Best Song of the 1970s Bracket - Born to Run wins!

[AKKOLADE]

Please note: there may be adult content in the songs linked to in this thread.

It is time to determine the best song of the 1970s. This will be a 192 song tournament, with the top 64 songs receiving byes into the second round.

Only one song per artist is allowed. I looked at the list of best songs of the decade from Acclaimed Music, and then listened to them. The seeding is entirely at my discretion, so feel free to blame me for all of those bad decisions.

Jazz songs were excluded, because it's my opinion that comparing jazz vs. pop is inherently flawed.

Much like the MONTHS tournament, I’m going to have multipliers for certain votes. If you’re a new poster, defined as having fewer than 50 total posts at the start of the tournament and/or your account was registered in 2020, your vote will be worth 1.5 votes. If you cast your vote and provide interesting discussion or justification, your vote will be worth 1.5 votes. If both are true, your vote will be worth 2 votes.

If you want to change your vote before the deadline, just edit your post. I’ll count votes as soon as I can after the assigned deadline.

The full Spotify playlist can be found here. The list starts with #1 and goes on down to #192.

I'll be posting YouTube links as well. I wasn't as thorough in lining those up, so if there's a discrepancy or error, please let me know.

[AKKOLADE]

Current bracket - Updated June 4

[AKKOLADE]

#65 Heart Of Glass – Blondie
Album: Parallel Lines
Year: 1979
Charts: Billboard Hot 100 #1, UK #1
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGU_4-5RaxU

#66 Radio Radio – Elvis Costello & The Attractions
Album: This Year’s Model
Year: 1978
Charts: UK #29
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eifljYPFW-E

#67 Friend of the Devil – Grateful Dead
Album: American Beauty
Year: 1970
Charts: non-single
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XacvydVrhuI

#68 Roxanne – The Police
Album: Outlandos d’Amour
Year: 1978
Charts: Billboard Hot 100 #32, UK #12
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3T1c7GkzRQQ

#69 Lust For Life – Iggy Pop
Album: Lust for Life
Year: 1977
Charts: did not chart in US/UK
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuBU3pzy7is

#70 Marquee Moon – Television
Album: Marquee Moon
Year: 1977
Charts: UK #30
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlbunmCbTBA

#71 Highway to Hell – AC/DC
Album: Highway to Hell
Year: 1979
Charts: Billboard Hot 100 #47, UK #56
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKggnBh2Mdw

#72 Plástico – Willie Colón & Rubén Blades
Album: Siembra
Year: 1978
Charts: did not chart in US/UK
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCYmaFOLOb4

#185 The Gambler – Kenny Rogers
Album: The Gambler
Year: 1978
Charts: Billboard Hot 100 #16, US Country #1, UK #22
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGYJrjwiPC4

#186 You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) – Sylvester
Album: Step II
Year: 1979
Charts: Billboard Hot 100 #36, US Dance #1, UK #8
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftwMLH962-o

#187 Let Your Love Flow – The Bellamy Brothers
Album: Let Your Love Flow
Year: 1976
Charts: Billboard Hot 100 #1, UK #7
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzXz6-RXXgc

#188 Baker Street – Gerry Rafferty
Album: City to City
Year: 1978
Charts: Billboard Hot 100 #2, UK #3
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tynWSAesAo

#189 Fooled Around And Fell In Love – Elvin Bishop
Album: Struttin’ My Stuff
Year: 1976
Charts: Billboard Hot 100 #3
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyMMEmwFQUE

#190 Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood – Santa Esmeralda
Album: Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood
Year: 1977
Charts: Billboard Hot 100 #15, UK #41
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hwiCkU73NA

#191 Burning Love – Elvis Presley
Album: Elvis
Year: 1972
Charts: Billboard Hot 100 #2, UK #7
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zf2VYAtqRe0

#192 Down in the Tube Station at Midnight - The Jam
Album: All Mod Cons
Year: 1978
Charts: UK #15
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKcc_I9NXvM

Your ballot:

Heart Of Glass vs. Down in the Tube Station at Midnight
Radio Radio vs. Burning Love
Friend of the Devil vs. Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood
Roxanne vs. Fooled Around and Fell in Love
Lust For Life vs. Baker Street
Marquee Moon vs. Let Your Love Flow
Highway to Hell vs. You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)
Plástico vs. The Gambler

You will have about 48 hours to vote.

[A Dim-Witted Saboteur]

Heart Of Glass vs. Down in the Tube Station at Midnight
I generally like Blondie, but this is one track I do not vibe with. Plus, The Jam is very good (Why didn't you choose That's Entertainment, Fred?).
Radio Radio vs. Burning Love
Friend of the Devil vs. Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood
Roxanne vs. Fooled Around and Fell in Love
Lust For Life vs. Baker Street
Marquee Moon vs. Let Your Love Flow
Highway to Hell vs. You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)
Plástico vs. The Gambler

[Habitat_Against_Humanity]

Heart Of Glass vs. Down in the Tube Station at Midnight
Radio Radio vs. Burning Love
Friend of the Devil vs. Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood - This one was tough, but I went for The Dead because DLMBM is technically from 1965, even if the 70s version is better.
Roxanne vs. Fooled Around and Fell in Love
Lust For Life vs. Baker Street - Another difficult one. Baker Street is one of the all time great "What song is that riff from again?" songs especially since it's a sax, but Iggy Pop appropriately got the 69 seed, so nice.
Marquee Moon vs. Let Your Love Flow
Highway to Hell vs. You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)
Plástico vs. The Gambler - Check out the YouTube mashup "Gamblefalls" that mashes K Rog up with TLC.

