Four more brackets, reporting for duty.

Ballots due midnight, Saturday, October 27.

BRACKET I
15. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, “The Message”
47. The Jimi Hendrix Experience, “Purple Haze”
146. The Rolling Stones, “Gimme Shelter”
207. The Band, “The Weight”

BRACKET J
2. The Rolling Stones, “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”
66. David Bowie, “Heroes”
95. The Bee Gees, “Stayin’ Alive”
226. The Jimi Hendrix Experience, “Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)”

BRACKET K
10. The Kingsmen, “Louie Louie”
23. Sex Pistols, “God Save the Queen”
42. R.E.M., “Losing My Religion”
55. Pulp, “Common People”

BRACKET L
7. Marvin Gaye, “I Heard It Through the Grapevine”
39. The Clash, “London Calling”
58. Al Green, “Let’s Stay Together”
103. Roy Orbison, “Oh, Pretty Woman”

Those of you running personal tournaments, I’m sure you’ve figured out the system by now, but I will still note that this week’s brackets feature the first-round winners from weeks 9 thru 12.

BRACKET I
1. The Rolling Stones, “Gimme Shelter”- The only Stones song that rivals the Beatles best.
2. The Jimi Hendrix Experience, “Purple Haze”- I'm having a tough time with this one. Here's something: One of the best songs that I never listen to. Unlike Stairway to Heaven which I've heard a million times and despise, Purple Haze is still a really great song but I'd probably flip past it on the radio or maybe listen for a little bit and switch it.
3. The Band, “The Weight”- The only Band song I can get behind.
4. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, “The Message”- I didn't even notice last round that this is #15. Really? I can think of 15-20 hip-hop songs that had just as much influence on music but are much better.

BRACKET J
1. David Bowie, “Heroes”- David Bowie got lucky this round. Huge Bowie fan but I'm not that big on this one.
2. The Bee Gees, “Stayin’ Alive”- Am I really giving this #2. Wow.
3. The Jimi Hendrix Experience, “Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)”- My least favorite of Hendrix' hits
4. The Rolling Stones, “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”- I can't stand this song. It's unimaginative, boring, and dated. How it's considered the second best song of all time is beyond my comprehension.

BRACKET K
1. Pulp, “Common People”- A classic. The only Brit-Pop song that truly deserves to be called so.
2. R.E.M., “Losing My Religion”- The last great hit of REM off the last great album. Not even close to their best song though.
3. The Kingsmen, “Louie Louie”- When listening to dumb 60's rock I'll take this over Satisfaction any day.
4. Sex Pistols, “God Save the Queen”- I remember really liking this when I was 18 or 19. Now it just reminds me how idealistic and whiny I was and how the Sex Pistols were exactly the same.


BRACKET L
1. The Clash, “London Calling”- The Clash had a lot of good songs but nothing they did ever compared to this.
2. Al Green, “Let’s Stay Together”- Most definitely the best soul song of the 70's.
3. Marvin Gaye, “I Heard It Through the Grapevine”- I love everything about this song except the melody. It's just a boring song even though the lyrics, the vocals and everything else are great. There's just something missing in every version I've heard.
4. Roy Orbison, “Oh, Pretty Woman”- I like the opening but then everything goes south.

BRACKET I
1. The Band, “The Weight” - Brilliant song with lyrics I never understood. Take a load off Fanny? Ah well, who cares, it's an excellent song.
2. The Rolling Stones, “Gimme Shelter” - I'm not sure why I preferred Honky Tonk Women in the previous bracket, because this song is remarkably beautiful. Merry Clayton delivers perfectly, and supposedly the exertion caused her to have a miscarriage. You'd almost say it was worth it, such a great song, but of course.. it's not. Sad story.
3. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, “The Message” - Brilliant mix, everyone knows it, and although not a lot of people really love it (in my experience).. everyone from young to old enjoys it.
4. The Jimi Hendrix Experience, “Purple Haze” - Ok song, but I'm not into Jimi Hendrix at all.

BRACKET J
1. The Rolling Stones, “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” - Similar to McCartney dreaming up Yesterday, Richards dreamt this up. And come on, this dream must have been so much better.
2. David Bowie, “Heroes” - My favorite Bowie song, it's just brilliant.
3. The Bee Gees, “Stayin’ Alive” - My father always liked the Bee Gees before they started using that high pitch, and used to listen to music from that period. Then I heard this song, and I asked him why he never listened to this. He told me it was no good.. he's mad, this is thé Bee Gee sound.
4. The Jimi Hendrix Experience, “Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)” - Very very dull.

BRACKET K
1. Pulp, “Common People” - One of the best songs of all time, and thé Indie anthem if there ever was one.
2. R.E.M., “Losing My Religion” - Another song of which I'm sure I'm misunderstanding the lyrics. Nonetheless, it's a brilliant song, like every single one in this bracket.
3. Sex Pistols, “God Save the Queen” - Much better than Anarchy In The U.K., but just not strong enough to compete with the great songs in this bracket.
4. The Kingsmen, “Louie Louie” - Previous round it won a weak bracket, I don't think it deserves to pass now. Richard Berry wrote quite a song, but it sounds a little too dated for me. Some songs stand the test of time perfectly, this one is somewhat damaged.

BRACKET L
1. The Clash, “London Calling” - This is as close to perfection as songs get. I'm gonna save some comments for next round.
2. Marvin Gaye, “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” - Undoubtedly the very best version of the song, and every time I hear this I keep singing it for days.
3. Al Green, “Let’s Stay Together” - The winner of the horribly ashaming (for me, that is) 47th bracket. Great song though.
4. Roy Orbison, “Oh, Pretty Woman” - Sorry Roy, you just got beat. Hard.

Oh, personal bracketology. Because it's my own bracketology I make the rules and I just decided to switch two songs around from the previous round; namely The Weight and No Woman No Cry. (My top 100 ranks The Band over Marley). So that gives the 4 winners:

The Weight, (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction, Common People and London Calling

Hey, that's the same! ;)

BRACKET I
1. The Band, “The Weight” - Man I love this song. I just hope it gets enough juice to push it through.
2. The Rolling Stones, “Gimme Shelter” - My favourite Stones song by a long shot. It was tough snubbing it in favour of the above.
3. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, “The Message” - The rap song that taught me there was value to rap. Then I forgot that immediately after listening to Wu-Tang Clan.
4. The Jimi Hendrix Experience, “Purple Haze” - Sweet guitar song but even Hendrix wouldn't consider it his best. It's not even about LSD!

BRACKET J
1. David Bowie, “Heroes” - This was a much easier bracket to decide thanks to Bowie's heartfelt electro-ballad to lovers in political turmoil.
2. The Jimi Hendrix Experience, “Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)” - The rippenest song of the Hendrix catalogue. You know he's having fun just cause of those space echoes.
3. The Rolling Stones, “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” - An overrated song. Sure, it established the Stones, but their best stuff was yet to come.
4. The Bee Gees, “Stayin’ Alive” - Don't ask me how this got here.

