Do you ever listen to Classic Rock radio and find yourself predicting the next artist or song? Here’s your chance to turn that habit into a charitable contribution, a barrel of rock-nerd fun, and more!
By now our founding and regularly participating Townspeople should have been reached with an invitation to our upcoming Sausages for Sammy fundraiser event to benefit Rock Town Hall’s producer and blog designer—and my trusted partner in crime—Townsman sammymaudlin and his family. Many of you have followed posts on our friend’s condition and already contributed to his remarkable road to recovery.
I look forward to seeing a number of you at our event and especially thank those of you from all corners of the Hall who have donated despite not being able to down sausages with us. If you would like to learn more about the Sausages for Sammy event, hit me offlist: mrmoderator [at] rocktownhall [dot] com.
Online predictions for tonight’s Classic Rock Psychic Rock Event are now closed. Thank you for your healthy contributions to our friend’s health!
The Sausages for Sammy Classic Rock Block Psychic Event sprung partially formed from the fertile mind of Townsman hrrundivbakshi. He recently realized that he is gifted with the ability to predict the future of Classic Rock radio programming. He consulted The Orockle on possible uses for this gift and was advised to use this gift for the purposes of Good, not Evil or, worse, Apathy. “What more good can I do,” HVB asked himself, “than to help a fellow Townsperson and his family?” And so this psychic, 50-50 fundraiser was hatched. Here’s how it’s played:
- Contest date: Saturday, June 4th (late-evening time to be announced)
- Objective: Predict a specific Artist and Song that will be played during a predetermined 20-minute Rock Block on a Classic Rock station to be announced. The specific station will be announced shortly before the Rock Block airs. The station will have a live stream, so you can follow along in real-time with those of us in attendance at the Sausage for Sammy event.
- To win: Winners will have, at minimum, guessed an artist played during the Rock Block. Ties will be broken among contestants who have successfully guessed the same artist by the specific song predicted. Successfully predicting an artist and a specific song ensures a spot in the Winner’s Circle.
- Prize: Winner takes/splits (if multiple winners) 50% of entire fundraising pot.
- Entry fee: $1 per predicted Artist/Song that may be played during the selected 20-minute Rock Block (multiple entries are encouraged at $1/pop, to increase odds of winning.
- “Box” an artist: For $15 you can “box” an artist, that is, submit the artist and their entire catalog, to ensure landing on the right side of any tie. For Classic Rock artists with dozens of program-worthy songs, like the Beatles, the Stones, or Led Zep, this is a fantastic deal. For a second-line Classic Rock artist like Bad Company, you could place 5 individual bets predictions, but why risk forgetting to enter one of the band’s backline classics, like “Good Lovin’ Gone Bad.” For $15 you’ve got that song covered and others that may make you wish you had a V8. I know, it’s easy to forget how deep some Classic Rock artists’ catalogs ran!
Thanks, and thanks to hrrundivbakshi, or Master of Fun and Games, for sparking this idea!
I gotta say, the way you took a half-baked idea and turned it into something real is truly *mad props*-worthy!
Now, it’s up to the rest of us. Come on, gang — place your bets! Help us raise some cold, hard cash for a good friend who’s had a run of bad luck!
I’m going to work with my technical crew to see if we can’t get a live feed from the Sausagefest. The web needs to see sausage-sweating Townspeople gathered around a laptop, throwing crumpled dollar bills down as they enter last-minute predictions.
I look forward to tracking your predictions. As the Live Rock Block Event approaches I will post a link to the selected station’s live stream so you can listen along with your fellow Townspeople from around the globe.
Yo, Mod — just noticed that the entry field for songs has a very low character number limit — so it basically makes you buy one song at a time. Any way we can expand it?
Still immensely proud of you,
HVB
I’m humbled by your pride in me, HVB, and both proud of you and thankful for your tip. I believe I’ve successfully increased the size of the box to fit multiple entries (may 5 songs’ worth?). Just separate your multiple picks by semicolons or slashes or whatever and remember to donate a dollar for each selection (when you checkout you can note quantity of $1 donations). OR…you may box a Classic Rock Titan with one $15 donation!
So let it be written, so let it be done! I placed four one-dollar bet/donations on the following tracks. Playing a hunch? Maybe. But I’m good at this racket, see?
All Right Now/Free
We Are the Champions/Queen
Hold On Loosely/.38 Special
You Shook Me All Night Long/AC/DC
I have to admit, blocking the entire Zep catalog for a measly $15 is starting to look like a good idea, too. I’ll be back to bet/donate some more later.
And note: just because I was first to choose these four tracks doesn’t take them off the board! If you think any of my choices are as good as I KNOW they are, feel free to carve up the action — if we’re both right, we both win. We win *less*, but we both win. And it’s all for a good cause, right? I promise to keep my shiv in my pocket. For now.