[Bosa of York]

Heart Of Glass vs. Down in the Tube Station at Midnight
Radio Radio vs. Burning Love
Friend of the Devil vs. Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood
Roxanne vs. Fooled Around and Fell in Love
Lust For Life vs. Baker Street
Marquee Moon vs. Let Your Love Flow
Highway to Hell vs. You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)
Plástico vs. The Gambler

[dwd500]

Heart Of Glass vs. Down in the Tube Station at Midnight
- Maybe just a bias because I'm new to the other song, but Blondie in disco mode is much more of a 70's sound to me.

Radio Radio vs. Burning Love
- Elvis vs. Elvis. I see what you did there. One of those belongs in the 70's. It's Presley's, what?, 15th best song? Meanwhile, 70s Costello is such strong material.

Friend of the Devil vs. Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood
- DLMBM is a great song, just not this version. The Dead go through off weak competition.

Roxanne vs. Fooled Around and Fell in Love
- I mean, I love The Police as much as the next guy, but their best stuff is early '80s. This is 70's.

Lust For Life vs. Baker Street
- doo DAH DAH dah doo DAAAaaaa
Major underseeding for Baker Street. That song is what an orange shag-carpeted basement surrounded by wood paneling and beanbag chairs would sound like if you turned it into a saxophone solo.

Marquee Moon vs. Let Your Love Flow
- First time hearing Marquee Moon for me, and I do see the appeal, but it's ahead of its time, and that time is in the 1980's. Let Your Love Flow is firmly stuck in the 70s and it's fine staying there.

Highway to Hell vs. You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)
- peak of the Bon Scott era. That album is just loaded with good stuff.

Plástico vs. The Gambler
- I'm not as well versed in Salsa music, so it's hard for me to hear 70s in there, other than in the intro and the Chicago/BS&T-ish brass section. Kenny Rogers squeaks by off my own biases and sympathy vote, but the sound isn't necessarily a 70s sound. Then again, it's not his fault 70s country lasted until about 1986.

[Auroni]

Heart Of Glass vs. Down in the Tube Station at Midnight
Radio Radio vs. Burning Love - uncharacteristically (for me) picking the more country song
Friend of the Devil vs. Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood - I'm basic enough that a song being featured in my favorite Quentin Tarantino movie is enough to make it sound better to me
Roxanne vs. Fooled Around and Fell in Love
Lust For Life vs. Baker Street - the discrepancy in quality between the famous parts of "Baker Street" and the other parts is shockingly high
Marquee Moon vs. Let Your Love Flow - I was initially skeptical about "Marquee Moon," but was won over by the long instrumental in the second half
Highway to Hell vs. You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) - I always forget that this album came out in 1979, not 1980
Plástico vs. The Gambler

[Victor Prieto]

Heart Of Glass vs. Down in the Tube Station at Midnight
Radio Radio vs. Burning Love
Friend of the Devil vs. Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood
Roxanne vs. Fooled Around and Fell in Love
Lust For Life vs. Baker Street
Marquee Moon vs. Let Your Love Flow
Highway to Hell vs. You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)
Plástico vs. The Gambler

[kammajos000]

Heart Of Glass vs. Down in the Tube Station at Midnight
Radio Radio vs. Burning Love
Friend of the Devil vs. Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood
Easiest choice of the round
Roxanne vs. Fooled Around and Fell in Love
Lust For Life vs. Baker Street
Surprised that The Passenger wasn't the pick for Iggy Pop
Marquee Moon vs. Let Your Love Flow
If Marquee Moon was a bit shorter I'd have voted for it. Good song, but it dragged on a bit too much
Highway to Hell vs. You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)
Plástico vs. The Gambler
Both kinda boring, but The Gambler more so

[MiltonPlayer47]

Heart Of Glass vs. Down in the Tube Station at Midnight
Radio Radio vs. Burning Love
Friend of the Devil vs. Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood
Roxanne vs. Fooled Around and Fell in Love
Lust For Life vs. Baker Street
Marquee Moon vs. Let Your Love Flow
Highway to Hell vs. You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)
Plástico vs. The Gambler

[Charm Bison]

Heart Of Glass vs. Down in the Tube Station at Midnight
First time I'm hearing this one, and I'm really vibing with it. Heart of Glass is cool, but doesn't really rise to the same heights.

Radio Radio vs. Burning Love

Friend of the Devil vs. Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood
Why didn't you post the full 16-minute version? Coward. (also, the best version of this song is Brent Smith's cover)

Roxanne vs. Fooled Around and Fell in Love

Lust For Life vs. Baker Street
Choose life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a ing big television. Choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players, and electrical tin openers. Choose good health, low cholesterol and dental insurance. Choose fixed-interest mortgage repayments. Choose a starter home. Choose your friends. Choose leisure wear and matching luggage. Choose a three piece suit on hire purchase in a range of ing fabrics. Choose DIY and wondering who the you are on a Sunday morning. Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing spirit-crushing game shows, stuffing ing junk food into your mouth. Choose rotting away at the end of it all, pissing your last in a miserable home, nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish, ed-up brats you have spawned to replace yourselves. Choose your future. Choose life. But why would I want to do a thing like that? I chose not to choose life. I chose something else. And the reasons? There are no reasons. Who needs reasons when you've got heroin?

