WINNER - Ultimate Battle of the Bands

 A Champion is crowned!!!   And the WINNER is QUEEN in a landslide victory (10 of total 12 votes cast).  How fitting!!!  

For some of us, we had the good fortune to not only listen to Queen in the mid-late 70s as they reached their peak musically but to also witness their dazzling on-stage concert performance at their zenith (in my case, Toronto ice hockey stadium in 1978).

Their music has been categorized as glam rock, progressive, hard rock, pop rock but was consistently well-crafted music and songwriting.

Queen was larger than life with the perfect front man in Freddy Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara).  Blessed with a four-octave vocal range and flamboyant persona, each album and single release was an event to be eagerly anticipated.

  

And let’s not forget their six minute masterpiece “Bohemian Rhapsody” that still sounds unlike any other #1 chart-topping single ever recorded.  It happened to be one of my first ever 45 rpm records I purchased in my youth!

In fact in 2012, the song topped the list on a UK poll as the “Nation’s Favourite Number One” spanning 60 years of music!!!

Let me leave you with a snippet of lyrics from that memorable song:

I see a little silhouetto of a man,
Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will you do the Fandango?
Thunderbolt and lightning,
Very, very frightening me.
(Galileo) Galileo,
(Galileo) Galileo,
Galileo Figaro
Magnifico.

Congratulations to a well deserving musical CHAMPION of the World!

Ultimate Battle of the Bands - CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND

And Then There Were Two!!!

Clear favorites for the Final Championship Round as the 60s and 70s dominated in voting from 11 participants!

So there you have it – The Beatles vs Queen for the crown as Ultimate Band of All-Time!

Beatles were on their heels early but ended strongly with 7 of 11 total votes, while Queen cruised capturing 8 of 11 votes.

The Final Vote is simple, either:

BEATLES (1963-1970) – Revolver, Sgt. Peppers, White Album , Abbey Road

OR

QUEEN (1973-1991) – Night at the Opera, Day at the Races, News of the World, The Game

Deadline:  End of Day Thursday April 14^th (6pm EST)

WINNER published Friday April 15^th

Submit your VOTE here.  GOOD LUCK!!!

Ultimate Battle of the Bands - Final Four

And Then There Were FOUR!

Excellent participation once again as 14 music fans cast votes to determine the champions of each respective Decade bracket, so here you have it:

A) 1960s			B) 1970s
1. Beatles (64%)			9. Queen (79%)

  

D) 1990s+			C) 1980s
7. Coldplay (86%)			13. Police (57%)

Beatles and Police needed late surges to pull away, whereas Queen and Coldplay dominated throughout.  In fact only Chris Miller and I cast votes for Radiohead, go figure!!!

So the Final Four brackets are very simple. 

A.    Beatles vs D. Coldplay

B.    Queen vs C. Police 

Select two bands to advance to the Final head-to-head competition.

Deadline:  End of Day Friday April 8^th (6pm EST)

Good Luck and please submit your selections and Comments here.

Ultimate Battle of the Bands - Elite 8

So we are now left with Elite 8 classic rivalries with all remaining bands hailing from the BRITISH ISLES (yes even U2 is technically included in this club!).

In corner A – you will be asked once again if you are a Beatle or Rolling Stone?  “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” vs “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction”?

In corner B – campy, theatrical and ever-changing trailblazers - Queen (rock opera maestros) and Bowie (glam rock never looked better)

In corner C – international super groups and stadium rock veterans, Police (early white reggae adopters) and U2 (angry young Irish boys turned global ambassadors) 

In corner D – experimental computer age alt-rock pioneers and it’s melodic commercial offspring – Radiohead vs Radiohead-Lite, I mean Coldplay.


Unto the Elite 8 voting.  You should now be familiar with the drill  – please submit your selections and Comments directly on my blog:

Deadline:  End of Day Tuesday April 5^th (6pm EST)

Make your Votes Count!!    These match ups could go the distance!! 

A) 1960s			B) 1970s
1. Beatles	A Winner  1 vs 3		9. Queen
3. Rolling Stones		B Winner  3 vs 9	3. David Bowie
D) 1990s+			C) 1980s
1. Radiohead	D Winner  1 vs 7		13. Police
7. Coldplay		C Winner  3 vs 13	3.  U2

Ultimate Battle of the Bands - Sweet 16 RESULTS

Another Round of Ultimate Battle of the Bands is completed!!  A total of 13 participants and your votes made a difference in the end, as two critical matchups were decided by a single vote!!

