BATTLE OF THE BANDS Advice From The D-FensDogG House

Recently, my friend, Dixie Polka of the blog DCRelief ~ Battle Of The Bands expressed some concern about aspects of putting together a solid Battle Of The Bands installment. Also, there has been some yak lately about BOTB ties and shutouts.

Today I want to share a few related thoughts with you and also formally invite anyone hiding in the fringes, or the shadows, or the fringes of the shadows to come out and join us BOTBers if they'd like. There's nuttin' to fear but fear itself (...and shutouts).

I was so pleased that my last BOTB blog bit posted automatically as scheduled, because I was on the road (again) and wouldn't have been able to get it up get it posted otherwise. And had my 'Low Rider' installment not seen the light of day, considering the previous song was Gospel and the next song is likewise going to be Gospel, y'all might have feared that I had become a one trick pony one trick dogG.
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Those of you who are amongst the devil's minions can rest easy: I don't have any more Gospel BOTB songs lined up in the immediately foreseeable future, following my April Fool's Day BOTB. And if this next one seems too "Gospelly" for your tastes, just remember how I recently Rocked your world with percussion from War and the blitzkrieg of "Who He?" Hoey! I'm NOT a one-note Charlie and a one trick pony... or dogG.

Dixie Polka (dp) expressed some doubts recently about how to find potential BOTB songs and worthy competitors. This strikes me as odd, seeing as how dp has already posted some really good BOTB blog bits. But she's still a relative newcomer, so I gave her some advice that went like this:

I agree that you shouldn't pick your Battles based on how you think others might respond...

As far as HOW you come up with your two contestants, that's TOTALLY IRRELEVANT (and there's no reason to even tell the audience HOW you arrived at them). I do know quite a bit of music, so I would guess that 75% of the time I know beforehand which artists I am going to pit against each other.

But in that other 25%, I will either go to Wikipedia (at the bottom of each "Song" page they usually list other notable performers who have recorded it) or go to YouTube and just put the song title into the Search Window, and all the YouTube-posted versions will come up in your Search results.

Also, of that 25%, there have been times when I planned to use two specific artists but out of curiosity, I searched to find out who else may have recorded it. And as a result of that search, changed my mind about one of the two I was intending to use.

A good example of that is when I was going to use the Atlanta Rhythm Section hit 'Spooky'. I was going to put ARS up against someone else, but at YouTube I found the unknown (to me) Dusty Springfield cover and thought it was really good and might make an even better match-up than what I had planned...

So I put Dusty's cover up against the ARS hit (which I voted for) and she udderly wiped them out on their own song!!! I was surprised like you wouldn't believe! I mean, I KNEW she was going to get some votes ('cause her version was damned good) but I did NOT expect her to win. ...And sometimes the surprise is the best (and most fun) thing about BOTB.

You can ask ANY BOTBer and they will all tell you that... "You never can tell."

[My biggest BOTB shock ever came in my second Battle Of The Bands installment. I put the Fleetwood Mac original of 'OH WELL' against the cover by The Rockets, which is far better in every conceivable way, in my op. I was sure The Rockets would clobber The Mac on their own song. To my slack-jawed amazement, my own totally honest vote for The Rockets was the only vote that saved me from a dreaded shutout!]

In my opinion, the MOST IMPORTANT 'BOTB' RULE-OF-THUMB is to (almost) ALWAYS use two recordings that YOU personally like.

In the past, I think a couple of BOTBers have gotten themselves in trouble when they put 'Dramatic Diversity Of Arrangement' ahead of 'Do I Like This?' on their list of considerations when preparing a BOTB blog bit.

If you always select song versions that YOU genuinely like, you can never go wrong with your BOTB installment.

Only TWICE (so far) in 40 BOTB installments have I used a recording that I really DIDN'T like in a BOTB contest. The first time was in MY VERY FIRST 'BOTB' BLOG BIT, when I used the exact same vocal track by Bebel Gilberto of the song 'AGANJU' with two different backing bands and drastically different arrangements. That FIRST Battle of mine was meant as an object lesson in the importance of arrangements in song recording, and not a "true" competitively matched BOTB installment. I really like the Latin Project version of 'Aganju' and I dislike the Spiritual South version. I expected a shutout in that BOTB installment, but one person (God bless her!) voted for Spiritual South, and saved me from a shutout, which I could have accepted... that one time only. (I've never yet had a shutout and I hope to keep it that way.)