Marquee Moon vs. Let Your Love Flow

Highway to Hell vs. You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)

Plástico vs. The Gambler

[alexdz]

Heart Of Glass vs. Down in the Tube Station at Midnight
Radio Radio vs. Burning Love
Friend of the Devil vs. Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood
Roxanne vs. Fooled Around and Fell in Love
Lust For Life vs. Baker Street
Marquee Moon vs. Let Your Love Flow
Highway to Hell vs. You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)
Plástico vs. The Gambler

[ThisIsMyUsername]

Heart Of Glass vs. Down in the Tube Station at Midnight
Radio Radio vs. Burning Love
Friend of the Devil vs. Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood
Roxanne vs. Fooled Around and Fell in Love
Lust For Life vs. Baker Street
Marquee Moon vs. Let Your Love Flow
Highway to Hell vs. You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)
Plástico vs. The Gambler

[The Unbearable Lightness of Negging]

• Heart Of Glass vs. Down in the Tube Station at Midnight

• Radio Radio vs. Burning Love

• Friend of the Devil vs. Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood

• Roxanne vs. Fooled Around and Fell in Love

• Lust For Life vs. Baker Street

Baker Street is one of my father's favorite songs. Much as I love it, I'm not my father

• Marquee Moon vs. Let Your Love Flow

The crowning achievement of the CBGB punk & post-punk scene, one of the most influential songs in the history of rock vs. a pop country snoozefest that doesn't even merit rotation on classic rock radio? I can't imagine an easier matchup

• Highway to Hell vs. You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)

• Plástico vs. The Gambler

[Auks Ran Ova]

Heart Of Glass vs. Down in the Tube Station at Midnight
Radio Radio vs. Burning Love
Friend of the Devil vs. Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood
Roxanne vs. Fooled Around and Fell in Love
Lust For Life vs. Baker Street
Marquee Moon vs. Let Your Love Flow
Highway to Hell vs. You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)
Plástico vs. The Gambler

[AKKOLADE]

A reminder that you don't have to evaluate a song's '70-ishness,' just its quality, but you're welcome to define that how you want!

Why you should vote for each song:

Heart Of Glass – Deborah Harry dominates the lead vocals on this song, which is a perfect melding of the best bits of disco with early punk sensibilities. The synthesizer(?) and drum machine gives it a great dreamy feel.
Radio Radio – A biting protest against the monoculture of FM radio, decades before Clear Channel. Frenetic energy led by a memorable organ line and a bridge that shakes up the entire song.
Friend of the Devil – I’m far from a Dead superfan, but this album (American Beauty) has at least four classic songs on it. This song stands out for its jangling steel guitar and mandolin against the gentle but singing by Jerry Garcia of the tense story of a man who’s always on the run.
Roxanne – I love about everything on this song, from Sting’s vocal stylizing to the harmonies of the pre-chorus to the switch into the chorus. Sting is also credited for “butt piano” on this song.
Lust For Life – The opening drums on this is a fantastic open. Maybe the most upbeat song about heroin addiction around, which makes every time it pops up in a commercial hilarious. Pop’s great on the vocals and the guitar riff is memorable. David Bowie originally wrote this on a ukulele.
Marquee Moon – I love the different guitar solos and riffs on this, starting with the rapid shifting of notes at the start of each verse. I also really like the lyrics, which describe someone’s own feelings of inadequacy and their failure to solve that.
Highway to Hell – If you aren’t energized by the opening riff, I don’t know what to tell you.
Plástico – The horns are perfect, and the disco-like open into a more traditional salsa sound is a great merger.
The Gambler – One of the best “story telling” songs of the 70s, it’s hard to imagine anyone presenting this song’s lyrics as well as Rogers does.
You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) – This song managers to feel extremely in the moment as a disco highlight, but also futuristic with its heavy usage of synthesizers. It’s hard not to trace a lot of future dance music back to this song. Sylvester (a fascinating and tragic person) brings a beautiful, almost gospel-like texture with his vocals.
Let Your Love Flow – Extremely yacht rock-ish, it’s a good combination of acoustic & electric guitar and a soaring chorus.
Baker Street – The sax solos are immortal, as is the guitar solo. Gerry Rafferty’s understated vocals about an alcoholic’s life provide a contrast to those musical high points.
Fooled Around and Fell in Love – A great chorus does a lot of work for this song, but it’s obvious that Elvin Bishop’s blues background influenced the entire direction of the song. The drum break in the middle of the second chorus, before the guitar solo, is a great moment. (Note that Bishop didn’t actually sing lead on this; it was Mickey Thomas, who went on to join Jefferson Starship due to his work with Bishop)
Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood – The flamenco-like hand claps, the disco-inspired guitar work, and the horns combine for a unique reinterpretation of the (also great!) original by Nine Simone and subsequent cover by The Animals.
Burning Love – The last great Elvis song, he just nails the vocals on this as only he could. A three minute, full speed ahead rocker. Sadly, this was kept from hitting #1 in the US by – of all things – Chuck Berry’s “My Ding-a-Ling.”
Down in the Tube Station at Midnight – Jakob’s question is what inspired me to do this. I was wanting to do a write up of each song, but felt like doing a background on each song would be basically a recap of easily found facts. I chose this song because I love how the skittish guitars and the vocals of Paul Weller giving the uneasiness underlying a pretty upbeat song that’s really about being jumped by fascist thugs in the London Underground. The subtle addition of a heartbeat adds to that effect. The bass syncopation is wonderful as well.

