A very tight one in the world-famous** Ponch8 Music Rating System**, but I choose Cher. I’m not much of a fan of either, but Cher had some good stuff back in the day.
Ray Charles vs. Otis Redding
Ray Charles by a mile. Same reason Grace Slick beats Janis Joplin - survival and production. If Janis and Otis had survived, it might be different. But they have too little to judge by, while Ray and Grace have volumes of great material out there.
Linda Ronstadt or Joni Mitchell?
Joni. I’ll almost always give it to the songwriter. (Hope she pulls through whatever she’s going through at the moment.)
A mail list I’m on once spent many hours debating:
Eagles or the Doors?
Two completely different Southern California bands, from different times. The Doors was the very first LP I ever bought with my own money. The Lizard King was an icon.
I vote Eagles. The Doors were Morrison and band. The Eagles were (are) a collection of amazing talent (and ego).
Well, I’ll keep it going:
Alice in Chains vs Soundgarden
Soundgarden!
Bo Diddley vs. Muddy Waters
ETA: Fucking Eagles
OK, I’ll field this one since I didn’t get one myself.
Muddy Waters.
Joy Division vs. New Order
Bo Diddley by a beat.
Blood Sweat & Tears or Chicago
ETA: Artist ninja’d! Okay, Joy Division.
Now: BST or Chicago.
Chicago. They were a pretty interesting band for a while there.
Queen or Styx?
Queen were more fun on stage, but Styx had more good songs, so they win.
Stevie Wonder or Marvin Gaye?
Stevie Wonder, for sure. I’m not as familiar with Marvin’s work as I “should” be, but even if I were, Stevie’s practically unbeatable.
solo John Lennon or solo Paul McCartney?
Could I vote for George or Ringo solo instead?
Okay, I vote for John, but neither made much good (let alone great) music after 1974.
Black Sabbath or Deep Purple?
Sabbath.
Chuck Berry or Buddy Holly?
Your mother mated with a scorpion, astorian!
Chuck Berry (shred, shred, shred)
Ahhhh! ETA in a panic: Peter Tosh vs. Bob Marley
Robert Nesta Marley.
Spandau Ballet vs. Simple Minds
Simple Minds, I like plenty of their songs besides that Breakfast Club soundtrack. I am less familiar with Spandau Ballet, not because I was barely around in the 80’s but they had less hits in America.
I will say “True” is just as good as “Don’t You Forget About Me”.
But Simple Minds win.
Shania Twain vs Faith Hill?
Shania, because she’s sold nearly twice as many records. I also have a thing for Canadian accents.
Here’s one!
Tone Loc vs Young MC.
I suspect she actually had a threesome with Klaus Meine and Rudi Schenker
Young MC was a one hit wonder, Tone was a two hit Wonder. So, Tone wins.
Peter Gabriel or Steve Winwood?
Peter Gabriel
Beethoven versus Bach
Beethoven. He brought the heavy.
Parliament vs Funkadelic