). Also for the first time, there weren’t really any blowouts; it was a lot harder for voters to come to a consensus.

Bracket 9
88. WILSON PICKETT, “IN THE MIDNIGHT HOUR” (61 points / 8 first-place votes)
41. The Eagles, “Hotel California” (56 / 9)
169. The Stone Roses, “Fools Gold” (50 / 3)
216. The Coasters, “Yakety Yak” (33 / 0)

There’s no one else around, as Wilson Pickett takes the group.

Bracket 10
105. SINÉAD O’CONNOR, “NOTHING COMPARES 2 U” (64 / 6)
152. The White Stripes, “Seven Nation Army” (57 / 7)
24. John Lennon, “Imagine” (53 / 6)
233. Metallica, “Enter Sandman” (26 / 1)

Sinéad won by the largest margin of the week. “Imagine” is the first top-seeded song to finish at #3 in its bracket.

Bracket 11
73. EDDIE COCHRAN, “SUMMERTIME BLUES” (61 / 9)
56. Franz Ferdinand, “Take Me Out” (57 / 4)
184. Kanye West, “Gold Digger” (42 / 4)
201. Kraftwerk, “Autobahn” (40 / 3)

The 49-year-old “Summertime Blues” took out the 3-year-old “Take Me Out.”

Bracket 12
9. LED ZEPPELIN, “STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN” (59 / 9)
137. The Impressions, “People Get Ready” (57 / 7)
120. Dionne Warwick, “Walk On By” (53 / 3)
248. Beastie Boys, “Fight for Your Right (To Party)” (31 / 1)

The stairway to heaven beats the train to Jordan, by a very narrow margin. Close bracket—Dionne wasn’t too far behind.

Like I said, not as much consensus this week. As you can see, two songs—“Hotel California” and “Seven Nation Army”—were eliminated despite having the most first-place votes in their groups. And for the first time, nobody picked all four winners, and even more remarkably, only two voters—jonmarck and Greg Rumpff—even managed to pick three.

Good, exciting week. Congratulations to the winners.

argh, only missed it by 3 points! C'mon Impressions fans we just needed one more ballot!

WEEK 4 RESULTS

There was more agreement this week, as all of the winners built up big leads early (although in brackets 13 & 14, a couple of them had to fight off late charges by the runners-up).

Bracket 13
40. BILL HALEY AND HIS COMETS, “ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK” (62 points / 8 first-place votes)
168. The Everly Brothers, “All I Have to Do Is Dream” (57 / 6)
217. James Taylor, “Fire and Rain” (48 / 4)
89. Beyoncé, “Crazy in Love” (43 / 3)

One, two, three o’clock, four o’clock, round of 64.

Bracket 14
232. THE BEACH BOYS, “I GET AROUND” (62 / 8)
104. Jerry Lee Lewis, “Great Balls of Fire” (56 / 5)
25. The Beatles, “I Want to Hold Your Hand” (50 / 4)
153. The Supremes, “Stop! In the Name of Love” (42 / 4)

“I Get Around” is the biggest upset of the tournament to date (I haven’t made a basketball reference in a while, but this is our Valparaiso or George Mason). It’s the first song to win despite having the lowest seed in its bracket. By the way, the Fab Four are now 0-for-3…

Bracket 15
185. THE ROLLING STONES, “PAINT IT, BLACK” (74 / 16)
200. The Who, “I Can’t Explain” (58 / 3)
57. Jerry Lee Lewis, “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” (48 / 2)
72. Missy Misdemeanor Elliott, “Get Ur Freak On” (30 / 0)

…but the Glimmer Twins are 2-for-2, and the first act to move two songs to the round of 64, as “Paint It, Black” easily outdistanced the rest of the field, upsetting the Killer and Missy Elliott.

Bracket 16
8. CHUCK BERRY, “JOHNNY B. GOODE” (75 / 14)
121. Blur, “Song 2” (56 / 4)
249. Jackie Wilson, “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher” (40 / 2)
136. The Everly Brothers, “Bye Bye Love” (39 / 1)

Go, Johnny, go. The brown-eyed handsome man takes it, in a blowout.

Congratulations, Comets, Boys, Stones, and Chuck—and also the two voters who picked all four winners this week: Pomtidom (bracketology’s oldest friend) and Honorio, spacy or otherwise.

I should also point out that we’re one quarter of the way through the first round. Huge thanks to everyone who’s voted so far.

Very nice, finally I have more than 2 choices progressing.

We'll cut the preliminaries short, since I'm doing this on an Amish computer. Let's go to the videotape...

Bracket 17
45. PRINCE AND THE REVOLUTION, "WHEN DOVES CRY" (88 points / 14 first-place votes)
84. Sam Cooke, "A Change Is Gonna Come" (79 / 7)
212. Deee-Lite, "Groove Is in the Heart" (52 / 4)
173. Kylie Minogue, "Can't Get You Out of My Head" (51 / 2)

Prince Rogers Nelson is the first artist to advance a song from the 1980s to the next round.

Bracket 18
20. THE BEATLES, "A DAY IN THE LIFE" (99 / 21)
109. James Brown, "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" (80 / 5)
148. Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" (51 / 0)
237. The Everly Brothers, "Cathy's Clown" (40 / 1)

I read the news today: the Beatles' losing streak is over. Amazingly, this is the only bracket so far in which the final standings match the four songs' AM rankings.

Bracket 19
205. SIMON & GARFUNKEL, "THE SOUND OF SILENCE" (78 / 12)
52. Creedence Clearwater Revival, "Proud Mary" (70 / 6)
77. Public Enemy, "Fight the Power" (70 / 9)
180. The Spencer Davis Group, "Gimme Some Lovin'" (52 / 0)

Paul & Art accomplish this week's only upset; "TSoS" is the second-lowest-seeded song to advance so far.

Bracket 20
13. THE RONETTES, "BE MY BABY" (83 / 13)
141. Bob Dylan, "Subterranean Homesick Blues" (82 / 12)
116. The Temptations, "Papa Was a Rolling Stone" (58 / 1)
244. Isaac Hayes, "Theme from Shaft" (37 / 0)

Ronnie and Phil win the week's toughest two-song contest.

Kudos to the winners. Voters who picked all 4 winners this week are tfguenther and spcurtis.

I'll check in again when I'm back home.

Turns out we didn’t need the tiebreaker after all...

