I see some hands over here...
Sorry, Tim... I'm live from Dixville notch tonight 
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Oyvey... Two bands higly influential for their respective genres! So who do I get to damn here? :-p Would definitely have to go with the Fab Four if I had to choose... Beetlemania is alive and well in the hearts of the *kids* of the gals who swooned over them in the 60's... No clearchannel overplay required.
The Dead, but barely...
Bruce, Definitely Bruce and the E Streeters.
...Bob and Company. Brought Reggae to the mainstream, and it did have lasting aftereffects -- Shaggy and Snow: don't mess with the original.
~ Trish ~
1)The Beatles
2)Jackson 5
3)The Boss
4)I'll abstain... I learned a new hate for reggae this year... and I don't really know any Sleater-kinney
The Beatles.
The Grateful Dead.
Now, the last two matchups made me do something I haven't done before in the tournament. Each one has a well-respected band I generally don't care for but know well against well-regarded bands I know nothing about. Not wanting to cop-out and pass on both I went to Kazaa and "borrowed" a few of Craig's suggested songs to see if I could make myself go against the tide. After a little research my votes are:
The Wolves
Sleater-Kinney
Long day today, and three of these are pretty clear on the merits...
#1. Beatles.
#3. Bruce.
#4 Marley.
As for #2, the tough one of the bunch, I'm going with the Dead. Genuine grass-roots superstars, without the benefit of record company machinery, heavy radio play (except in retrospect) or hyped singles (apart from one late career fluke).
Beatles - Alabama could/should be a #1 seed in a tournament for country bands. That being said, I think they only had one collaboration with a boy band, whereas the Beatles had the whole Yoko thing.
Jackson Five - If only because ice cream tie-ins are not being used as a criteria.
Bruce and the E-Street Band - Had this been at the Pit in Albuquerque, maybe the result would be different. Likewise, had Los Lobos not drawn Bruce and the E-Streeters, they might get my vote.
Sleater-Kinney: When in doubt, pick the band taking its name from a freeway off-ramp. More than anything, it's just that reggae just doesn't do anything for me.
1. Hell, to honor Brandy, we'll go with Alabama. Plus I want the Beatles to lose eventually to prove how absurd this all is (RHCP to the white courtesy phone)
2. Jackson Five. because I FUCKING HATE BILL WALTON. Long strange trip my ass.
3. Bruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuce. The boss. One of the sweetest concerts I've ever been to.
4. I really think Sleater-Kinney is doing amazing stuff, but Bob Marley is a Legend (yes, pun intended). The Wailers go on.
Beatles
Dead
E Street Band
Wailers
1. The Beatles, but what minor league team plays "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" during the 7th inning stretch?
2. I nominated the Grateful Dead because of some critical obligation, but I never really got their music. Probably spent my life too straight. Give this one to the Jackson 5.
3. Los Lobos. I'll vote for Bruce against Marley in the next round. Even the Sesame Street version of "Elmo and the Lavender Moon" couldn't ruin it for me.
4. Bob Marley and the Wailers.
1. I'll probably end up getting ridiculed for this, but I'm voting for Alabama. I DJ'd weddings, parties, and anything else that had more than 3 people at it for over 10 years and request wise Alabama had it. I like the Beatles, but Alabama has my vote.
2. The Grateful Dead. None of them have changed color in the past twenty years.
3. Bruce and how in the hell did Los Lobos end up a 12 seed?
4. Bob Marley, although it'll be a pleasure to vote against him in the next round.
1. Beatles. I thought about a lot of silly things to say here, but when it comes right down to it, the basic criteria are met here: I'd want to listen to any Beatles greatest hits album, and I'd never want to listen to Alabama's.
2. Grateful Dead, who AFAIK never sang a love song to a rodent.
3. Los Lobos, on the strength of their "Come on Let's Go" cover. If it was artists I'd vote for Bruce solo, but again the whole "band" thing makes me feel like he only qualifies on a technicality. Though, admittedly, less so than Lovett, Nelson, et al.
4. Sleater-Kinney, because I prefer indie rock posers slightly over reggae posers, and have no other knowledge or basis to vote here.
1.) If I were three years old or so, my vote here would be different. That's because "Roll On Eighteen Wheeler" was the only thing that could get my little brother to calm down in the car when he was an infant.
But I'm not three, and although I voted for Alabama to be in, I'm comfortable with their getting a swift exit against the Fab Four. It's just kinda a shame so many less deserving bands ended up ahead of them.
2.) Meh. The Dead, I guess; they really did have some great songs.
3.) Los Lobos, easy. As those who played in the first "best song" tournament know, I'm just not a Springsteen fan at all. And if I want to listen to music about the working class in the mid-Atlantic, I'll listen to Marah, who far more interesting musically and don't have that annoying tendency to romanticize.
4.) Ouch, Craig, you're killing me!
As much as it pains me, I'm gonna have to go with Sleater-Kinney here. As I've learned from the "More Fire" show on WRAS, I have about a forty-five consecutive minute tolerance for reggae, no matter how high-quality. I have no such quota for Sleater-Kinney.
#1 The Beatles. Remember the Geography rules: bands named for states suck.
#2 Jackson Five. Despite the Dead figuring in the final episode of the best TV series ever, I still can't stand them.
#3 Los Lobos. They should be seeded higher.