[34 + P.J. Dozier]

Heart Of Glass vs. Down in the Tube Station at Midnight
Radio Radio vs. Burning Love
Friend of the Devil vs. Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood
Roxanne vs. Fooled Around and Fell in Love
Lust For Life vs. Baker Street
Marquee Moon vs. Let Your Love Flow
Highway to Hell vs. You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)
Plástico vs. The Gambler

[cdbarker]

Heart Of Glass vs. Down in the Tube Station at Midnight

Radio Radio vs. Burning Love

Friend of the Devil vs. Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood (this has no right being ten minutes long, and yet, it's an amazing ten minutes.)

Roxanne vs. Fooled Around and Fell in Love

Lust For Life vs. Baker Street (how good is this tournament going to be if this is a first round game?)

Marquee Moon vs. Let Your Love Flow

Highway to Hell vs. You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)

Plástico vs. The Gambler

[Stained Diviner]

Heart Of Glass vs. Down in the Tube Station at Midnight
Heart of Glass is a good dance/singalong song. I can't get into the other one.

Radio Radio vs. Burning Love
I never understood Elvis Costello. Everybody understands Elvis Presley.

Friend of the Devil vs. Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood
There have been times in my life when Friend of the Devil has been a very good fit. Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood is a great song, but there are better versions.

Roxanne vs. Fooled Around and Fell in Love
Both of these songs are great, but Roxanne is all-time great, whereas Fooled Around and Fell in Love is just great. Roxanne is the song that made The Police popular, and I probably would have put it in the Top 10, definitely Top 20.

Lust For Life vs. Baker Street
This one is a close call, but if I was listening to the radio I would get excited if Lust For Life came on, whereas Baker Street is just something to listen to occasionally.

Marquee Moon vs. Let Your Love Flow
This probably is the weakest pairing for now. Let Your Love Flow is a legit feel good song.

Highway to Hell vs. You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)
Of course

Plástico vs. The Gambler
You have to be in the right mood for The Gambler, but it's a fun song when you're into it.

[Whiter Hydra]

Finally, I get to have opinions about 70s music!

Heart of Glass -- This song manages to combine new wave and disco and top it off with great vocals. Yeah, it's not going to have a deep message, but sometimes you just want to enjoy a classic that holds up over time.
Down in the Tube Station at Midnight -- Making your song about the London Underground earns bonus points in my eyes. However, I felt the pacing of the song was off, as in a couple of occasions the punk rock was paused to tell the story. It's a good song, but it's up against better competition.

Radio Radio -- Elvis Costello is someone whose work I haven't listened to as much as I should. That being said, Radio Radio is not only a good song regardless of lyrical content, it also has a strong message.
Burning Love -- I would never have guessed this song was from the 70s. It's a fun, pop-y song, and while I would gladly listen to this song, it feels like music had moved on from when Elvis first appeared on stage.

Friend of the Devil -- I respect the Grateful Dead, I can see its appeal, but I've never been able to get into their music. That being said, it feels like one of their more accessible songs, and I appreciate a good story that works well with the song.
Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood -- This was a good song originally, and Santa Esmeralda did a nice cover of it in their own style. And then the song went on for another seven minutes. I enjoy me a long song (e.g. 2112 and La Villa Strangiato are amazing and should have been in there as opposed to Closer to the Heart, but I'm getting ahead of myself), but it felt like the final five minutes had nothing to add.

Roxanne -- I like most of the song, but I was never a big fan of Sting's voice in it. IMO most of their best work was (unfortunately) released in the early 80s. On the other hand, it was featured in the greatest episode of Community.
Fooled Around and Fell in Love -- This is a slower song that nevertheless manages to grab my attention and it feels like a complete package.

Lust for Life -- It's a fine song, but for some reason I just couldn't really get into it.
Baker Street -- It has a good guitar solo, but the saxophone carries it by far. I have lot of nostalgia for this song, as for some reason my local classic rock station loved to play it all the time back in high school.

Marquee Moon -- I initially wasn't sold on this song, but then the second half of the second solo came on. Santa Esmeralda, this is how you do a 10-minute song.
Let Your Love Flow -- It's a nice bubble-gum pop song with country influences, but I get the feeling it's one of those tunes that would quickly grow boring if I were to listen to it a lot.

Highway to Hell -- This song is quintessential AC/DC. It's got a banging intro riff and lyrics that you'd expect from them. My only complaint is that this song wasn't seeded two slots higher, because it's just missing out on going up against Stairway to Heaven in the third round.
You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) -- Somehow this song manages to feel like it's sped up 25% while still being 25% too long. It's very much a pure disco song, but in a way that doesn't really do it for me.

Plástico -- This is a song I can tell I don't really get as much as I should. I'm sure it's a good song, but it's not really for me, I guess.
The Gambler -- It starts slow, but builds at a nice pace for such a song. It tells a great, if not deep, story in 3 minutes in a way that most songwriters wouldn't be able to do. It's also very singable, which I enjoy a lot.

