Summer Psychosis: Results for the Sweet 16

Hey everyone,

So...where were we? I was building all of this suspense and was pretending not to notice the fervent calls for results. Actually, sarcasm aside, I've just been pretty busy lately. I apologize for throwing off the rhythm of Summer Psychosis, because I know that our readers (not to mention our voters) have shown tremendous support and I thank you for that. Just know that after a short "hiatus", Summer Psychosis is up and running again! Woohoo!

Now, to the Sweet 16. In the preview, I started getting fancy with critical acclaim and pictures, but when it comes to these tough matchups the voters had to get down and dirty. That's why I was very surprised that most of these matchups were not all that close. One was even a sweep. It's a fine line between a "close" 3-2 and a comfortable 4-1, but to see the latter so often this late in the game defied my expectations. Also, for those who think that nothing qualifies as an upset in this round, let me know what you think after this matchup.

The Beatles 4, The Velvet Underground 1

"I’m hoping this isn’t a sweep. Even if my vote goes with the Beatles that by no means makes me think the VU deserves to roll over like that. I can’t imagine how popular these guys would have been if they came out in maybe the 80’s or even now in the age of the internet and Pitchfork. It’s a testament to how powerful this music is when almost no albums were sold, and yet any real music fan has at least one album on their Ipod. The Beatles on the other hand had everything going for them. Everyone loved the music, radios could play them, and their image was marketable. I’m not saying they didn’t deserve this popularity, but at the same time it’s not like they had much controversy to overcome (Even that one comment Lennon was misinterpreted to say blew over relatively quickly, all things considered)." - Mark

If any #2 seed was not going to be swept, it was the Velvet Underground. They have gotten this far for a reason. But once again, the Beatles have shown why they're the favorite in this bracket. No band could have had its offhand comment turned into religiously-driven outrage like the Beatles...and then have it not affect them at all in the long run. Now, if John Lennon had said that the Beatles were bigger than Pitchfork? Well, that would be a HUGE problem.

The Rolling Stones 3, Marvin Gaye 2

"Never been a Stones fan. They could write a hell of a pop song, but I never would compare them to a group like The Beach Boys or The Beatles. While I would say that I would have appreciated having an alternative to those other bands back in the day, I don’t think that they hold up as well these days. Anyway, I'm still voting for them, which brings me back to that earlier statement: They could write a hell of a pop song." - Steve

In one of the closest matchups of the round, the Stones prevail! Now we'll have the matchup that we all thought we would have: Beatles vs. Rolling Stones. The Yin and Yang of popular music, The creative "axis" that defined the 60's and helped make rock what it is today. Is it such a heavyweight bout that many, many other people have already chimed in? You bet.

The Doors 4, Pink Floyd 1

"Aggggghhhh…Ok, I won’t draw this one out. I know more Doors. Shorter career, but pretty consistent (even "Soft Parade"). Think they have a one of a kind chemistry that Pink Floyd never attained. They also had Jim Morrison. Doors." - John

As you can see I was trying to make this painful vote as quick and painless as possible. It didn't work. When you have to choose between two iconic, psychedelic and just plain weird bands, there's no way to feel bad about leaving one out. That being said, I'm still waiting for an 8-bit version of the Doors' self-titled, unlike Floyd.

Beastie Boys 4, Creedence Clearwater Revival 1

"At this point in the competition, being vindictive is out, which makes my votes significantly harder. However, I got lucky with this matchup, as my vindictive nature agrees with my subjective feelings. How CCR beat Bob Marley, the most influential and important figure in the foundation of American Reggae/Hip-Hop, and Kraftwerk, the most influential and important group in the foundation of electronic music, blows my mind. This bracket has shown me a lot of artists that I like and should explore more fully, but CCR is the first artist that I’ll be coming out of Summer Psychosis hating." - Eric

It is pretty amazing that CCR got this far. Of all the bands that made the Sweet 16, they were the one that... 

Yet I tip my hat to them, for they are obviously a great band. It is both impressive and perplexing that they were able to get by very influential bands such as Bob Marley and Kraftwerk. That's what Summer Psychosis is all about--surprises! Oh, and hating bands, according to Eric. Here's a fun list in that vein. P.s. every band on that list made it to Summer Psychosis, but our shitlist only partially coincides.

David Bowie 4, Neil Young 1

"To me personally, Southern man >> anything Bowie did. However, the rest of Bowie's work makes up for it and surpasses Young. I am sorry Canada, you know I love you..." - Elliott

I have to get strange here. I'm going with what I'm now calling a reference portmanteau...Canada I love you...but you're bringing us down. Oh yeah, and David Bowie is really cool. 

Jimi Hendrix 4, Talking Heads 1

"I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. I’ve never really been a Talking Heads fan. Yeah, I like a few of their songs, and understand their importance, along with David Byrne’s importance, but I just don’t really like them or get the massive amounts of love for them. Besides, Hendrix is the one of the greatest guitarists of all time (and very humble about it). He made some of the best and most important music of the late 60’s, and I’m sure he’d still be pumping out amazing songs if he didn’t die so young." - Eric

I agree, Eric. This is of course, all speculation, but I'm betting that Hendrix would've been a lot funkier in the 70's and beyond. He was even interested in working with the horn section from the band Chicago. How awesome would that have been? Even though we'll never get that dream combo, we do have numerous posthumous albums of one sort or another. Does all this music over-saturate the market and push his image to the point of self-aggrandizement and idolization? Yes, it does. But it still shows that Hendrix left us an incredible legacy.

