The Madonna Super Bowl Setlist Picks

Charlie T.'s Picks*

Gimme All Your Luvin (with MIA and Nicki Minaj)
Spike and I agree on this inclusion.  It's the only single she has to push right now and her handlers probably think that because it's a ZZ Top cover, all the meatheads watching will love it.  It's going first to set up Madonna's entrance.  Minaj and MIA will be on stage first and Madonna will come rising up out of the stage wearing a furry guitar.

Music
Going backwards in time here.  I wanted to say 4 Minutes would be the next song but there is no way they are letting Justin timberlake anywhere near a Super Bowl halftime again.  Even though they should.  Also, I can see Minaj continuing on stage to collaborate on this song.

Material Girl
She has to play something from the 80's.  Like A Prayer is a little popular of a pick right now and Like A Virgin isn't going to make primetime airwaves, so this is the next logical choice.

Don't Tell Me
Because it was written by the venerable Joe Henry. 

Ray Of Light
This is going to be the closer.  It shuoldn't be, but I think they are going to want to close on a more contemporary note.

*Missed Opportunities:
This Used To Be My Playground with a stage full of dancers wearing Peyton Manning Jerseys
Take A Bow with a stage full of dancers in Tim tebow jerseys

Annual Super Bowl Halftime Guessing

We skipped last year for reasons directly related to the Antichrist, audio terrorism, hyperactive and overstimulated costume designers, Autotune, lack of Autotune, bad dancing, and more.

So why are we coming back with our annual halftime musical guest set list predictions? For Madonna? Well, we certainly are struggling to post at all. And Madonna does have some songs I really like. Really.*

SIX SONGS (because Charlie set the 5-song precedent years ago and she will abuse the medleys AND because Madonna has the hits and, we all know, likes to show her hits)

1. the new song with the young blood**

2. the other new-ish song with the young-ish blood***

3. Ray of Light****

4. Vogue*****/Holiday medley

6. Music

Too many hits to ever guess. But those are my guesses and I am sort of standing kind of near to them.

* Don't Tell Me (written by a true Spike favorite– and Madonna's brother-in-law– the great Joe Henry) Music, Ray Of Light, Secret (maybe? ack, I can't decide if I hate it or love it), Take A Bow, What It Feels Like For A Girl, Crazy For You (maybe? again. ack.), Die Another Day, Lucky Star (ACK!), Beautiful Stranger, and how did this list get so long suddenly? I don't even own an album. Or a song, for that matter, in this disposable digital download day. But I wouldn't change the station on most of these.

** Nicki Minaj and M.I.A. are for cred, legacy, broader viewership, and– as always with the Material Girl– spectacle.

*** Justin Timberlake and Timbaland. Is Madonna really gone share 2 of her maybe 4-5 songs with FOUR other people? I kind of don't think so, but who cares?

**** Lenny Kravitz played guitar with her at some awards show once for this song. My guess is that she pulls out her famous ex-"friend" Dennis Rodman for this one.

***** And while the exes are coming out, Sean Penn comes and strikes some poses. Seems like a thing he'd do.

Toilet Bowl Halftime Show

This should be the post where Spike and I try and guess the setlist of the Old Rock n' Roller during the halftime show of the Super Bowl. I got excited to make my predictions until I remembered that a.)there will be no rock n roll during the world's largest bathroom break and b.) I don't know enough Black Eyed Peas songs to even attempt an entire setlist (unless you can include "seductive dancing in a mini skirt" as a song). And lets face it, even if I did guess I would probably be 100% right because they will play the two songs everyone knows and then stretch it into a 15 minute crapshow.

I do think everyone will be a little more excited for a knee slide into the camera if it happens again this year.

Who Scorecard

Well, after gloating about last year's minor victory, it's only fair that I concede to Charlie T for his Halftime Music Guess win this year. The medleys killed me; I had suspected they might give snippets of some songs, but not to the degree they did. I should've read this. No Springsteenian crotch slide, no wardrobe malfunctions (if you don't count the shots of Pete Townshend's midriff), some windmills, and a lot of Pete Townshend Not Trying To Pretend He's Ever Been Capable of Glossy Which Spike Totally Dug. The actual results:

Pinball Wizard (a verse and a chorus, at most)
Baba O'Riley (yes, they shortened the intro and outro, but they still gave this one a whole chunk of their time)
Who Are You? (totally blindsided TBC)
See Me, Feel Me (what?????)
Won't Get Fooled Again

Charlie T.'s Picks
(3/5, but WRONG about order and WRONG about only song from Tommy. I just wanted to write wrong in all-caps twice. See my pick results for the reason why.)
(I've decided that 5 songs is the magic number)
1. Baba O'Riley
2. Pinball Wizard
3. We Won't Get Fooled Again
4. My Generation
5. I Can See For Miles


Spike's Picks
(2/5 and a big fat slap on the wrist for not trusting my Baba O'Riley instincts.)
1. My Generation
2. Pinball Wizard
3. The Seeker
4. Magic Bus
5. Won't Get Fooled Again

Oh, and the Saints won. Can we just place a moratorium on Who Dat? Please?