HVB
Correct, HVB: overlapping predictions are allowed – and there is no need to share your selections with the masses who are likely to join in on this event. It goes without saying, however, that I am proud of you for having shared.
I so want to play along, but to avoid the temptation of rigging this entire thing and cutting a deal with the programming director/computer of the station we go with I’ll reserve entering my predictions. Maybe.
My first guesses:
Bad Co, Can’t Get Enough
Pink Floyd, Wish You Were Here
Led Zep, Whole Lotta Love
Jimi Hendrix Experience, Foxy Lady
Bob Seger, Night Moves (of course!)
http://www.antiquegamblingchips.com/movie/CharlesBronsonHeart.jpg
Just found the classic rock station from my hometown onlne. First four songs? Led Zeppelin’s “Misty Mountain Hop” Journey’s “Wheel in the Sky” something by Motley Crue and “Burnin’ Sky” by Bad Company.
“Burnin’ Sky”??? See, that’s one of those Bad Co songs you’d kick yourself over if you placed 5 individual dollar predictions on their catalog rather than going whole hog with the $15 box.
It’s funny, bands like Motley Crue and Bon Jovi are now considered Classic Rock. They’re not Classic, only Classic Style, at best. I rarely know any songs from that period.
On a whim, I checked the station out again after reading your comment. First four songs: Journey “Separate Ways”, Heart “Even It Up”, AC/DC “You Shook Me All Night Long” and The Cars “Let’s Go”
My guess is that there is some sort of Glee halo around Journey right now since “Don’t Stop Believin'” was the first big hit from that show, so the smart money would be to buy Journey.
If definitely sounds like someone needs to box Journey!
Hey will this station be having a Saturday Night House Party request show? The one here in Cleveland I could probably name 70% of the songs being played, but you guys would struggle with the Michael Stanley’s and Funky Poodle’s. It may be the same in the city we’re using.
On the way to and from lunch: “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” some song I know well, but don’t know the name of (by, like Montrose or somebody — true one-hit classic rock wonder), that execrable REO Shitwagon song about hearing it from a friend who… heard it from a friend who…,” etc.) and “Dream On.” This will be harder than any of us expect. All the more reason to bet early, and bet often!
Wow, good question. I don’t think my local Classic Rock station has anything like that, but I plan on screening out any stations that will be holiding a a request or dance party show. The broadcast will NOT be coming from Urges in Atlantic City.
a poodle could wind up at…burger king
I’m sensing a lot of research is underway – talk of trends, lines, regional variances… I’m sensing some Townsperson will nail a winning prediction.
Let me know if anyone’s having problem with the link to place your prediction(s). Thanks.
I’m in for three predictions:
Stones, ‘It’s Only Rock ‘n Roll’
Skynyrd, ‘Gimme Three Steps’
Floyd, ‘Run Like Hell’
Thank you!
So let it be written, so let it be done! Just bought a “box” and took care of *all* the tracks likely to be overplayed by…
Aerosmith
You ARE the man!
http://www.thefancarpet.com/uploaded_assets/images/gallery/3350/California_Split_31180_Medium.jpg
Some of our blogger friends are doing their part to spread the word! This old friend even provides 10 FREE PICKS for you to play!
http://spitoutyourgum.blogspot.com/2011/05/be-rock-swami-for-good-cause.html
I heard “Free Ride” followed by “Comfortably Numb” while driving today. The latter makes me think a Floyd box could go a long way.
What the… ? Three recent car rides have yielded three different tunes from… Supertramp?!
What on Earth about that band makes them “classic rock”?
Dude, “The Logical Song” and “Long Way Home” get a lot of play on my local Classic Rock station. What was the third song, “Breakfast in America”?
I’ve gotta say, I’ve got a highly unexpected soft spot for the Breakfast in America album.
Yeah, I don’t find that too surprising (their inclusion on the classic rock playlists I mean. I’m scratching my head at the Mod’s tolerance of them). I don’t listen to the classic rock station but I would guess that U2 might be a good off the radar box.
This morning’s 20-minute sampling of a Classic Rock station included the following 3 songs:
Crapton, “I Shot the Sheriff”
Led Zep, “Black Dog”
Foreigner, “Head Games”
Is there really any reason under the sun to ever subject anyone to “Head Games”?
You misunderstand. I’m not surprised Supertramp shows up on geezer radio. I *am* surprised that they ever ran the rockist gauntlet back in the day. They’re a weird rock non-sequitur, when you think about it. Fey singing, candyland melodies, very little guitar. I mean, *I* kind of like them (in small doses), but why would a fan of Foghat give them a pass?
Especially when you’ve got “Feels Like the First Time” to listen to. I have to own up to a soft spot there.
