BEATLES WEEK: BLOG BATTLE!

TRAVELING WILBURYS VS. ASIA!!!

Can you say mismatch? That besotted brainiac Steve Spears is irate about the Traveling Wilburys being called the greatest "supergroup" of all time. That hairy-knuckled '80s apologist is convinced that the prog-pop dream teamers in Asia are the supreme supergroup. The Wilburys vs. Asia in a Blog Battle? That's ridiculous. That's insane. That's like me vs. a six-pack of Chalupas. It's unfair and it's unhealthy. But Steve wants to battle, so we'll battle.

So here are 7 Reasons Why the Traveling Wilburys Are a Superior Supergroup to Those "Don't Cry" Dopes:

Reasons No. 1 thru No. 5: Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Tom Petty, Roy Orbison, Jeff Lynne. If I swapped John Wetton or Steve Howe for any of those guys, it'd be like replacing Babe Ruth with Corey Hart or a cardboard cutout of Morey Amsterdam.

Reason No. 6: Asia tinkered and overthought several albums and came up with -- what? -- five or six great songs. The Wilburys made two albums in a ridiculously short amount of time, screwing around and shouting out lyrics and probably smoking Rhode Island-sized bundles of marijuana, and managed to record 15 near-classics. Now that's talent.

Reason No. 7: You can't spell "sad, prematurely balding sex-averse dorks" without p-r-o-g. Seriously, cueing up an Asia album on a date is a sex repellant on par with a massive bobblehead collection and/or doing a Leonard Nimoy impression.

There, that oughta do it. You can click here for Steve's rebuttal, but really now, we all know the battle is over.

Comments

[Walter Cox]

I'm siding with Daly on this one. No, really. I had an Asia greatest hits cd, and I sold it. I have 3 great Wilburys tunes on my iPod,and I'm seriously considering going out and buying the two Wilburys disks. Let's not forget that the Wilburys have their own dance: The Wilbury Twist.

And did Spears b****-slap George Harrison over Steve Howe? The BEST Beatle?! You've got to be kidding me. Vendetta on, Steve. Vendetta on!

[Uncle Crappy]

One thing I didn't say in the comment I left for Mr. Spears: If you have to call a member of Emerson Lake and Palmer a "legend" to boost your argument, deep down, you know you're reaching. C'mon ... we're talking about Dylan and a Beatle here ... even if the Beatle was Ringo, it wouldn't be close.

[Max]

I'm not a big fan of either one, actually. They're both bands full of people that I should be fans of, but I'm not (exception: Roy Orbison, who's hawesome). They both have a couple songs I like and a bunch I wouldn't recognize.

[razor9edge]

I'm going with Daly on this one... it's not even close.

Spears makes a good point about Asia as a band vs. the Wilbury's as a group; however, the term is "SuperGROUP".

[Sean Daly]

Right now, Steve Spears is cowering behind a pile of unopened copies of Asia "Astra."

[KJW]

The fact that Asia can be used for comedic effect is all one needs to know (from The 40 Year Old Virgin):
Cal: [Pointing to a framed poster] I mean, seriously, Asia? You framed an Asia poster? How hard did the people at the frame store laugh when you brought this in?

Then there's this small classic from The Onion:
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/31837

Asia makes better jokes, not better songs.

[Spears]

"Traveling Wilburys" should be a punchline in itself.

Five nasaly guys whose careers were way past their prime all strumming guitars. That's your idea of a supergroup?

Let's face it -- the Wilbury's were together because no one else would have them.

[bassnote]

Are Asia's albums reappearing in the top 40 right now? I guarentee that The Traveling Wilburys Collection will be in the top10 this week. It is currently the number 1 downloaded album on i-Tunes.

[dreaming]

i forgot about asia.