Yes, it's fun to see how outrageously different we can get with our BOTB competitors, like putting a White male Rocker against a Black female Jazz singer, etc. But I think it's important to first make sure that the BOTBer likes BOTH versions before considering the diversity of performers and arrangers. Be true to yourself first... and only then should you think about how "wild" you want to get with the choices.

There is also something to be said for using recordings that aren't THAT much different, thus forcing the listener/voter to really concentrate on the minor differences to justify their vote for one or the other. (Sometimes just the vocal quality alone, or a brief instrumental break can make one version of a song seem better'n the other.)

However, having said that, you don't want to use two versions that are just WAY TOO SIMILAR in almost every respect. Example...

I am a huge Waylon Jennings fan - he is one of my very favorite musical artists of all-time and the most entertaining concert performer I ever saw (and I saw many, from Punk Rock to Jazz) - but there is no way I would ever put Waylon's version of 'CHEVY VAN' up against the original by Sammy Johns. That'd just be begging for a shutout.

Then there are certain songs where, even if you could find a cover, you really have to question the wisdom of putting something up against the original. For example, Thin Lizzy's title track 'BAD REPUTATION'...



Or perhaps Radio Birdman's 'ALOHA STEVE AND DANNO'...



Could anyone REALLY come up with covers that might give them some serious competition in voting? Maybe. But I wouldn't want to be the bloke who tests that water. I like being able to say "I'm shutoutless".

So, you wanna be a Rock & Roll star BOTBer, too? All ya gotta do is lemme know so I can add a link to your blog and announce your presents ("just send money - how about tens and twenties"?) presence.

~ Stephen T. McCarthy

POSTSCRIPT:
Just last week I was watching something that suddenly gave me a new idea for a BOTB blog bit. Within the next couple months I may again add a new "twist" to the BOTB format. (Don't worry, no Tiny Tim involved.) If I do this thang, I will actually be using a song I really hate. And I won't 'splain my (good and interesting, methinks) reason for it until after the voting and the results are in. But you may... or may not... find this new BOTB-envelope-expanding idea fun. We shall see, but not before the middle o' May.

3/15/2015 BATTLE OF THE BANDS RESULTS AND MORE WHO HE HOEY?

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STMcC’s Vote On ‘2015, March 15: Battle Of The Bands'
(Or, 'War Vs. Gary Hoey')
And The Final Tally:
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Howdy, Doggs & Doggettes! Look who's here!

Yep. Made the move (thanks be to God) and I'm coming to you live from Reno, Nevada, "The Biggest Little City In The Woild".

First, I wanna thank EVERYONE who voted on my last BOTB installment. I think I may have set a personal best for number of votes submitted in a single BOTB contest. Maybe I should just disappear mo' often, eh?

Lots of surprises for me in the voting: I KNEW War would win, but I also knew Gary Hoey would get a few votes, but I didn't think he'd get as many as he did.

It was a great surprise to see Sig Too make an appearance and submit a vote. No, I did NOT think DiscConnected was going to vote for Hoey, even though I first learned about Hoey from Dr. Disc Dude. I was totally floored by the fact my Brother voted for Hoey instead of War. (The ONLY thing that could have surprised me more is if Alex Cavanaugh had voted for War.)

And last but not least, I was shocked to my toes that Arlee Bird, Sheboyganboy Six and I all voted the same way: WAR. I don't know if that's ever happened before. Surely the End Times are here!

Yeah, I voted for War. Hoey's cover is a fantastic piece of guitar work (great backing on the bass and drums, too!) There's only one thing I can ding it on: Tempo too fast.

C'mon, this is "Low Rider". Anybody who knows anything about Low Riders (and I was born and raised in L.A., so I knows plenty) knows that not 1 in 8 Chicanos crammed into a '65 Chevy Impala could find the gas pedal if their lives depended on it! In fact, I doubt a single vato has ever touched an accelerator. I think they've always just put the Impala in neutral, gave it a push, and then went cruisin' by coastin'.

I have a neat little newspaper clipping about the connection between War and "Hispanics - particularly Mexican-Americans" - tucked into my compact disc copy of 'The Best Of War And More'. It's too long to type up now, but if I get enough requests for it in the next couple days, I will type it up and post it in the comment section of THIS blog bit.