The REAL Foreigner stinker is “Juke Box Hero.” That song is unendurable! That, and their Robed Choir number — what is it? — oh, yeah, “I Wanna Know What Love Is.” Or is that a Lou Gramm solo track?
Sheesh, a Lou Gramm solo album. I’m havign a hard time thinking of anything I’d want to listen to LESS.
Perhaps we can set up an Endurance Challenge in which, similar to a dance marathon or one of those all hands on the pick-up truck contests, Townspeople are put in a room and forced to listen to a steady diet of solo albums by lead singers of corporate rock bands: Lou Gramm, Steve Perry, etc. Then we’ll see who’s truly the Last Man Standing.
I just bought the entire Zep catalog — KQ92 played Zep once an hour (at least) in the Twin Cities. It seemed everything else was filler to get to Zepplin on that station.
Now whenever, we hear Zep on the radio, it’s “FINALLY, man, some Zepplin!”
Thank you! Just this weekend my wife said, “You’re telling me no one’s boxed Zeppelin yet?”
I like to think that almost every band has at least one good idea. This was Foreigner’s.
Juke Box Hero is truly horrendous. It feels at least fifteen minutes long. However, as a song about someone becoming a famous rock star, which is worse: Juke Box Hero or Bad Company’s “Shooting Star”?
They both suffer from the “shut up, already!” over-long ending. I think I hate the Foreigner number more in terms of its song idiocy — but Bad Co. has a lock on the awful “lead guitar” wankery in its endless outro. There’s a topic for a Last man Standing: songs about being a rock star. Didn’t Tom Petty do one?
I’ll look it up when I’ve got more time. I thought we did a “meta-rock” LMS a couple of years ago.
“Meta-rock” is too broad. I want songs that are about becoming a rock star — the follies, the foibles, the Life Lessons learned. Cautionary tales. Aren’t they all cautionary? Can anybody think of an upbeat “Johnny became a rock star” song?
I answer my own question with Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode.”
I’m thinking of dropping another $15 on a block-out “box” to make sure I WIN this contest of psychic abilities. Can’t decide, though. Should I lock down all potential tunage from Bad Company or Boston? Or should I buy TWO boxes, and send double the money to the family of a good friend who needs our help? I’d appreciate wisdom from the Orockle on this one.
The pot is getting larger — pretty soon, we’ll reach the tipping point, and the dollars will start roaring in. Don’t wait until the last minute to toss your chips onto the Rock felt. The internet can only withstand so many transactions at one time!
If – IF – I allow myself to play (because lord knows that IF I allow myself to play I will feel obligated to try to WIN and, therefore, be tempted to RIG the contest by going into cahoots with the eventually announced Classic Rock station) I would strongly consider boxing Boston, or at least playing that “It’s Been Such a Long Time” song.
The pot is approaching triple figures!
I’m placing action on a song that may fit the date, Elton John’s Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting. I’ll also lay a buck on Rod Stewart’s Maggie May.
Lou Gramm’s “Midnight Blue” was surprisingly good – I think I saw R.E.M. cover it back when they were OK. And Foreigner’s “Blue Morning, Blue Day” is alright. But I would rather bury Foreigner than praise them.
So for the price of a sausage I get to fire 5 shots at random. Since Classic Rock radio is all about making sure each demographic doesn’t tune out before the adverts we’ll take:
Sat night house partiers: Rick Derringer “Rock n Roll Hoochie Koo”
Old-time stoners: Grateful Dead “Truckin”
Balding prog rockers in the basement: Moody Blues “I’m Just a Singer (in a RnR Band)”
Guitar hobbyists: Eric Clapton “Bad Love” (nice solo in a crap 80’s song)
80’s kids nostalgic for their Datsun “Z” car: Def Leppard “Rock of Ages”
The other day, offlist, somebody asked me how long they will have to make a prediction and enter this fundraising event. Electronic entries will be accepted through 11:59 pm, June 3rd, 2011, but live entries will be accepted right up until the time of the event on Saturday, June 4th, the exact 20-minute interval of which will be announced that evening.
May the pot grow and our friend benefit from your psychic abilities!
A Townsman just played 15 individual picks – and well-played picks at that! Thanks!
The pot keeps growing as another Townsperson has boxed 2 Classic Rock-friendly New Wave artists! Let’s hear it for extending this good cause!
While investigating a Classic Rock station’s 20-minute block of music tonight I heard the following:
The Beatles, “Let it Be”
Elton John, “Crocodile Rock”
The Who, “Squeeze Box”
Bad Company, “Rock ‘n Roll Fantasy”
Telling! Get your bids in, folks.
Oh, and the set wrapped up with “Da-Do-Do-Da,” or whatever that Police song is called.