BRACKET K
1. Pulp, “Common People” - Cocker tears a strip out of the trendy upper-class.
2. R.E.M., “Losing My Religion” - For all my R.E.M. slagging I gotta say I enjoy this over the next two.
3. Sex Pistols, “God Save the Queen” - More notable for what it caused than what it was.
4. The Kingsmen, “Louie Louie” - Championed by garage-rockers for it's three chord mayhem. You gotta admit though, it's pretty stupid song.

BRACKET L
1. Marvin Gaye, “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” - Smooth Motown takes the piss outta the overbearing UK punks.
2. The Clash, “London Calling” - Never my favourite track off the album. It's got a good bassline though.
3. Al Green, “Let’s Stay Together” - Al Green has always been mediocre to me.
4. Roy Orbison, “Oh, Pretty Woman” - Yeah, I don't know how this got here.

You did not just bash the Wu...

/me joins in the bashing

Feeling rather uninspired this week.

BRACKET I
1. THE ROLLING STONES, “GIMME SHELTER”: For as much as I find the Stones utterly deplorable, I absolutely love this tune. A fantastic, ghostly intro; one that grabs you by the short and curlies and pulls you into the song’s apocalyptic netherworld. Textbook use of vi-V-IV.
2. THE JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE, “PURPLE HAZE": An extremely close second - photo finish. And it hurts that it has to be this way because I f@$king hate the Stones, but "Gimme Shelter" is amazing.
3. THE BAND, “THE WEIGHT”: A Zach Braff sketch on SNL may have crushed any chance there was for me to actually enjoy this song. When I listen to it, all I can think of are “poop-o-grams”.
4. GRANDMASTER FLASH AND THE FURIOUS FIVE, “THE MESSAGE”: No chance in this company.

BRACKET J
1. THE JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE, “VOODOO CHILE (SLIGHT RETURN)”: Ok, now I can vote for James Marshall with a clean conscience. The guy can do more with one chord than some can do with three. See Bracket K, #3.
2. THE ROLLING STONES, “(I CAN’T GET NO) SATISFACTION”: Overrated.
3. DAVID BOWIE, “HEROES”: Not my favorite Bowie tune. Pretty indifferent to it, actually.
4. THE BEE GEES, “STAYIN’ ALIVE”: “Talkin’ it up, on the Barry Gibb talk show. Talkin’ bout chest hair, talkin’ about crazy cool medallions…”

BRACKET K
1. R.E.M., “LOSING MY RELIGION”: Gorgeously executed instrumentation, but it's Stipe's lyrical take on emotional resignation, synthesized into his richest performance that makes this song R.E.M.'s highest recorded achievement.
2. PULP, “COMMON PEOPLE”: Cocker is like Noel Gallagher, only without the songs. Or talent.
3. THE KINGSMEN, “LOUIE LOUIE”: A strategic vote. Probably should be fourth here, but I need to continue my Sex Pistols smear campaign…
4. SEX PISTOLS, “GOD SAVE THE QUEEN”: Seeing this song ranked so high is like watching a Best Sports Plays Ever tv special and seeing "The Catch" in the top 10. Don't waste your time YouTubing it; I’ll save you the suspense: the guy jumps up and catches the ball to score the touchdown. It might be half decent to watch and you can appreciate what it achieved, but in and of itself, not amazing. Maybe if you were there in the stadium that day, sure. Otherwise, watching the grainy footage some 25 years after the fact, the play isn't that great. So, I call this song "The Catch" of the AM top 256 - acclaimed simply for what it achieved, but time has revealed its “greatness” to be a sham.

BRACKET L
1. MARVIN GAYE, “I HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE”: Instantly recognizable opening bars. Love this song.
2. AL GREEN, “LET’S STAY TOGETHER”: “You are sexy. You come with me, we have sexy good time.”
3. THE CLASH, “LONDON CALLING”: The record starts off with a bang. Just too bad it doesn’t maintain it.
4. ROY ORBISON, “OH, PRETTY WOMAN”: What did you call those, schleuse? “Glottal trills”? I don’t mind playfulness in music, but I prefer it done with subtlety. Here it just sounds stupid.

Wow, three SNL references in one week. I must really not like this week’s songs that much.

BRACKET I
1. THE ROLLING STONES, “GIMME SHELTER”: I’m sure many other people will write paeans to this song better than I could—let me just give a shout-out to Merry Clayton, the backup singer. She puts this apocalyptic anthem over the top.
2. THE JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE, “PURPLE HAZE”: I admire JMH over most other sixties artists, but (like the Band, below) I don’t think you get the full effect unless you have the time to listen to one of his albums all the way through—in that respect (and I think he’d like this comparison), he’s closer to Miles or Coltrane or Monk than to the Beatles or Stones. But this song will do as a taster for Are You Experienced…and it gave us one of the most famous mondegreens in rock history.
3. GRANDMASTER FLASH, “THE MESSAGE”: I like rap OK, and I’m glad we got a representative of it in the second round. This doesn’t approach the above 2 songs, though (the synth IS a little dated, frankly).
4. THE BAND, “THE WEIGHT”: No disrespect intended to bracketology’s Canadian contingent. A good song, but slowed-down barrelhouse piano isn’t my particular bag.

BRACKET J
1. DAVID BOWIE, “HEROES”: Despite my rude comments last week about early Bowie, he was an absolute genius, and this one—a lot of ornamentation on a pretty simple structure—shows him at the peak of his astonishingly broad talents.
2. THE JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE, “VOODOO CHILE”: Hendrix’ best song, and maybe the best example of what made him great—just a little Bo Diddley morphed into a complete mindf**k.
3. THE BEE GEES, “STAYIN’ ALIVE”: This one labors under the triple curse of being: a) the most famous instance of a widely hated genre, b) kind of effeminate, and c) so overplayed that it’s become something of a musical joke. None of those objections really holds much water, though—this is a fantastic song by any reasonable standard.
4. THE ROLLING STONES, “SATISFACTION”: I don’t usually like to handicap the brackets, but from day one this has looked to me like the most vulnerable of the four top-ranked songs. Good, and definitely, say, top 100. But definitely not top 2.

BRACKET K: The toughest bracket yet for me, but my top pick won’t surprise anyone.
1. R.E.M., “LOSING MY RELIGION”: Harold Wexler’s comment that “Like a Rolling Stone” doesn’t sound like something someone actually sat down and wrote applies equally well to this song (Harold, would you call this a GFN?). Beautiful perfection, from the greatest American rock band (with apologies to the Beach Boys and VU).
2. THE KINGSMEN, “LOUIE LOUIE”: Its high ranking is deserved, but a lot of people treat this like some mysterious, unapproachable idol of incoherence. It’s not; it’s a gloriously fun, messy garage cover of a sea chantey. Nothing wrong with that…can you trust someone who doesn’t like chanteys?
3. SEX PISTOLS, “GOD SAVE THE QUEEN”: Oy vey…the Pistols third? Oh, well…when there’s no future, how can there be sin?
4. PULP, “COMMON PEOPLE”: To quote Harold again: SH2B4. Would have won most other round 2 brackets. It’s such a weird one—an exuberant, deliriously fun song about living life “with no meaning or control.” But Jarvis pulled it off.