Bracket 21
36. GNARLS BARKLEY, “CRAZY” (76 points / 10 first-place votes)
221. The Smiths, “There Is a Light That Never Goes Out” (75 / 11)
93. Elvis Presley, “Don’t Be Cruel” (49 / 2)
164. The Crystals, “Da Doo Ron Ron” (40 / 1)

Prior to this week, the most recent song to make the second round was the 10-year-old “Bittersweet Symphony,” but now that honor goes to the 16-month-old “Crazy,” which edged out the Smiths in the week’s closest bracket.

Bracket 22
100. THE MAMAS AND THE PAPAS, “CALIFORNIA DREAMIN’” (77 / 14)
29. Ray Charles, “What’d I Say” (64 / 7)
157. Soft Cell, “Tainted Love” (52 / 1)
228. Mott the Hoople, “All the Young Dudes” (47 / 2)

The Mamas and the Papas upset Brother Ray.

Bracket 23
61. BEN E. KING, “STAND BY ME” (78 / 14)
68. Elvis Presley, “That’s All Right (Mama)” (69 / 5)
189. Little Richard, “Long Tall Sally” (60 / 5)
196. The Five Satins, “In the Still of the Night” (33 / 0)

In a bracket that followed the chalk (results were the same as rankings), Ben E. King goes to the second round. Elvis is 0-for-2 with five more songs to go.

Bracket 24
4. NIRVANA, “SMELLS LIKE TEEN SPIRIT” (78 / 14)
253. Pixies, “Monkey Gone to Heaven” (62 / 3)
132. Sly and the Family Stone, “Family Affair” (59 / 5)
125. Marvin Gaye, “Sexual Healing” (41 / 2)

Our little group has always been and always will until the next round. Kurt, Krist and Dave take a very tough bracket.

Congratulations, as always, to the winners; David A. and Rocky Raccoon were this week’s voters who picked all four of ‘em.

Pixies get 1 song, Nirvana gets 1 song, Elvis.......7!

Well well well - the song voted by this forum as #8 of all time is gone - well that's just the way it goes I guess...

Yes, yes, Morrissey and The Smiths needs a lotta love in this forum.

WEEK 7 RESULTS

The big names dominated this week, as all four winning songs are by artists ranked by AM in the all-time top 11.

Bracket 25
85. LED ZEPPELIN, “WHOLE LOTTA LOVE” (82 points / 9 first-place votes)
44. Derek and the Dominos, “Layla” (79 / 12)
213. Blur, “Girls and Boys” (58 / 3)
172. Donna Summer, “I Feel Love” (51 / 3)

And baby I ain’t foooolin’…Led Zep beats Clapton in the week’s only upset.

Bracket 26
21. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, “BORN TO RUN” (82 / 13)
149. Johnny Cash, “Folsom Prison Blues” (70 / 5)
236. Jefferson Airplane, “White Rabbit” (61 / 5)
108. Van Morrison, “Brown Eyed Girl” (57 / 4)

The Boss beats out the Man in Black.

Bracket 27
53. THE BEACH BOYS, “GOD ONLY KNOWS” (94 / 15)
181. The Beatles, “Tomorrow Never Knows” (81 / 12)
76. Booker T. & the MG’s, “Green Onions” (51 / 0)
204. Gladys Knight & the Pips, “Midnight Train to Georgia” (44 / 0)

“God” only; “Tomorrow” never. Brian & co. take a heavyweight two-song contest.

Bracket 28
12. THE BEATLES, “STRAWBERRY FIELDS FOREVER” (93 / 16)
140. Prince, “Sign ‘O’ the Times” (71 / 6)
245. Otis Redding, “Try a Little Tenderness” (54 / 4)
117. The Smiths, “This Charming Man” (52 / 1)

Nothing to get hung about at all for the Beatles. A blowout.

The number of acts with two songs in the round of 64 increased this week from one to four, as Led Zeppelin, the Beach Boys and Beatles each advanced a song for the second time, joining the Stones.

Nobody picked all four winning songs; voters who chose three of them were Rune, Midaso, Honorio, otisredding, Jonah, and Rocky Raccoon.

Wow - for me,Whole Lotta Love beating Layla is a BIG BIG upset

Here we go—let’s name the winners and complete the first half of the round of 64.

Bracket 29
92. U2, “ONE” (95 points / 19 first-place votes)
37. The Byrds, “Mr. Tambourine Man” (80 / 5)
165. The Prodigy, “Firestarter” (61 / 4)
220. Madonna, “Into the Groove” (54 / 1)

Achtung, baby: U2 upsets the Byrds and racks up the highest point total of the week.

Bracket 30
156. DAVID BOWIE, “CHANGES” (83 / 9)
101. Buffalo Springfield, “For What It’s Worth” (81 / 10)
28. Little Richard, “Tutti Frutti” (78 / 9)
229. Grandmaster Flash, “The Adventures of…” (48 / 1)

In one of the closer brackets we’ve had for a while, “Changes” edges out Buffalo Springfield...with “Tutti Frutti” close behind. Bowie becomes the fifth artist with two songs in the round of 64…

Bracket 31
60. THE KINKS, “WATERLOO SUNSET” (93 / 14)
69. The Animals, “House of the Rising Sun” (84 / 9)
188. Bruce Springsteen, “Born in the U.S.A.” (58 / 3)
197. Lynyrd Skynyrd, “Free Bird” (55 / 3)

…and the Kinks become the sixth. No surprises in this bracket; final standings followed the chalk. “Waterloo Sunset”’s fine.

Bracket 32
5. ARETHA FRANKLIN, “RESPECT” (91 / 16)
124. David Bowie, “Space Oddity” (76 / 7)
133. James Brown, “Get Up I Feel Like Being a Sex Machine” (58 / 2)
252. Ramones, “Sheena Is a Punkrocker” (55 / 3)

Lady Soul crushes the rest of the field; this bracket also matched the chalk.

And there you have it: 32 brackets down, 32 to go. And congratulations to twister, who, despite a record number of ballots (29!), was the only voter this week to choose all four winners.

For the first and probably last time! Hurrah!

Well I was very close to changing my mind and having 'Waterloo Sunset' at #1 but I thought nah,Free Bird needs a few votes. I got the other 3 though

I never try to pick the winners.
I just choose accordingly to my taste. Hope others do that too.