So, the voting results? They were...

War = 15 votes
Hoey = 8 votes

or...

War = 14 votes
Hoey = 8 votes

or...

War = 13 votes
Hoey = 8 votes

I counted 3 times and got three different totals. The ONLY THING I feel pretty confident about is that Gary Hoey got 8 votes and War won. Goes to show how tired I am (in conjunction with this table that is too low, this chair that is too high, and my "computer monitor reading glasses" which are still packed in some box - God only knows which one!) Ya know, another couple hours and some Grand Marnier in my silver cup and Gary Hoey could probably WIN this Battle!

I hope to see y'all voting again in my next 'Battle Of The Bands' installment on April Fool's Day. (I'll actually be around to respond to comments on that one.)

Below is an old review I wrote about a Gary Hoey album, for anyone who cares enough to read mo'...

[From the STMcC archive; 2006, August 1st]
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I'm kind of a quirky character - "unique" is the word that my friends have used to describe me. Those who were not my friends used other less friendly words from time to time, but those people are all dead now so there's no point in our discussing them.

One of my little "quirks" is to occasionally ask odd questions from out of the blue. It might be a reasonable question such as, "The year of your best Summer?" (Mine was '74, how 'bout yers?) Or the question might be something totally nonsensical like, "What did you do when the crops failed?"

Now, if you expect to remain a friend of mine for very long you will be required to consistently reply immediately with something (at least mildly amusing) that we can develop into a full-blown, long-term nonsensical discussion. Acceptable answers to that last question would go something like: "We turned to cannibalism" or "I died in the famine." You get the idea?

When I suddenly blurted out, "Best guitarist?" to my buddy at work, The Great LC, he answered, "Gary Hoey."
I said, "HOEY? WHO HE?"

I thought I had heard of all the highly acclaimed guitarists but this cat was news to me. Well, the compact disc-addicted Rams fan, The Great LC, loaned me a copy of one of his Hoey CDs and I was turned onto truly one of the most unjustly unknown six-string slingers extant. And it came as an added surprise and bonus when I discovered that 'Who He Hoey' had also written and performed the musical soundtrack for the movie sequel 'ENDLESS SUMMER II' (1994).

The first 'ENDLESS SUMMER' movie (1966) you'll remember was the original full-length movie on surfing that - along with the fabulous music of The Beach Boys - really pushed the sport into the American consciousness, and it is still considered the classic, holy grail of surfing films. (In the days before art house/cult flick movie theatres and Beta/VHS tapes, they used to show 'Endless Summer' at the packed Santa Monica Civic Auditorium to kids like me who rode waves all Summer long in our quest for skin cancer. That was before the invention of sunblock, ya understand!)

So, is 'Who He Hoey' really the "best guitarist"? Well, The Great LC ain't no dummy, and I'd say that Hoey is darned sure in the running; the cat can really sling it! I think I'd still have to side with Danny Gatton because, despite his amazing versatility, I'm not sure Hoey could quite match Gatton's exquisite finesse on numbers like 'Canadian Sunset' and 'Poinciana.' But I'd certainly be interested in seeing the boys duel. That won't happen any time soon though because Gatton "died in the famine" of '94.

But let's briefly examine this soundtrack and see what 'Who He Hoey' is doing on it:

The first thing you'll be happy to find is that this does NOT sound like your typical movie soundtrack album. There is none of that draggy "movie music" with cheesy orchestras sawing away on strings that meander over nondescript melodies - you know wot ahm talkin' 'bout here: FILLER! No way dudes and dudettes, this is a SERIOUS surf guitar Rock album! This is the one movie soundtrack album that REALLY ROCKS! I mean this baby makes most so-called "real" Hard Rock guitar albums sound like the "movie filler" we've been yakkin' 'bout here!

[Due to popular demand - namely FAE & Dixie Polka - I have now converted the following titles into YouTube links. Turn it UP!]

It opens with 'RIPTIDE', a highly electrified excursion into swirling waters of sonic danger. (How many of you blokes know how to swim out of a riptide? There's a secret to it, but I'm keepin' it to myself.)

'BLAST' is a heavy-chorded piece of menace (think Black Sabbath or sumpin' like dat), but 'SWEET WATER' is a fluidly-picked bit of metal funk with neo-reggae rhythms.