BRACKET L
1. THE CLASH, “LONDON CALLING”: The Only Band That Matters gives us a rousing sound-picture of ecological catastrophe. Or something. This is, by far, the easiest pick of the week.
2. ROY ORBISON, “OH, PRETTY WOMAN”: The opposite of my comment on “Common People”: this is a perfect musical evocation of what the lyrics are about. Granted, the lyrics are an extended pick-up…it’s still a classic, the last great pre-Beatles rockabilly song.
3. AL GREEN, “LET’S STAY TOGETHER”: It might seem odd to take Al over Marvin; for me, though, it’s a closer thing here between Al and Roy. The pinnacle of mature soul; Green makes most 60s Motown sould absolutely puerile.
4. MARVIN GAYE, “I HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE”: Like “Satisfaction,” ranked here partly because it got old for me. Brilliant performance aside, it’s not much of a song.

In my personal tournament, I picked the same songs except in Bracket J, where Buddy Holly lives! I took “That’ll Be the Day” over “Heroes.” In Bracket I, the Beasties’ “Sabotage” ran the Stones a close second.

I've been wondering this.. SH2B4?

"COMMON PEOPLE": It’s such a weird one — an exuberant, deliriously fun song about living life "with no meaning or control."

... and sure it is

my greek little friend... 8I

SH2B4 is a Harold Wexlerism for "something has to be fourth"...used when ranking a great song in last place because everything in the bracket is great.

"4. THE BEE GEES, “STAYIN’ ALIVE”: “Talkin’ it up, on the Barry Gibb talk show. Talkin’ bout chest hair, talkin’ about crazy cool medallions…”"

Awesome.

BRACKET I

Gimme Shelter is probably the Stones’ greatest moment, though I personally prefer Tumbling Dice. Purple Haze and the Message are masterpieces of their type. I prefer rock to rap so Hendrix wins that battle. The Weight is a typical Robbie Robertson-composed Band track – nice melody, excellent vocals (partly because Robertson can barely be heard), but burdened with overly weighty (no pun meant), self-mythologizing lyrics. I rarely pay attention to lyrics unless they shock me out of my enjoyment of a song due to their stupidity or pretension – this is one of those times.

146. The Rolling Stones, “Gimme Shelter”
47. The Jimi Hendrix Experience, “Purple Haze”
15. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, “The Message”
207. The Band, “The Weight”

BRACKET J

Satisfaction is one of the great rock sounds of all time, and it has really great and quite funny lyrics too. Voodoo Chile and Stayin’ Alive are both terrific. The same logic used above applies here (rock > disco). I wish we could give negative points to songs because I hate, detest, absolutely despise Heroes’ overblown lyrics. It does have a nice sound, but I find the song pretty sickening.

2. The Rolling Stones, “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”
226. The Jimi Hendrix Experience, “Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)”
95. The Bee Gees, “Stayin’ Alive”
66. David Bowie, “Heroes”

BRACKET K

Louie Louie is the only song in this group I’d marry, but it would certainly be for her boobs, not her mind. Common People would make for a decent fuck buddy (pardon my language), God Save the Queen might make for a passable one night stand, and I would have to be paid money to touch Losing My Religion.

10. The Kingsmen, “Louie Louie”
55. Pulp, “Common People”
23. Sex Pistols, “God Save the Queen”
42. R.E.M., “Losing My Religion”


BRACKET L

Al Green is my favourite vocalist, and Let’s Stay Together is probably his greatest song. I’ve never loved …Grapevine as a song too much, regardless of the performer, but Gaye’s version is definitely my preferred take on the track. I’m happy to see Orbison here, but I prefer him in ballad mode. I can’t bear listening to the Clash anymore – everything they created sounds like one vast cliché to me now.

58. Al Green, “Let’s Stay Together”
7. Marvin Gaye, “I Heard It Through the Grapevine”
103. Roy Orbison, “Oh, Pretty Woman
39. The Clash, “London Calling”

BRACKET I
1. The Rolling Stones, “Gimme Shelter” – The guitar intro and the building mood make this my top pick here
2. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, “The Message” – Earns No. 2 just for the line “broke my sacroiliac.”
3. The Band, “The Weight” – Great track but The Band is more of an “album” artist, than a “song” artist.
4. The Jimi Hendrix Experience, “Purple Haze” – Never been my favorite Hendrix track. Not bad at all, just not as good as the others in this bracket.

BRACKET J
1. David Bowie, “Heroes” - The most interesting song in this bracket.
2. The Bee Gees, “Stayin’ Alive” – The catchiest song in this bracket.
3. The Jimi Hendrix Experience, “Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)” – I would much rather hear All Along the Watchtower of the Wind Cries Mary.
4. The Rolling Stones, “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” The main lyric is iconic, but the plodding music really drags it down for me.

BRACKET K – My favorite bracket this round
1. Sex Pistols, “God Save the Queen” – She ain’t no human being. Cracks me up every time. For me, good rock music must be funny – on at least some level.
2. Pulp, “Common People” – This song is brilliant. I had it losing to Hendrix in the first round (by a hair) and it meets the same cruel fate here.
3. The Kingsmen, “Louie Louie” – The reckless guitar solo makes the song what it is.
4. R.E.M., “Losing My Religion” – Great track from a band I like, but competition just too tough.

BRACKET L
1. The Clash, “London Calling” – Maybe the best song from my favorite album. Easy No. 1.
2. Al Green, “Let’s Stay Together” – This is what soul music was meant to be.
3. Marvin Gaye, “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” – Wonderful song, but overrated.
4. Roy Orbison, “Oh, Pretty Woman” – Never liked it all that much.

Personal: Ring of Fire, Thunder Road, All Along The Watchtower, London Calling

BRACKET I
146. The Rolling Stones, “Gimme Shelter” See my comment on Satisfation in the next bracket.
207. The Band, “The Weight” I really love the grandeur of this song. You've got a plethora of characters (including the Devil) and just a simple chorus that is incredibly catchy.
15. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, “The Message” Introduced hip-hop to many and is one of the finest example of 80s hip-hop, but 80s hip-hop is kind of like 50s rock and roll, a bit dated, but still enjoyable as a relic.
47. The Jimi Hendrix Experience, “Purple Haze” Never really got the hype on this particular song.

BRACKET J
95. The Bee Gees, “Stayin’ Alive” It still makes me want to dance and sing falsetto.
66. David Bowie, “Heroes” This was Bowie's peak. I just have always loved his vocal delivery on this song. He just screams at you until you want to be a F***ING hero...just for one day.
2. The Rolling Stones, “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” I've had this discussion with my dad about why this song is great, because most of my friends (in their 20s) really don't get it. My dad does, I don't. However, we 20s kids (at least me) do rally around Stones songs like Gimme Shelter or Sympathy for the Devil. Maybe it's because we prefer the malevolent Stones songs rather than the ones about sexual frustration. Looking back (this may not be true, but it's how I perceive it), the 60s were a rather naive time where everyone thought they could change the world by going to concerts, smoking pot and boning recklessly. I know that I flock more to the songs of that generation that deconstruct the happy, hippies everywhere myth. Satisfaction kind of reinforces the myth, while Gimme Shelter destroys it.
226. The Jimi Hendrix Experience, “Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)” Wow, Jimi's 0 for 2 with me today. Jimi Hendrix was a great guitarist, but this song reeks of just showing off and not, you know, writing an interesting song (IMO, of course).

