The first round is now over, and here are the final results.

Bracket I
34. ARETHA FRANKLIN, “CHAIN OF FOOLS” (48 points / 7 first-place votes)
10. The Modern Lovers, “Roadrunner” (41 / 4)
15. Ann Peebles, “I Can’t Stand the Rain” (34 / 3)
39. The Stooges, “I Wanna Be Your Dog” (27 / 1)

Aretha pulls off a come-from-behind win over Jonathan.

Bracket J
3. LOVE, “ALONE AGAIN OR” (50 / 9)
46. The Box Tops, “The Letter” (39 / 2)
22. Sex Pistols, “Pretty Vacant” (33 / 2)
27. Tammy Wynette, “Stand By Your Man” (28 / 2)

Love, the top seed, pulled away from the pack late to take this one.

Bracket K
30. THE BEATLES, “TICKET TO RIDE” (44 / 3)
19. Madonna, “Like a Prayer” (38 / 4)
6. Robert Johnson, “Cross Road Blues” (38 / 6)
43. Grandmaster Flash and Melle Mel, “White Lines” (30 / 2)

‘Tis better to be the most acclaimed group of all time than to sell your soul to the devil.

Bracket L
38. EURYTHMICS, “SWEET DREAMS (ARE MADE OF THIS)” (42 / 3)
11. Sly and the Family Stone, “Dance to the Music” (39 / 4)
14. Blue Öyster Cult, “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” (35 / 4)
35. Jackie Brenston, “Rocket 88” (34 / 4)

Who am I to disagree? Annie and Dave move on in a tight bracket.

Check out those first-place votes in K and L. “Ticket to Ride” and “Sweet Dreams” both show that in hard-fought brackets, it pays to be a lot of people’s SECOND-favorite song.

Not much consensus this time; nobody picked all four winners, and only Harold Wexler picked three.

And that’s that. I’ll post the brackets for the twelve survivors tonight.