Ever since childhood, we have been fascinated by different songs bearing the same title. There have been seven US Top 40 hits in the rock era named “Lady”, “Hold On”, “One”, or “You”, six titled “I Love You” or “Missing You”, and five named “I Believe”. Some were released within weeks of each other, some decades apart. After a lifetime of listening, the sport comes from judging which single is superior. As always, the key is the backstory – history or circumstances that make for an entertaining face-off.
Like baseball statistics, venturing into the weeds is expected in the music racket. Here, we compare 15 song pairs with shared titles, subjectively deciding the winner in each case. Our overall ranking is based on… oh, who the hell knows. Difficulty of choice? Some intangible ‘coolness’ factor? Either way, we unearthed some wonderfully incongruous mashups and plenty of sacrilegious opinions. Ultimately, this ‘Deathmatch Countdown’ might be our most frivolous, hare-brained deep-dive into music history. Needless to say, it was also one of the most fun.
15. Prince – “Automatic” (1982) vs.
The Pointer Sisters – “Automatic” (Chart #5 – 1984)
Prince’s super-naughty “Automatic” would win hands down if this were a video contest. Deemed too risque by MTV, the nine-minute performance clip veers from sinewy to sexy to downright S&M crude – although by this point, time and cultural rot have dulled any remnant surprise or outrage. Conversely, one of the original Pointer Sisters videos for “Automatic” was a dated break-dancing hodgepodge from the same year as opportunistic Hollywood quickies “Breakin’” and “Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo”. Yet when matched track against track, the Pointers come out on top. Prince’s repetitive entry overstays its welcome by about three minutes, while Ruth Pointer’s signature contralto vocal renders their “Automatic” an underappreciated romantic cri de coeur for enslaved hearts everywhere. Who among us hasn’t suffered a head-spinning lack of control around that special someone – so delicious, yet so terrifying?
WINNER: The Pointer Sisters
14. Peter Wolf – “Come As You Are” (Chart #15 – 1987) vs.
Nirvana – “Come As You Are” (Chart #32 – 1992)
Peter Wolf conquered the pop chart with the J Geils Band, while Nirvana conquered the universe. Comparing 1991’s earthshaking Nevermind with Wolf’s otherwise disposable 1987 Come As You Are album would be a waste of ones and zeroes. But Wolf’s title track and accompanying video are a pop-rock slice of late 1980s wonder, enough to give Nirvana’s version a momentary challenge. His infectious, Pee Wee Herman-esque joy, bounding down a neighborhood street, still bursts from the speakers, answering a Gen-X question I sometimes hear from my own kids. (Q: Were the 1980s really this much fun? A: Yes, they were.) Although he puts up a valiant fight, Wolf simply cannot overcome Nirvana’s lightning-in-a-bottle Nevermind magic. Kurt Cobain’s “Come As You Are” sounds as crass and frightening as it did then – a watery serial killer’s anthem filtered through a pop-oriented grunge lens. Two wildly disparate yet still gratifying tracks, with one champion.
WINNER: Nirvana
13. Peter Gabriel – “Modern Love” (1977) vs.
David Bowie – “Modern Love” (Chart #14 – 1983)
These two titans of off-kilter yet commercial rock form an entertaining pair. Fresh off his Genesis departure, Peter Gabriel hired King Crimson maestro Robert Fripp and producer Bob Ezrin to revamp his former sound completely. Despite failing to chart, one can still be impressed by how confidently “Modern Love” rocks, with a muscular late 1960s organ complementing Fripp’s powerful riffs. David Bowie’s career rebirth was facilitated by ascendant Chic veteran Nile Rodgers, whose distinctive producer’s fingerprints were all over mid-1980s pop (e.g., Duran Duran’s “Reflex” single). While Gabriel’s version remains crisp and original, Bowie’s “Modern Love” sounds like “Infatuation”-era Rod Stewart – energetic yet dated, and clearly ‘of its time’. Granted, it’s a fun time, but not enough to emerge victorious.
