I see some hands over here...
Three Dog Night over Guns and Roses: I wanted to comment on this one, as I am a fan of Guns and Roses as, among other things, Axl Rose and Izzy Stradlin both went to my high school. My vote still goes to Three Dog Night and I encourage others to vote the same way. Three Dog Night is one of the most underappreciated bands in general and in this tournament. They produced 21 Top 40 hits in a relatively short period of time, Three #1's and the top hit of 1971, Joy to the World, which is among the most recognizable songs today. Three Dog Night is one of those bands that makes you say "They did that?" when the radio DJ mentions their name after a song. Their harmonies are amazing, their musical ability awesome, and their music laced with important social messages, but they have not gotten the recognition they deserve. I know it is difficult to vote for them over Guns and Roses, but I have many reasons to vote for Guns and Roses and despite their amazing record, Three Dog Night still deserves to go on.
1. Three Dog Night.
- I like upsets that aren't egregious
- Aimee Mann's cover of One in "Magnolia."
- The Capital Steps version of "Oil on the World"
- , Mama Told Me Not to Come, Eli's Coming, Shambala, and my personal favorite "An Old Fashioned Love Song"
With all due respect to Paradise City, 3 Dog Night is more bang for the buck.
2. Four Tops. FINALLY some motown will go on. Good stuff. EW&F wouldn't be awful, however.
3. I enjoy Rock Around the Clock, but really RHCP has been around for nearly 20 years and though it released a substandard song in "Scar Tissue", it should get props for Love Rollercoaster on the Beavis and Butthead Do America soundtrack.
4. I never knew the Talking Heads. What I do know is that if I had to take one CD with me on a desert island, I would strongly consider What's the Story Morning Glory. And songs like "Go Let it Out" and "D'You Know What I Mean" are underrated.
Yeah, but "Joy to the World" is a big steaming pile. "Mama Told Me Not to Come," on the other hand, is not. But more on that later....
#1. Earth Wind and Fire, largely due to the fact that they did the soundtrack for Sweet Sweetback's Baadassss Song, ushering in the blaxploitation era.
#2. Bill Haley & His Comets. The provided Chili Peppers songlist underscores how lame they've become. Whoever told Keidis he could sing is as evil as whomever told Costner he could direct.
#3. Despite Philpy's passionate defense of Three Dog Night, I have to go with G 'n' R, for this simple reason: my Three Dog Night impression has never made anyone do a spittake.
#4. Talking Heads. May they eventually meet The Band in this bracket, settling once and for all what the Best Concert Film Ever is.
I can't believe I'm voting for G'n'R. In yet another example, I hated them when they actually had relevance, but now I realize that they weren't that bad. "Joe Cool" I am not, but I never claimed otherwise, so all is good.
EWF. I can think of a lot more goofy 80's pop culture appearances from Tops (Sun Country Wine Coolers? "Little Shop of Horrors?"), while the only EWF impact I can remember was Philip Bailey helping Phil Collins out on "Easy Lover." Still, I forgive him, and I think I'd rather listen to a slew of EWF than a slew of Four Tops.
Ooh, ooh! Showdown of the "Who stole the black man's music?" bands. I've never liked RHCP, and I can't bring myself to vote for Halley (who I very nearly blackballed). Yep, it's yet another indecisive "I don't care" from the VwlssWndr.
I actually own "Sand in the Vaseline," so I think this one has already been decided.
1. 3 Dog Night: Sports Night featured Eli's Coming prominently, plus my whack-job roommate sophomore year told me that I simply had to agree that GNR was the greatest band ever. Oh yeah? Well eat this, Shabbazz.
2. 4 Tops: Props for musical forebears and no real use for the elements.
3. Bill Haley goes down on his way to Fargo, and its the day the music died. That's gotta count for something.
4. I really used to think that the song was Psycho Kitty, so make amends, go Heads.
1. Gn'R, easily. Uneven output, and yet with enough good stuff (Civil War, Sweet Child O' Mine, You Could Be Mine) to outweigh a multitude of dumb and/or overwrought songs. Three Dog Night may have had many chart-toppers, but they had exactly one ("Mama Told Me Not To Come") hit song that was *not* utter dreck. [Insert rant about the Isley Brothers here.]
2. EWF. On quality of output, this is pretty much a draw. Both have ample material to produce a multi-disc "greatest hits" set. I'll go with the outfit that played their own instruments and wrote their own songs.
3. RHCP. While "Rock Around the Clock" was pivotal, the Peppers had much more staying power. Punk, funk, and one of the best ballads of the alternative revolution to boot; more than enough to forgive their shortcomings. Bill Haley just doesn't have the bench to stay in this one.
4. Talking Heads, This shouldn't be close. One of these bands was brimming with original ideas - a great fusion of punk energy, funky grooves, and the occasional introspection. The other wouldn't know an original idea if it broke a beer bottle over their heads. It figures that clueless Americans would choose the no-talent hacks in Oasis over Blur.