Nirvana 3, Led Zeppelin 2

"It’s interesting to compare bands that are very different in this bracket. You sometimes get an outlook on music that you don’t normally have. However, I don’t think this is one of those times. Nirvana were always a modern Zeppelin to me. For the more obvious reasons like…well, Zeppelin had a huge influence on Nirvana musically. Also, for the less obvious reasons such as for a lot of kids in the 90’s Nirvana was what Zeppelin was to a lot of kids in the 70’s. This was their music, not the music of their parents. It sounded the way they were feeling and it rocked. Watching these 3 kids rock on stage made the rock star dream seem real to a lot of kids in the same way seeing Zeppelin made a lot of kids pick up guitars. I’m most certainly in the minority, but as much as I love Zeppelin, Nirvana was my music." - Mark

You're not, Mark! Wow! If anything could qualify as an upset in the Sweet 16, it's this result. Sure, a lot of people may cry foul on Nirvana over Zeppelin, but who cares? Rock that 90's nostalgia, voters and peers! You might as well own up to it. Nirvana did, and it led to some unfortunate stage antics.

Bob Dylan 5, The Beach Boys 0

"Should the Beach Boys beat Bob Dylan here? NoOoO0Oooo!!!!!!!" - Steve

I like how Steve threw in a zero with all of those O's, because that's exactly how many votes the Beach Boys got. They came so far, only to get swept? Kinda shows you how well-regarded Bob Dylan is by this blog. If it's any consolation for the Beach Boys, Dylan did have some kind words to say about Brian Wilson.

As the matchups are dwindling, candidates for the BMO are becoming scarce. However, there were still some good divergent picks here. Elliott was again the king of the minority opinion overall, with half of his picks on the wrong side of the vote (no other voter had more than two). But then, I realized that Eric and I used the exact same reasoning to vote for Marvin Gaye. Even though I never thought I'd give myself a BMO, I will...in a tie. 

Best Minority Opinion - (tied) Eric and John

"Part of me wants to vote for The Rolling Stones, but part of me doesn’t want to vote for them. I’m almost 100% positive that I’ll be in the minority for this, but I’m sticking to my guns here. There’s just something that irks me about The Rolling Stones. Something that gets under my skin and sits there and plays soccer and has a family barbecue. It’s hard to put my figure on it, but I guess it’s just I feel like they’re a commercial band. Call me a hipster (trust me, you’ll be the first), and maybe it’s the fact that I’ve grown up long after their heyday, but they just don’t feel like they’re in it for the music, man. They’re great musicians, lyricists, and songwriters, but they just feel so…tainted. The biggest reason I say this is because I compare them to The Beatles; they both became wildly popular, but rather than taking The Beatles’ route and doing some heavy experimentation, The Rolling Stones just stuck to their guns and kept in a relatively similar vein for their entire careers. They most certainly are a great band, but I’d lay awake sleepless for years if I voted for them."

That was Eric, as you might have able to tell from that "family barbecue" line. Notice the phrase "Sticking to my guns"? Keep that in mind as you read my explanation.

"Marvin Gaye’s discography is not as deep, I know that. But some of the Stones’ stuff is on there (especially earlier albums) and I think “I don’t know if it should be that high”. The crazy thing about the Stones is that they were doing very well for the first 3-4 years, but then kicked it into another gear. Then you go from Beggars Banquet to Exile in another 4 years. Still, everything that Marvin put out turned into some kind of precious metal (usually gold). I got into Marvin before I got into the Stones, and I’m sticking to my guns."

Exact same phrase, written 100% independently. It turns out that in order to vote for Marvin, you need to stick your gun towards him. I would guess how Eric's twisted, depraved mind might interpret that sentence, but I'm trying to keep this post clean.

So anything else? Yea, how about Steve's impassioned plea for the Velvet Underground? As their bid for greatest artist ends, our most devoted follower sends them off nicely.

Best Minority Opinion, Runner-up: Steve

"Finally, a band that can stand up to the unstoppable forces of Trent Reznor and the rest of the Nine Inch Nails Crew. With four albums over the course of a short nine years, The Velvet Underground set the standard every single time they got into the studio. No other band ever had an album produced by Andy Warhol, and I don’t think there is any other band that would have rejected his help the way The Velvet Underground did. With John Cale and Lou Reed at the helm, they were a band that could do no wrong. Whereas the Beatles (that’s right, I’m going to acknowledge that they are actually the band in this contest) career changed the face of pop music undoubtedly forever, The Velvet Underground changed both music and art, and that earns them my vote here."

In leaving Summer Psychosis last round, The Clash took a graceful and proud bow (that Mark is still upset about). With Steve's Runner-up BMO, the Velvet Underground have done the same. Well, look on the bright side--no more worn-out NIN references! Hooray!