WINNER: Peter Gabriel
12. Olivia Newton-John – “Magic” (Chart #1 – 1980) vs.
The Cars – “Magic” (Chart #12 – 1984)
Hollywood gifted the world with several lame musicals during the late 1970s, from Sgt. Peppers to Can’t Stop the Music and Xanadu certainly belong. But Xanadu‘s soundtrack unquestionably had its moments. We get five decent songs by Jeff Lynne’s Electric Light Orchestra, plus the #1 smash hit “Magic”, which held the top spot for a solid month in the summer of 1980. The song remains a pristine near-miracle of ethereal production, featuring the late Olivia Newton-John in her prime. As for the Cars, their landmark LP “Heartbeat City” yielded five sleek Top 40 hits, of which the ice-cool “Magic” may have been the slickest of all. Ask us way back in 1984, and we would have voted Cars all the way. Yet four decades later – with life, career, and family in the rear-view mirror – the ‘magic’ of Newton-John’s version has blossomed in hindsight, becoming nigh irresistible to this crotchety old man. Hey, you kids, get off my lawn!
WINNER: Olivia Newton-John
11. The Kinks – “Rock ‘N’ Roll Fantasy” (Chart #30 – 1978) vs.
Bad Company – “Rock ‘N’ Roll Fantasy” (Chart #13 – 1979)
The Kinks are rock’s unacknowledged British grandfathers, getting short shrift against the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and the Who. Listening to Ray Davies’ mid-1960s output, one is still struck by his prescient garage/punk inclinations, which led everyone else in a million different directions. Yet by 1978’s Misfits, the Kinks themselves were basically sophisticated pop/rockers – sometimes a bit too sophisticated. Their “Rock ‘N’ Roll Fantasy” may be a mature and ultimately satisfying track, but it simply cannot match the explosive adolescent grit of Bad Company’s version. As with most of their later output, the 1979 source album Desolation Angels was mainly a waste of sound waves. But like Foreigner’s 1981 “Juke Box Hero”, the tidal-wave guitar and hurricane drum-fills of “Rock ‘N’ Roll Fantasy” captivated a million teenage boys. This one remains so.
WINNER: Bad Company
10. The Spinners – “They Just Can’t Stop It the (Games People Play)” (Chart #5 – 1975) vs.
The Alan Parsons Project – “Games People Play” (Chart #16 – 1981)
Everyone back then called the Spinners’ song “Games People Play”, so it counts. The Spinners perfected a quintessential soft-soul sound, yielding a string of massive 1970s hits. “Games” is far and away our favorite – a relaxed stroll through a sparkling downtown courtship, with sweet horns, tinkling piano, and call/response vocals stretching high, low, and in-between. But Alan Parsons’ “Games People Play” is in a class alone. Few pop hits ever sounded this cool – a prescient taste of futuristic New Wave, before anybody besides Gary Numan even knew what it sounded like. This deeply horrifying tune continues to frighten us as adults for entirely different reasons. The kids have all grown up and gone; more years lie behind us than ahead, and, as the man sings, nobody gives a flying damn. So here we sit, wondering what to do with our lives as the Final Curtain draws ever closer. Brrrrr. Pass the hemlock, please!
WINNER: The Alan Parsons Project
9. Pablo Cruise – “Love Will Find a Way” (Chart #6 – 1978) vs.
Yes – “Love Will Find a Way” (Chart #30 – 1987)
Left for dead years earlier, Yes was reborn in startling fashion with 1983’s still relevant 90125, spawning worldwide #1 smash “Owner of a Lonely Heart”. Inferior 1987 followup Big Generator threw off a couple of hits, including the insistent, deep-riffed “Love Will Find a Way”, which would have fit right in on 90125. We rank “Love’s” round-the-world guitar progression among the decade’s most hypnotic, sung by Trevor Rabin and gilded with Jon Anderson/Chris Squire mountaintop harmonies. (According to Wikipedia, Rabin originally composed the track for Stevie Nicks but was talked into keeping it.) Unfortunately for Pablo Cruise, their perky, noodling “Love Will Find a Way” sounds like a hundred other jazzy late 1970s pop acts, from Boz Scaggs to Steely Dan. Pleasant enough to hum along with, but vastly inferior to Yes’ penultimate chart swan song.
WINNER: Yes