Then we get Hoey's outrageous cover of the old War classic, 'LOW RIDER' - the unofficial theme song of my hometown, Los Angeles (maybe you've heard of the place?) It's obvious that Hoey's amplifiers go up to eleven and that's where he keeps 'em set during most of these recordings.

If you don't get mental pictures of some long-haired surfer dude pulling off spinners and hanging ten on his longboard while Hoey plays his original composition 'WALKIN' THE NOSE' then you simply have no imagination whatsoever (and yer gonna be in big trouble when out of the blue I ask you to, "Tell me about your business with Roger O'Vernout.")

'DRIVE' has a nice little melody; it's not gonna wake the children or anything, but it's got a good beat and you can dance to it.

With 'LA ROSA NEGRA' (that means "The White Petunia" in Spanish), Hoey gives us his Carlos Santana impersonation; it's fairly Latinized for a White Surfer-lookin' dude, and it's a "daisy" of a tune.

OK, yer halfway thru this disc now, Surfcats.

'LINUS AND LUCY' is a cover of Vince Guaraldi's famous theme song for the Charlie Brown TV specials, and Hoey launches into it with all kinds of weird harmonic shifts and...somehow I'm thinkin' dat Linus an' da kids (and even Snoopy) would have had a difficult time doing their goofy dances to this version!

'SURFDOGGIN' is one of my favorite tracks. It's a bit o'tickling Country-Surf Pickin'. I dunno but metinks 'Who He Hoey' may have invented a new genre with this composition and it really shows off his nimble fingers as they fly all over that fretboard and make me smile - this piece has a real Sense O'Humor...SERIOUSLY! "No, no, I'm nuh kiddin' you, uh!"

'PIPE' is an almost indescribably moody composition with Hoey's sparking guitar trading licks with Bud "Barefoot and Slippery" Shank's nasty Tenor Sax and Tony Franklin's great grumbling Bass pushing everything through the whitewater - probably my very favorite cut.

Hoey duets with one of his heroes, surf guitar legend DICK DALE, on Dick Dale's classic 'SHAKE & STOMP (Part II)' and it sounds like that wacko who used to juggle live chain saws on Venice Beach...only faster and louder. Forget about waking the children, this one's gonna getcha evicted from yer apartment.

'THEME FROM THE ENDLESS SUMMER' is the theme song from the movie 'Endless Summer' (guess that's why they called it that) and I've liked the tune since I first heard the original recording by The Sandals.

'ESCAPE' is pure Heavy Metal “Shock 'N' Awe” pyrotechnics. You might as well crank it up full blast because the manager's already on his way over to yer unit with the eviction notice in his hand anyway.

And the disc ends with the surprisingly "spiritual" 'THE DEEP' - it's an electric ballad with long notes of sustain. With this one, 'Who He Hoey' proves that still waters really do run DEEP - this is a genuinely moving piece of introspection and a fitting way to end what is otherwise an energetic assault, like an electric eel attack while riding waves in the Big Blue. And for that reason, I love to work-out to this disc! Yer gonna dig it too.

I'll end this review now with just one question for ya:
"What were you doing on the trail with Lewis and Clark?"

~ Stephen T. McCarthy

'2015, MARCH 15: BATTLE OF THE BANDS' (Or, 'WAR VS. GARY HOEY')

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Republican Vs. Democrat, Male Vs. Female, War Vs. Peace, Light Vs. Dark, Good Vs. Evil, Man Vs. Machine, Love Vs. Hate, Dog Vs. Cat, Sun Vs. Moon, Brain Vs. Brawn, Oscar Vs. Grammy, Angel Vs. Demon, Laurel Vs. Hardy, Beer Vs. Wine, TV Vs. Radio, Pitcher Vs. Batter, Paper Vs. Plastic, Reality Vs. Fantasy, Yeshua Vs. Beelzebub, Conservative Vs. Liberal, You Vs. Me, House Vs. Senate, Offense Vs. Defense, Kramer Vs. Kramer, Spy Vs. Spy, Fischer Vs. Spassky, W.C. Fields Vs. Sobriety, Harold Gimpy, Jr. Vs. Sheldon J. Pismire, Rock Vs. Paper Vs. Scissors, Islam Vs. Everything, Singer Vs. Singer, Band Vs. Band...

