So who's one better than Pavement?

My #1 is still on the island, so I won't give it away. Probably not a huge surprise if you look at my top-100 albums.

Anyway, my #2 pick for Pavement is admittedly a tenuous one. I just happen to be crushing hard on their music right now. That doesn't change the fact that they should not have left so soon.

I don't understand what you guys have against The Police
Their hits still sound great to me
I don't like Sting but their 1978-83 singles are really good.
They are great musicians, mixing reggae and jazz elements with pop and punk-rock.
But they have one big flaw here and it's called mainstream.
yes, you can hear them on non-college radios...

Maybe because I grew up with them ?

I think because they do the faux reggae and jazz, people hate them. Most of their stuff sounds like a watered down version of great music. They were good musicians but it always sounded like they were trying to replicate something they weren't. It's the same reason I couldn't get into Graceland...it just seems corny coming from the source and it really feels like they are stealing an entire culture even if really they are just paying homage. It's awkward to listen to.

I love Message in a Bottle though so they haven't made my list...yet.

Rock is by essence a fusion of styles.
Mixing elements of blues and country first, then borrowing from every genre.
So I don't think it is a question of stealing cultures.
Seen from 2008, the artists you mention (Police, Paul Simon) might sound a bit dated to your ears (even more because you know the music they refer to), but when their records were out, they made those styles available to mainstream audiences.
Graceland made me discover African music and zydeco when it got out. I was 16 years old and didn't know much about music (well, probably much more than the average 16 year old Joe, but not so much as now, of course)
For The Police, it is a bit different : their hits were huge in the 80's. It's well executed, and I never got the impression that they were playing faux reggae
And The Clash, The Specials and alot of white english bands used reggae influences too. In France, Gainsbourg made a wonderful reggae album he recorded with Sly & Robbie and a bunch of other Jamaican great studio musicians.
i still like a good Police tune, maybe not as much as good old reggae music from Trojan vaults, but i don't place them on the same level

Nicholas, I agree with all you say above about The Police but that isn't enough for me to like them or to stop me throwing them into the sea!

Before I forget:
1)Blondie:Are they still here? Shocking
2)The Police:How did I forget them? Even Synchronicity was a bit patchy...
3)OutKast
4)John Coltrane
5)Nick Cave

The Police are a good band on paper.

I'm not a huge Police fan but Synchronicity pt. II is enough to convince me they belong here. More than Wilco at least.

Same votes as last week:

1. Bob Marley and the Wailers
2. The Who
3. Simon and Garfunkel
4. Aretha Franklin
5. The Beatles

I would put Yankee Hotel Foxtrot up against any Police album.

Nicolas, how do you come down on the Wilco vs. Police debate?

Moonbeam,

The 16-year old version of me would be very angry about your list! Replace Aretha with Motown (not a big stretch) and you would have a huge chunk of my early 1980s playlist on your boat leaving the island.

Wilco vs Police...

What a strange association !
A singles group vs an album group
I would say these records haven't got the same function
I discovered Police when I was 8 years old, Wilco more than 20 years later ...
I would say Wilco of course, although I don't know them so well (I guess the first complete album I got from them was in 2006)
but they really don't live in the same floor (not even in the same building or the same district) in the vast city of my mind...

Slight change...

1. U2
2. The Police
3. Lou Reed
4. The White Stripes
5. Wilco

Same as before

1. The Byrds
2. Hank Williams
3. Al Green
4. Van Morrison
5. Bob Marley and the Wailers

Hello dere, sonofsamiam.

I don't have a record of you voting for the Police before, so I need an explanation of that.

Also, you voted for the White Stripes, but, sadly, Jack & Meg are already gone...

He's kicking dirt in our WS-adoring faces!

5 points: Chuck Berry - Repeat. Still here, still remaining here for awhile I imagine.

4 points: Ray Charles - Repeat

3 points: Blondie - Repeat

2 point: Parliament/Funkadelic - Bumped up to two points with Jacko out of the running.

1 point: Leonard Cohen - A week ago, I relistened to all my stuff that I have of his, which kept him off my ballot last week. It just wasn't enough to keep him off for too long. Also, this could theoretically be The Police, but I think everyone else has done a satisfactory job making sure they won't be back for more.

Huzzah - The Smiths are gone at last, and I see The Byrds queueing up near the exit too.
This means I am replacing one act this time, and hopefully another next time....

1. Bob Dylan.
2. Van Morrison.
3. Bruce Springsteen.
4. Pixies. (moved up from 5th position after The Smiths' exit)

New:
5. U2. It's getting difficult now, everyone else on e the island I either like, or partially like, or I haven't heard - but I'm not going to vote against anyone I haven't heard, so Wilco is safe from me. U2 are one of those bands who have done a few great songs, quite a few good/ok songs, and lots of godawful overblown pompous rubbish that's up itself. The latter outweighs the good stuff, and so they go on my list.

You seriously prefer all the artists still in the tournament to Bob Dylan? Honestly?

I've always disliked Bob Dylan, from his annoying whiny voice to his "Importance".

I know nobody else will be voting for him anytime soon, but why should I change my list just to go along with what other people are voting out?

By all means you should vote for the artists you like least, I was just wondering if you actually thought he was worse than everyone else on the list.

To really generalize, Nick Cave, Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen all have a distintive voices, are singer-songwriters, etc. but you prefer them over Bob Dylan? Not attacking you or anything, just wondering.

But they aren't as "important."

Nick Cave, Tom Waits and Leonard Cohen offer three of the "best" (or most interesting) vocals in rock history.

With Dylan, I don't find it strange that someone wants to vote him out, as I would have done the same if we did this 10 years ago (before H61R sinked in).

As I would have, Henrik, and for the same reasons Harpo cites: "annoying whiny voice" and "Importance." After I came around on Bob, those two things faded into irrelevance.

Bob's "Importance" was almost entirely bestowed on him in the late 60s and 70s by overeager critics and fans who, once Dylan "went" electric, were desperate to have him validate their love of rock (and, by extension, the tastes of their generation). In other words, it's not SELF-importance (at least no more than you'd find in the average professional performer). I can no longer blame Bob for the overzealousness of his early fans.

As for the annoying whiny voice...nah, I'm tired of that tired argument. In a nutshell: it's not a flaw, it's a feature.

Cave, Waits & Cohen are all far better than Dylan.