Hello. BP is dark today, but last week an Eagles-related argument (weigh in down in the comments section on how they suck! —GS) begat a draft of bands from the 1970s. Now, we’re fulfilling the time-honored tradition of turning inane disagreements into content! Welcome to the official Baseball Prospectus 1970s band draft.
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First, the rules, which were devised by Bryan Grosnick, who organized the tournament and tolerated the group’s many attempts to bend the spirit or letter of the law. Special thanks to Bryan.
- We are drafting musical groups that were active during the period 1970-1979.
- You are drafting their entire discography, including before-after 1970-1979.
- If you select a band that was not primarily active or extremely active during the 1970s, you will be ostracized and generally mocked by your fellow drafters. (This is “The Beatles” rule.)
- Snake draft, random order.
- No solo acts, unless they with an advertised backing band (a la Selena Gomez and The Scene)
Now, the draft, which was conducted over roughly 72 hours via Google Sheets and a Slack thread that became sluggishly long by the end. Robert Au had the first pick:
| Name | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 | Round 6 |
| Robert A | Queen | The Miracles | ABBA | The Kinks | Three Dog Night | Elis & Tom |
| Kendall G | Led Zeppelin | Creedence Clearwater Revival | Lynyrd Skynyrd | The Band | The Bee Gees | The O’Jays |
| Adam L | Rolling Stones | Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young | KISS | Rush | Styx | Steve Miller Band |
| Patrick D | Earth, Wind & Fire | The Cars | Santana (ft. Santana) | Kraftwerk | Yellow Magic Orchestra | Africa 70 |
| Bret S | Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band | Big Star | Pink Floyd | Elvis Costello & the Attractions | The Stooges | The Police |
| Bryan G | The Clash | Aerosmith | Journey | Cheap Trick | Darryl Hall and John Oates | Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars |
| Tim J | Bob Marley & the Wailers | The Jackson 5 | The Beach Boys | Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons | Roxy Music | The Doobie Brothers |
| Jen R E | Fleetwood Mac | Fanny | The Runaways | The Dishrags | Sister Sledge | The Carpenters |
| Rob M | The Who | Chicago | Jethro Tull | Heart | Steely Dan | Boston |
| Ginny S | Talking Heads | Joy Division | The Supremes | Patti Smith Group | X-Ray Spex | Babe Ruth |
| Craig G | Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers | The Eagles | The Temptations | Gladys Knight and the Pips | ELO | The Isley Brothers |
| Daniel R E | The Ramones | War | Sly and the Family Stone | Black Sabbath | Yes | T. Rex |
| Jeffrey P | Blondie | Television | AC/DC | Toots and the Maytals | The Specials | Masaru Imada Trio |
| Martin A | Derek and the Dominos | Allman Brothers Band | The Jeff Beck Group | Van Halen | Grand Funk Railroad | Deep Purple |
| Harry P | Grateful Dead | Parliament-Funkadelic | Traffic | Emmylou Harris and the Hot Band | Lee “Scratch” Perry and the Upsetters | Dire Straits |
Everyone also graciously provided their thoughts on their draft and the process as a whole, which we’ve produced below. We also made everyone say whose draft(s) they liked, other than their own:
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Robert Au:
| Round 1 (1) | Queen |
| Round 2 (30) | The Miracles |
| Round 3 (31) | ABBA |
| Round 4 (60) | The Kinks |
| Round 5 (61) | Three Dog Night |
| Round 6 (90) | Elis & Tom |
This was a fun exercise, and a surprisingly deep pool; I’d be happy with all of these drafts. I aimed for breadth, and personal connection over critical acclaim, though I ended up with no shortage of both. Calling Elis & Tom a band is a stretch, I’m aware, but Bryan said yes, and I’m delighted to pick them.
Whose draft would you take other than your own? Craig’s
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Kendall Guillemette:
| Round 1 (2) | Led Zeppelin |
| Round 2 (29) | Credence Clearwater Revival |
| Round 3 (32) | Lynyrd Skynyrd |
| Round 4 (59) | The Band |
| Round 5 (62) | The Bee Gees |
| Round 6 (89) | The O’Jays |
It was a deep draft. High quality deep into the later rounds. I was quite pleased with my draft. I definitely was drafting the best band available each round and I feel like I ended up with a few bands that could really top a rotation. In the later rounds I moved more to specialists who were the best at what they did.
Whose draft would you take other than your own? Adam L
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Adam Lawler:
| Round 1 (3) | Rolling Stones |
| Round 2 (28) | Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young |
| Round 3 (33) | KISS |
| Round 4 (58) | Rush |
| Round 5 (63) | Styx |
| Round 6 (88) | Steve Miller Band |
The whole thing was regrettable. From its origin in my introduction to my climactic selection of Steve Miller Band: regrettable. The best part of the process was learning Ginny’s oldest stuffy animal was a Scooby Doo doll.
