I see some hands over here...
yeah, Dixville, boyeee!
Roth-era Van Halen would be a shoo-in. Adding Hagar the Horrible to the equation requires some thought --about a nanosecond's worth. Nah, they're still better than the Bangles.
Petty. There are NO song highlights where Jimmy Buffett is concerned.
Pretenders. The quota on overrated Jersey bands was met when Los Lobos was sent packing.
I was really agonizing over this, but then I remembered my CD of The Nutley Brass covering Ramones songs. I wanna vote for the Ramones. 1-2-3-4!
1. Van Halen, although I don't think they're exactly rock and roll HOF material either. But Hot for Teacher rules, and it was in Varsity Blues!!!!!!
2. Petty, and god rest the soul of anybody who votes for Buffett's "Group". And this is from someone who actually likes the guy. You get thrown out of Miami's basketball game, you get tossed here.
3. Bon Jovi for Wanted Dead or Alive and Bad Medicine. I'll forgive his latest shit.
4. The Ramones, although Iggy and the Stooges are WAY underrated in this.
1. Van Halen
2. Abstain
3. Abstain
4. Ramones
Van Halen. Simultaneously over-rated and under-rated, the Bangles produced some good and even some great stuff. But they don't have anyone on the short list for "greatest rock guitarist of all time." Even if you dock VH for Gary Cherone, and for most of the Van Hagar period, they still come out ahead of the Bangles.
Petty. I expect him to win, thanks in large part to an anti-Parrothead wave. I enjoy Buffett's music, but there's no getting past the fact that he's mostly a novelty act. The Heartbreakers are more of a real band than the Coral Reefers. And while Buffett has written and performed songs worth hearing, Petty's written more of them.
Pretenders.
A. Because their crisp power pop ages exceedingly well. "Middle of the Road" could be an alt-rock hit today. "Living On A Prayer" would be laughed off the radio.
B. Chrissie Hynde has more balls than everyone in Bon Jovi combined. Which helped make Sleater-Kinney and the Donnas possible.
C. Pete Farndon and James Honeyman-Scott both probably have more rock n' roll in them as corpses than any living member of Bon Jovi.
Stooges. Yeah, so the Ramones song (pick any one, it barely matters) is fun to listen to. They'll win this easily, and probably should. But I'm going to give Iggy a shout out for the fact that he actually recorded a version of "Louie, Louie" that *did* have dirty lyrics.
Van Halen. Truly, they are rock gods. Fear the enchanted axe of Val Hallen!
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. The only reason to vote for Jimmy Buffett here is that, his fans are called, analogous to Deadheads, "parrotheads."
Thus it could be seen as a measure of revenge for the TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE INJUSTICE of booting the GRATEFUL DEAD in the FIRST FRICKIN' ROUND. But it won't help.
The Pretenders. I love "My City Was Gone" even though Rush Limbaugh stole it for his theme music. I can't imagine listening to Bon Jovi after a similar desecration.
The Ramones. What, no "Spiderman?"
No commentary... just votes. At work...
Van Halen
Heartbreakers
Pretenders
Ramones
~ Tricia ~
Van Halen
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - This from someone who actually owns a cassette of "Songs You Know by Heart"
Pretenders
Ramones - What other band could sing "Happy Birthday" and have it lead to Mr. Burns declaring a fatwa on The Rolling Stones?
1.) The Bangles are one of my all-time favorite guilty pleasures (I gleefully acquired *Different Light* for my vinyl collection a couple of years ago!) And I can't stand Van Halen. Even though they're gonna win.
2.) This just smacks of an attempt to get Jimmy Buffett in on a technicality. That and the guy who emceed a trivia night we used to go to freshman/sophomore year used to play Buffett's execrable version of "Brown Eyed Girl" every week. Oy vey. Petty, easy.
3.) The Pretenders, and it'll be a crying shame if Bon Jovi manages to garner double digits here.
4.) The Ramones, although I agree with Ryan that Iggy and the Stooges should be way higher than Squeeze.
But what I really wanna know is, when is someone going to program a "Ramones Song Title Generator"? It'd be pretty simple: "I [wanna/don't wanna] [verb] [participle/prepositional phrase/adverb/adjective]"
VAN HALEN. Anyone who knows me knows they are, hands down, bar none, my favorite band of all time. There's a lot to say about them, but I'll hold off until stiffer competition comes along. 
Jimmy Buffett. Petty's good, but I've never changed the station from a Buffett song in my life. He's a lot more fun than Petty, too.
Bon Jovi. There's too much Jersey Rock already in this tourney, but the Pretenders annoy me.
The Ramones. In a walk.
Victoria, the "Ramones Song Title Generator" is a great idea, though you forgot the other possibility: "[Girl's name] is a [name for subcultural individual]." Example: "Rachel is a Bodybuilder."
