The Madness is back for a fourth year.

This year the Battle of the Bands Competition is 80s Madness!  While last year we selected artists, this year we have decided to focus on albums – specifically from the decade of the 1980s. To add to the fun, Hector Alfonso of Espinosa Cigars and John McTavish of Developing Palates are once again participating.

This year, Hector, John, Dave, and Coop held a draft on Prime Time Jukebox Episode 66 where each picked eight albums. The albums were then seeded into brackets determined by each participant.

John’s Bracket and Seedings

  1. Thriller,Michael Jackson
  2. London Calling, The Clash
  3. Eliminator, ZZ Top
  4. It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, Public Enmy
  5. Slippery When Wet, Bon Jovi
  6. Number of the Beast, Iron Maiden
  7. Pretty Hate Machine, Nine Inch Nails
  8. Master of Puppets, Metallica

Hector’s Bracket and Seedings

  1. Purple Rain, Prince & the Revolution
  2. The Joshua Tree, U2
  3. License to Ill, The Beastie Boys
  4. Songs from the Big Chair, Tears for Fears
  5. Moving Pictures, Rush
  6. Run D.M.C., Run D.M.C.
  7. Once Upon a Time, Simple Minds
  8. Like a Virgin, Madonna

Dave’s Bracket and Seedings

  1. Appetite for Destruction, Guns N Roses
  2. Straight Outta Compton, NWAA
  3. 1984, Van Halen
  4. Hysteria, Def Leppard
  5. Whitney, Whitney Houston
  6. Uprising, Bob Marley
  7. Faith, George Michael
  8. Violent Femmes, Violent

Coop’s Bracket and Seedings

  1. Back in Black, AC/DC
  2. Born in the USA, Bruce Springsteen
  3. So, Peter Gabriel
  4. 5150, Van Halen
  5. Synchronicity, The Police
  6. Rio, Duran Duran
  7. Kick, INXS
  8. No Jacket Required

The winner of this battle will be determined by you! Starting Tuesday March 28, 2021, we will have two matchups. You will be able to vote for which artist you think should move on to the next round. We will go through each round on Twitter until there is a winner from Hector, Dave, John, and Coop’s bracket. The final four will square off and then winner will be determined. The winning album will give someone bragging rights – and be reserved for an Album Archaeology show.

We will be offering incentives to vote. This year the prize pool has really been amp’d up! Three winners will be chosen this year. Prizes offered include the following:

  • A $50.00 Vinyl Me Please Gift Card (you heard us talk about VMP on Jukebox!!!)
  • A Drew Estate DE 25 Leather Pack Pack + Cigar Case
  • An Alec Bradley Red Badge Ceramic Ashtray

You can watch the draft show here:

Rules of the contest are here. This will be a U.S.-only contest except for the Vinyl Me Please gift card. As a reminder, Cigar Coop Contests never require a purchase and are never pay for play.