I just rock block locked:
The Who – Baby O’Riley
Pink Floyd – Comfortably Numb
Boston – More Than A Feeling
Ozzy Osbourne – Crazy Train
Rush – Limelight
I tried to avoid songs I like much, but I’ve heard Baba O’Riley on the radio twice in the last week without even trying.
Well played, mockcarr! Thank you.
It’s pretty depressing to think that I am now the core audience for classic rock, and in a way, have always been.
The Royale Household is playing:
Heart – Barracuda
Blue Oyster Cult – Don’t Fear the Reaper
Edgar Winter – Free Ride
Pretenders – Brass in Pocket
Kinks – Lola
Nice picks, Royale Household! I’m always psyched to hear “Free Ride.” Thanks for your contribution. Just a few days until the Big Event!
Congrats, to date, on a fine job toward building additional funds to benefit the recovery of our producer and blog designer, sammymaudlin, as well as the pool of potential winnings for any rock psychic who may emerge this Saturday night, at a time and Classic Rock station to be announced (stay tuned for final details Saturday night, around 8:00 pm EST).
There’s still some time to enter into this contest and make our efforts even more successful – not to mention increase the fun and anticipation. I know not everyone visiting the Halls of Rock posts comments on a regular basis, but I know there are a number of frequent visitors who get their kicks out of our proceedings. Let’s do some math:
We average about 2000 distinct visitors per day. Remove the 300 daily visitors who stumble across us in search of naked photos of Miley Cyrus or Shirley Manson, exclude the 50 KISS Army members still debating over which member of their favorite band was most in need of make-up, and exclude the additional handful of daily one-timers who mistake us for a small Maryland town’s municipal website, and that still leaves a lot of regular visitors who might want to consider chipping a measly dollar into the pot for a worthy cause. If you’re a Townsperson at heart, whether you post comments on a regular basis or not, who’s considering making the smallest donation and adding to the fun of this contest to boot, I fully support your jumping off the fence and into our good cause! Thanks.
Mod, thanks for the reminder. I got me:
Bob Seger, Hollywood Nights
Pink Floyd, Have a Cigar
Eddie Money-Two Tickets to Paradise
The Who-Magic Bus
The Rolling Stones-Can’t You Hear Me Knocking
I could see a lot of action riding on “Have a Cigar.” Thanks, man!
Still making my selections.
So, multiple people can pick the same song? May prove the wisdom of crowds.
20 minutes is super short. That may only be 4 to 5 songs. It has to be a long shot to get a hit.
Definitely,no picks are exclusive. Any ties will split the pot. As for the odds, remember, the first criterion for winning is matching an ARTIST. The specific song is a potential tiebreaker.
The action keeps rolling in! We just received another 10 predictions, and let me say: If you were thinking about going there, you may have to rely on your tiebreaker for any Toto prediction!
A Townsman has just boxed THREE (3!) separate artists: David Bowie, Neil Young, and Lynyrd Skynyrd. That’s CLASSIC ROCK, baby! Thanks for your generous contribution and fine, fine picks!
I’m in Vancouver, and unable to deliver the e-commerce goods, but I want to go on record as rock-blocking the following songs and bands for a good cause:
Boston
The Rolling Stones
and
Hot Blooded, Foreigner
Wish You Were Here, Pink Floyd
Feel Like Makin’ Love, Bad Company
The Boys are Back In Town, Thin Lizzy
and
Turn the Page, the Seeg
People — if you haven’t tossed your pocket change into the fighting pit yet, I ask you: please do. A fellow townsman — one of the anchors of this site we love so much — needs your help. Every dollar will make a difference. Spare what you can, have fun, and thanks.
Thanks, HVB! The house knows you’re good for completing your bids. I just prepared a tally sheet of all predictions to date; now the date has progressed and I will update my sheet.
Tomorrow morning, possibly in the wee hours of the night (EST), initial details will be posted regarding tomorrow’s awesome display of compassion and psychic rock powers. Your contributions may exceed my wildest hopes. Thanks!
I’m in with the Chicken household’s picks.
Margaret Orthodox channeled these selections:
Free – All Right Now
Zep – A Fool in the Rain
Fleetwood Mac – Go Your Own Way
Bad Co – Shooting Star
Bob Seger – Turn the Page
In a sign of excellent compatibility, we both independently selected
Steve Miller – Take the Money and Run
Rounding out my list are my favorites:
Stones – Miss You
Who – Won’t Get Fooled Again
My dark horse is that grammar monstrosity:
BTO – You Aint Seen Nothing Yet.
And my super long shot, that’s right, I’m dropping the Baum:
Norm Greenbaum – Spirit in the Sky.
I forgot to enter Sweet Home Alabama, so I hope that doesn’t come back to burn me.
“Spirit in the Sky” may be the best longshot pick in this competition!
I look forward to observing the side action being place at tonight’s sausagefest!