This week features both the biggest blowout so far and the closest bracket so far. Let me show you:

Bracket 33
47. THE JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE, “PURPLE HAZE” (102 points / 20 first-place votes)
210. Beastie Boys, “Sabotage” (62 / 4)
175. Jimmy Cliff, “Many Rivers to Cross” (61 / 3)
82. Carl Perkins, “Blue Suede Shoes” (55 / 1)

Yep, this would be the blowout. The 40-point margin by which Hendrix destroyed “Sabotage” eclipses the previous record holder (“Like a Rolling Stone,” with a 25-point win in week 2). “Purple Haze” is also the first song to reach triple digits in points.

Bracket 34
146. THE ROLLING STONES, “GIMME SHELTER” (95 / 15)
18. Joy Division, “Love Will Tear Us Apart” (76 / 8)
111. The Rolling Stones, “Honky Tonk Women” (56 / 3)
239. Motörhead, “Ace of Spades” (53 / 2)

The Stones are gonna blow you away, Joy Division. Mick & Keef also managed to upset themselves (?) to advance “Gimme Shelter,” their third song in the round of 64.

Bracket 35
207. THE BAND, “THE WEIGHT” (73 / 7)
79. Bob Marley and the Wailers, “No Woman No Cry” (73 / 7)
50. Martha and the Vandellas, “Dancing in the Street” (72 / 9)
178. ? and the Mysterians, “96 Tears” (62 / 5)

Ladies and gentlemen, for the first time, we have a tie. “The Weight” was ranked higher than “No Woman” on 15 of 28 ballots (compared to 13 of 28 which went the other way)—so the Band barely escapes to the next round. And check out Martha, in third place but only one point behind the leaders. Wow.

Bracket 36
15. GRANDMASTER FLASH AND THE FURIOUS FIVE, “THE MESSAGE” (77 / 12)
114. Procol Harum, “A Whiter Shade of Pale” (71 / 7)
143. The Beatles, “Help!” (67 / 7)
242. Johnny Cash, “Ring of Fire” (65 / 2)

Flash is fast, Flash is cool, Flash is…in the second round. This bracket followed the chalk, so, no need to wonder how he kept from going under.

Quite a vote, Week 9 was. jonmarck was the only voter this week to pick all four winners.

It's interesting - there's always someone who puts a particular song at #1 - even in that bracket with Purple Haze,still a few people had the other songs at #1.

Finally my picks are going on! Those were some dark times when we lost Tomorrow Never Knows and House of the Rising Sun.

Some stats:

Midaso, you're right--of the 144 songs we've dealt with so far, 134 of them have received at least one first-place vote.

So, it's not too surprising that 8 voters (myself included) didn't vote for "Purple Haze"--what made Jimi's performance impressive is that only 2 people (out of 28) ranked it lower than 2nd place. Those 3 points for 2nd do add up.

And, jonmarck, we will have no complaining from the person who has advanced 25 of 36 picks (69%) to the next round--more than anyone else.

(Perhaps this is perverse, but I take it as an odd point of pride that my own picks haven't done very well--I'm under 50%).

If anyone's interested in voting stats, I'll try to compile them at the end of round one.

Yeah but I'd trade all the Summertime Blues' and Stand By Me's and When Doves Cry's just to get Subterranean Homesick Blues back in there.

Hell, I require a consolation trophy, some kind of red lantern stuff, an AMisstra-Miss-It-All-Bowl or whatsoever. But don't exclude the try-hards

Yes, I'd like more voting stats!

The funny thing is that you'd expect the guy behind this site to almost fully agree with the content, but I have the feeling that I am in the bottom of the list of people getting their #1's to the next round...

But Henrick, the songs moving on in these brackets aren't always the highest seeds. So rather than being in disagreement with the content on this site, you're in disagreement with the people voting on it.

OK, here's some fun with stats (although, Henrik, I'm gonna wait a while before posting full voting stats; a lot of new voters have come on board in the last few weeks and I'd like to have more of a database to work from for them).

Related to RR's point, here's how songs have performed by seed so far (I'm provisionally including Week 10 results here--voting is open for a few more hours, though, so in theory this could change).

Top-seeded songs win their bracket 60% (24/40) of the time.
Second-seeded songs win 20% of the time.
Third-seeded songs win 10% of the time.
Fourth-seeded songs also win 10% of the time.

Another interesting factoid: of the ten lowest-seeded songs to advance so far, seven are from the 1960s (the others are two Bowie songs and "Nothing Compares 2 U"). The five lowest-seeded winning songs are all from between 1964 and 1968.

On the other hand, the ten highest-seeded songs that have FAILED to advance are evenly spread out from 1955 to 1980.

You're absolutely right, RR, that was definitely a logical error (although schleuse's figures show that there's a good correlation between the critics' and our votes).

Schleuse, it would also be interesting to see who's most aligned with the critics. But don't bother if it would cause you a lot of extra work.

Some familiar names won their brackets this week.

Bracket 37
95. THE BEE GEES, “STAYIN’ ALIVE” (77 points / 10 first-place votes)
34. Buddy Holly, “That’ll Be the Day” (76 / 11)
223. Frankie Goes to Hollywood, “Relax” (50 / 3)
162. Chubby Checker, “The Twist” (37 / 0)

The song title says it all…Maurice, Barry and Robin take disco to the next level after Buddy blows an early 13-point lead.

Bracket 38
226. THE JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE, “VOODOO CHILE (SLIGHT RETURN)” (69 / 8)
159. The Velvet Underground, “Waiting for the Man” (64 / 7)
31. The Jackson 5, “I Want You Back” (62 / 7)
98. Chic, “Good Times” (45 / 2)

He’ll meet you in the next one, and don’t be late. Jimi upsets the field to put a song in the round of 64 for the second week in a row.

Bracket 39
66. DAVID BOWIE, “HEROES” (81 / 13)
194. Bruce Springsteen, “Thunder Road” (66 / 6)
63. Simon and Garfunkel, “Bridge Over Troubled Water” (64 / 5)
191. The Rapture, “House of Jealous Lovers” (29 / 0)

Not to be outdone, Bowie joins the Stones as one of only two artists with three winning songs…

Bracket 40
2. THE ROLLING STONES, “(I CAN’T GET NO) SATISFACTION” (85 / 16)
127. Dr. Dre feat. Snoop Doggy Dogg, “Nuthin’ But a ‘G’ Thang” (61 / 4)
255. The Crystals, “He’s a Rebel” (52 / 2)
130. Missy Misdemeanor Elliott, “Work It” (42 / 2)

…except that the Stones add a win for “Satisfaction” to those for “Gimme Shelter,” “Paint It, Black,” and “Sympathy for the Devil.” 4-for-5 with two more songs still to go, the Stones are indisputably the most successful act in bracketology so far.