I Don't Need To Fight, To Prove I'm Right

The easiest marriage between sports and music is the Halftime Show at the Super Bowl. Thanks to some great artists getting picked to perform in the last few years, Spike and I have remained interested in the TV during the World's Largest Bathroom Break.

Last year we limited all our wagering to Springsteen's Set List. This resulted in varying degrees of success, or me getting lit up by Spike like a receiver trying to make a catch over the middle. With any luck, my guessing of this year's set list will yield better results.

Charlie T.'s Picks
(I've decided that 5 songs is the magic number)
1. Baba O'Riley (how can they not open with this great intro?)
2. Pinball Wizard (sadly the only song I think they'll play off of Tommy)
3. We Won't Get Fooled Again
4. My Generation
5. I Can See For Miles

I think it happens in that order. The only way it could deviate is if they swap Baba O'Riley and I Can See For Miles.

As a side prop bet, I am taking the over on Townshend Windmill Strums (+/- 25)

Spike's Picks
OK, Charlie, I'll fall in line and follow you down the 5-song path. As a lifelong Who fan (my band covered "The Seeker", "Substitute", "Behind Blue Eyes" [better than Durst, don't worry], and "Baba O'Riley"), one who has owned at least four of the 675 different "Greatest Hits" albums.* The Who are harder to pick than Springsteen because their catalog is bursting with more upbeat anthemic rockers than The Boss has. Here are my picks:

1. My Generation- a classic, a rocker, and it's short.
2. Pinball Wizard- Charlie T. & I agree: this is a perfect second song. People will go ape when that intro starts up.
3. The Seeker- My dark horse. As long as he doesn't pull a Springsteen and change up the words like, "I asked Bobby Dylan, I asked The Shwami, I asked Bill Belichick and he couldn't help me either...", we'll be just fine. A solid rocker. And it's short.
4. Magic Bus- I'm inclined to agree with Charlie T. on "Baba O'Riley" (maybe my favorite Who song), but I'm feeling like a gambling man today. I was gonna go with "Join Together," but it's more obscure. My only worry is that it has a lot in common with "The Seeker."
5. Won't Get Fooled Again- Another song that will require some creative condensing, there's no following this song up. Like I said last year about "Born To Run," if you're smart (Bruce wasn't. Sorry, he wasn't.), you don't try to follow up epic. Especially if it involves a contrived gospel choir behind you. Also, if Daltrey does it right, the all-time epic scream should leave him appropriately voiceless.

I'll miss The Ox and Keith for sure. But so will everybody.












*Honestly, how many are there? I really owned at least four different tapes- Who's Greatest Hits, Meaty Beaty Big & Bouncy, The Ultimate Who, and one other- all different track listings, probably different record companies. It's insane.)

Tramps Like Us, Baby, We Were Born To...Slide?

Let's debrief. First of all, the scorecard:

CHARLIE T: 1/6
Blinded By The Light = no
Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) = no
Born To Run = no duh
Girls In Their Summer Clothes = no, but he did play a new song
This Land Is Your Land (Woody Guthrie) or We Shall Overcome (Pete Seeger) = no and no

SPIKE: 2/6
Glory Days = yes
Born In The USA = no, the Boss did not jump to play this
Born To Run = who didn't guess this?
Thunder Road = no
Hungry Heart = no
Rosalie = no

(Pausing to bask in victory. Still pausing. But knowing full well that EVERYONE would've won if the Boss would've played Atlantic City, Devils & Dust, and The River with just an acoustic guitar. The article at the bottom of this scorecard agrees with me.)

Now, in reviewing the performance, let's break it down into points and penalties, meaning what the Boss did well and what was not so hot. Positivity wins the flip and kicks off.



POINTS:
ENERGY. The calling card of a Bruce performance is his manic energy and there was no letdown here. The guy couldn't hold still. Mrs. Woolridge kept asking what his deal was, which is generally a good sign. Not anything unexpected, but he came through. +10 points.
THE SPIT Even though he seemed more hoarse than a guy who's singing for 12 minutes should be, we still got the spitting, breathless delivery that- hand in hand with energy- is in the zoning laws on E-Street. 5 points per foot of spit radius = +15 points.
10th Avenue Freeze Out +15 points for a pleasant surprise.
BORN TO RUN Of course. The only bad thing about it was deciding to play anything after it. It's the barnburner and the song that should've capped his performance. 1 point per year since its release = + 34 points
THAT NEW SONG Credit be to Bruce for not resting on his Greatest Hits. You gotta play like your new songs belong in the same breath as your legendary stuff. Even if they don't. The choir, however, was a gimmick and misstep. So cheesy and unnecessary. Still, +20 points for Striving For Continued Relevance.
GLORY DAYS Like I said before, perfect song for this set. Changing the words, however, was cheesy. I can see how somebody might think it was cool, but then I could also see why I would still want to punch them in the nuts. What is this anyway? Do you really want to be in the same category as "Pre-Game Faith Hill Song That Has Terrible Customized Lyrics"? Sing the dang song, man. -10 points for lyric change, +10 points for Making Spike Win The Guessing Game = no points

