A few things have come to light after hosting the first two rounds of this contest to end all rock contests.
A quick look at our Sweet Emotion Sixteen, which we’ll get to in just a bit, doesn’t hold all that many surprises but it is still quite telling.
There are reasons that we, the people, have chosen the following 16 bands, four from the East, four from the West, four from the Midwest and four from the South as our best of the bands
One is that they’re all fucking awesome.
Our voting to get them to this point has taken many forms but it appears the majority of us voted sensibly, based on several, different factors that all these bands have in common.
Longevity: All the bands in the Sweet 16 were not flashes in the pan but rather released hit after hit for years if not decades. Their music has stood the test of time.
Reinvention: All the bands on this list changed with the times, often reinventing themselves and their sound while not sacrificing their art form.
Personal preference: While we all voted with our hearts. More often than not, those opinions jibed with which bands were in fact “better.”
Recognition: It should come as no surprise that for the above reasons and many others, all sixteen bands listed below are in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Without boring you with any more words, I know we all want to get to the voting… but be careful what you wish for. With each round comes more difficult decisions, as you will soon see.
Happy voting, everyone!
Very cool post Chris, all awesome bands, which makes the choices more difficult! It will be cool to see the final results!
Yeah, E, it’s gettin’ hairy. Some tough decisions to make.
Chicago NARROWLY edged out P-Funk in the last round to advance.
Good thing Chicago is naturally funky themselves.
Beasties Boys still hangin’ tough too.
Tough choices. The Right Rev vs The Boss is the toughest one for me, believe it or not. I can’t see how the voting is overwhelmingly in the Prince & The Revolution corner over both The Temptations AND Chicago. The Revolution was only around for barely a couple of years. Prince as a solo artist easily advances but I don’t see how The Revolution advances against both of those bands man….
Donny C…
In setting up the contest, I didn’t really specify how readers should vote AND I wanted to put Prince in the contest.
So for example, if someone wants to vote for Prince and the Revolution or Prince and the New Power Generation or just Prince, I’ll allow it in the same way that they can vote for Van Halen as an entity which would include music recorded with both Sammy Hagar and David Lee Roth.
In that same breath, as one reader suggested, I could have (and perhaps should have) included James Brown (with the Famous Flames, JBs, etc.) but that would have made it unfair to the rest of the bands in the contest as he easily would have won.
Chris,
I pressing my longshot on the guy that left his wife and kids in Baltimore.
A couple of these were before my time…sorry 😉
Which one of these band has the nun?
Bets….
I’m not sure I get that reference.
By the way, I bet all dogs in every NBA opening round series across the board. NO came back +320.
Let’s see who else hits.
Mary….
I’m not sure I or any of my readers believe that nonsense.
Dubs…
I’m not sure I get the nun reference either.
Have I been asleep for a while?
Great contest. Only one of the match ups did not give me pause but I did hesitate out of respect for the Beastie Boys and their fans.
I will leave you with this my friend,” I know it’s only rock and roll but I like it, like it… yes I do !”
Prince? Come on now that’s silly by the youngsters. Grateful Dead also way overrated but anywho…..
Here’s the guy I’m pressing on….The Boss
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0My2AqPFpFg
You’re in good position after NO embarrassed Portland. Keep it going.
I smoke like Snoop, but I’ll be Grateful when the Dead are eliminated. Just never got the big damn deal. Cool logo and I can appreciate the counter culture / cult type following, but the music? Meh. Mediocre at best. Bill Walton must have some good shit because he swears by em.
Deac…
I’ve been having fun with it so far.
And it looks like after this round, we might just have out first number one seed bounced!
Moose…
I was never a big dead fan but I get why voters are moving them along.
Those voters better back ’em quick because Van Halen is about to bounce ’em out.
You know where my allegiance lies, but as they say in Chicago ” get out to vote early and often. Besides, no matter the outcome Aerosmith is the greatest American rock band of all time. After all even Ali lost occasionally.
Deac….
The Beasties are certainly giving them a run for their money.