The two #1 seeds remaining (Beatles and Radiohead) move on to the Elite 8 competition as well as three #3 seeds (Stones, Bowie and U2).   Bowie rose up in the end to beat the mighty Led Zep and Coldplay just inched out the Chili Peppers!  The Police are the lowest seed to advance (in convincing fashion) and Queen dominated the boys from Down Under!

SPECIAL RECOGNITION to Stephane Demullier for correctly picking ALL eight advancing bands!!!

A) 1960s			B) 1970s
1. Beatles	Beatles (92%)		9. Queen
5. Who		Queen (77%)	13. AC/DC
3. Rolling Stones	Rolling Stones (92%)		3. David Bowie
2. Bob Dylan		David Bowie (54%)	2. Led Zeppelin
D) 1990s+			C) 1980s
1. Radiohead	Radiohead (62%)		9. Depeche Mode
4. Oasis		Police (69%)	13. Police
11. Chili Peppers	Coldplay (54%)		3. U2
7. Coldplay		U2 (69%)	7. Michael Jackson

Ultimate Battle of the Bands - Sweet 16

Another Round Completed!!   The results for Ultimate Battle of the Bands Round of 32 have been tallied and 32 core acts have been reduced to 16 worthy of consideration for title of Most Popular Artist/Band All-Time as selected by your Votes.

Simply send a Comment  (enter Name only in Name/URL drop-down option) to this post with your selections, ie A) 1, 4, 3, 2   B)  etc......

The winners for Round 32 will be announced in one weeks time, so DEADLINE is Thursday March 31st, 6 pm EST.   Good Luck and make your VOTES Count!

A) 1960s			B) 1970s
1. Beatles	A Winner  1 vs. 5		9. Queen
5. Who		B Winner  9 vs. 13	13. AC/DC
3. Rolling Stones	A Winner  2 vs. 3		3. David Bowie
2. Bob Dylan		B Winner  2 vs. 3	2. Led Zeppelin
D) 1990s+			C) 1980s
1. Radiohead	D Winner  1 vs. 4		9. Depeche Mode
4. Oasis		C Winner  9 vs. 13	13. Police
11. Chilli Peppers	D Winner  7 vs. 11		3. U2
7. Coldplay		C Winner  3 vs. 7	7. Michael Jackson

Ultimate Battle of the Bands - Round of 32 RESULTS

The vote are in, and the winners of the Round of 32 are attached.  Once again fantastic participation, despite March Break and Easter commitments, as 14 music fans submitted responses!  Thanks for your dedication!

Well….. two #1 seeds have fallen in resounding fashion.  Gone are Pink Floyd and Pixies from competition!  David Bowie just squeezed by Springsteen in the final few votes.  And three double-digit seeds (AC/DC, Police and Chili Peppers) have had strong support to advance.

Quick recap by Decade bracket:

1960s:  no surprise as 4 of top 5 seeds advanced in convincing fashion – in fact the Who was the only Unanimous vote-getter in the Round of 32.

1970s:  big news is Queen overwhelming Pink Floyd and AC/DC beating Canadian Neil Young, otherwise #2 & #3 seeds advanced in their matchups.

1980s: a complete free-for-all with U2 highest remaining seed at #3 – this bracket is wide-open and up for grabs!

1990s+:  surprising that #2 & #3 seeds have fallen (Arcade Fire and Nirvana) by large margins, but #1 seed Radiohead moves on.

A) 1960s			B) 1970s
1. Beatles	Beatles (93%)		1. Pink Floyd
8. Doors		Queen (86%)	9. Queen
5. Who	Who (100%)		5. Neil Young
4. Velvet Underground		AC/DC (64%)	13. AC/DC
11. Simon & Garfunkel	Rolling Stones (71%)		6. Bruce Springsteen
3. Rolling Stones		David Bowie (57%)	3. David Bowie
7. Jimi Hendrix	Bob Dylan (79%)		10. Van Morrison
2. Bob Dylan		Led Zeppelin (79%)	2. Led Zeppelin
D) 1990s+			C) 1980s
1. Radiohead	Radiohead (86%)		1. Pixies
8. Artic Monkeys		Depeche Mode (93%)	9. Depeche Mode
5. Pearl Jam	Oasis (71%)		5. Metallica
4. Oasis		Police (71%)	13. Police
11. Chili Peppers	Chilli Peppers (79%)		6. Cure
3. Nirvana		U2 (64%)	3. U2
7. Coldplay	Coldplay (79%)		7. Michael Jackson
2. Arcade Fire		Michael Jackson (64%)	2. Smiths