#4. Sleater-Kinney, for these reasons:
A. There are some singers you hear, and think, "that is just a great Rock Voice." Whether or not you like the voice, or style of music, or whatever, it becomes clear that that singer was put on this earth to get in front of a mic and rock asses off.
There are three such Great Rock Voices to come out of the 1990s. They don't include Vedder, or Cobain, or Gallagher. They are, in no order:
Polly Jean Harvey
Zack de la Rocha, ex- Rage against the Machine
Corin Tucker, Sleater-Kinney.
B. Geography rules apply: a band named for something as small as a freeway offframp must logically be great.
C. There is simply no band rocking harder today. None. S-K even spots you the bass, they're that good. It's no coincidence Riot Grrrl was coined in Olympia.
D. Sleater-Kinney are apparently big trivia geeks (of the NTN variety). What's not to love?
The Beatles. I like Alabama. I helped nominate them and it's a shame that they are the only real country band in here (although admittedly, there weren't many to choose from.) They deserved a better draw. Unfortunately, The Beatles are now and forever the greatest band in the history of the world. Critically and commercially successful, more hits than anyone ever, artistically innovative, worked in (and excelled at) almost every genre imaginable, and directly or indirectly influenced nearly every popular artist who followed them. You could create a new 10-song list every round and never run out of good (and recognizable) tunes to mention. Go ahead and mark them as the winner on my ballot.
The Jackson Five. Sure they had great producers, but "ABC/Love You Save/Want You Back" is about as good as pop music gets. They're all weird as hell, but that family had talent.
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band. No other "& the Band" has a better claim to be here than the E Street Band. They didn't get cover credit until Born In The USA, (which is the only reason they aren't in the HOF with him) but they were his band for all his previous albums (except for Nebraska, which had no one) and their tours together made Bruce what he is. He supplied the message, but they supplied the power. I give props to Los Lobos for their cover of Hotel California, but this one is a scoop of chocolate.
Bob Marley. Just cause they're chicks, that don't mean they're good.
Beatles
Dead
Los Lobos
Marley
Wow. I had totally forgotten about the Dead being in the last ep of Freaks and Geeks. Seriously, folks, follow that link and do your part to get that show a DVD release. No program has ever captured the teenage experience better. (yes, that includes My So Called Life.)
Beatles
Jackson 5
Springsteen
Sleater-Kinney.
1. The opening riff of "Dig Me Out" should on its own be enough to put them in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The guitar line snakes across the opening seconds before the drums kick in.
2. "Words + Guitar" is a distillation of punk. The line "Rock it till there's nothing left / Rock it till you're nearly dead" is what it's all about.
3. "Ironclad" is the only song I know to use a Civil War battle as a
metaphor for the human heart.
4. Corin Tucker's voice could be used as rocket fuel if she ever took it to full volume. "I'm Not Waiting" contains the closest I've ever heard,
and the power behind that voice is incredible.
5. "Sympathy". When I saw them live, Corin Tucker jabbed at the ceiling with her finger at the line "WHEN the moment strikes . . . " and I was looking for lightning to hit me.
6. "Little Mouth" is the most furious minute and a half I have ever
heard.
7. "Faraway" is the song that best captures the shock and fear of
September 11.
8. Carrie Brownstein's guitar lines careen and could cut you in half if
you get in the way, while Janet Weiss is simply one of the best drummers
in rock.
9. "The Size of Our Love", the centerpiece of "The Hot Rock" is the only power ballad worth listening to.
10. They've never made a bad album. Never. There are no duds anywhere
in their catalog.
1. The Beatles. On the way to a party, I was discussing this tournament with my fellow partygoers and the question came up: who was the winner of the Jackson 5-Grateful Dead matchup going against?
So I said: "The Beatles." Pause for half a beat. "Or Alabama."
We were still laughing about it five minutes later. Beatles by a parsec.
2. The Grateful Dead. Okay, I'm apparently the only person here who's ever actually attended one of their shows, otherwise someone else would have powerballed them. Still, they should have been at least a #2. They're the platonic ideal of what any live band should be and have decades of really great songs that have never been ruined by overexposure.
3. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. Los Lobos is better than a 12 seed should be, and also puts on a good live show, but they're seeded about right- they've just never gotten the commercial success they deserved. I'd like to make it up to them here, but not against Bruce Springsteen, sorry.
4. Bob Marley and the Wailers. Upon Zimbabwe's independence, they raised the flag and made their first official pronouncement: "Ladies and gentlemen, Bob Marley and the Wailers." Sleater-Kinney just can't compete with that.
Alabama. Because I could get rid of all the Beatles songs except one (Let It Be), but there are three or four Alabama must-haves.
Speaking of which, if I'd have known Sleater-Kinney were going to get TWENTY-ONE FREAKIN' SONG HIGHLIGHTS, I'd have thrown in some other Alabama songs, especially their Earth Day song Pass It On Down. (You don't hear many country songs written for Earth Day anymore.)
2. I've been reading a lot of books about poker lately, and I've learned that a "Motown" is slang for Jacks 'n Fives. That's just too cute. One vote for them.
3. Bruce Springstein. I do enjoy Los Lobos, but I'm a total poser, because I only know the La Bamba era stuff.
4. Bob and the Wailers, just to cancel out the Sleatter-Kinney vote of the person who dismissed Alabama with the "Geographically Named bands suck" crack. Bleah.
-MMM
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