The two voters who picked all four winners this week were Midaso and Henrik (yes!).

Oh, and the stats I posted above? The Gibb brothers’ win will alter them slightly.

WEEK 11 RESULTS

The brackets this week ran unusually close to the seedings…

Bracket 41
42. R.E.M., “LOSING MY RELIGION” (72 points / 14 first-place votes)
87. Elvis Presley, “Mystery Train” (55 / 4)
215. Steppenwolf, “Born to Be Wild” (52 / 0)
170. Black Sabbath, “Paranoid” (51 / 5)

Berry/Buck/Mills/Stipe easily outdistanced the field.

Bracket 42
23. SEX PISTOLS, “GOD SAVE THE QUEEN” (70 / 10)
106. Hank Williams, “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” (58 / 5)
234. Sonic Youth, “Teenage Riot” (55 / 4)
151. Van Halen, “Jump” (47 / 4)

Turns out there is a future, after all. The Pistols advance.

Bracket 43
55. PULP, “COMMON PEOPLE” (71 / 9)
74. The Jimi Hendrix Experience, “All Along the Watchtower” (69 / 9)
183. The Human League, “Don’t You Want Me” (48 / 2)
202. Little Richard, “Good Golly Miss Molly” (42 / 3)

Jarvis outduels Jimi in the week’s closest bracket (although it followed the chalk). And Little Richard will not be seen again, having gone 0-for-3.

Bracket 44
10. THE KINGSMEN, “LOUIE LOUIE” (68 / 9)
138. Jimi Hendrix, “Hey Joe” (57 / 6)
119. T. Rex, “Get It On (Bang a Gong)” (56 / 5)
247. The Clash, “(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais” (49 / 3)

Incomprehensible lyrics, so no goofy quote here. The pride of Portland, Oregon moves on to the round of 64.

This was the first week in which there were no upsets—all four top-seeded songs advanced. And congrats to Pomtidom, the only voter to advance all four picks this week.

With these results, we’re now officially three-quarters finished with the first round.

Bracket 45
39. THE CLASH, “LONDON CALLING” (80 points / 17 first-place votes)
90. Johnny Cash, “I Walk the Line” (51 / 3)
218. Violent Femmes, “Blister in the Sun” (46 / 1)
167. Fats Domino, “Blueberry Hill” (43 / 1)

Clash beats Cash by the second-largest margin to date. The Man in Black bows out of the tournament at 0-for-3.

Bracket 46
103. ROY ORBISON, “OH, PRETTY WOMAN” (62 / 9)
231. The Beatles, “Paperback Writer” (58 / 4)
26. The Righteous Brothers, “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’” (53 / 5)
154. Roxy Music, “Virginia Plain” (47 / 4)

If that’s the way it must be, OK…Mr. R. Orbison pulls off the upset in the week’s closest bracket. Mercy!

Bracket 47
58. AL GREEN, “LET’S STAY TOGETHER” (77 / 15)
199. Dusty Springfield, “Son of a Preacher Man” (60 / 5)
71. Del Shannon, “Runaway” (52 / 2)
186. Madonna, “Like a Virgin” (31 / 0)

Reverend Green beats out “Preacher Man” to go to the next round.

Bracket 48
7. MARVIN GAYE, “I HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE” (75 / 11)
250. Eminem feat. Dido, “Stan” (59 / 7)
135. Gene Vincent, “Be Bop a Lula” (50 / 4)
122. Big Joe Turner, “Shake, Rattle and Roll” (36 / 0)

This must be soul week…Marvin wins big, even though Mr. Mathers polled some strong support.

And there you go. Two voters picked all four winners this time: nicolas and FormerlyEducated.

My visits to AM have more than quadrupled since this started. You should call it cracketology.

my gosh ! I never thought this could happen !

Quick—what’s the highest-ranked song to be eliminated in the first round so far? Read on for the answer…

Bracket 49
83. GUNS ‘N’ ROSES, “SWEET CHILD ‘O’ MINE” (51 points / 8 first-place votes)
46. The Police, “Every Breath You Take” (46 / 4)
174. The Breeders, “Cannonball” (38 / 4)
211. Beastie Boys, “Intergalactic” (25 / 0)

The Police couldn’t handle Guns…so there will be high hair in the round of 64.

Bracket 50
19. MARVIN GAYE, “WHAT’S GOING ON” (50 / 7)
147. Prince and the Revolution, “Kiss” (38 / 3)
110. Oasis, “Wonderwall” (38 / 3)
238. The Buzzcocks, “Ever Fallen in Love?” (34 / 3)

I’ll tell you what’s goin’ on…for the second week in a row, Marvin advances a song.

Bracket 51
51. SMOKEY ROBINSON & THE MIRACLES, “THE TRACKS OF MY TEARS” (46 / 4)
78. Oasis, “Live Forever” (41 / 6)
206. James Brown, “I Got You (I Feel Good)” (39 / 5)
179. Bo Diddley, “Bo Diddley” (34 / 1)

It’s easy to trace “The Tracks of My Tears”…it’ll be in the round of 64, after all. Two other songs received more first-place votes, but opinion on them was extremely divided (especially on “Live Forever”), whereas most voters liked Smokey well enough for at least 3 points.

Bracket 52
115. CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL, “FORTUNATE SON” (51 / 7)
14. Elvis Presley, “Heartbreak Hotel” (43 / 5)
142. The Rolling Stones, “Brown Sugar” (36 / 3)
243. Pink Floyd, “See Emily Play” (30 / 1)

A song in the second round for Creedence. For Elvis, “Heartbreak Hotel” indeed—the highest-ranked song to be eliminated thus far, and only the second song in the Top 16 to be shown the door (the first was “My Generation,” back in the first week).

Nobody got four. John, jonmarck, Harold Wexler and Rocky Raccoon each got three. And farewell from bracketology to the Beastie Boys, who have now gone 0-for-3, and Oasis, who (like Jerry Lee Lewis a while back) entered the tournament and exited it in the same week, with two songs falling short.

Mild disappointment dept.—voter turnout was very low this week...in fact, the lowest we’ve ever had by a wide margin. I dunno if the choices were unappealing, if attention was divided by the BNIT, if a lot of people were out of town, or if a bit of bracket fatigue is setting in after three solid months of voting. Most of bracketology’s regulars did post a ballot, so I’m hoping it’s just a temporary dip (Week 14 voting is off to a very fast start).