Whose draft would you take other than your own? Tim (shocking given his bad taste in music)
Anything else? None of these bands are as good as Taylor Swift. Selecting David Bowie and the Spiders from Mars was thumbing your nose at the process. An absolute abomination.
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Patrick Dubuque:
| Round 1 (4) | Earth, Wind & Fire |
| Round 2 (27) | The Cars |
| Round 3 (34) | Santana (ft. Santana) |
| Round 4 (57) | Kraftwerk |
| Round 5 (65) | Yellow Magic Orchestra |
| Round 6 (87) | Africa 70 |
I don’t really like music, and I don’t really like the 1970s, and I don’t really like 1970s music. I think my selections accurately reflect my lack of taste.
Whose draft would you take other than your own? Ginny Searle
Anything else? No. That is all.
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Bret Sayre:
| Round 1 (5) | Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band |
| Round 2 (26) | Big Star |
| Round 3 (35) | Pink Floyd |
| Round 4 (56) | Elvis Costello & the Attractions |
| Round 5 (65) | The Stooges |
| Round 6 (86) | The Police |
This was a very fun exercise, and I tried to focus a little more on quality rather than quantity – so a handful of my picks only had five or fewer records to their name. 10/10, would participate again.
Whose draft would you take other than your own? Jeffrey’s
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Bryan Grosnick:
| Round 1 (6) | The Clash |
| Round 2 (25) | Aerosmith |
| Round 3 (36) | Journey |
| Round 4 (55) | Cheap Trick |
| Round 5 (66) | Darryl Hall and John Oates |
| Round 6 (85) | Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars |
You can call this the “songs about Janie” memorial draft, but I think I got a good combination of quality and quantity from the associated discographies. And I’d rather have two years of David Bowie than two decades of some other bands!
Whose draft would you take other than your own? Bret’s
Anything else? The Eagles: still bad.
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Tim Jackson:
| Round 1 (7) | Bob Marley & the Wailers |
| Round 2 (24) | The Jackson 5 |
| Round 3 (37) | The Beach Boys |
| Round 4 (54) | Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons |
| Round 5 (67) | Roxy Music |
| Round 6 (84) | The Doobie Brothers |
I didn’t expect my board to be so driven by smoothness and/or grooveness but I probably should have. “What A Fool Believes” is about the Doobie Brothers lasting til round six.
Whose draft would you take other than your own? Jeffrey’s. A lineup with varied skills that makes it hard to plan against
Anything else? My largest contributions to this exercise included saying the Eagles stink and that Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours is wildly overrated. I regret nothing.
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Jen Ramos Eisen:
| Round 1 (8) | Fleetwood Mac |
| Round 2 (23) | Fanny |
| Round 3 (38) | The Runaways |
| Round 4 (53) | The Dishrags |
| Round 5 (68) | Sister Sledge |
| Round 6 (83) | The Carpenters |
that was fun and I’d do it again with different eras
Whose draft would you take other than your own? Bret’s or Daniel’s
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Rob Mains:
| Round 1 (9) | The Who |
| Round 2 (22) | Chicago |
| Round 3 (39) | Jethro Tull |
| Round 4 (52) | Heart |
| Round 5 (69) | Steely Dan |
| Round 6 (82) | Boston |
I am satisfied with the knowledge that I selected bands I liked as a teenager. I am not satisfied with the knowledge that my tastes haven’t matured much since then. People who weren’t even born in the 70s exhibited more sophistication.
Whose draft would you take other than your own? Martin
Anything else? My bands are not cool. I was not cool in the 1970s. I am still not cool.
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Ginny Searle:
| Round 1 (10) | Talking Heads |
| Round 2 (21) | Joy Division |
| Round 3 (40) | The Supremes |
| Round 4 (51) | Patti Smith Group |
| Round 5 (70) | X-Ray Spex |
| Round 6 (81) | Babe Ruth |
I’d typically think my music taste is mostly located in the 1980s and onward, and that many of the earlier exceptions are solo artists, so one reason I loved this draft was reminding me how many 70s groups I love. It feels like cheating taking Patti Smith Group since Horses was released solely under her name, but the backing group was there for that album too, so…
Whose draft would you take other than your own? Rob or Jen’s
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Craig Goldstein:
| Round 1 (11) | Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers |
| Round 2 (20) | The Eagles |
| Round 3 (41) | The Temptations |
| Round 4 (50) | Gladys Knight and the Pips |
| Round 5 (71) | ELO |
| Round 6 (80) | The Isley Brothers |
I loved partaking, it was a ton of fun. I was thrilled with what I got considering I was going 11th overall, and had a bunch of names on my board even at the draft’s conclusion. Great decade for music.
