The Great Music Tournament: Overall Event Overview

[Still Servant]

Pablo is great at running these things. Unfortunately, we will never be able to do another movie tournament because this one will never end.

I swear you're going to have to add a new decade to this tournament by the time it's all said and done.

Anyway, is Smells Like Teen Spirit still alive? That's pretty much all I care about. That and any Beatles song should beat any other song it's against.

[mae]

"Smells Like Teen Spirit" is #2 in the 1990-1994 time period. Its opponent will be Metallica's "Nothing Else Matters" in Round 2.

It is a very (very) long tournament, I realize that. But I knew that it was a huge undertaking going in and laid out my plan for this thing in a very detailed manner. I am very grateful to the core group of 15-25 voters we've had voting on these consistently from the beginning and I hope everyone makes it to the end, especially now that we've hit the home stretch so to speak. Round 2 of the playoffs begins next Monday and the winners will be moving onto the Quarterfinals. The choices will continually grow to be more difficult, which is where the fun is.

I would love to have another movie tournament, and we should have one next year. I won't be running it but maybe Feev or Heather would.

[Still Servant]

"Smells Like Teen Spirit" is #2 in the 1990-1994 time period. Its opponent will be Metallica's "Nothing Else Matters" in Round 2.

It is a very (very) long tournament, I realize that. But I knew that it was a huge undertaking going in and laid out my plan for this thing in a very detailed manner. I am very grateful to the core group of 15-25 voters we've had voting on these consistently from the beginning and I hope everyone makes it to the end, especially now that we've hit the home stretch so to speak. Round 2 of the playoffs begins next Monday and the winners will be moving onto the Quarterfinals. The choices will continually grow to be more difficult, which is where the fun is.

I would love to have another movie tournament, and we should have one next year. I won't be running it but maybe Feev or Heather would.

That could be a tricky one for "Smells Like Teen Spirit".

I was just giving you a hard time. I just keep checking how far along you are because I'm waiting to really start voting when it gets down to the end.

[mae]

And so Round 1 of the Playoffs is done. Round 2 begins Monday, September 19.

Schedule will be updated in the first post of this thread this weekend.

[Jon]

I cannot wait.

This is getting down to it!

[fernandito]

Let's gooooooooo

[mae]

The schedule has been updated in the first post. Get your voting fingers prepped!

[Sai Sheb]

Love this competition! But fuck me is it getting hard... I think a queen song might get it in the end...

[Jean]

Pablo is great at running these things.

Amazing. Amazing. Supercalifrageolisticexpialidocious.

[mae]

Our first set of Quarterfinals is ready:

1. Vaughn Monroe - Riders in the Sky (A Cowboy Legend) (1949) 72.99%
2. Margaret Whiting and Johnny Mercer - Baby, It's Cold Outside (1949) 68.21%
3. Hank Williams - I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry (1949) 63.57%
4. Vaughn Monroe - Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! (1945) 62.02%
5. The Andrews Sisters - Rum and Coca-Cola (1945) 61.67%
6. The Mills Brothers - Dream, Dream, Dream (1947) 55.83%
7. Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs - Foggy Mountain Breakdown (1949) 53.61%
8. Bing Crosby and The Andrews Sisters - Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive (1945) 52.29%

This is just a Top 8 ranking based on overall average vote percentage through Round 2 of the playoffs (including the preliminary rounds). Vaughn Monroe and The Andrews Sisters both have two songs going and could possibly square off in the Finals.

[mae]

And the second set is ready as well:

1. The Chordettes - Mr. Sandman (1954) 86.45%
2. The Crew Cuts - Sh-Boom (Life Could Be a Dream) (1954) 83.78%
3. Bill Haley and His Comets - Rock Around the Clock (1954) 80.30%
4. Big Joe Turner - Shake, Rattle, and Roll (1954) 75.04%
5. Nat King Cole - Unforgettable (1952) 72.53%
6. Gene Kelly - Singin' in the Rain (1952) 69.52%
7. Muddy Waters - Hoochie Coochie Man (1954) 67.07%
8. Muddy Waters - Rollin' Stone (1950) 51.55%

Muddy with two songs in the Quarterfinals, and the way the brackets are set up, they can meet in the Finals

And just a reminder, the standings and the percentages shown here do not matter as far as the brackets and placement within the rounds. However, the percentages will come into play when it's time to seed the 14 time period winners.

[Jon]

Wow... Shi-Boom is more popular than I anticipated.

[Sai Sheb]

I think I may have myself a little break down, it's just getting too hard to pick...