I think it's just cause school is starting up again and everyone is busier than a dog with two...well...you know. I've been rushing my ballots just cause I don't have the time to think of something clever to say.

Well I'm glad to see Tracks and What's GOing On in ahead of Oasis...I didn't think Smokey was gonna make it

I'm gone for a few days, and I come come to this.

Ok, I can see "Wonderwall" not advancing, but "Live Forever"?? Really? Absolute outrage.

I meant "come home".

See, I'm so angry I can't even type.

This week’s biggest surprise was that, for the first time, one song ran the table against its opponents.

Bracket 53
35. THE ROLLING STONES, “JUMPIN’ JACK FLASH” (45 points / 6 first-place votes)
222. Fleetwood Mac, “Go Your Own Way” (41 / 5)
94. Buddy Holly, “Peggy Sue” (36 / 3)
163. The Troggs, “Wild Thing” (28 / 1)

The Stones finish up the first round by going 5-for-7 (only “Brown Sugar” and “Honky Tonk Women” didn’t make it). As nobody said in their comments, it’s a gas gas gas. (I admire everyone’s restraint, although H. Wexler was sorely tempted.)

Bracket 54
99. THE BEATLES, “SHE LOVES YOU” (48 / 8)
30. The Four Tops, “Reach Out (I’ll Be There)” (44 / 4)
158. The Sugarhill Gang, “Rapper’s Delight” (34 / 3)
227. The Drifters, “There Goes My Baby” (24 / 0)

Yeah, yeah, yeah…the Fab Four achieves this week’s only upset and places a third song in the second round. As for the Tops, well, no, they WON’T be there.

Bracket 55
62. QUEEN, “BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY” (42 / 7)
67. New Order, “Blue Monday” (37 / 2)
195. R.E.M., “Radio Free Europe” (36 / 3)
190. The Flamingos, “I Only Have Eyes For You” (35 / 3)

Freddie & co. take a tight bracket in which only 7 points separate first from last.

Bracket 56
3. THE BEACH BOYS, “GOOD VIBRATIONS” (60 / 15)
131. Roy Orbison, “Only the Lonely” (35 / 0)
126. ABBA, “Dancing Queen” (29 / 0)
254. Pretenders, “Brass in Pocket” (26 / 0)

Yep, you’re reading those first-place votes correctly…this was a unanimous decision for the first time in the tournament. No other song has even come close to that accomplishment. The Beach Boys, like the Beatles (and Bowie) now have three songs in round 2.

Considering that everyone chose the same song in bracket 56, it’s surprising that nobody picked all four this week…although many people got three: jonmarck, Loophole, twister, Honorio, Mo, Harold Wexler, and the Artist Formerly Known As Pomtidom (Neoptolemos).

I kinda saw that 15-0 score coming. Funny how 'God Only Knows' had 15 first-places too, yet 93 points. It seems we're losing some voters.

I didn't pick all 4 but I said which 4 would win!

There haven’t been very many really close brackets in recent weeks—but this batch made up for that.

Bracket 57
43. OUTKAST, “HEY YA!” (54 points / 8 first-place votes)
86. Prince, “Little Red Corvette” (49 / 5)
214. The Lovin’ Spoonful, “Summer in the City” (35 / 2)
171. Glen Campbell, “Wichita Lineman” (32 / 2)

Y’all ready for this? Andre’s song was the only one this week to build up anything like a substantial lead, and it’ll be the second twenty-first century song in the second round.

Bracket 58
150. THE BEATLES, “PENNY LANE” (52 / 8)
107. The Shirelles, “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” (49 / 5)
22. Ike & Tina Turner, “River Deep Mountain High” (40 / 4)
235. Don McLean, “American Pie” (29 / 0)

For the second week in a row, the Beatles manage an upset. They have now advanced four songs, including both sides of the Strawberry Fields/Penny Lane single.

Bracket 59
182. THE SMITHS, “HOW SOON IS NOW?” (48 / 6)
54. Elvis Presley, “Hound Dog” (46 / 5)
75. Massive Attack, “Unfinished Sympathy” (44 / 4)
203. Sam Cooke, “You Send Me” (32 / 2)

Moz finally got a song in the round of 64, taking a close three-way contest over E and the act known at the time as Massive.

Bracket 60
118. THE WHO, “WON’T GET FOOLED AGAIN” (51 / 6)
11. Sex Pistols, “Anarchy in the U.K.” (50 / 6)
139. Radiohead, “Creep” (40 / 3)
246. Aretha Franklin, “I Say a Little Prayer” (29 / 2)

They don’t get eliminated again. Like the Smiths, the Who this week managed to avoid going 0-3 by finally winning a bracket on their last chance. The Pistols, on the other hand, break “Heartbreak Hotel”s two-week old record for the highest-seeded song to be eliminated.

This week’s three upsets match the record for the most in one week. And for the third straight week, no voter picked all four winners. Neoptolemos, Loophole, jonmarck, Mo and Rocky Raccoon each got three.

See y’all back here in 7 days for the end of the first round!

Shame Elvis didn't make it, but at least The Who has a song in the next round.

Well,at least the greatest band of the 80s(Smiths) advanced a song to the 2nd round...

I didn't know the Replacements were in this round...

Hahaha well you could make an argument for them...

Elvis…has left the building.

Bracket 61
38. THE BEATLES, “HEY JUDE” (49 points / 7 first-place votes)
91. The Temptations, “My Girl” (35 / 4)
166. Ramones, “Blitzkrieg Bop” (33 / 1)
219. Blondie, “Heart of Glass” (33 / 3)

Let it out and let in in. The Beatles join the Rolling Stones as the only two acts with five songs in the second round.

Bracket 62
27. MICHAEL JACKSON, “BILLIE JEAN” (59 / 14)
155. Michael Jackson, “Beat It” (33 / 1)
102. The Specials, “Ghost Town” (31 / 0)
230. Eminem, “My Name Is” (27 / 0)

“Billie Jean” came within one vote of a unanimous decision. Now who’s the idiot who voted for “Beat It”? Let’s see…oh. Er, never mind.