I'd rather listen to Van Halen, though I think I would rather look at photos of The Bangles. Hubba hubba! (Incidentally, people need to say "Hubba hubba!" a lot more often.)
Petty. I think it's sad that Jimmy Buffett ended up with a #11 seed, but a real talent like Eddie Money wasn't eligible to compete.
The Pretenders. Bon Jovi have recorded two decent songs in their entire existence, and 15 years have passed since the last one was first heard.
I'm voting for The Ramones: not just because they're a great band, but because they're also an effective way to rid your home of white mice.
The Bangles. I'm not ashamed to admit that I actually own their actual Greatest Hits album, which is more than I can say for Van Halen.
Buffett. If nothing else, go to a concert and experience "Why Don't We Get Drunk..."
Bon Jovi, because contrary to what everyone else seems to think here, there can never be enough Jersey Rock. EVER. Bring on Bouncing Souls next, especially "I Like Your Mom!"
The Ramones. Does this really need explanation?
Wasn't able to vote yesterday (I was in a hurry to get things done/rushed and rushed til life was no fun), but wow - country bands just get hosed.
Anyway
1. Van Halen. Both have good songs, but VH has more.
2. Tom Petty. I do feel a need to mention that I knew I had been studying too hard for my philosophy final when I heard "Margaritaville" on the radio and began to analyze from a variety of different viewpoints.
3. Stand By You is pretentious and whiny. Bon Jovi just rocks.
4. Hey, ho, Iggy's got to go.
Geez, this is a couple days in a row of choices I actually have to think about.
1. The Bangles- Prince wrote some of their material and after seeing Van Halen in concert and having some extremely drunk guy (who passed out after the second Van Halen song, way to get your money's worth) tell me that I should stand since Van Halen was god the only thought I can formulate about them is that, "If Van Halen was God wouldn't they sell more records and have better songs?"
2. Such confusion. Lots of the comments yesterday that brought the Dead to a win said that they were an incredible live band. Buffett and his act sell out two or three shows per city consistently every year. The songs are cheesy, but that's part of the guilty pleasure. Buffett by a parrot's beak. Besides, Petty was ruined for me forever in Jerry Maguire when Tom Cruise starts singing along to Free Fallin'
3. Bon Jovi. Chrissy Hynde solo, maybe, but Bon Jovi. (Oh, and even though Blaze of Glory made the Bon Jovi greatest hits album it was a solo hit.)
4. The Ramones. No logical reasoning, I guess I wanna be sedated.
1. The Bangles. Their greatest hits are probably in my 10-CD rotation of most often played in a car.
2. Petty
3. The Pretenders. Another group who is in my CD player's heavy rotation.
4. Ramones. More bang for your buck. Doesn't their greatest hits album have about eleventy-billion songs on it?
Van Halen
Petty, he may only be the fourth best Wilbury, but that's still pretty good.
Pretenders
Ramones, mostly because their cover of Surf City is unbelievably funny. Think about it... the Ramones... surfing.
Van Halen
oops.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Bon Jovi
Stooges
-MMM
1. Van Halen.
2. Damn Clippy. I'm gonna have to go with Tom Petty, but I'm gonna twist Clippy into a thin metal pretzel and feed him to the Dinobots.
3. The Pretenders.
4. Iggy.
1. The Bangles. Hubba-Hubba. I even have a copy of "When You're A Boy," Susanna Hoffs' solo album.
2. Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band. I think they're a real band.
3. The Pretenders. Chrissie rocks without any hubba-hubbas.
4. The Ramones. You forgot "The KKK Took my Baby Away".
1. The Bangles, even though by all measures this has been a fairly sedate Monday.
2. Tom Petty, for any number of reasons.
3. Bon Jovi, because I've never really been exposed to much by The Pretenders, even though Chrissy Hynde plays a mean "Smelly Cat".
4. Ramones. Damn it, I really have to vote earlier before someone else steals my favorite deeper cut reference. First American Music, now The KKK Took My Baby Away. Grrr.
Van Halen. When it comes to rock-n-roll buffoonery, it's tough to beat Diamond Dave.
Tom Petty. From what I understand, Jimmy Buffett concerts are pretty fun... until you have to stop drinking and go inside the arena.
Bon Jovi. I just can't say enough good things about these guys.
The Ramones I guess. I don't really see any difference here. Isn't there some kinda rule about teams from the same conference facing each other in the early rounds?
1)Van Halen
2)Jimmy Buffett- I had an internal tie and I made the decision based on who has a better live show. Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band it is.
3)Bon Jovi
4)The Ramones
Regarding the live show and Buffett, would the margaritas and tailgate atmosphere have to be nixed, since the site venue is Provo's Mariott Center, home of Brigham Young University? (It probably wouldn't be a problem at the Delta Center, but SLC's a little further north)
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