BRACKET K
55. Pulp, “Common People” This song really makes me wish I were British in 1995. Jarvis is so snide and sarcastic in a way that most people couldn't get away with and still be endearing. Since I'm snide and sarcastic, I absolutely love this song.
42. R.E.M., “Losing My Religion” Does anyone else picture the old guy with the arrows from the video (or am I getting two images confused?) when they hear this song? This is just a beautiful, beautiful song.
23. Sex Pistols, “God Save the Queen” I may not get how it's essentially heretical to take a direct jibe at the Queen, but this song still rocks.
10. The Kingsmen, “Louie Louie” Eh.


BRACKET L
39. The Clash, “London Calling” There are about 10 songs on this album I like more, but since that album is the single greatest achievement in pop music I have no problem putting the 11th best song on it over three other undisputed classics.
58. Al Green, “Let’s Stay Together” Al's great, but all of his songs never reach the epic heights of a song like London Calling.
7. Marvin Gaye, “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” A really great song, but nothing that makes me go crazy.
103. Roy Orbison, “Oh, Pretty Woman” Same as above.

BRACKET I
1. The Jimi Hendrix Experience, “Purple Haze”
2. The Rolling Stones, “Gimme Shelter”
3. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, “The Message”
4. The Band, “The Weight”
This is the game where you have to choose between the best guitar riff ever, the best chorus ever, the best rap song ever and the best, well, The Band song ever. Very hard to choose between "Purple Haze" and "Gimme Shelter". The order of the other two was easy.

BRACKET J
1. David Bowie, “Heroes”
2. The Rolling Stones, “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”
3. The Bee Gees, “Stayin’ Alive”
4. The Jimi Hendrix Experience, “Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)”
This bracket is even better than bracket E. In fact, I don't think there will be a better bracket in any round. So who has to be beaten? Well, "Voodoo Chile" is great but can't match the other three. "Stayin' Alive" has an amazing dance groove and just slightly loses due to the non-heroic Gibb voices. The true hero is Bowie who with "Heroes" wrote music and lyrics that perhaps melt together into the best moment in rock history. However, I still think that "Satisfaction" defines and encapsules 'rock' better than any other song, and I'll probably change my mind tomorrow.

BRACKET K
1. Pulp, “Common People”
2. R.E.M., “Losing My Religion”
3. Sex Pistols, “God Save the Queen”
4. The Kingsmen, “Louie Louie”
It feels fresh to put these four songs in reverse chronological order. In the middle of the Oasis vs. Blur fight, Jarvis Cocker came and stole the trophy with "Common People". "Losing My Religion" brings back nice MTV memories. While "God Save the Queen" is indeed a punk milestone, they already had recorded "Anarchy", which had even more energy. "Louie Louie" is nothing special on this game's level.

BRACKET L
1. Al Green, “Let’s Stay Together”
2. Marvin Gaye, “I Heard It Through the Grapevine”
3. The Clash, “London Calling”
4. Roy Orbison, “Oh, Pretty Woman”
Extremely hard between 1-3, but I'm a soul guy tonight. I put Al ahead of Marvin because "Let's Stay Together" better represents the artist at his peak. Roy was just lucky to have easy competition in the first round.

Bracket I
1)Jimi Hendrix - Purple Haze:Can't go past it - still floors me 40 years later
2)Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five - The Message:KO's modern hip hop - a peak of the genre
3)Rolling Stones - Gimme Shelter:Yes,agreed probably their greatest moment - but in the first round,I still think 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' was a slightly better song
4)The Band - The Weight:Just sort of plods along - not one of my favourites,but enjoyable

Bracket J
1)David Bowie - Heroes:Great anthem,great vocals and production - cool tune
2)Rolling Stones - Satisfaction:Well it is still hard to see why it is quite so high but can't put them any lower
3)Jimi Hendrix - Voodoo Chile:I don't really think of Hendrix in terms of singles - on it's own,this here doesn't sound a classic
4)The Beegees - Stayin' Alive:OK - wouldn't put it ahead of the others here

Bracket K
1)Pulp - Common People:The moment when Pulp stood higher than the rest of the Britpop world
2)Sex Pistols - God Save The Queen:What a message,what a statement,what a track - I still can't believe how shocking this must have been at the time - it still kicks ass
3)REM - Losing My Religion:Indifferent to it - not my type of song
4)Kingsmen - Louie Louie:Awful,just a joke that it's rated so highly...

Bracket L
1)Al Green - Let's Stay Together:Can't go past Green's smooth as silk vocals
2)Marvin Gaye - I Heard It Through The Grapevine:Definitive moment in motown history - and then he topped even that a couple of years later
3)The Clash - London Calling:Yeah alright - not my favourite of theirs - actually,they don't have any songs that are highly listenable for me - they're hardly gonna top the ipod most played list...
4)Roy Orbison - Oh,Pretty Woman:Pretty good,probably not 5 star...

BRACKET I
1. The Rolling Stones, “Gimme Shelter” - One of the best Stones!
2. The Jimi Hendrix Experience, “Purple Haze” - Jimi rocks really good.
3. The Band, “The Weight” - Nice song, but not as good as 1 and 2.
4. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, “The Message” - Not my style.

BRACKET J
1. David Bowie, “Heroes” - One of the best Bowie
2. The Rolling Stones, “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” - see comment bracket I, but up against Bowie.
3. The Jimi Hendrix Experience, “Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)” - Jimi rocks again!
4. The Bee Gees, “Stayin’ Alive” - Fun, but the competition is hard.

BRACKET K
1. Pulp, “Common People” - It builds up so nicely to a climax.
2. Sex Pistols, “God Save the Queen” - Angry music is necessary sometimes.
3. R.E.M., “Losing My Religion” - Always good, R.E.M.
4. The Kingsmen, “Louie Louie” - Yeah, funny.

BRACKET L
1. The Clash, “London Calling” - This Clash song is so swinging.
2. Marvin Gaye, “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” - really beautiful.
3. Al Green, “Let’s Stay Together” - Sexy.
4. Roy Orbison, “Oh, Pretty Woman” - Too soft.

Don't have much time this and next week, but here we go:

BRACKET I

One of the weaker brackets in round 2.

1. The Rolling Stones, “Gimme Shelter” - One of their best songs and clear winner of this bracket.
2. The Jimi Hendrix Experience, “Purple Haze” - Not his best song and somewhat overrated imo, but still spot 2.
3. The Band, “The Weight” - Prefer this song over Grandmaster, but hope this one is not gonna make it either.
4. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, “The Message” - Cute rap song, but does not belong in the sweet 16.

BRACKET J

Pretty strong bracket, it's sad to have to say goodbye to some classics here.