Bracket 63
187. BILLIE HOLIDAY, “STRANGE FRUIT” (45 / 5)
59. Beck, “Loser” (41 / 6)
70. Elvis Presley, “Suspicious Minds” (38 / 3)
198. Elvis Presley, “Jailhouse Rock” (26 / 1)

“Strange Fruit” will be, by far, the oldest song in the second round, having upset “Loser” (which came out 54 years later). And it’s official: Presley goes 0-7.

Bracket 64
6. OTIS REDDING, “SITTIN’ ON THE DOCK OF THE BAY” (48 / 8)
251. The Undertones, “Teenage Kicks” (42 / 6)
134, Ritchie Valens, “La Bamba” (32 / 1)
123. The Byrds, “Eight Miles High” (28 / 0)

Otis’ swansong is the last song in the round of 64.

Only nicolas chose all four winners.

And that’s it for round one! 192 songs have been eliminated, and we have 64 left. A huge thank-you to everyone who voted—I deeply appreciate the contributions of all 44 people who posted ballots over the last four months.

I’ll post the first brackets of the second round on Friday, October 5. But while you’re waiting, I’ll post a pregame thread tomorrow morning.

good ending for me I love these 4 songs

Strange Fruit sounds like an interesting song to get into. I wish I knew her stuff better.

I get the feeling round 2's going to tear my heart out, and no, I'm not above replying to my own post.

The other great Holiday song to know is "Fine and Mellow," the B-side of "Strange Fruit," which is gorgeous, refined blues. And, by the way, she wrote it herself.

Yeah, round 2 is going to be painful.

Hopefully voter turnout can get back into the 20s, like it was before.

Noooo Presley goes 0-7 - sort of sad about that but it's good Strange Fruit from the 30s is through. Pity they had to be in the same bracket...

By my count 45 of the 64 advancing songs are from the 60's and 70's. That's gotta be like 89 % or something (go easy on me I'm an arts student).

70%. ;) Still, if they're 35% each it's significantly more than the other decades.. but it was to be expected.

ROUND 2: WEEK 1 RESULTS

The biggest surprise for me this week was that the winning songs generally won by convincing margins, despite the tougher second-round competition.

Bracket A
THE ROLLING STONES, “SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL” (70 points / 11 first-place votes)
The Kinks, “You Really Got Me” (62 / 2)
The Verve, “Bittersweet Symphony” (60 / 5)
David Bowie, “Ziggy Stardust” (58 / 7)

The Stones continue to roll through the tournament, upsetting both the Kinks and the Verve.

Bracket B
BOB DYLAN, “LIKE A ROLLING STONE” (87 / 16)
Stevie Wonder, “Superstition” (74 / 7)
Lou Reed, “Walk on the Wild Side” (53 / 2)
The Doors, “Light My Fire” (36 / 0)

Dylan had to cope with the week’s strongest performance by a runner-up (“Superstition”), but the top overall seed still easily makes the Sweet 16.

Bracket C
LED ZEPPELIN, “STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN” (80 / 14)
Sinéad O’Connor, “Nothing Compares 2 U” (66 / 6)
Eddie Cochran, “Summertime Blues” (56 / 4)
Wilson Pickett, “In the Midnight Hour” (48 / 1)

If there’s a bustle in your hedgerow, don’t be alarmed now…it’s just Led Zeppelin in the Sweet 16. (Hey, that even scans!)

Bracket D
CHUCK BERRY, “JOHNNY B. GOODE” (87 / 17)
The Rolling Stones, “Paint It, Black” (68 / 6)
The Beach Boys, “I Get Around” (63 / 1)
Bill Haley and His Comets, “Rock Around the Clock” (32 / 1)

Who says 50’s songs can’t hang? The man from St. Louis wins by the largest margin of the week.

jonmarck picked all four winners. (I’m going to give that sentence its own function key, I think.)

And, hey—voter turnout soared this week. Old favorites returned, and five new voters came on board. Huzzah!

WHAT? Sympathy For The Devil in the top 16????
Man I thought England making the rugby World Cup final was crazy...

WHAT? Stairway To Heaven in the top 16????

Modaso, don't talk about the rugby world cup, now I'm trying to forget about it (like you probably did one week ago)

Yeah four more years

Sorry for mispelling your name, I'm busy so I don't read myself

We have an impressive assortment of upsets this week. Ch-check it out:

Bracket E
THE BEATLES, “A DAY IN THE LIFE” (75 points / 14 first-place votes)
Prince and the Revolution, “When Doves Cry” (61 / 3)
The Ronettes, “Be My Baby” (53 / 4)
Simon and Garfunkel, “The Sound of Silence” (41 / 2)

Now they know how many votes it takes to make the sweet 16. The highest point total of the week goes to “A Day in the Life.”

Bracket F
NIRVANA, “SMELLS LIKE TEEN SPIRIT” (70 / 13)
The Mamas and the Papas, “California Dreamin’” (57 / 1)
Gnarls Barkley, “Crazy” (57 / 6)
Ben E. King, “Stand By Me” (46 / 3)

I guess it makes me smile…“Teen Spirit” was the only top-ranked song to advance this week.

Bracket G
THE BEACH BOYS, “GOD ONLY KNOWS” (71 / 10)
Bruce Springsteen, “Born to Run” (65 / 7)
The Beatles, “Strawberry Fields Forever” (62 / 6)
Led Zeppelin, “Whole Lotta Love” (32 / 0)

I’ll make you so sure about it: In a three-cornered contest among heavyweights, “God Only Knows” upset Bruce & the Beatles.

Bracket H
U2, “ONE” (59 / 8)
The Kinks, “Waterloo Sunset” (58 / 7)
Aretha Franklin, “Respect” (55 / 5)
David Bowie, “Changes” (48 / 2)

“One” is 1, “Waterloo” is 2, in the closest bracket of the second round so far. Aretha’s “Respect” is now the highest-seeded song to get booted from the tournament.

Two voters, DrDre and Harold Wexler, picked all four winners.

i picked the winners of the three brackets that i voted in haha. i would have lost had i voted in the fourth. i probably should have voted... i would have put changes first i think. shame to see it at fourth place :( i'm happy that slts is still in the comp though. i didn't think that it would get through this week.

Some close results there - pleased God Only Knows got through but a little disappointed about Waterloo Sunset missing out...

ROUND 2: WEEK 3 RESULTS

The sweet 16 is starting to look wide-open, with a quartet of upsets this week—for the first time in bracketology, NONE of the songs ranked at the top of their brackets won; in fact, two of them (in brackets I and K) finished last.