Whose draft would you take other than your own? I think it’ll be easy to ID the type(s) of music I love but Kendall, Robert, Bryan, and Mains were all in my wheelhouse. I’d probably take Kendall’s if I had to choose one.
Anything else? The Eagles rule. That is an Official Baseball Prospectus Music Opinion.
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Daniel R Epstein:
| Round 1 (12) | The Ramones |
| Round 2 (19) | War |
| Round 3 (42) | Sly and the Family Stone |
| Round 4 (49) | Black Sabbath |
| Round 5 (72) | Yes |
| Round 6 (79) | T. Rex |
The Ramones should never have lasted until the 12th pick. The long version of War’s “Slippin’ Into Darkness” is possibly the best song of the decade… or maybe any decade.
Whose draft would you take other than your own? Bret’s
Anything else? The Eagles suck.
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Jeffrey Paternostro:
| Round 1 (13) | Blondie |
| Round 2 (18) | Television |
| Round 3 (43) | AC/DC |
| Round 4 (48) | Toots and the Maytals |
| Round 5 (73) | The Specials |
| Round 6 (78) | Masaru Imada Trio |
Pretty pleased to get Toots and the Maytals that far after Marley and The Wailers. Probably reached for Television but Marquee Moon might be the single best 70s album.
Whose draft would you take other than your own? Ginny Searle
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Martin Alonso:
| Round 1 (14) | Derek and the Dominos |
| Round 2 (17) | Allman Brothers Band |
| Round 3 (44) | The Jeff Beck Group |
| Round 4 (47) | Van Halen |
| Round 5 (74) | Grand Funk Railroad |
| Round 6 (77) | Deep Purple |
Tried to nab my favorite all-time album in the first round (which could’ve probably been a 5th round pick). Then went on listing all my favorite bands that had played through the 70s, but am still kicking myself for forgetting Rush!
Whose draft would you take other than your own? Adam’s 4th round pick of Rush.
Anything else? Still kicking myself for forgetting Rush…
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| Round 1 (15) | Grateful Dead |
| Round 2 (16) | Parliament-Funkadelic |
| Round 3 (45) | Traffic |
| Round 4 (46) | Emmylou Harris and the Hot Band |
| Round 5 (75) | Lee “Scratch” Perry and the Upsetters |
| Round 6 (76) | Dire Straits |
This was a fun exercise, remembering some bands–we could have gone a few more rounds. Was super fun to see the eclectic combinations of bands people selected.
Whose draft would you take other than your own? Patrick
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Last but not least, we’ve got some honorable mentions:
| Name | Honorable Mentions |
| Robert A | The Staple Singers; Novos Baianos; The Commodores; Manhattan Transfer; Rufus feat. Chaka Khan; The Pointer Sisters; Tower of Power; ZZ Top; America; The Statler Brothers; The Moody Blues; The Persuasions; Emerson, Lake, and Palmer; Bachman-Turner Overdrive. Probably ineligible: Nancy Faust (+Harry Caray?), Cast of Chicago, The Blues Brothers, The Wrecking Crew, The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section |
| Kendall G | |
| Adam L | Kool and the Gang, Thin Lizzy |
| Patrick D | Devo, Sondheim and Hal Prince |
| Bret S | The Velvet Underground, Sex Pistols, Wire |
| Bryan G | |
| Tim J | Thin Lizzy, The Damned, Muddy Waters, Hues Corporation, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Super Tramp |
| Jen R E | |
| Rob M | Seals & Crofts, Blue Oyster Cult, ZZ Top, Guess Who, Emerson Lake & Palmer, Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band, Supertramp, Bad Company, Foreigner, Boney M |
| Ginny S | Kate Bush, Dolly Parton, Joni Mitchell (all ineligible) |
| Craig G | The Commodores, Supertramp, The Moody Blues, BTO, Squeeze, Velvet Underground |
| Daniel R E | The Jam, New York Dolls, Modern Lovers, B-52s, Average White Band, Gap Band, The Dead Boys, Southside Johnny/Asbury Jukes, Ohio Players, KC/Sunshine Band, The Meters, Tower of Power |
| Jeffrey P | |
| Martin A | Weather Report, Mothers of Invention, Supertramp, King Crimson, The Velvet Underground, Journey, America, The Moody Blues, Camel, Foghat, The Guess Who |
| Harry P | Headhunters, Commodores,Faces, Weather Report, Mothers of Invention, ZZ Top, Marshall Tucker Band, Crazy Horse, Supertramp, America |
Thank you for reading
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ALSO PEOPLE WHO HATE THE EAGLES, APPARENTLY: You haven't heard them before because they're bad.
I believe the panel ranges from mid-late 20s through early 60s.