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THE BATTLE OF THE BANDS! (‘BOTB’)

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Shoop-Shooby –

Shooby-duh-Dooby-Doop-Dooby-Dooby-Doo-Wah –

Buh-Doo-Wah!

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Yes, it’s time once again for ‘Battle Of The Bands’ (‘BOTB’)

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Alright, let’s get on it...

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EUGENE  MARTONE  VS.  JACK  BUTLER

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I've got a great BOTB contest for you today! We are using what I like to call "The Unofficial Official Song Of Los Angeles". The song is 'LOW RIDER' by the group WAR. Their original went to #7 on the Billboard Music Chart in 1975. And what's 'Low Rider' without a little Cheech Y Chong?

'LOW RIDER' - WAR



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Alyx4QeRRdg

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GODZILLA  VS.  KING  KONG

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Alright, now let's hear guitar god GARY HOEY (Hoey? Who he?) put his stamp on an instrumental version of 'LOW RIDER':

'LOW RIDER' - GARY HOEY [Who He?]



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0O057Z3jD4

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RIDDLER  VS.  BATMAN

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Alright now, “you know the gig”... I welcome EVERYONE to vote for their favorite of these songs in the comment section below. And feel free to tell us WHY you chose one song over the other.
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After voting here, I suggest - actually I insist - you pop over to the blogs of the other 'BATTLE OF THE BANDS' participants to see which songs they have chosen and vote there also. (If their ‘BOTB’ blog bits aren’t posted yet, pour yourself two shots of ‘Grand Marnier’ over ice – do it twice – and then return to their blogs to vice your voice ...vote your vice ...voice your vote.)
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Voice Your Vote @ ‘FAR AWAY SERIES’ by clicking HERE.
@ ‘TOSSING IT OUT’ by clicking HERE.
@ ‘YOUR DAILY DOSE’ by clicking HERE.
@ ‘DISCCONNECTED’ by clicking HERE.
@ 'BOOK LOVER' by clicking HERE.
@ 'MIKE'S RAMBLINGS' by clicking HERE.
@ 'CURIOUS AS A CATHY' by clicking HERE.
@ 'THE SOUND OF ONE HAND TYPING' by clicking HERE.
@ 'DCRELIEF - BATTLE OF THE BANDS' by clicking HERE.
@ 'THIS BELLE ROCKS' by clicking HERE.
@ 'ALEX CAVANAUGH' (when BOTB falls on a Mon., Wed., or Fri.) by clicking HERE.
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As I've done in the past, I will continue to return to my 'BOTB' blog bits on the 7th and 21st of each month to post my own votes and announce the winners in the comment sections.
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~ Stephen T. McCarthy
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'824 BAY STREET (THE RUB-OF-THE-BRUSH SOUNDTRACK)'

Originally, I was planning to post something here about the defunct TV series 'JOAN OF ARCADIA' but have decided to put that on hold for a little longer. (Sorry 'bout that Robin, the Girl Wonder.)

Nevertheless, here's 36 seconds of the theme song:



Instead, I've decided to stall by posting a 'Drinking Soundtrack' I shared the other day at BOTBer Kim's 'THIS BELLE ROCKS' blog. Dixie Polka (DCRELIEF ~ BATTLE OF THE BANDS) seemed so enthusiastic about the list that I figured I'd stick it here, too.

Here is what I wrote as an Introduction at Kim's blog:

Every one of these tunes was 80-proof tested by me, most of them in the early 1980s when I was still young enough to drink all night and play all day... after waking up on the living room floor... with my bedroom only twelve feet away.
A song for every drinking occasion.

I will include a few sentences of commentary for each song below. 

Yeah, truth is, these songs really HAVE been battle-tested by me in my serious drinking years. (Yep. To us wild boys at the 824 Bay Street house in Santa Monica, California, drinking was SERIOUS bidnizz in the early 1980s.)

These aren't in any particular order, except that the list starts and ends with "Hangover Songs", which is how many of our days began back at the Bay Street house. I have written plenty about The League Of Soul Crusaders and our headquarters at 824 Bay Street over the years on my blogs (particularly 'Stephen T. McCarthy's STUFFS'), so I'm not going to repeat a lot of stuffs. You can Google those keywords and find more if you're interested. I'm just going to get right to the songs...