Bracket I
THE ROLLING STONES, “GIMME SHELTER” (77 points / 15 first-place votes)
The Jimi Hendrix Experience, “Purple Haze” (59 / 4)
The Band, “The Weight” (44 / 2)
Grandmaster Flash, “The Message” (40 / 1)

It’s just a shot away from the Final Four—“Gimme Shelter” is the Stones’ second song in the sweet 16.

Bracket J
DAVID BOWIE, “HEROES” (72 / 13)
The Jimi Hendrix Experience, “Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)” (54 / 5)
The Rolling Stones, “Satisfaction” (53 / 3)
The Bee Gees, “Stayin’ Alive” (41 / 1)

We’re now guaranteed at least one dark horse in the Final Four—AM’s #2 song, “Satisfaction,” is sent packing by Bowie. We can beat them for ever and ever…

Bracket K
PULP, “COMMON PEOPLE” (72 / 11)
R.E.M., “Losing My Religion” (62 / 7)
Sex Pistols, “God Save the Queen” (49 / 2)
The Kingsmen, “Louie Louie” (37 / 2)

In a battle of 90’s heavyweights, Jarvis Cocker and friends come out on top.

Bracket L
THE CLASH, “LONDON CALLING” (72 / 12)
Marvin Gaye, “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” (61 / 4)
Al Green, “Let’s Stay Together” (53 / 4)
Roy Orbison, “Oh, Pretty Woman” (34 / 2)

Joe, Mick, Paul and Topper make this week a clean sweep for England.


No more rap, no more Hendrix, no more Pistols…and (snif) no more R.E.M.

John, Mo and Justin picked all four winning songs.

So, the sweet 16 is 75% full…watch this space in 7 short days to see who gets the last four spots.

Pretty strong line up for the sweet 16...

How competitive was this week? Well, the Beatles finished in third place. Three times.

Bracket M
MARVIN GAYE, “WHAT’S GOIN’ ON” (67 points / 10 first-place votes)
Guns ‘n’ Roses, “Sweet Child ‘O’ Mine” (58 / 8)
Creedence Clearwater Revival, “Fortunate Son” (54 / 3)
Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, “The Tracks of My Tears” (41 / 1)

GnR took an early lead, but Marvin finished strong.

Bracket N
THE BEACH BOYS, “GOOD VIBRATIONS” (72 / 12)
Queen, “Bohemian Rhapsody” (57 / 6)
The Beatles, “She Loves You” (47 / 3)
The Rolling Stones, “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” (44 / 1)

I don’t know where, but we’ve sent them there. The Beach Boys and the Stones will be the only acts with two songs in the Sweet 16.

Bracket O
THE WHO, “WON’T GET FOOLED AGAIN” (59 / 7)
The Smiths, “How Soon Is Now?” (57 / 6)
The Beatles, “Penny Lane” (54 / 6)
OutKast, “Hey Ya!” (50 / 3)

YYYYEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH! (or something) A tough, tough four-song competition. “Hey Ya” was the highest seed, but was never really in the running. “Penny Lane” held the lead often, and “How Soon Is Now” staged a late drive, but “Won’t Get Fooled Again” will represent the Who in the next round.

Bracket P
MICHAEL JACKSON, “BILLIE JEAN” (65 / 8)
Otis Redding, “Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay” (61 / 8)
The Beatles, “Hey Jude” (50 / 4)
Billie Holiday, “Strange Fruit” (44 / 2)

Otis overcame a huge 14-point early deficit to briefly take the lead, but MJ hung on to close it out.

Nobody picked all four winners; voters with three out of four were Neoptolemos, Loophole, Midaso, Mo, Jonah and Henrik.

The Sweet 16 is now complete. In an hour or so, I’ll post a “pregame” thread if anyone wants to comment over the next 24 hours…we’ll look at the surviving songs and I’ll post updated voter standings. Sweet 16 balloting will open tomorrow and run for nine days—to Wednesday, November 14.

Thanks to everyone who voted and made round two a success!

It’s taken us over five months to get here, but we finally have our bracketology Final Four.

Bracket Q
BOB DYLAN, “LIKE A ROLLING STONE” (86 points / 16 first-place votes)
Chuck Berry, “Johnny B. Goode” (64 / 3)
The Rolling Stones, “Sympathy for the Devil” (53 / 2)
Led Zeppelin, “Stairway to Heaven” (47 / 4)

Turns out it’s the #1 overall seed for a reason. This one was never even close.

Bracket R
THE BEATLES, “A DAY IN THE LIFE” (78 / 12)
The Beach Boys, “God Only Knows” (65 / 7)
Nirvana, “Smells Like Teen Spirit” (56 / 3)
U2, “One” (51 / 3)

This one was close early, but the Liverpudlians gradually pulled away from the Angelinos.

Bracket S
THE ROLLING STONES, “GIMME SHELTER” (65 / 9)
Pulp, “Common People” (65 / 7)
The Clash, “London Calling” (63 / 4)
David Bowie, “Heroes” (57 / 5)

Had to go to the tiebreaker for this one—“Gimme Shelter” was ranked higher than “Common People” on 14 out of 25 ballots, so the Stones survive into the final round. This one was something of a war of attrition—Pulp held the lead for a while, the Clash were always hanging around, and Bowie staged a (too-late) comeback. “Gimme Shelter” is clearly the cinderella of the tournament: the only Final Four song which isn’t in the AM Top 100.

Bracket T
MICHAEL JACKSON, “BILLIE JEAN” (68 / 8)
The Who, “Won’t Get Fooled Again” (63 / 7)
Marvin Gaye, “What’s Going On” (61 / 6)
The Beach Boys, “Good Vibrations” (58 / 4)

MJ escapes. Despite the final results, this one was actually the closest bracket of the Sweet 16 for most of the week. Michael, Marvin, and the Who were each in first place at some time in the last three days (with the fourth song being that one-time unanimous winner “Good Vibrations”).

Mo and damosuzuki chose all four.

It’s not too surprising that the Final Four will include songs by each of AM’s three highest-ranked artists (plus one from what I think is still the best-selling album of all time), although perhaps it’s a little surprising which songs represent them.

Final Four thread goes up tomorrow.

Wow. I'm genuinely surprised by a couple of these results. I was convinced "God Only Knows" would walk away with Bracket R, which is why I ranked "Good Vibrations" last in T; I rather suspect that this assumption was a widely shared one, accounting for "GV"'s last-place finish. So, instead, -neither- Beach Boys song makes the Final Four. It's fitting that the Beatles made it instead - as Schleuse implies, having them, the Stones -and- Dylan in the final mix is kind of poetic.

