base talk ATRL March Madness 2023 | WINNER!

[supaspaz]

 

And so we arrive, after a wild and consistently surprising tournament, where perhaps we always should have expected in the Championship of ATRL March Madness, with the top two seeds battling it out for the title of the most indispensable cover. (Find a complete draw here.) Yet in its utter conventionality, following the endless upsets that took two bottom-ranking contenders all the way to the Final Four, this championship showdown is maybe the most shocking conclusion of all — especially because it is only the third time in tournament history where the entries still standing at the end are the ones that were supposed to be there.

 

In one corner, the overall top seed #1 "It's My Life", which served as the single for No Doubt's 2003 greatest hits collection. Based on a modestly successful 1984 synth-pop track by UK new wave band Talk Talk, it performed far beyond expectations for No Doubt, helping push their compilation disc past two million in sales and earning them their final Grammy nomination and final appearance in the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 to date. "It's My Life" tore through most of the draw to reach the championship, though it narrowly escaped defeated against Aretha Franklin's "Respect" in the Sweet Sixteen.

 

On the other side, #1 "Torn" by Natalie Imbruglia, which received the second-most votes in preliminary balloting and traced a dominant path to the finals, never at threat of losing. Begining life as "Brændt" for Danish singer Lis Sørensen in 1993, it was recorded two years later by the songwriters Scott Cutler and Anne Preven with their alternative rock band Ednaswap. That version, brought to Australian soap actress Natalie Imbruglia by another of its writers, Phil Thornalley, and eventually softened, provided the basis for her beloved debut single. It became a global smash in 1997, topping the radio chart in the US for 11 weeks and earning a Grammy nomination.

 

So who will it be? As always, in the match-up below, please pick the track you're afraid to lose — the one that never runs dry as inspiration. Happy voting!

 

CHAMPIONSHIP

 

(1) "It's My Life" No Doubt vs. (1) "Torn" Natalie Imbruglia

 

 

[supaspaz]

  Hide contents

@dabunique @Tusk @madonnas @Cannon @Verge of Obscene @Vroom Vroom @Staryu @prézli @Green @satellites.™ @touya kinomoto @SleepingTigers @Born to Run @Frozen99 @CBC @Allday @Quicksand @Reverie @SLIME @andresg770 @GreatestLoveofAll @Patrick @Mr. Duff @305 @Kool_Aid_King @confide in me @naval23 @dreamsicle @Phil @pride4jc1222 @Gwegend @Sesame @Ace Reject @Marla Singer @channelbangerz @kandicha @wehavetostan @suburbannature @superben

This final vote is for all the marbles!

[andresg770]

(1) "It's My Life" No Doubt  

[superben]

Torn

[andresg770]

9 hours ago, supaspaz said:

Here's a review from 1983 that acknowledges Robert Hazard's original. Check page 7:

http://web.archive.org/web/20200813200353/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/80s/1983/CB-1983-12-24.pdf

 

There's still plenty of sources that refer to it as an "unreleased demo," though, like this one: https://popculturereferences.com/girls-just-want-to-have-fun-cyndi-lauper-robert-hazard-cover/

 

And then there's this academic book that says that Robert Hazard only released his version of GJWTHF to piggyback off the popularity of Cyndi's version: https://www.openbookpublishers.com/books/10.11647/obp.0293

 

But it sounds like as early as Cyndi's release of her version, there was conversation about her taking a song originally sung by a man and transforming it.  Which goes back to my point that... Well, you know  

[pride4jc1222]

Torn (but Angel of Mine is better than both songs)

[Kool_Aid_King]

9 hours ago, Frozen99 said:

what song, we don't know her #Justice4NothingCompares2U

 

I agree. Successinead deserves. 

 

Torn

[naval23]

Torn (but Angel of Mine deserved to win)

[touya kinomoto]

my vote goes to...

 

the Johnny English actress Natalie Imbruglia and her stellar cover of Torn

[kandicha]

It’s My Life

 

Both are great choices though 

[supaspaz]

44 minutes ago, andresg770 said:

There's still plenty of sources that refer to it as an "unreleased demo," though, like this one: https://popculturereferences.com/girls-just-want-to-have-fun-cyndi-lauper-robert-hazard-cover/

 

And then there's this academic book that says that Robert Hazard only released his version of GJWTHF to piggyback off the popularity of Cyndi's version: https://www.openbookpublishers.com/books/10.11647/obp.0293

 

But it sounds like as early as Cyndi's release of her version, there was conversation about her taking a song originally sung by a man and transforming it.  Which goes back to my point that... Well, you know  

So it sounds like we can all agree it’s a cover.

[madonnas]

It's My Life

[suburbannature]

Torn

[prézli]

Neither, but It's My Life

[305]

Torn

[SLIME]

Torn

[Cannon]

It’s My Life

 

this one today was very hard and I’ll be happy if either one wins. 

[CBC]

(1) "Torn" Natalie Imbruglia

[Frozen99]

so happy for both, they're my childhood anthems

but my vote goes to torn

 

[Staryu]

Torn I guess

[supaspaz]

Has this become the most controversial ATRL March Madness ever?

[andresg770]

2 hours ago, supaspaz said:

So it sounds like we can all agree it’s a cover.

But then what about "Torn"? 

[Patrick]

[supaspaz]

35 minutes ago, andresg770 said:

But then what about "Torn"? 

How is that not a cover?

[supaspaz]

25 minutes ago, Patrick said:

This is why I was afraid to sing along when I was a kid