Heart Of Glass vs. Down in the Tube Station at Midnight
Radio Radio vs. Burning Love
Friend of the Devil vs. Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood
Roxanne vs. Fooled Around and Fell in Love
Lust For Life vs. Baker Street
Marquee Moon vs. Let Your Love Flow
Highway to Hell vs. You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)
Plástico vs. The Gambler

[ValenciaQBowl]

Heart Of Glass vs. Down in the Tube Station at Midnight
--"Heart of Glass" isn't even the best Blondie song of the '70s (that's probably "X-Offender")

Radio Radio vs. Burning Love
--Just before the pandemic got real, in the first week of March, I finally visited Graceland. Doesn't matter.

Friend of the Devil vs. Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood
--Robert Hunter is a great lyricist, and this is a Dead song much better as recorded than the live versions I've heard. The mournful Lyle Lovett cover is excellent.

Roxanne vs. Fooled Around and Fell in Love
--I kind of hate not voting for the one "Southern Rockish" song on this list, but "Roxanne" should be among the top 20 songs of this decade (which *sniff* I'll remind you kids I lived through. It's hard to explain the impact the exotic sound of this song had on those of us raised on rock radio.

Lust For Life vs. Baker Street
--Dang, I like Gerry Rafferty and Stealer's Wheel as much as the next old white guy, but this shouldn't be close.

Marquee Moon vs. Let Your Love Flow
--Never been a huge Television fan, but I'll turn the dial if that latter song comes on the radio.

Highway to Hell vs. You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)
--In my middle school the story about Bon Scott's death was that he was so drunk, driving home in the wee hours, that he stopped his car to puke and then fell dead on the ground. That's apparently not true, but it makes this song completely rule, despite its oversaturation.

Plástico vs. The Gambler
--whatever.

[AKKOLADE]

Ain’t gonna lie, Bill Withers dying today hit me hard. The greatest West Virginian musician ever. Ain’t No Sunshine was a no brained for this tournament, but his discography is much deeper than that with several other songs that would have easily made this field. If you have time, check out the “This is Bill Withers” playlist Spotify put together.

[Stinkweed Imp]

Heart Of Glass vs. Down in the Tube Station at Midnight
Radio Radio vs. Burning Love
Friend of the Devil vs. Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood
Roxanne vs. Fooled Around and Fell in Love
Lust For Life vs. Baker Street
Marquee Moon vs. Let Your Love Flow
Highway to Hell vs. You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)
Plástico vs. The Gambler

[BenWeiner27]

Heart Of Glass vs. Down in the Tube Station at Midnight
Radio Radio vs. Burning Love
Friend of the Devil vs. Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood
Roxanne vs. Fooled Around and Fell in Love
Lust For Life vs. Baker Street
Marquee Moon vs. Let Your Love Flow
Highway to Hell vs. You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)
Plástico vs. The Gambler

[ryanrosenberg]

Heart Of Glass vs. Down in the Tube Station at Midnight
Radio Radio vs. Burning Love
Friend of the Devil vs. Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood
Roxanne vs. Fooled Around and Fell in Love
Lust For Life vs. Baker Street
Marquee Moon vs. Let Your Love Flow
Highway to Hell vs. You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)
Plástico vs. The Gambler

[Asterias Wrathbunny]

Heart Of Glass vs. Down in the Tube Station at Midnight - this is a difficult choice because I'm a big fan of The Jam, but this particular song doesn't beat a classic like Heart of Glass. I really wish a better Jam song was picked (Going Underground? A Bomb on Wardour Street?)
Radio Radio vs. Burning Love
Friend of the Devil vs. Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood
Roxanne vs. Fooled Around and Fell in Love
Lust For Life vs. Baker Street
Marquee Moon vs. Let Your Love Flow - lol at this
Highway to Hell vs. You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) - AC/DC is overrated
Plástico vs. The Gambler

[Gemistus Pletho]

Heart Of Glass vs. Down in the Tube Station at Midnight
Radio Radio vs. Burning Love
Friend of the Devil vs. Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood
Roxanne vs. Fooled Around and Fell in Love
Lust For Life vs. Baker Street
Marquee Moon vs. Let Your Love Flow
Highway to Hell vs. You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)
Plástico vs. The Gambler

[merv1618]

Down in the Tube Station at Midnight--Blondie is great, but Heart of Glass never did it for me.
Burning Love--never doubt the King.
Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood--an unfortunate matchup
Fooled Around and Fell in Love--Roxanne isn't great
Baker Street--perfect example of 70s smooth pop
Let Your Love Flow--a lifetime favorite of mine; it's hard to feel sad when you listen.
You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)--easy choice. Used very well during the party in Milk.
Plástico--I don't like story songs.

For what it's worth, can the links be listed by matchup and not top to bottom from here on out?

[AKKOLADE]

For what it's worth, can the links be listed by matchup and not top to bottom from here on out?

Yeah, I can do that if it'd be helpful!

[Wynaut]

Heart Of Glass vs. Down in the Tube Station at Midnight
Radio Radio vs. Burning Love
Friend of the Devil vs. Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood
Roxanne vs. Fooled Around and Fell in Love
Lust For Life vs. Baker Street
Marquee Moon vs. Let Your Love Flow
Highway to Hell vs. You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)
Plástico vs. The Gambler

[Harpie's Feather Duster]

As with the 2010s bracket, I will be putting songs I had not heard before this bracket in italics

Heart Of Glassvs. Down in the Tube Station at Midnight

The Jam song was cool, but Heart of Glass is one of the best pop songs of the decade and criminally underseeded here IMO.