The Beatles will not win this one there is too much anti-Beatles sentiment on this forum. I will stand on my comment that A Day in the Life is the only song left that stands as music as art. Gimme Me Shelter is great, Like A Rolling Stone is great but does it compare to Lennon's vocal and the overall scope of the music. Billie Jean is very good also.

I'd say it's the only song left that isn't pure art. It's close, but it doesn't quite reach it. There's a few annoying parts that mess up an otherwise very beautiful symphony.

I'd say Sal is spot-on; not all art is "pretty", Neo. You need dissonance to have consonance.

A Day in the Life mixes avant garde with pop sensibilites. Only the Beatles, I think in my opinion did this well. Strawberry Fields Forever, Tomorrow Never Knows and I Am the Walrus are other examples. This of course does not make them better them Dylan. When I hear this song on the radio, I still think it stands out to the regular classic rock you hear on the radio today. I am music fan first and I don't like everything the Beatles did. It would be like the most popular rock group in the world coming out with something completely alien to what was around at the time and being hugely successful doing it. I gave them loads of credit for doing it.

Sure it is Anthony, art is a perception. Some people might not find a particular sculpture art, while others do. Likely the people who perceive it as art will think it's 'pretty'. For me, anything that isn't 'pretty' isn't art, because art has to be artistic and beautiful.

The part of A Day In The Life around minute 2 annoys me endlessly, it's like Da Vinci cut up the Mona Lisa around the neck and put some kind of abstract part in the middle. Would some people still consider it 'pretty'? Sure. I wouldn't.

rock music has nothing to do with Art (with a capital A)
. Everytime rockers or pop musicians want to make art instead of expressing emotions, they fail.

You can do both of course, but a good song is a good song. A guy like Beck can add arty effects (and Odelay is full of these effects) but every song in the album is well written.

I love the Beatles they are my favorite band but ADITL is not my favorite. It's good but please tell me what it has that other songs don't have.
I find it a bit pretentious like most of Sgt Pepper.
It's not a bad song in itself but it doesn't move me.

Speaking of Beck, The song New Pollution combines elements from both Tomorrow Never Knows and Taxman. A Day in the Life is just my choice over these songs. I could have picked Tomorrow Never Knows as the better choice from the Beatles.

Too bad you weren't there back when it got the boot in favour of God Only Knows. That was a heartbreaker.

For me,that is a really disappointing final 4

I'm OK with 3 of them. Billie Jean is a bit of a letdown.

0 for 4 again...sigh.

I'm very suprised that Stairway to Heaven did not make it. My final 16 songs would have been

1. Stairway to Heaven
2. Tomorrow Never Knows
3. Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands
4. All Along the Watchtower- Hendrix
5. A Day in the Life
6. God Only Knows
7. Sympathy for the Devil
8. Smells Like Teen Spirit
9. Maybeliene
10. Shapes of Things
11. You Really Got Me
12. My Generation
13. Long Tall Sally- Little Richard- the Beatles version rocks though
14. Eight Miles High
15. Comfortably Numb
16. House of the Rising Sun- The Animals

Interesting list Sal
don't forget to post us your personal top 100 in december (if you fell like it)
And by the way, as you seem to be new tot his site, pay a visit to our demographics thread if you feel interested

Michael Jackson made it?!?! Recount!!!!

"Billie Jean" is the only song I like in the final four.

Bob and Beatles are no surprise to see them in the Final Four. The nice thing of this KO system is, that some outsiders can get through. Jackson as an outsider there is fine with me, but Gimme Shelter is really a big surprise for me.

I'm really pleased that the final 4 wasn't ultimately that predictable. I expected London Calling to beat Gimme Shelter, and I expected Good Vibrations to beat Billie Jean. Regardless of how I personally would've liked the final to look, it reflects well on the structure of the game that we haven't ended up with the most generic finalists. Now, to listen to them all again, carefully...

So throughout the bracketology game,would you change any choices? The two that stand out for me are Waterloo Sunset,which I definitely should have had at #1,and also Live Forever,which for some absurd reason I had at #4 - I've listened to it so many times since and I love it now,probably I'd have it #1 in that bracket now. Also,Losing My Religion - I was a fool to not have that as #1 in the first round

God save the Kinks.

The biggest change of heart I had was in regard to "Hey Ya." I put it in second place in the first round (to the Smiths' "There Is a Light..."), but eventually had it in my Final Four. I think it's a jaw-dropper.

There Is A Light That never Goes Out is my personal bracketology winner

The final votes are in, and it’s time to crown the winner:

Final Four
BOB DYLAN, “LIKE A ROLLING STONE” (68 points / 11 first-place votes)
The Beatles, “A Day in the Life” (63 / 8)
The Rolling Stones, “Gimme Shelter” (45 / 1)
Michael Jackson, “Billie Jean” (34 / 1)

The most acclaimed song of all time is also the champion of bracketology. The silver medal goes to “A Day in the Life,” which gave Mr. Zimmerman his closest competition of the tournament, and “Gimme Shelter” placed a distant third.

I’m sure a lot of people (me included, even though I voted “Like a Rolling Stone” all the way through) were secretly hoping for a dark horse to win the tournament. But then, bracketology was really about the journey, not the destination. We put 256 songs under the microscope; that was the fun here.

And that’s it. After five months, it’s time to turn the lights on and sweep up. Thanks to everyone who came along for this ride; it was as fun and surprising as I expected. Maybe we’ll do it again some day.

Thanks schleuse for all the fun!

Sincerely,

Henrik

Many thanks, schleuse, the bracketology has been a complete success. Moreover I completely agree with the results.
Only point to one thing: the Bracketology #1 was the #2 of the AM songs poll back in 2005 and the Bracketology #2 was the AM poll #1. High level of coincidence, even the posters had changed notably. Back to the AM Songs poll “Gimme Shelter” was #18 and “Billie Jean” was… #81.

Thanks again, schleuse. Well done organizing and executing this monster. *applause*

yes, thanks a lot
it made me discover songs and artists I thought I disliked, like some Smiths songs, (but not all of them)

Indeed, thanks schleuse. But also thanks to everyone else for the comments. And yay for the winner.

Thanks so much Schleuse. This has been a ton of thought-provoking fun.

Let me extend the list of schleuse appreciation, and onwards and upwards with Survivor!