1. Guns 'N Roses. You Could Be Mine, November Rain, Sweet Child 'O Mine, Welcome To The Jungle - all great.
2. EW&F is seeded too low, but I saw the Four Tops live at the Kennedy Center - AND they were wearing cool shimmering tuxedos ( http://www.delafont.com/music_ac...s/Four-
Tops.htm )
You can't put a price on that.
3. The Crocheting Terrapin was right - older bands are getting hosed. Come on - Shake, Rattle and Roll, See You Later, Alligator, and Rock Around The Clock should beat the Chilis.
4. Per emails to friends after a trip to Europe - 'The first time I see ["Let Love Be Your Energy"], I immediately remember Robbie Williams being described by some member of Oasis as the "fat singer from Take That".
What's that? You don't remember Oasis? Don't feel bad - I just remember that a band member from Oasis made the quote. I did some internet research on the band when I got back, and I found out that they were considered to be the next Beatles just a few years ago.
Still doesn't ring a bell? Oh, well.'
I'll take Talking Heads every day of the week and twice on Sunday, Lieutenant Barker.
Chris, I think you're thinking of Buddy Holly. Sheesh. No wonder you sit quietly during the music questions.
Guns and Roses. The Derrick Coleman of Rock Music. They made a three seed on what they put out and all I can think of is what they might have done if they had their shit together.
The Four Tops on a coin flip.
RHCP. Yeah, older bands might be getting the hose and in some other matchup I might vote old over a more deserving band, but Bill Haley is not that artist.
The Talking Heads. Really, they're a band I could take or leave and I think they're about 5 spots too high at a two seed, but I just hate Oasis. Beatles, my ass!
Three Dog Night, because Shambala is my favorite song lately.
The Four Tops, because there truly ain't no woman like a one-eyed goat.
Bill Haley, because in every picture I've ever seen of the group, they're wearing these ugly-ass plaid suit jackets.
And speaking of ugly-ass suit jackets, one vote for the Talking Heads.
-MMM
1. Three Dog Night. So many people have mentioned songs they really like here, and they're all different songs. I personally like "Black and White" here--maybe a touch cheesy in retrospect, but it gets the point across. This was just about the first matchup I actually had to think about, though.
2. Four Tops--I believe that's the One-Eyed Gott. I hate to support Motown (the one oldies faction I'm not behind), but if I'm going to vote for a trinity-named band it's going to be Blood Sweat and Tears.
3. Bill Haley, more as a generic shout out to the oldies acts rapidly falling by the wayside than anything else.
4. Talking Heads, because I floored The Good Doctor during the playoffs when Eddie George was on the sidelines in an enormous warmup jacket after being knocked out of the game, and I came up with "You may ask yourself, why am I standing on the sidelines in an enormous warmup jacket. You may ask yourself, how did I get this warmup jacket. Etc."
Abstain on the first.
Tops over EWF, but agonized over that one. The only thing that put Tops over was that I would imagine more artists following them would cite them as a direct influence... of course that's "Just My Imagination..." (Yep, I'm invoking the Temptations here..) 
Peppers over Haley, also barely...
Talking Heads by a longshot... its influences on following bands (new wave, mainly) are immense. I do agree with the Answer Guy in regards to muiscality, so I won't retate them here.
OTOH, Oasis is really "same as it ever was..." musically -- which was 75% of its' problem. The other 25% was them being overplayed.
~ Tricia ~
Craig, you don't need to keep Michigan and OSU together to keep the rivalry game going. Georgia and Auburn play every year despite the fact that they're in opposite divisions and don't play every team in the other division. I *believe* Florida and Alabama do too. The potential for a more difficult road to the title game is offset by the fan excitement and the bling-bling generated, know what I'm saying?
As for the voting--
1.) Three Dog Night. Yes, Guns'n'Roses had huge hits. And I hate them all! Three Dog Night loses points in my book because other people (Laura Nyro, Harry Nillson, etc.) wrote their decent stuff, but they get a few of those points back for good choices of material.
2.) Four Tops due to sheer number of great, listenable songs. But I'll be happy with either moving on.
3.) Egads. "Higher Ground" is OK, "Scar Tissue" was kinda cool the first couple times I heard it, but I just don't like the Chilis. They rather annoy me, actually. I'll take Bill Haley & the Comets on the strength of "Rock Around the Clock" and "Shake, Rattle & Roll," but I would've picked either of the bands from matchup 2 over either of these bands here.
4.) Oasis is the GREATEST BAND IN THE WORLD!!!
Oops, sorry, they're not. Talking Heads in a walkover!
Regarding Big 10/12... whatever... realignment.
First: rename the conference please. Sure the Big Ten is really eleven, but add one more team to get the 12-team Big Ten... that's weird. I know there was a lot of resistance to renaming the NHL divisions into lame "directional" names, but come on.
Second, obviously Swiss pairing is not going to work for football. 
I do agree Pittsburgh is the only other natural geographic choice.
Of course, just imagine how much hell it is for divisions in the ACC.
