Next up in the Eliminator is a group proposed by my friend Bill, The Head and the Heart. Bill said a number of their songs should be in the top 1000 and actually recommended a different song than this one (Let’s be Still). So I started listening to the group and they do have a lot of stuff totally suitable for the Eliminator. I think the one I like best is their 2019 release Lost in My Mind, and so I’m putting that one up here. And it’s weighted random opponent is an oldie but a goodie, Dancing Queen by Abba, which is a fairly tough opponent, currently #764 in the Eliminator. These challenges are getting more difficult as the Eliminator eliminates most of the songs that really didn’t belong in the first place. Dancing Queen clearly belongs.
Here are the two YouTubes:
Bill will be surprised to hear this, but until he mentioned them, I had never heard of The Head and the Heart. I have a number of folk playlists that I listen to on background while I’m doing other things, and somehow, amazingly, this band has eluded my radar, maybe because most of my listens are female leads. They are a local band for me, coming from Ballard, and they’ve released a series of albums since 2011. Their albums hit #1 on the folk charts for sales, which is a very competitive marketplace.
Everyone knows Dancing Queen. Worldwide #1 in 1976, which is saying something (the worldwide part). It’s in the Grammy Hall of Fame, was performed live for the Swedish Queen on request, and is on so many charts of top songs ever that it’s actually amazing. I don’t think much more needs to be said about this song.
And I think in the end it’s that last sentence that dooms Dancing Queen. There is a 43 year difference in the release dates of these two songs, which is incredible. What has been said and done about that song has been said and done (I’m sure some new artist will cover it in a very new way soon, though the original in this case is hard to replace). Head and the Heart clearly belongs here, and goes Lost in My Mind goes in at #573.
Want to learn more about the Eliminator? Or even propose a song? Here’s the links to what the Eliminator is all about: the Spotify Playlist, the Youtube Playlist, the Google Sheets List, and the webpage.