[mae]

The third set of Quarterfinals:

1. Jerry Lee Lewis - Great Balls of Fire (1957) 82.34%
2. Chuck Berry - Johnny B. Goode (1958) 79.18%
3. Ritchie Valens - La Bamba (1958) 73.83%
4. Elvis Presley - Jailhouse Rock (1957) 73.57%
5. Johnny Cash - I Walk the Line (1956) 69.89%
6. Buddy Holly - Peggy Sue (1957) 67.11%
7. The Everly Brothers - Wake Up Little Susie (1957) 66.17%
8. Bobby Darin - Dream Lover (1959) 61.75%

[Tommy]

I voted for three of those at least

[mae]

The fourth set of Quarterfinals is, uh, set:

1. The Animals - The House of the Rising Sun (1964) 92.28%
2. Ben E. King - Stand By Me (1961) 80.90%
3. Simon and Garfunkel - The Sound of Silence (1964) 77.95%
4. The Drifters - Under the Boardwalk (1964) 77.80%
5. The Beatles - A Hard Day's Night (1964) 75.00%
6. Dion - Runaround Sue (1961) 61.93%
7. The Zombies - She's Not There (1964) 60.33%
8. Del Shannon - Runaway (1961) 54.48%

Interestingly enough, only songs from '61 and '64 made it.

[mae]

The fifth set of Quarterfinals:

1. Creedence Clearwater Revival - Fortunate Son (1969) 74.64%
2. The Rolling Stones - (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction (1965) 74.38%
3. Creedence Clearwater Revival - Bad Moon Rising (1969) 74.35%
4. The Mamas and the Papas - California Dreamin' (1966) 73.06%
5. The Rolling Stones - Paint It Black (1966) 71.18%
6. Dusty Springfield - Son of a Preacher Man (1968) 71.09%
7. The Rolling Stones - Sympathy for the Devil (1968) 63.65%
8. Joe Cocker - With a Little Help from My Friends (1968) 57.63%

Credence with two tracks and the Stones with three. Unexpected. We can have an all-Credence/Stones Semifinals here.

[mae]

The sixth set of Quarterfinals:

1. Lynyrd Skynyrd - Sweet Home Alabama (1974) 79.24%
2. Don McLean - American Pie (1971) 76.50%
3. Led Zeppelin - Stairway to Heaven (1971) 72.92%
4. Aerosmith - Dream On (1973) 72.81%
5. Lynyrd Skynyrd - Free Bird (1973) 72.16%
6. Creedence Clearwater Revival - Have You Ever Seen the Rain? (1970) 71.16%
7. The Doors - Riders on the Storm (1971) 64.04%
8. Elton John - Rocket Man (1972) 61.15%

Lynyrd Skynyrd with two tracks, and Creedence makes a third appearance in their second time period.

[Merlin1958]

I sure hope I can vote for songs you like, my man!!!

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

If I don't break your balls, my man, who will? lol lol j/k lol

[Heather19]

Pablo, how do you pick which two go up against each other? Just curious why Queen isn't being pitted against Queen, like the Beatles were in some earlier rounds. Or am I mistaken? I'm sure it's my bias, but I really would like some other artists to move forward so it's not only Queen going against Queen in the finals.

[mae]

It's all up to the brackets, not me. I linked to it in the first post, but you can see the playoff bracket structure here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Templa...mBracket-Byes2

For the playoffs, the top 24 tracks in each time period were seeded 1 through 24 based on their overall average vote percentage earned during the preliminary rounds. Then we just proceeded to eliminate them in one-and-done face-offs as per the above bracket.

After the Finals of each time period, 14 winners will remain, each representing its era. They too will be ranked based on their overall average vote percentage earned up to that point and seeded like so: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Templa...gTenBasketball

To illustrate, here's a peek at my (very yuge!) Excel spreadsheet showing the 1970-1974 playoff race: https://i.imgur.com/GJZludB.png

[Heather19]

I knew you probably had some math to it. It's just going to be a little blah if it's all one artist in an Era, so hopefully some others will pull through.

[mae]

Yes, definitely. Like the five of eight quarterfinalists from the 1965-1969 represented just by two artists. But such is the will of the people.

[mae]

Here is the seventh set of Quarterfinals:

1. Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody (1975) 90.31%
2. Eagles - Hotel California (1976) 86.72%
3. Queen - We Are the Champions (1977) 77.50%
4. Aerosmith - Sweet Emotion (1975) 74.61%
5. Blue Öyster Cult - (Don't Fear) The Reaper (1977) 68.81%
6. Pink Floyd - Another Brick in the Wall (1979) 64.39%
7. Pink Floyd - Comfortably Numb (1979) 64.29%
8. Fleetwood Mac - Go Your Own Way (1976) 62.04%

We have Queen and Floyd with two tracks each. And Aerosmith gets a second entry in their second time period.

[mae]

The eighth set of Quarterfinals:

1. Phil Collins - In the Air Tonight (1981) 79.30%
2. The Police - Every Breath You Take (1983) 73.44%
3. Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) (1983) 72.63%
4. Journey - Don't Stop Believin' (1981) 70.84%
5. AC/DC - Back in Black (1980) 70.57%
6. Michael Jackson - Thriller (1982) 69.36%
7. Joan Jett and the Blackhearts - I Love Rock 'n' Roll (1981) 65.70%
8. Prince - Purple Rain (1984) 56.12%

This is only the second time period to have a song from each year within in, after the 1970-1974 era.