Battle of the Bands Update

Chicago

Last night we had a couple of easy advances in the Battle of the Bands competition unfolding on my radio program, Dr. John's Record Shelf. No. 1 seeds Chicago (Midwest Bracket) and Velvet Underground (Northeast) easily dispatched the 16 seeds, the Cryan Shames and Monks, in their respective divisions.

Velvet Underground & Nico

It was a unanimous decision on behalf of the Velvets, whose "Sweet Jane" trounced the Monks' "Boys Are Boys and Girls Are Choice." Our guest judge this week was the Rock Doctor, Rob Thomas, who somewhat grudgingly went along with Art Vandalay and I on the Velvets. He was much firmer in his support of Chicago, behind "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is," over "Sugar and Spice" by the Cryan Shames (Art, expressing a strong dislike for brass in rock and roll did vote for the underdog in this contest).

There are six more weeks in Round 1 of our competition. You can see the full slate of matchups, by region, here, here, here, and here. Those groups that have already advanced to Round 2 include The Byrds, Creedence Clearwater Revival, the Lovin' Spoonful, the Gants, the Cowsills, the Outsiders, Steppenwolf, Spirit, the Beach Boys, the Sir Douglas Quintet, the Kingsmen, the Standells, the Crickets, the Shadows of Knight, the Remains, the Electric Prunes, the Bobby Fuller Four, and the New York Dolls. The whole competition will continue to unfold over the next few months on my radio show, which can be heard Sunday nights at 5:00 at 90.9 fm if you happen to be in SW Montana (at 90.9 fm).