1. David Bowie, “Heroes” - The highlight of the equally titled album, one of his best 3 songs.
2. The Rolling Stones, “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” - Since I don't want to have all 4 winners picked correctly again, I dare to put this on 2. Perhaps in my personal top 50, but below Heroes for sure.
3. The Jimi Hendrix Experience, “Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)” - Nobody else can handle the electric guitar better than he does in this excellent, long classic.
4. The Bee Gees, “Stayin’ Alive” - "Disco really made it, it's empty and I hate it", a vision I shared with the band Gruppo Sportivo back then. But it's actually not so bad ... but no competition to the other 3.

BRACKET K

Some great, some okay songs in this bracket.

1. R.E.M., “Losing My Religion” - My favorite band used to be productive and release an album on an annual basis. Then, all of a sudden, after Green there was this 3-year break. But it was worth waiting for, if not only for this beautiful song. Stipe's melancholic voice in perfect harmony with the instruments and melody.
2. Pulp, “Common People” - This song did not do so much to me at first, but through the years I like it more and more. If 'pulp' could only be as good quality as this.
3. Sex Pistols, “God Save the Queen” - This reminds me of my younger days on the dance floor. "No future for you, no future for me", THE punk song to pogo on!
4. The Kingsmen, “Louie Louie” - Sometimes simplicity is beautiful, but this simple song does not seem to attract me.

BRACKET L

Strong bracket again, easy to pick winner though.

1. The Clash, “London Calling” - The end is near, but I have no fear. Their best song ... period.
2. Marvin Gaye, “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” - Sweet soul, (almost too) easy listening, but still beautifully performed by our sexual healer.
3. Al Green, “Let’s Stay Together” - Should listen more to him, one of my musical gaps in history. Another great soul performance, it really hurts to put it on 3.
4. Roy Orbison, “Oh, Pretty Woman” - Very nice Orbison classic, but I prefer the two soul songs over this one.

BRACKET I (Very good bracket)
1. The Rolling Stones, “Gimme Shelter” (This is steamrolling the competition in my personal bracketology (see below). You think it's not gonna top the bracket here? This is the Stones at their most resonant. They summoned a perfectly tense atmosphere on this song.)
3. The Jimi Hendrix Experience, “Purple Haze” (Great song, hurt by being overplayed. Here's the point where we should acknowledge how great the Experience were. I just haven't heard enough live Hendrix to know how the band was live, but on record Noel Redding, and especially Mitch Mitchell, achieved a wonderful balance between providing the solid rhythm section for Hendrix's flights, and doing some pretty good flying of their own.)
3. The Band, “The Weight” (My downgrade in the first round was based mostly on being up against Dancing in the Street, and partly on being a little too long. But the harmonies are great.)
4. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, “The Message” (Melle Mel exuded authority with his voice, an evolutionary step forward from the party boasts of the 70's. And such an instantly recognizable, unique synth line. It's an original, but in a tough bracket now.)

BRACKET J (Not a great second round bracket. All three of the first round losers to Voodoo Chile would have topped this group.)
1. David Bowie, “Heroes” (Reiterating from last round... not as good as Ziggy era, but pretty good. I always give half a point extra to any song with an octave leap in the vocals.)
2. The Jimi Hendrix Experience, “Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)” (Great guitar work, but still hurt by the fact that it is not much of a _song_.)
3. The Rolling Stones, “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” (I like the early Kinks songs better. Good Jagger, overrated riff, so much better to come from them.)
4. The Bee Gees, “Stayin’ Alive” (I was slightly harsh on the Bee Gees last round. But really, the fact that this went through and Good Times didn't irks me to no end. Seems an appropriate time to mention the following: "Talkin' it up! On The Barry Gibb Talk Show! Talkin' about issues; talkin' about real important issues.")


BRACKET K
1. Pulp, “Common People” (I was so pleasantly surprised that this won its bracket. (I would not have been disappointed with "Watchtower" or "Don't You Want Me," but happy this won instead.) Now it seems to be chugging along, topping my personal bracketology as well. Also, I've started thinking about this in contrast to "Born to Run," both thematically and musically. They both intersect and contrast each other in interesting ways. I'll leave it at that, since this is not the place for a mastubatory essay. (What's that you say? Hasn't stopped me up until now? Shut up.))
2. Sex Pistols, “God Save the Queen” (Tottenham Hotspur lost again tonight (to Newcastle no less). Don't know what that has to do with this song (especially since Rotten is an Arsenal supporter), except that as a result this song fits my mood perfectly.)
3. The Kingsmen, “Louie Louie” (God bless the false start verse coming out of the solo. It's like that old postage stamp where they printed the airplane upside down, causing it to be worth a fortune.)
4. R.E.M., “Losing My Religion” (Came through a weak bracket last time out. I know a lot of people love it. And as I said last time, while it is not the equal of "Smells Like Teen Spirit," I appreciate what it's presence on the pop charts meant for pop music in the 90's more than what "Smells..." wrought in its wake. But Stipe is far less annoying on other of his songs.)

BRACKET L (Tough call here)
1. Al Green, “Let’s Stay Together” (Why Al over Marvin? Tough to say. I guess Green creates a more compelling atmosphere with his vocals and the fabulous production on the song.)
2. Marvin Gaye, “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” (Perhaps a better song -- as written -- than "Let's Stay Together," and I am not trying to hate on Marvin here at all. (I save that for post-"What's Goin' On" Gaye.) But there's a slight failure of modulation in intensity this track. The strings help greatly, but not quite enough. I'm splitting hairs here, I know.)
3. The Clash, “London Calling” (This is where my inability to understand what Joe is singing hurts the song's placement. It's obviously freaky and creepy. His voice, and the music convey that wonderfully.)
4. Roy Orbison, “Oh, Pretty Woman” (Like I said last round, I prefer heartbroken Orbison to hounddog Orbison.)




Personal Bracketology Picks:

I: Gimme Shelter (Rolling through the tournament, so far. Potential champion in the making.), Help!, Dancing in the Street, Purple Haze.
J: I Want You Back, Heroes, That’ll Be the Day, Work It.
K: Common People, Teenage Riot, Get It On (Bang a Gong), Losing My Religion,
L: Let’s Stay Together, I Heard It Through the Grapevine, London Calling, Virginia Plain.

BRACKET I
1. The Jimi Hendrix Experience, “Purple Haze” Battle of Blues Rock Kings : Hendrix 1 Stones 0
2. The Rolling Stones, “Gimme Shelter” Great bluesy athmosphere
3. The Band, “The Weight” This song doesn't really do it for me
4. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, “The Message” Dated (I guess this is what you say for something you wouldn't like if it were out in 2007)


BRACKET J
1. The Jimi Hendrix Experience, “Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)” Battle of the Blues rock Kings part 2 : Hendrix 2 Stones 0
2. The Rolling Stones, “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” : A masterpeice of a song, but Voodoo Chile is simply extraterrestrial : difficult to put so much feeling in an electric guitar; Hendrix is not mainly a matter of technique or innovation, it's simply the most expressive guitarist of all times I guess
3. The Bee Gees, “Stayin’ Alive” : a perfect dance tune, 3rd which tells about the top quality of the bracket. It's a perfect pop song (a little less immortal than satisfaction though)
4. David Bowie, “Heroes” : another landmark song, but I can't help thinking of a commercial (was it a car ad ?)