Radio Radio vs. Burning Love

Two really fun songs with great choruses. Have to give Costello the edge even though Burning Love is a strong pick, and evokes good memories of the Lilo and Stitch soundtrack.

Friend of the Devil vs. Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood

I like the Dead, but I love everything about Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood. It could go on for an hour and I'd keep it on.

Roxanne vs. Fooled Around and Fell in Love

I guess I've technically heard Fooled Around and Fell in Love if it's on the Guardians soundtrack? It clearly didn't leave much of an impression on me.

Lust For Life vs. Baker Street

Baker Street has that sweet sax but I'm... not convinced it's actually any good. Lust For Life is so good that Jet decided to rip it off.

Marquee Moon vs. Let Your Love Flow

Marquee Moon's a little long but damn good. The other song is, to me, the least interesting song in this particular set. Easy choice.

Highway to Hell vs. You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)

AC/DC doesn't do much for me. I would've considered voting for "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" but I'll take this roughly replacement-level disco song over anything else.

Plástico vs. The Gambler

Plastico sounds familiar enough that I may have heard it before, but I'm not sure. The Gambler is ok but feels like it's missing something.

[ScoBo]

Heart Of Glass vs. Down in the Tube Station at Midnight
Radio Radio vs. Burning Love
Friend of the Devil vs. Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood
Roxanne vs. Fooled Around and Fell in Love
Lust For Life vs. Baker Street
Marquee Moon vs. Let Your Love Flow
Highway to Hell vs. You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)
Plástico vs. The Gambler

[AKKOLADE]

Here's a Spotify playlist of just the matchups for this round. It goes high seed vs. low seed and repeats if I set it up properly. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3T5FU ... n0h9VyoSVA

[kitakule]

Heart Of Glass vs. Down in the Tube Station at Midnight

Radio Radio vs. Burning Love

Friend of the Devil vs. Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood

Roxanne vs. Fooled Around and Fell in Love

Lust For Life vs. Baker Street

Marquee Moon vs. Let Your Love Flow

Highway to Hell vs. You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)

Plástico vs. The Gambler

[AKKOLADE]

Less than 24 hours to vote!

[mrtyrmystry]

want my vote to really count darnit, so adding selected discussionjustification before deadline i swear.

Heart Of Glass vs. Down in the Tube Station at Midnight
I've heard the 3 most popular Jam songs often (town called malice sounds kind of like lust for life => are you gonna be my girl - i think they all rip off motown as opposed to each other). the one ive listened to much on my own time is That's Entertainment. however, as a kind-of punk band, the Jam's music tends to be not as punchy as I want it to be or not as evocative as they (paul weller?) want it to be - ive tried some albums.
sprawl ii is one of the best songs of the 2010s and it's worse than heart of glass, which it sounds kind of like.

Radio Radio vs. Burning Love
i am not an elvis costello fan.

Friend of the Devil vs. Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood
i think the votes on this are close, and it really is close. friend of the devil makes me feel better than any other song here.

Roxanne vs. Fooled Around and Fell in Love
Lust For Life vs. Baker Street
Marquee Moon vs. Let Your Love Flow
marquee moon is one of the long songs with no pointless moments. his voice is silly angsty, and who knows what the lyrics really describe, but they are more evocative than anything. i listened to Close to the Edge by Yes recently and i was like wow a lot of this sounds really good but it's so much more pointless than marquee moon.

Highway to Hell vs. You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)
Plástico vs. The Gambler

Blondie and Television came from the same scene, they say. reflect i guess.

i wanted my thoughts down, never mind the .5

also, i really like Use Me by Bill Withers.

[Steeve Ho You Fat]

Heart Of Glass vs. Down in the Tube Station at Midnight
Radio Radio vs. Burning Love Top 5 Elvis song (the real Elvis)
Friend of the Devil vs. Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood I'm no Deadhead, but this is one of my favorite songs by them and one of the first songs I ever learned to play on the guitar. I prefer the live version that slows it down and strips it down, leaving just the vocals and a few guitar notes.
Roxanne vs. Fooled Around and Fell in Love Only because the other one is all kinds of boring
Lust For Life vs. Baker Street Right on, inventing punk, that's what the 70s were for
Marquee Moon vs. Let Your Love Flow
Highway to Hell vs. You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)
Plástico vs. The Gambler f

[Triton of the Minnows]

Heart of Glass vs. Down the Tube Station at Midnight
Radio Radio vs. Burning Love
Friend of the vs. Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood
Roxanne vs. Fooled Around and Fell in Love
Lust for Life vs. Baker Street
Marquee Moon vs. Let Your Love Flow
Highway to Hell vs. You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)
Plástico vs. The Gambler

[Quinctilius Varus]

Heart Of Glass vs. Down in the Tube Station at Midnight
Radio Radio vs. Burning Love
Friend of the Devil vs. Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood
Roxanne vs. Fooled Around and Fell in Love
Lust For Life vs. Baker Street
Marquee Moon vs. Let Your Love Flow
Highway to Hell vs. You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)
Plástico vs. The Gambler

[Blackboard Monitor Vimes]