PENALTIES:
THE POSE Now, I wouldn't go so far as to call the Boss a poser. Far from it. But that little thing at the start with him and Clarence was lame. What is this? Charlie's Angels. Especially when he used the guitar for its silhouette only to jettison it once the song started... -8 points, 4 for each useless instrument in the posed silhouette.
CLARENCE CLEMONS -10 points. If you aren't jazz, the English Beat or Morphine (or have a note from home), I have a hard time seeing why you'd be saxophoning on MY television.
CLARENCE CLEMONS' JACKET -15 points, one for every pimp who, watching the Super Bowl and seeing CC's jacket, thought, "Man, I gots to get me one of THEM"
THE CROTCH SLIDE Tough to hold this against him when you saw the look of delight on his face. So. No points. (Go to this link. Go. Go. Go.)
THE CHOIR -8 points, one for each time I thought, "What is the point of the choir?"
THE BANTER This one's divisive even for me. I realize that a lot of people probably loved the playfulness. It just seemed too calculated and, well, a little hokey/hammy for me. But I am probably missing the context of one of Bruce's 3-hour revivals. So we'll blame Little Steven and call it even. No points.
THE REFEREE One word sums up my reaction the referee (and his yellow flag)'s appearance: CRINGE. - 15 points.
CHANGING THE WORDS TO GLORY DAYS no points, as discussed above.
NOT ENDING WITH BORN TO RUN -5 points
HAVING SOME ACOUSTIC GUITAR CHICK ONSTAGE WHO'S EVEN MORE DISPENSABLE THAN PATTY SCIALFA Like we need a Poor Man's Patty Scialfa. -12 points, 2 for each useless string.
"I'M GOING TO DISNEYLAND?" Bruce, you did not win the Super Bowl. You played at halftime. Did ESPN put you up to this? -5 points

FINAL TALLY
POINTS: +79
PENALTIES: -78
= +1

So it was better than it was bad.






(Interesting article about the performance and its cultural relevance: here)

The Next Dylan Revisited

because my Pepsi told me so. (And all along we were pushing for the guy who did the crotchslide at halftime...)

All He Kept Talking About Was...Glory Days

Just for the sake of argument, here are my Super Boss Halftime picks. I figure the E-Street Band wants to kick out the jams a bit, so...3 songs? With 2 alternates. I would love it if he had the cajones to play all new tracks, but I'm guessing they hired him for his back catalog.

1. Glory Days Upbeat, singalong, well known, NOT on Born To Run, and he played it on Letterman's last NBC show. I think it's jocky enough.

2. Born In The USA Unlike Charlie T, I think Springsteen jumps at the chance to play this song. It's the official, national TV chance for him to have his "This is a song Charles Manson/Ronald Reagan stole from The Beatles/me, we're stealing it back." I suppose he could do No Surrender, but that would just make John Kerry sad.

3. Born To Run His live album from the early 2000s ends with this and, in the brief window of time he has, what's gonna top it?

ALTERNATES:
Thunder Road, if he dares to double up on Born To Run's album cuts.
Hungry Heart, could be a good, more midtempo breather as they gear up to bring down the house with their 3rd song.
Rosalie, a darkhorse, which is cheating a bit since Charlie T already liked it.

Put Your Make Up On, Fix Your Hair Up Pretty

Meet me tonight in Tampa

Some people know, but not many care that Bruce "The Boss" Springsteen will be playing during the worlds largest bathroom break this Sunday. I for one will save my bathroom break for after the opening kickoff in the second half. That is when they start replaying the commercials or at least playing the ones that weren't good enough for the first half.

But what will The Boss be playing?

Reflexes say he will play Born In The USA. I am going to go out on a limb and say we don't get that one.

Here are my top five most likely songs. (if anyone cares, I completely picked Tom Petty's set list last year)

1. Blinded By The Light - Greetings From Ashbury Park, NJ

2. Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) - The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle

3. Born To Run - Born To Run

4. If he plays a newer song it will most likely be Girls In Their Summer Clothes

5. I can see him playing a cover also. This Land Is Your Land (Woody Guthrie) or We Shall Overcome (Pete Seeger) since this is fresh on the heels of the Inauguration.

He will probably get three songs and they might even be shorter versions, but it will probably be the best show on the field that day.