BRACKET K
1. R.E.M., “Losing My Religion” : another tough competition. REM won because of this combination of simplicity of the melody and musicianship in the arrangements, especially the mandoline
2. Pulp, “Common People” : 20 years after the Pistols, another song about modern nihilism "So we danced and drinked and screwed, cause there's nothing else to do" I like the crescendo
3. Sex Pistols, “God Save the Queen” : The more I listen to them, the more I like god save and anarchy
4. The Kingsmen, “Louie Louie” : It's the perfect overrated song for critics with everything the snobbish music lover likes : garage, criptic message, obscure name. Nevertheless, it's a great song but doesn't compete with the rest


BRACKET L
7. Marvin Gaye, “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” : It's one of my oldest favorite songs. So perfect that I never tried to analyse it
2. The Clash, “London Calling” : sorry to eliminate this song, my favorite Clash song and punk song along with Guns of Brixton
3. Roy Orbison, “Oh, Pretty Woman” : far from being the best RO hit (RO is among my top 20 artisis), but it's pleasant, even the surrealistic and funy rrrrrrr
4.Al Green : Let's stay together : good as it is, it's in another league

My head hurts just trying to separate these songs. When, for the most part, the songs are so close, it almost just comes down to how I feel at that particular moment.

BRACKET I
1. The Rolling Stones, “Gimme Shelter” - One of the coolest songs ever.
2. The Band, “The Weight” - This one lopes along great with some fantastic harmonies.
3. The Jimi Hendrix Experience, “Purple Haze” - "Are You Experienced" is one of my five favorite albums, but this is only my fourth or fifth favorite song on it.
4. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, “The Message” - A great, early rap track, but the three above it are superior.

BRACKET J
1. The Rolling Stones, “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” - OK, it is a shade overrated, but damn if it doesn't catch a moment in time perfectly. One of rock 'n' roll's true theme songs. Again it benefits slightly from being in a weaker bracket.
2. The Jimi Hendrix Experience, “Voodoo Chile (Slight Return) - Proving again he's a guitar god.
3. David Bowie, “Heroes” - A great Bowie anthem, but seriously, in what universe is Bowie better than the Stones or Hendrix?
4. The Bee Gees, “Stayin’ Alive” - Seriously, guys, wear looser pants.

BRACKET K
1. R.E.M., “Losing My Religion” - Damn this was close, but I chose the mandolin and introspection over the exciting Brit pop and fun storyline: just barely.
2. Pulp, “Common People” - See above.
3. Sex Pistols, “God Save the Queen” - "Anarchy" is better.
4. The Kingsmen, “Louie Louie” - For some reason I feel weird putting this last in this bracket. But it's my least favorite song, so there!

BRACKET L
1. Marvin Gaye, “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” - One of the coolest R&B songs ever. Stands the test of time.
2. The Clash, “London Calling” - Great opening salvo to the greatest punk album of all time.
3. Al Green, “Let’s Stay Together” - Smooth soul, probably buttered, too.
4. Roy Orbison, “Oh, Pretty Woman” - I'm not the biggest Orbison fan around, so this is, oh, pretty good.

BRACKET I
1. The Rolling Stones, “Gimme Shelter” – The Stones’ masterpiece, in my opinion; a recording that captures the dark and menacing side of the late sixties (and of the band) better than almost anything I can think of, from Keith’s coiled guitars in the intro straight through to the fade.
2. The Jimi Hendrix Experience, “Purple Haze” – The song that changed the way people heard, and played, the electric guitar forever. Also featuring Mitch Mitchell, possibly the most underrated drummer ever simply by virtue of whose band he was in.
3. The Band, “The Weight” – An aptly titled song: it gives heft and gravitas to their debut album and sets the template for everything that would come after it. Almost justifies everything Robbie Robertson has ever thought about himself.
4. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, “The Message” – My classic-rock bias shows through here. I recognize its groundbreaking status, and it holds up better than you’d think, but I’d still much rather hear any of the others in this bracket.

BRACKET J
1. The Jimi Hendrix Experience, “Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)” – One of the greatest guitar showcases ever recorded; if “Purple Haze” made everyone want to buy a guitar, this probably made everyone never want to pick one up again, because why bother?
2. David Bowie, “Heroes” – A very close race here – both of my top two picks in this bracket are indescribably exciting, and this is probably Bowie’s finest song. As I wrote in Round 1, it’s as laden with irony as anything he ever did, but in subverting the idea of the rock anthem he managed to create one of the most enduring ones in spite of himself.
3. The Rolling Stones, “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” – I wouldn’t be surprised to see it win this bracket, and of course it would be deserving for The Riff alone. But it finishes third when I apply the right-now test.
4. The Bee Gees, “Stayin’ Alive” – As state-of-the-art an example of what it is as you can find. And an easy #4.

BRACKET K
1. R.E.M., “Losing My Religion” – Very much like “One” last week: a great band’s towering achievement (although I like R.E.M. more than U2), one that approaches GFN (see my previous responses in this round) territory. A classic from the opening guitar-and-mandolin notes.
2. Pulp, “Common People” – Starts out almost like a comedy song, until the barely-contained anger and class rage sneak up on you and then batter you senseless. The entire DIFFERENT CLASS album is brilliant, but even amid such stellar company this song is in a class by itself.
3. Sex Pistols, “God Save the Queen” – Same class rage but with less finesse – it’s all right there on the surface. It’s an open question how much of the outrage is pure calculation, but to say it works regardless is an understatement.
4. The Kingsmen, “Louie Louie” – SH2B4. I’ll never turn it off when I come across it, but I won’t necessarily go out of my way for it either.

BRACKET L
1. The Clash, “London Calling” – Staggering in every way. For the duration of the album of which this is the title and lead track, they really DO sound like The Only Band That Matters (their absurdly hyperbolic slogan), and everything that made them great is right here.
2. Al Green, “Let’s Stay Together” – The apex of soul; it doesn’t get any warmer, smoother or more perfectly sung and performed than this. I’d award it GFN status, but change the G to “Goshdarned” in deference to Reverend Al’s sensibilities.
3. Marvin Gaye, “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” – What can I say – I like #2 more. As I said in Round 1, that doesn’t mean I don’t love the record, just that it’s -ever- so slightly overrated.
4. Roy Orbison, “Oh, Pretty Woman” – The Big O’s biggest hit was his most anomalous; it’s enduring and enjoyable, with a riff that won’t quit, but it’s -severely- outclassed here.

