iTunes Tournament of 64, Round 3

And now to Round 3. To recap:

• Round 1
  
• Round 2

I had these running in the background while painting a room, so blame the fumes.

1. Popular (Kristin Chenoweth) vs Get Up Offa That Thing (James Brown). Yes, I'm picking the pep, yet inconsequential broadway tune over James Brown. Earlier I said something about Get Up Offa That Thing including every James Brown cliche and that was a good thing. After awhile, it isn't such a good thing. Good Gawd James, get it over with. I thought this song lasted about 8 minutes, but it's only half that. It's a bit like a hungover Sunday - too loud, too bright, and just gives me a headache.
   
2. Laughing at Birds (The Subdudes) vs Till I Whisper U Something (Sinead O'Connor). I'll go back and listen to the Subdudes CD, for now, they did a good job getting this far.
   
3. I Hear the Bells (Mike Doughty) vs I Shall Believe (Sheryl Crow). When Sheryl Crow's first album came out I wrote a review saying something along the lines of "This a very good music, but I don't see it getting much airplay. It won't appeal to the teeny bop demographics and it isn't bland enough for the adult contemporary audience. Oops, guess I missed that. I still enjoy her first album, though I've never picked up any of her other releases. Not really related, but OLN's pandering by constantly showing shots of Sheryl during "Le Tour" was infuriating. Less pop stars, more Bob Roll, I say.
   
4. Body By Fisher (Zydeco Force) vs Every Little Bit Hurts (Charles Brown). I could listen to Zydeco Force all day, but they'll have to lose to Charles Brown. Now let's try and figure out what Body by Fisher is about. If you google the title the first hit is an Orange County plastic surgeon. Most of the following are links to car parts. Looks like "Body by Fisher" was a General Motors advertising campaign
   
5. Never Like This Before (Peter Wolf) vs Lucy Doesn't Love You (Ivy). Love the way Lucy Doesn't Love You starts with the jangly guitar. I even like Ivy's voice. I just expect something deeper or not so whispy.
   
6. Living Loving Maid - She's Just a Woman (Dread Zeppelin) vs Borderline (Camper Van Beethoven). Here's my Borderline story. Sometime back in the 1990's Maggie Estep released a spoken word CD, "NO More Mr. Nice Girl." My favorite track is Bad Day at the Beauty Salon, wherein she recounts taking a ill-fated job as a stripper after a bad haircut.
   

   I stand there weaving through the air. The strobe light is illuminating my pubic unicorn. Madonna's song Borderline is pumping through the club's speaking system for the 5th time tonight. BORDERLINE BORDERLINE BORDERLINE, love me till I just can't see. And I start wondering, waht the hell does that mean? Love me till I just can't see - what does that mean? Screw me so much my eyes pop out, I go blind, end up walking crazy naked and horny down 2nd Avenue? What? There's a glitch in the tape, it starts to skip. Borderline whoop Borderline whoop. I stumble and twist my ankle. My g-string rides between my butt cheeks making me twitch with pain. My head starts spinning, my kees buckle, and I go down on all fours and puke right in the bald guy's beer.

   
   And that is what I think of whenever anyone, in any context, says borderline.
   
7. Add It Up (Violent Femmes) vs Rainbow Connection (Me First and the Gimme Gimmes). One of the best concerts I've been to was the Violent Femmes at 1st Avenue during the "Hallowed Ground" tour. Amazing. Since all those 20+ years ago I've noticed that Femmes fans fall into two camps. The first is former fans who can't understand why they ever liked the band and ones. like me, who still find much to appreciate and enjoy. Femmes rule, there's just something special about Rainbow Connection.
   
8. Hamlet (John Wesley Harding) vs Under Pressure (Queen/David Bowie. About all I can say to this is that Queen and Bowie worked much better than I thought they would. It's a shame they didn't do more together.

On to Round 4

1. Popular (Kristin Chenoweth) vs Till I Whisper U Something (Sinead O'Connor)
   
2. I Hear the Bells (Mike Doughty) vs Every Little Bit Hurts (Charles Brown)
   
3. Never Like This Before (Peter Wolf) vs Living Loving Maid - She's Just a Woman (Dread Zeppelin)
   
4. Rainbow Connection (Me First and the Gimme Gimmes) vs Hamlet (John Wesley Harding)