Battle of the Bands Update

The Crickets

This week on Dr. John's Record Shelf, we played off a couple pairs of Midwest Bracket groups in Round 2 of our ongoing Battle of the Bands to determine the greatest American Rock Band from the era between 1954 and 1974. No. 1 seeded Chicago easily moved on by trouncing The Outsiders (9) in a unanimous decision, and the Crickets (5) won a split victory over the Shadows of Knight (13). Guest judges this week were Tom and Natalie Rosiek (with Natalie casting the one dissenting vote in favor of the Shadows of Knight).

Chicago

We've still got a number of weeks to go in Round 2, but it's already obvious that upsets are going to be much less common than in Round 1, as 3 of the 4 groups to advance so far were favorites (and the fourth was the slightest of underdogs). Chicago moved up behind "Saturday in the Park" against "Respectable" by the Outsiders; and The Crickets won with "That'll Be the Day" over "I'm Gonna Make You Mine" by the Shadows. [Ironic coincidence: the Crickets tune got it's name and main lyric from a line uttered by John Wayne in the John Ford western The Searchers-- see my previous post.] So, in Round 3, Chicago will square off against the Crickets in what should be a very competitive matchup. Following last week's contests, Creedence Clearwater Revival will be up against Country Joe and the Fish.

You can find the complete set of Round Two matchups for the Battle of the Bands unfolding on my radio show at the following links: Northeast Bracket, Midwest Bracket, Southwest Bracket, Northwest Bracket.