Heart Of Glass vs. Down in the Tube Station at Midnight
Not my favorite Blondie song (Call Me, 1978), but I just can't get into the other one.
Radio Radio vs. Burning Love
There's been a fair amount of Elvis Costello hate in this thread. I really dig the song he has featured on the Sopranos soundtrack (Complicated Shadows, which features one of my all-time favorite similes, "in a voice like a John Ford film"), but this one just can't top Burning Love.
Friend of the Devil vs. Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood
I'm much more familiar with The Animals version, so this was a very interesting listen. These are both generally in the "let me tell you about my mistakes" category of songs, but I've also never vibed with "let me tell you about my various concurrent wives" lyrics. I don't know if I've subjected anyone here to my "I'd Do Anything for Love" rant, but I have strong feelings generally about cutting songs for time and support musical rambling, so I wasn't bothered by this being 10+ minutes.
Roxanne vs. Fooled Around and Fell in Love
This is the only matchup in this round where I was already very familiar with both songs. Roxanne is a classic, but not one I've ever much enjoyed - something about Sting's voice here just doesn't work for me as well as it does on, say, "Fields of Gold."
Lust For Life vs. Baker Street
I have accepted "someone's dad" as my role in life; I've loved this song since childhood.
Marquee Moon vs. Let Your Love Flow
I've been trying to give the songs I'm not familiar with a full listen, and I'm glad I did - I wasn't sold on "Marquee Moon" til the second half, where I think it really shines. A+ musical rambling. "Let Your Love Flow" is fine for what it is, but it just isn't as interesting.
Highway to Hell vs. You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)
Unrelated AC/DC anecdote for your quarantine amusement: my mom's nursing school roommate had a Christmas tree whose lights blinked in time to "Hell's Bells." "Highway to Hell" is far from my favorite of their songs, but this is probably my least favorite song partially titled "You Make Me Feel."
Plástico vs. The Gambler
Both these got an "oh right, this song!" out of me. I generally enjoy story songs, especially stories of encounters with interesting strangers, and "The Gambler" also reminds me of my favorite Bad Company song, "Shooting Star" (1975).

[AKKOLADE]

Closing balloting now.

[AKKOLADE]

Our results:

Heart of Glass beats Down in the Tube Station at Midnight, 28.5-11.5
Radio Radio beats Burning Love, 25-14.5
Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood pulls off the upset over Friend of the Devil, 23.5-18
Roxanne blows out Fooled Around and Fell in Love, 30-9.5
Lust for Life beats Baker Street, 26-16
Marquee Moon beats Let Your Love Flow, 27.5-13
Highway to Hell beats You Make Me Feel, 26.5-13.5
The Gamble upsets Plastico, 25-14

First round winners are tracked in this post.

[AKKOLADE]

Spotify link: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4tY7G ... gVd085F7SQ

#73 Surrender – Cheap Trick
Album: Heaven Tonight
Year: 1978
Charts: Billboard Hot 100 #62
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sAm5UCJ9vA

#74 Short People – Randy Newman
Album: Little Criminals
Year: 1977
Charts: Billboard Hot 100 #2
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bfyS-S-IJs

#75 La Grange – ZZ Top
Album: Tres Hombres
Year: 1973
Charts: Billboard Hot 100 #41
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vppbdf-qtGU

#76 Only the Good Die Young – Billy Joel
Album: The Stranger
Year: 1978
Charts: Billboard Hot 100 #24
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERWREcPIoPA

#77 Mississippi Queen – Mountain
Album: Climbing!
Year: 1970
Charts: did not chart
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFhM1XZsh6o

#78 I'll Be Around – The Spinners
Album: Spinners
Year: 1972
Charts: Billboard Hot 100 #3
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOgfQoEUNHI

#79 Search and Destroy – The Stooges
Album: Raw Power
Year: 1973
Charts: did not chart
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPDeTf7qE00

#80 American Girl – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Album: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Year: 1977
Charts: UK #40
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIhb-kNvL6M

#177 Whole Wide World – Wreckless Eric
Album: Wreckless Eric
Year: 1977
Charts: did not chart
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHEPHPHuNis

#178 Mr. Big Stuff – Jean Knight
Album: Mr. Big Stuff
Year: 1971
Charts: Billboard Hot 100 #2
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPgOg4dg2ZM

#179 Up Against the Wall – Tom Robinson Band
Album: Power in the Darkness
Year: 1978
Charts: UK #33
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExVKiWvA4xw

#180 Star Spangled Banner – Jimi Hendrix
Album: Woodstock: Music form the Original Soundtrack and more
Year: 1970
Charts: non-single
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKAwPA14Ni4

#181 Hello Darlin' – Conway Twitty
Album: Hello Darlin’
Year: 1970
Charts: Billboard Hot 100 #60, US Country #1
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmMaVDmXVuw

#182 All Right Now – Free
Album: Fire and Water
Year: 1970
Charts: Billboard Hot 100 #4, UK #2
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSdBtoIIYT4

#183 Closer To The Heart – Rush
Album: A Farewell to Kings
Year: 1977
Charts: Billboard Hot 100 #76, UK #36
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quBCjo2rUZg

#184 Right Place Wrong Time – Dr. John
Album: In the Right Place
Year: 1973
Charts: Billboard Hot 100 #9
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HT4RainY-lY

Your ballot:

#73 Surrender – Cheap Trick
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sAm5UCJ9vA

#184 Right Place Wrong Time – Dr. John
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HT4RainY-lY