BRACKET I

1. The Rolling Stones, “Gimme Shelter”
2. The Jimi Hendrix Experience, “Purple Haze”
3. The Band, “The Weight”
4. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, “The Message”

BRACKET J
1. David Bowie, “Heroes”
2. The Rolling Stones, “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”
3. The Bee Gees, “Stayin’ Alive”
4. The Jimi Hendrix Experience, “Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)”

BRACKET K
1. R.E.M., “Losing My Religion”
2. Pulp, “Common People”
3. The Kingsmen, “Louie Louie”
4. Sex Pistols, “God Save the Queen”


BRACKET L
1. Marvin Gaye, “I Heard It Through the Grapevine”
2. The Clash, “London Calling”
3. Al Green, “Let’s Stay Together”
4. Roy Orbison, “Oh, Pretty Woman”

BRACKET I
1. The Rolling Stones, “Gimme Shelter”, My favourite Stones song: They summoned a perfectly tense atmosphere on this song
2. The Jimi Hendrix Experience, “Purple Haze”. Yes, yes, yes. I have a Jimi among my favorites because of this song
3. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, “The Message”, an open door
4. The Band, “The Weight”, The title defines how are the songs The Band: dense and strong

BRACKET J
1. David Bowie, “Heroes”, Not just for one day but forever
2. The Rolling Stones, “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”, Simplicity and sweat
3. The Bee Gees, “Stayin’ Alive”, It gets me nervous to hear those voices but the song has grace
4. The Jimi Hendrix Experience, “Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)”, I think Crazy Horse have heard many times this song

BRACKET K
1. Pulp, “Common People”, same comment as R.E.M., we’ve got another classic that will forever stay between the 100 best songs in history.
2. R.E.M., “Losing My Religion”, it stands well those fifteen years, it’s a classic by now
3. The Kingsmen, “Louie Louie”, Dylan covers it with soul backing vocals
4. Sex Pistols, “God Save the Queen”, amusing, forceful, new music with no future

BRACKET L
1. Roy Orbison, “Oh, Pretty Woman”, like is not In Dreams in competition, that is in top 10 of my life, I give the four points to Roy by his blessed voice and his glasses
2. The Clash, “London Calling”, each riff, each shout, I know it memory because it is one of the songs that I have listened more ever
3. Marvin Gaye, “I Heard It Through the Grapevine”, the line of low incial is gold; the voice of Marvin is a diamond; but in addition there are violins, choirs; and much class
4. Al Green, “Let’s Stay Together”, almost as exciting as the voice of Marvin

BRACKET I

1. Gimme Shelter – Everything great about the Stones without getting overblown. One of the few Rolling Stones tunes that doesn’t sound dated or overplayed.
2. The Message – The song truly changed music. Started an era of angrier, grittier, and more confrontational urban message music.
3. Purple Haze – Of course those crazy notes at the beginning make it essential. It’s over a little too quickly. At this stage it’s very difficult to put 2-3 minute tunes above more sweeping tracks.
4. The Weight – Never got excited about this song very much.


BRACKET J

1. Voodoo Chile (Slight Return) – Now THIS is essential Hendrix. Blistering but patiently paced, the convergence of blues and psychadelic rock at its finest.
2. Stayin’ Alive – Sure Gibb’s voice is extremely light, and this is the core song of the very dated disco era. But this songs got groove hooks, and stands on its own as a testament to its time.
3. Heroes – This song is structured so well that the 7+ minutes it takes goes by so quickly. I’ll give it credit for the feat of making time stand still when you listen to it. I was impressed after a few listens but it does get a little plodding.
4. I Can’t Get No (Satisfaction) – Of course this is played over and over again, but I think maybe it makes me a little uncomfortable hearing this song so full of confidence and youth played by a band in their 60s. Fear of mortality and all that junk, you know.

BRACKET K

1. Louie Louie – Of course 3-minute tunes that redefine what quality music can be deserve credit. The early breath of the punk movement, where attitude mattered more than getting notes right. Not always true, but if you find the right hook, and play it in a way to convince other people that they could start bands too, your little song deserves all the praise it can get.
2. Losing My Religion – R.E.M., for me, seemed to the be the self-aware, innovative, and beautiful band that kept music from getting too artificial, at least from the early 80s through Automatic for the People. This song was all over top 40 radio when it came out, an amazing feat for a song that seems more nuanced then the other music (M.C. Hammer, New Kids on the Block) making waves at the time.
3. Common People – As long as I can get the William Shatner version out of my head, I can appreciate this recent masterpiece.
4. God Save the Queen – Can’t get into Sex Pistols yet, sorry. Will pick up Bollocks sooner or later.

BRACKET L

1. Oh, Pretty Woman – I can’t get enough of this Roy Orbison song. I was trying to put my top 100 songs of all time together and I knew Roy Orbison had to be represented, yet I dismissed the more interesting sounding songs musically for this sly lyrical delivery and stomping rock n’ roll tune.
2. London Calling – This is probably the best lead-off track of any album, so I give it credit for being representative of the classic record. By itself though, it grows tired.
3. I Heard it Through the Grapevine – Fine, but nothing epic.
4. Let’s Stay Together – I don’t even know how to sing this song all the way through.

BRACKET I
1. The Rolling Stones, “Gimme Shelter”: apocalyptic sounds coming from the end of the 60s decade. It was released on December 1969, the same month of the disastrous Altamont concert, signing with blood the end of the decade of the big ideals.
2. The Jimi Hendrix Experience, “Purple Haze”: quintessential “under-the-influence” song. Schleuse, the “mondegreens” article was really hilarious. In Spain there’s now a joke on the radio about “momentos teniente” (fragments of songs in English that sounds similar to some Spanish words but with a completely different meaning). Examples: in Dire Straits’ “Money for Nothing” the verse “maybe get a blister on your thumb” sounds like “baby quiero queso roñoso” (“baby I want filthy cheese” or Sade’s “Smooth Operator” sounds like “es una porrera” (“she’s a pot smoker” .
3. The Band, “The Weight”: cryptic but captivating tale of rural background and Biblical imagery.
4. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, “The Message”: surely influential, it took the “message” to hip-hop. But hip-hop should not have lost its funny edge…

BRACKET J
1. David Bowie, “Heroes”: the centrepiece of Bowie’s Berlin period is an easy #1 for me. Yes, Rocky, in Honorio’s universe Bowie is better than Hendrix and the Stones.
2. The Bee Gees, “Stayin’ Alive”: I’m not ashamed for putting this at #2. I was not ashamed too when I danced at it doing a pathetic imitation of Tony Manero last Saturday at a party. This song was made for that reason, for getting the “Saturday night fever”.
3. The Rolling Stones, “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”: immortal Jagger-Richards tune, despite its solid classic condition it proved quite malleable, surviving to very different covers from Otis Redding to Cat Power, from Devo to Björk & PJ Harvey.
4. The Jimi Hendrix Experience, “Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)”: impressive closer of “Electric Ladyland”, sadly closes this bracket too.

BRACKET K
1. R.E.M., “Losing My Religion”: there’s (sometimes) justice in this world. R.E.M. achieved international recognition and its biggest hit with its best song.
2. Sex Pistols, “God Save the Queen”: obviously its importance relies in the provocative attitude courtesy of Rotten. But I want to point to one thing that few people think but it’s obvious to me: it’s extremely well played, with Cook and Jones hitting and strumming its instruments with sheer energy and skill.
3. Pulp, “Common People”: the battle between Blur and Oasis had a winner: Pulp.
4. The Kingsmen, “Louie Louie”: easy #4 for me.

