This has been said before, but I’m pretty sure this will be our most challenging Last Man Standing competition yet! If you’ve never played before, the idea is to submit one entry at a time until no other answers to the LMS competition come to mind. The reason I feel this LMS will be the most challenging ever is because I can only think of 4 possible answers, 2 of which come from the same band. I’m pretty sure there are no more than 4 possible answers, but I’m also pretty sure that I’m wrong about this. Prove me wrong!

By the way, there are a couple of limitations. Only songs by ROCK artists will be accepted – no hip-hop artists, who are self-referential on 75% of their songs. Also, the song must come in the second half of the artists’ relevant years. The song “Bad Company,” by Bad Company, for instance, does not qualify, because it was one of their first singles.

Because there may be so few answers to this question, I will not kick off this thread with an entry, but I will give one clue regarding probably the best-known of these songs: although rock nerds would not rank it among the band’s top 20 songs, it’s become a staple of the band’s abbreviated sets for nationwide television performances and the like. Go!

This may be the shortest Last Man Standing we’ve ever had, but then again, we frequently say that, don’t we? The goal is not to list any old song about horses; the song has to be about horse racing, or have a definite reference to horse racing. Simply riding a horse doesn’t count, so don’t bother suggesting The Rolling Stones‘ “Wild Horses” whenever that day comes when you ride them.

Because there may be so few horses in this race, I won’t kick things off with the one obvious entrant that comes to mind.

The horses have entered the starting gate…they’re off!

Enjoy the following promotional message, courtesy of one of our very own Townsmen!

I just hit PLAY on a favorite album that opens with a song that is reprised at the end of the same album. I immediately thought of two other albums that were originally sequenced (no bonus track loophole attempts at standing above the pack, please) to include reprise versions of a key song. Because there may only be so many rock ‘n roll albums* employing this device, I won’t launch this Last Man Standing with an opening salvo. Of course, it’s rare there are as few entries in these events as I initially think there will be, so show your stuff!

*NO CLASSICAL ALBUMS, OR WHICHEVER GENRE ORIGINATED THE USE OF THE REPRISE, PLEASE.

The recent New York Times story that Townsman Oats passed along regarding the pre-acting career of The Office‘s Creed Bratton as a member of The Grass Roots got me thinking of this possibly reasonably contained and challenging Last Man Standing competition. To do this right, I think we should keep a at least two ground rules and supporting points in mind:

1. We will define “first gained at least a modicum of professional success as a musician” as having been in a professional (ie, signed, nationally distributed, touring, etc) band that released an album or toured in support of nationally distributed albums prior to said actor becoming known for his or her acting.
• Having been in any old high school garage band does not count.
• Having been a nude, stoned bongo player in a beach house does not count.
• First gaining notice as an actor for playing a musician in a movie does not count, although at least one such actor who fits this description does count in this Last Man Standing exercise for his prior professional work as a musician.
2. This has to be someone considered a real actor, someone who made their mark in acting after satisfying the first criterion. Successful professional musicians who took up acting as a side project do not count. Sorry, Jon Bon Jovi, John Doe, Lee Ving, Flea, Dwight Yoakam, Frank Sinatra, et al. You already made your name as a musician long before taking roles in movies. Creed Bratton, on the other hand, qualifies, because no one – not even Townspeople who can name 3 or more members of The Zombies – knew the name of any member of The Grass Roots.

Some of these actors have been noted in a recent thread that you may or may not recall, but not all possible entrants in this sure-to-be tightly contested battle! As always, please enter no more than one entry per comment. Go!