Can't we just do a "top flight" and "lower flight" like in British soccer? Oh... I guess not.
I just always figured that the Big Ten is the Big Ten because there are only ten "Big" schools in it (population wise only...Northwestern can certainly mock Illinois, Michigan State, Indiana, and Minnesota for having been to Pasadena more recently) and ten "Big" schools in it academically (I would mock MSU, but Lymann Briggs and James Madison make MSU a top flight land-grant. No, I am thinking somewhere more Ohio.)
Three Dog Night. Mainly because GnR descended to a level so low that mediocrity would be a welcome relief.
Four Tops. One of a handful of Motown bands to leave the label and still top the charts, they didn't have the greatest voices or the best moves or the principal focus from Motown, but they made everything work for over a decade at the top of the charts. And they kept their original lineup together for nearly 45 years!!! For anyone not in the Blind Boys of Alabama or related by blood or marraige, that is unfathomable.
(And Hayden, you didn't really see the Four Tops at Millenium Stage. You saw Duke Fakir and Renaldo Benson, an on-loan member of the Temptations, and a fill-in for an ailing Levi Stubbs. It was a fun concert, but it wasn't really the Four Tops.)
Bill Haley, because he was one of the few white rock and roll pioneers who wasn't a neaty packaged teenager presenting whitewashed versions of R&B. He was "pudgy, balding and dorky-looking". He is my hero
Talking Heads
1. Three Dog Night. I'm surprised at the strength of the Dog from what appears to be other than the Julie Stalhut demographic.
2. Do I have to pick? This match-up was fixed by THE MAN. The Four Tops, then.
3. Bill Haley and the Comets. Here's a scary thought: Imagine RHCP in loud plaid suits. Imagine Bill Haley with just a sock over Mr. Happy.
4. Talking Heads.
Three Dog Night: So, I load the page, see the first matchup, and say, "Three Dog Night did 'Never Been To Spain?'" Then, I load the comments widget, and the first thing I see is Philpy's description of Three Dog Night as "one of those bands that makes you say 'They did that?'" The man seems to knows his stuff, so I'll go with the expert here. GnR produced a little too much dreck along with the pearls, anyway.
Earth, Wind and Fire: Two good bands going head to head early. Well, that's the way of the world.
Bill Halley and the Comets: More a vote against the overrated Chili Peppers, really.
Talking Heads: Oasis is actually the more influential band, which explains much that is wrong with music today.
Ok,
1. Three Dog Night. Guns n' Roses are a good band, but the longevity just isn't there.
2. The Four Tops
3. I really want to vote for the Chili Peppers, but I gotta give the edge to Bill Halley and the Comets. In 40 or 50 years not too many people are gonna be singing "Under the Bridge"
4. Talking Heads. Champagne Supernova simply makes me want to smash in my head with the claw end of a hammer.
It also wouldn't be wise for a teacher to mock the school with the No. 1 program in the nation for primary and secondary education, about 10 years running. Take it from one who went through it and was left a broken man.
Signed,
Happy To Be In Public Relations
Yeah yeah, I know, which is what I have learned since I started working in the field. You have to find your fellow Wolverines and be the pompous arrogant asses everyone expects you to be in private.
GNR are not the Derrek Coleman of rock music, they're the Bo Jackson. They actually achieved greatness, before suddenly dropping off of the face of the earth. (Bo left through no fault of his own, but the career arcs are similar.) Plus, the inability to completely get their shit together is what made them so fascinating. If they stayed off the booze, showed up on time for concerts and perfected their pop sensiblities, right now they'd be Aerosmith. Instead, they made the best use ever of the "shooting star" cliche (brief, but brilliant success followed by equally brief, but brilliant flame out) and Axl didn't even have to drown in his own vomit to do it. Only three-and-a-half albums and they're still going to Hall of Fame.
Close call, but I'll take the Four Tops.
Bill Halley, et al. was the one band I nominated almost entirely on historical significance. Since I hate the Chili Peppers, I have no problem voting for them the Comets again.
Oasis. My Head says Talk. My heart says I don't believe that anybody feels the way I do. About you now.
Hmm. Bo Jackson does seem like a better analogy now that you mention it. It's ust that seeking Coleman drag his big ass up and down the court all season long has given me blinders.
As for G & R's longevity, they recorded 4 albums and an EP in roughly six years time. Six years is as long as the Beatles were active in the mainstream and they will advance with no questions about longevity. The Sex Pistols advanced having recorded just ONE album in two years. I'm not buying any arguments G&R was not around long enough.
1. Three Dog Night. G'nR didn't have a cool Far Side comic strip based on any of their songs. Larson's bullfrogs look exactly as I picture Jeremiah to this day.
2. Four Tops.
3. Bill Halley and the Comets. Not that the Chili Peppers didn't have their moments but Bill is right. Who will really remember them in 20 years?
4. Talking Heads.
1. This one is a tough--but its Three Dog Night, more happy times associated with their Music.
2. The Four Tops.
3. BIll Haley & the Comets,
4. Talking Heads
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