Who's got the most discerning car-obsessed readers on the web? Us, duh. This was proven yesterday when we initiated the first round of our latest Jalopnik contest, inviting readers to send in fifteen-song playlists to be paired with a Mercedes vehicle of their choice from any point in history. Gearhead Records, the fine folks who in the past have brought you excellent recordings by bands like the Hives, the Hellacopters and the Dukes of Hamburg (who recorded the greatest version of "Greensleeves" ever to cut wax), are offering up a passel of goodies to the folks who come up with the best playlists. Voting's open until Wednesday, with the winners to be announced on Thursday. After the jump, a couple of the latest entries, just so you kids know what you're up against. Oh, and here's the Official Gawker Media Contest Disclaimer Thingy.
My favorite Benz has got to be Robert Loggia's 1000+ hp 6.9 litre S class (wasn't it?) in that crappy David Lynch movie, Lost Highway. Given Loggia's character's temperment and the temperment of that bruiser Benz, I found myself in a metal mood and came up with the following:
1. AC/DC "Jailbreak"
2. Twisted Sister "I Wanna Rock"
3. The Darkness "Growing on Me"
4. (Hallo MTV! We are ze) Scorpions (!) "No One Like You"
5. Dio "Stand Up and Shout"
6. Iron Maiden "The Number of The Beast"
7. Stryper "To Hell With the Devil"
8. Extreme "Play With Me"
9. Megadeth "Holy Wars The Punishment Due"
10. Saxon "Wheels of Steel"
11. Motorhead "Ace of Spades"
12. M tley Cr e "Too Young to Fall in Love"
13. Ted Nugent "Wango Tango"
14. AC/DC "Money Talks"
15. The Upper Crust "We're Finished with Finishing School"
While Phil picked some seriously choice cuts, especially "Wheels of Steel" and "Stand up and Shout," the inclusion of Extreme and the omission of Mot rhead's all-important umlaut knocked him out of the running. Close, but Bob Lutz ain't gonna be handing you any Cohibas this round, pal. Better luck next time, Philliam.
Straight outta the greater Detroit metro comes Becki's list:
For the SLK 230 Kompressor (cherry red):
1. The Dickies "You Drive Me Ape"
2. The Briefs "New Shoes"
3. Blood For Blood "White Trash Anthem"
4. The Runaways "Cherry Bomb"
5. The Modern Lovers "Roadrunner"
6. 101'ers "Motor Boys Motor"
7. Fear Factory "Cars"
8. Flipper "Lowrider"
9. The Gits "Here's To Your F*ck"
10. Dropkick Murphys "Rocky Road to Dublin"
11. Nomeansno "Oh No! Bruno!"
12. The Clash "Police On My Back"
13. Stiff Little Fingers "Gotta Gettaway"
14. American Steel "Turn It Out"
15. The Business "Drinking and Driving"
While Becki's list is mighty impressive, (Flipper!) she misses on a couple of points: It's never a good idea to include Blood for Blood on any list except for a list of bands that suck. The 101'ers track almost negates that, but let's face it, while they were decent, the only reason anyone remembers them is because Strummer went on to front the Clash. But the unfortunate fly in the ointment here is the choice of American Steel's "Turn it Out," a song slain by practically every song on their first two albums as well as at least half the songs on their third. Oh, and "Suspect Device" would've gone better with the "Cherry Bomb" theme than "Gotta Getaway." That said, with the exception of the Blood for Blood gaffe, this one's definitely a worthy effort.