#74 Short People – Randy Newman
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bfyS-S-IJs

#183 Closer To The Heart – Rush
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quBCjo2rUZg

#75 La Grange – ZZ Top
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vppbdf-qtGU

#182 All Right Now – Free
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSdBtoIIYT4

#76 Only the Good Die Young – Billy Joel
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERWREcPIoPA

#181 Hello Darlin' – Conway Twitty
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmMaVDmXVuw

#77 Mississippi Queen – Mountain
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFhM1XZsh6o

#180 Star Spangled Banner – Jimi Hendrix
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKAwPA14Ni4

#78 I'll Be Around – The Spinners
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOgfQoEUNHI

#179 Up Against the Wall – Tom Robinson Band
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExVKiWvA4xw

#79 Search and Destroy – The Stooges
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPDeTf7qE00

#178 Mr. Big Stuff – Jean Knight
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPgOg4dg2ZM

#80 American Girl – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIhb-kNvL6M

#177 Whole Wide World – Wreckless Eric
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHEPHPHuNis

Your ballot:

Surrender vs. Right Place Wrong Time
Short People vs. Closer to the Heart
La Grange vs. All Right Now
Only the Good Die Young vs. Hello Darlin’
Mississippi Queen vs. Star Spangled Banner
I’ll Be Around vs. Up Against the Wall
Search and Destroy vs. Mr. Big Stuff
American Girl vs. Whole Wide World

You'll have roughly 48 hours to vote.

[Wynaut]

Surrender vs. Right Place Wrong Time
Short People vs. Closer to the Heart -- how and why did this song hit #2
La Grange vs. All Right Now
Only the Good Die Young vs. Hello Darlin’
Mississippi Queen vs. Star Spangled Banner
I’ll Be Around vs. Up Against the Wall
Search and Destroy vs. Mr. Big Stuff
American Girl vs. Whole Wide World

[dwd500]

OK. No "70s-ish-ness." But for all you know, I'm breaking ties based on drummer's hair length this time.

Surrender vs. Right Place Wrong Time
- BTW this draw sucks for Cheap Trick. This song, with a higher seed, could have gone a lot further. But it's going to take a lot for me to vote against Dr. John.

Short People vs. Closer to the Heart

La Grange vs. All Right Now
- Two great, simple, and effective opening riffs. Better guitar solo wins. Free's guitarist's first solo sounds like he wasn't aware they were recording.

Only the Good Die Young vs. Hello Darlin’
- So I guy I knew in high school used to work at Hardee's. Apparently, to quit your job at Hardee's at the time, you had to give a written reason. So he wrote down: "Due to the death of Conway Twitty I am no longer able to work at Hardee's" and then walked out the door. Every time I hear about Conway Twitty it reminds me of that story. I'm still voting for Billy Joel.

Mississippi Queen vs. Star Spangled Banner
- I know I'm supposed to like the Hendrix more than I do. I've just never been able to get into it, mainly because I'm listening to his drummer keep trying to add to the song, and he's got, like, .01% of the final mix.

I’ll Be Around vs. Up Against the Wall
- Apparently good bass line + funky congas = my vote.

Search and Destroy vs. Mr. Big Stuff
- See my "I'll Be Around" vote. That, and I just don't get the appeal of Iggy Pop.

American Girl vs. Whole Wide World
- I was surprised that I actually had heard Whole Wide World before. Even more, what I'd heard was this version, not the slow Proclaimer's version. I still think Tom Petty's song is better, but Whole Wide World could have made the next round with a better matchup.

[kammajos000]

Surrender vs. Right Place Wrong Time

Short People vs. Closer to the Heart

La Grange vs. All Right Now

Only the Good Die Young vs. Hello Darlin’
I hope this one loses next round. Billy Joel is overrated

Mississippi Queen vs. Star Spangled Banner
Both of these songs are great. Should Star Spangled Banner really be classified as a 70s song though? It may not have been released until 1970, but it was still performed at Woodstock in 1969.

I’ll Be Around vs. Up Against the Wall
Such a good song

Search and Destroy vs. Mr. Big Stuff

American Girl vs. Whole Wide World
Pretty tired of this song after hearing it a million times on classic rock radio, but that aside, it's an iconic song

[Triton of the Minnows]

Surrender vs. Right Place Wrong Time
Short People vs. Closer to the Heart
La Grange vs. All Right Now
Only the Good Die Young vs. Hello Darlin’
Mississippi Queen vs. Star Spangled Banner
I’ll Be Around vs. Up Against the Wall
Search and Destroy vs. Mr. Big Stuff
American Girl vs. Whole Wide World

[Everything in the Whole Wide World]

Surrender vs. Right Place Wrong Time
Short People vs. Closer to the Heart
La Grange vs. All Right Now
Only the Good Die Young vs. Hello Darlin’
Mississippi Queen vs. Star Spangled Banner
I’ll Be Around vs. Up Against the Wall
Search and Destroy vs. Mr. Big Stuff
American Girl vs. Whole Wide World

[Charm Bison]

Surrender vs. Right Place Wrong Time
Short People vs. Closer to the Heart
La Grange vs. All Right Now
Only the Good Die Young vs. Hello Darlin’
Mississippi Queen vs. Star Spangled Banner
I’ll Be Around vs. Up Against the Wall
Search and Destroy vs. Mr. Big Stuff
American Girl vs. Whole Wide World