HAIR OF THE DOG AT 8 AM

Pooh's Pa owned a liquor store in Venice. Pooh worked at the store. Sometimes we'd visit him there. The liquor store had a back room where "product" was stored. Need I say more?

CRANIUM, NAPOLEON, & TORCH ON THE ROOF OF 824 BAY STREET (The Sign Says, "Thinkin' Maybe We Don't Lead The League?" If they're blurred, it's because they're drunk.)

DRINKIN' & THINKIN'... ALONE

Sometimes I'd get moody and just want to drink alone. I'd lock myself in my bedroom and listen to Van Morrison (usually 'Astral Weeks' or 'Saint Dominic's Preview') or Rickie Lee Jones (usually 'Pirates', sometimes 'The Magazine').



GUYS & KEGS & THE COPS WERE CALLED

The cops were always being called to our house for "Loud music", "Disturbing the peace". Often it was I who went out to meet them on the lawn because I was able to "maintain" pretty well, even in the midst of a "drunken blackout".

Watch for Waylon and Willie and some other friends of Bocephus.

STEPHEN T. McCARTHY HUNGOVER AND WAITING IN LINE FOR BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN TICKETS

HOW TO WAKE UP A SLEEPY BAR IN 30 SECONDS

Yeah, it really works! Nappy and I did it once at 'The Cattleman's' saloon in Prescott, Airheadzona. I grew up with this one, as my parents had the .45 RPM single with the illustrations on the paper dust jacket. Anyone remember that?


 
DRINKIN', KICKIN' ASS AND TAKIN' NAMES

I started getting heavily into the Blues in the last phase of the 'Bay Street Days'.


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MOST OF 'THE LEAGUE OF SOUL CRUSADERS' ON A BANK ROOF, 4th OF JULY (We had a thang for roofs)

STILL DRINKIN' & KICKIN' ASS BUT TOO DRUNK TO WRITE

I discovered this one later, but it sure does work when "The Evidence" is flowing and everyone's juiced up and lovin' life.

THE TRUNK OF CRANIUM'S '59 CADILLAC LOADED WITH FRIENDS

JUNGLE JUICE & JUMBLED JARGON

About a week before the Bay Street house was bulldozed to make way for condominiums, we threw one last party. Everyone (with the guts to be there) was there. I had prepared a music mix tape which included this song on it:



POUR IT ALL NIGHT LONG!

I loves me some Wolf, and this one howls!

JOLLY JACK'S BAR: HOME AWAY FROM HOME

FEELIN' WILD BUT LOOKIN' GOOD

Speaking of "Howls", I learned from a book that this song was essentially written in a house along the Venice Canals down near Venice Beach. How "perfect"!

CRUISIN' & SINGIN'

A PARTY LIFE FOR ME!

We really did often sing this chorus while cruising the Los Angeles area. (Some people there probably still remember.) Only we'd change the lyrics to "a party life for me!" Yeah, we were clever that way.



And because THIS list goes "up to eleven"...

THE HANGOVER WALTZ

We'd wake up hungover, make a beer run, and play side two of The Beatles' 'White Album' and dance... sort of. We called this "The Hangover Waltz". The centerpiece of The Hangover Waltz was 'Rocky Raccoon'. 



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nucSvl7VXVM 

824 BAY STREET, SANTA MONICA, CALIF.

The house is gone and the street is quiet now. But I'll bet that if you listen closely on a Summer night, you can still hear distant echoes of laughter, shouting, fighting, and fun. Life being lived to its fullest, and friendships being forged for life.

I'm pretty sure I had THIS SONG on my final Bay Street party mix tape. The lyrics describes our 4 or 5 years at the Bay Street house to a T! You'll get extra credit for listening to it HERE.

~ Stephen [Hic!] McCarthy
'Loyal American Underground'

'BATTLE OF THE BANDS: 2015, MARCH 1' (Or, 'THE EDWIN HAWKINS SINGERS VS. GLEN CAMPBELL')

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Republican Vs. Democrat, Male Vs. Female, War Vs. Peace, Light Vs. Dark, Good Vs. Evil, Man Vs. Machine, Love Vs. Hate, Dog Vs. Cat, Sun Vs. Moon, Brain Vs. Brawn, Oscar Vs. Grammy, Angel Vs. Demon, Laurel Vs. Hardy, Beer Vs. Wine, TV Vs. Radio, Pitcher Vs. Batter, Paper Vs. Plastic, Reality Vs. Fantasy, Yeshua Vs. Beelzebub, Conservative Vs. Liberal, You Vs. Me, House Vs. Senate, Offense Vs. Defense, Kramer Vs. Kramer, Spy Vs. Spy, Fischer Vs. Spassky, W.C. Fields Vs. Sobriety, Harold Gimpy, Jr. Vs. Sheldon J. Pismire, Rock Vs. Paper Vs. Scissors, Islam Vs. Everything, Singer Vs. Singer, Band Vs. Band...