BRACKET L
1. The Clash, “London Calling”: apocalyptic sounds coming from the end of the 70s decade. It was released on December 1979, signing with anger the end of the decade of the broken promises, of the rise and fall of dinosaurs that “has bitten the dust”.
2. Al Green, “Let’s Stay Together”: HOT.
3. Marvin Gaye, “I Heard It Through the Grapevine”: the usual smooth performance of Gaye was surpassed this time by a hoarse and emotional rendering.
4. Roy Orbison, “Oh, Pretty Woman”: Orbison trying to fight British invasion within its own league. And succeeding, but not in this bracket…

Disappointed that I forgot to post in Week 2, but I think I've got to this one in time:

BRACKET I
1) The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Purple Haze. The greatest actual tune that Hendrix penned in my opinion. Hint: it makes for a great ringtone!
2) Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five - The Message. Ok, you have to say that it sounds a little dated these days, but nevertheless still hugely enjoyable, and the legacy cannot be ignored.
3) The Rolling Stones - Gimme Shelter. When I first became interested in this band, this was my initial favourite track of theirs. It no longer is, but it still feels a little unfair that I can't find a way to have it higher than third in this group.
4) The Band - The Weight. Struggling a little with the competition for me here. Not sure how it beat off 'No Woman No Cry' in round 1 to be honest. Good song though.

BRACKET J
1) The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Voodoo Child (Slight Return). Jimi wins again. If Purple Haze was my favourite tune of his, this is my favourite track overall. The riff to conquer them all.
2) David Bowie - Heroes. For a long time I was only familiar with the single edit version, which though good could never possible convey they magic of this, definitely amongst Bowie's finest career moments.
3) The Rolling Stones - (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction. Yet again, I can't believe that the Stones only make third place. And they're both career highlights as well. Not even the best riff in its bracket!
4) The Bee Gees - Stayin' Alive. Also really good. Not 'cool' I suppose, but hell I like it.

BRACKET K
1) Pulp - Common People. So maybe it's because I'm a brit who grew up in the Britpop era, but this is damn near the ultimate single for me. The precarious build-up, the obligatory Cockerian wit, the keyboard riff, the passion with which Jarvis feels those 'life sliding out of view' lines, the realisation of a lifetime's pop aspirations, that Glastonbury set. It's got it all.
2) R.E.M. - Losing My Religion. Never has been my favourite REM song, but it doesn't have to be to still be awesome. The lyrics - c'mon, they must mean something?!
3) Sex Pistols - God Save The Queen. Give me "Anarchy..." any day. Don't dislike it, but 23rd best song ever written? Can't be. (I know, I know, it's the ultimate statement/culmination of punk rebellion, etc, but still doesn't quite do it for me).
4) The Kingsmen - Louie, Louie. Again, I like it, but it stumps me how it could be seen as the 10th greatest track of all time.

BRACKET L
1) The Clash - London Calling. Not my favourite track from the album, but this IS a punk anthem I can connect to (cf. God Save The Queen above). And, yeah, you gotta mention the environment meltdown prophecies too.
2) Marvin Gaye - I Heard It Through The Grapevine. From a compilation cd I had as a child, this was always the track that hooked me in better than any other (Imagine, Good Vibrations, Waterloo Sunset and many others were there too). Fantastic performance.
3) Roy Orbison - Oh, Pretty Woman. Nice and enjoyable, (this was also on the aforementioned cd, btw), but would've been last in any other group here I'm afraid.
4) Al Green - Let's Stay Together. It's really rare for me to just not get one of the songs in the top 256 songs here, but this just passes me by. One day I'm sure it'll suddenly hit me, but for now, it has to come last.

Bracket I: 2 songs I enjoy and 2 I don't

1. "The Message"- that groove and synth flourish will not be denied.
2. "Purple Haze"- brilliant paranoid guitar heft.
3. "The Weight"- meh.
4. "Gimme Shelter"- yuck.

Bracket J: Up to 3 songs I enjoy!

1. "Heroes"- I used to not quite dig this, as it seemed like cheesy arena rock. But when I heard the full version and how it builds and unveils its vulnerability, I fell in love.
2. "Voodoo Chile"- Masterfully brilliant mind-bender.
3. "Stayin' Alive"- The groove is DEEP and the delivery is fantastic.
4. "Satisfaction"- no thank you.

Bracket K: all fairly lukewarm

1. "God Save the Queen"- wins a weak bracket. It is a lot of fun, though.
2. "Louie Louie"- sleazy delight for sure, but not really my thing.
3. "Common People"- I'm pretty ambivalent to this.
4. "Losing My Religion"- completely overrated. I used to abhor it- now I merely dislike it.

Bracket L: 3 good ones again! This week is pretty solid for me!

1. "London Calling"- propulsive punk punch. Their best song!
2. "I Heard It Through the Grapevine"- you all know by now how much I can immerse myself in a groove. This one is tight!
3. "Let's Stay Together"- I'm sad to rank this 3rd, especially since it would have won out in several brackets from earlier weeks in Round 2.
4. "Oh, Pretty Woman"- This can't keep up.

BRACKET I
1. The Rolling Stones, “Gimme Shelter”
2. The Band, “The Weight”
3. The Jimi Hendrix Experience, “Purple Haze”
4. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, “The Message”

#4 and #3 may be influential, but at this point, I'm looking for great songs, not great advances in music. And while The Weight is a lovely enough song, it never goes into 2nd and 3rd gear of awesomeness that is Gimme Shelter's chorus.

BRACKET J
1. David Bowie, “Heroes”
2. The Rolling Stones, “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”
3. The Bee Gees, “Stayin’ Alive”
4. The Jimi Hendrix Experience, “Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)”

I hate to put this Jimi song at #4, because it's a true song, with a great chorus, and pretty much lays down the gauntlet for anything on the guitar to come after him...but the Itunes Play Count says that this is clearly #4 on my list. And while Stayin' Alive is catchy as hell...it's still the Bee Gees, and I can't exactly justify them cracking the top 16. Which leaves the final two songs. And while both are great, I know that the Stones are probably going to have two songs in the round o' 16...and it would be a shame for Bowie not to have one, so chalk this up to strategic voting.

BRACKET K
1. Pulp, “Common People”
2. Sex Pistols, “God Save the Queen”
3. R.E.M., “Losing My Religion”
4. The Kingsmen, “Louie Louie”

There are only 9 songs in the world better than Louie Louie? Really music critics of the world? You sure about that? As for R.E.M., it's a shame this is their only contribution to round 2, because there's plenty of songs I enjoy more than this one...it flows effortlessly, but the beat and pace don't exactly change at all in the 4.5 minutes. Being from Canada, where the question of "should we keep the monarchy?" periodically in the newspapers, the sting of this song comes through quite clearly, thank you very much. Which leaves Common People, a great story, statement, and song.

BRACKET L
1. The Clash, “London Calling”
2. Marvin Gaye, “I Heard It Through the Grapevine”
3. Roy Orbison, “Oh, Pretty Woman”
4. Al Green, “Let’s Stay Together”

Al Green and Roy Orbison do nothing for me. Sorry. As for Grapevine, it may not be (ok, it isn't) deserving of the #8 position overall, but it's another virtuoso performance by Gaye. Which leaves London Calling as the best of a relatively weak bracket - I can't see it doing all that well in the next round, but you can see why the album was pretty much the be all and end all of the music scene in 1980.