Select your favorite Artist from each of the 8 matchups.

Matchup #1

#121 Bush
vs
#136 Patti Smith Group

Matchup #2

#122 Waylon Jennings
vs
#135 Electric Light Orchestra

Matchup #3

#123 Danzig
vs
#134 The Breeders

Matchup #4

#124 Genesis
vs
#133 Devo

Matchup #5

#125 Tupac Shakur
vs
#132 Marvin Gaye

Matchup #6

#126 Eminem
vs
#131 Fatboy Slim

Matchup #7

#127 The Cramps
vs
#130 Yo La Tengo

Matchup #8

#128 Dean Martin
vs
#129 "Weird Al"Yankovich

Wow....Deano vs. Weird Al. What a matchup. But I had to go with Al.

I abstained in most matches, except:

Waylon Jennings vs. Electric Light Orchestra - Come on, look at my signature.

Tupac Shakur vs. Marvin Gaye - "Sexual Healing" may have once been a great song, but its overuse in pop entertainment has made it something of a joke in my eyes. I never got into Tupac's music, per se, but I'm familiar with the content of his music and believe that there was a vibrant theme of social commentary throughout. That, for my money, is the backbone of any artist's discography, whether I pay much heed to said artist notwithstanding.

Dean Martin vs. "Weird Al" Yankovich - It just wasn't right, having to actually choose here. Had they been seeded differently, I could've voted both ways. Despite my lifelong adoration of "Dare to Be Stupid" for its inclusion in The Transformers: The Movie and some other inspired parodies over the years, Dino was in a class all his own. I mean, seriously, who else had it stipulated in his contract for a television series that he was not obligated to appear for rehearsals? You want to talk about cool, it's this guy.

Bush
Electric Light Orchestra
The Breeders
Genesis (but only the Genesis that Peter Gabriel was in. I hate me some Phil Collins.)
Marvin Gaye
Fatboy Slim
Matchup #7 (Abstain-never listened to either artist.)
Dean Martin

I had more vote-againsts than I had vote-fors in this round. There are 4 artists in this round that I abhor.

You seem to be under the impression that "Sexual Healing" is the only notable song Gaye made. You could not be more wrong if you tried.

Still, tough matchup though; went with Gaye in the end.

Devo (One of my nominations)

Marvin Gaye

Weird Al - I had to vote for him. I loved Weird Al growing up in the 80s. I haven't really listened to anything he's since the very early 90s though. I still like his 80s stuff.

abstain - never heard of "Patti Smith Group"
abstain - don't care for either
Danzig
Devo
abstain - don't care for either
abstain - don't care for either
abstain - never heard of either
"Weird Al"Yankovich
__________________

I can't believe people dare to have an opinion different than me! To express my disgust and outrage I will now post 1500 YouTubes of the artists I voted for, but who are losing.

Matchup #1: Patti Smith Group
Matchup #3: The Breeders
Matchup #4: Devo

Sounds like Groucho's got some sand in his mangina.

My votes:

*abstain* -- like both, appreciate Patti's contributions to rock as a whole but on any given day I'd rather listen to Bush. Still, don't prefer one over the other

ELO -- I've always loved ELO and their (Read: *his*) over-the-top, over-produced symphonics.

*abstain* -- don't care much about either

Genesis -- I almost went with Devo, though. People who only know "Whip It" should familiarize themselves with their earlier material. That is some fantastic stuff. Still, overall I still had to go with Genesis. Funny, why is it that I always loved Genesis but always hated Phil Collins solo junk?

Marvin Gaye -- ABSOLUTE no-brainer. Gaye was a grand-master of music and had a voice like none other. Tupac? Dipshit thug.

*abstain*

*abstain*

"Weird Al"Yankovich -- oh, no question about this at all. Weird Al is a prophet and a poet.

I can appreciate if one prefers listening to Tupac rather than Marvin Gaye -- I don't *understand* it, but I can appreciate it -- but to be under the impression that Marvin Gaye is only known for "Sexual Healing" is so absurd that I could just shit a basketball.

I mean honestly, "Sexual Healing" was really little more than a footnote tacked on to a rather extraordinary musical career.

I'm honestly not picking on you MLS! But you should so listen to this album...

Patti Smith - we put piss factory into the juke box at the bar we hung out at
Waylon Jennings
abstain
Devo - Are we not men?
Tupac - because in an ftx one of the guys in my squad played him constantly
Eminem
The Cramps
Dean Martin - he was also in that jukebox, along with bobby and frank

Still waiting for those videos...

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Patti Smith Group
Waylon Jennings
The Breeders
Devo
Marvin Gaye (no brainer, Tupac is famous for getting shot)
Fatboy Slim
The Cramps
Dean Martin (Weird Al is a lot of fun but Deano can get you laid)

Matchup #1: Waylon Jennings
Matchup #5: Marvin Gaye
Matchup #6: Fatboy Slim
Matchup #8: Dean Martin

I'm not super enthusiastic about any of the artists this round, but the ones I voted for are...

ELO
Genesis
Marvin Gaye
Dean Martin

Maybe, but I'm not interested in laying 70 year old chicks.

Well most if not all of the winners from this group will be out after next round as each of them gets one of the top 8 overall seeds in the tourney. The winner of Dean/Weird Al gets The Beatles and The Cramps/Yo La Tengo gets Led Zeppelin.

Bush
The Breeders
Fatboy Slim

Just to be "that" guy since everyone so far has misspelled his name, it's:

Yankovic

Too lazy to multi-quote all the remarks about my selection of Tupac over Gaye, so I'll say this:

I'm perfectly aware that "Sexual Healing" was but one recording in the guy's discography; it's just that it's rather come to be his main presence in today's pop culture and that (unfairly though it may be) discolors my perception of him.

Also, in response to the notion that Tupac was just a thug whose claim to fame was being shot: Correct me if I'm wrong, but it was Gaye's own father who shot him over something even dumber than gang mentality, was it not? I mean, if we're going to bring Manner of Death into evaluating artists, I think Tupac wins this one--and that ain't easy to do.

And, The Cow, thank you for totally schooling me on my misspelling of "Weird Al" Yankovic's name. I knew that wasn't right, but not having seen it in print recently and hearing its pronunciation from Bobby Hill in my head made it sound right.

to each his own