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THE BATTLE OF THE BANDS! (‘BOTB’)

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Shoop-Shooby –

Shooby-duh-Dooby-Doop-Dooby-Dooby-Doo-Wah –

Buh-Doo-Wah!

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Yes, it’s time once again for ‘Battle Of The Bands’ (‘BOTB’)

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Alright, let’s get on it...

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EUGENE  MARTONE  VS.  JACK  BUTLER

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Since I am only about 10 days away from escaping Phoenix, Airheadzona, and moving to Reno, Nevada - where I have wanted to live for decades - I decided to use this song today in celebration of my new life starting over, away from the hell of my home life and hellish job here in Airheadzona. So this famous Gospel song I dedicate to... ME!

[NOTE: In the second week of March I am moving out-of-state. There is a strong possibility I won't have Internet service in time for the March 15th 'Battle Of The Bands'. Even if I don't, please don't give up on me and forget me. My friends, I WILL be back to 'BOTBing' (and visiting your blogs) just as soon as I possibly can.]

'OH, HAPPY DAY' by The Edwin Hawkins Singers went to #4 on the Billboard Top 40 music chart in 1969 and won the Grammy Award for 'Best Soul Gospel Performance'. Back then it seemed like there was far greater diversity found on Top 40 radio. You could find a Gospel song like this played back-to-back with some psychedelic Rock song or even a Country-tinged Pop song or a Blues song by, say, B.B. King.

Ahh, the Good Old Days when you could turn your transistor radio on to KHJ (or any Top 40 station in your area) and find such a great mix of different sounds. But don't forget that Vin Scully will be doing the Dodgers play-by-play beginning at 5:30!

'OH, HAPPY DAY' - THE EDWIN HAWKINS SINGERS



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSXs3vOS-k4
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GODZILLA  VS.  KING  KONG

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OK, let's hear the 1970 version by "The Rhinestone Cowboy". (Ha!-Ha! You think this Battle is already over, don't you? Not so fast, not so fast! You may be in for a little surprise.) Unbeknownst to most people, and his problems with alcohol notwithstanding, Glen Campbell is a true believer in The Lord Jesus Christ and he recorded a good number of Gospel songs over the course of his long career. And, yes, he also recorded a version of 'Oh, Happy Day'. Let's hear it Doggs & Doggettes...

'OH, HAPPY DAY' - GLEN CAMPBELL



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96-pnIfl2fg
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RIDDLER  VS.  BATMAN

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Alright now, “you know the gig”... I welcome EVERYONE to vote for their favorite of these songs in the comment section below. And feel free to tell us WHY you chose one song over the other.
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After voting here, I suggest - actually I insist - you pop over to the blogs of the other 'BATTLE OF THE BANDS' participants to see which songs they have chosen and vote there also. (If their ‘BOTB’ blog bits aren’t posted yet, pour yourself two shots of ‘Grand Marnier’ over ice – do it twice – and then return to their blogs to vice your voice ...vote your vice ...voice your vote.)
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Voice Your Vote @ ‘FAR AWAY SERIES’ by clicking HERE.
@ ‘TOSSING IT OUT’ by clicking HERE.
@ ‘YOUR DAILY DOSE’ by clicking HERE.
@ 'BOOK LOVER' by clicking HERE.
@ 'MIKE'S RAMBLINGS' by clicking HERE.
@ 'CURIOUS AS A CATHY' by clicking HERE.
@ 'THE SOUND OF ONE HAND TYPING' by clicking HERE.
@ 'DCRELIEF - BATTLE OF THE BANDS' by clicking HERE.
@ 'THIS BELLE ROCKS' by clicking HERE.
@ 'ALEX CAVANAUGH' (when BOTB falls on a Mon., Wed., or Fri.) by clicking HERE.
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~ Stephen T. McCarthy
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