BOTB RESULTS (1/1/2017) AND A VERY SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

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STMcC’s Vote On '2017, January 1st: Battle Of The Bands' (Or, 'Carole King Versus Nils Lofgren') And The Final Tally: 
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Hmmm... Low voter turnout this time. Therefore, I want to thank all of you (who took the time to listen and vote) twice each. Or as we used to say in the "League Of Soul Crusaders" years, "Twice each, individually, in the mornin'!" (And damned if I can remember how that started and what it actually meant.)

Anyway, I like the song 'GOIN' BACK' and I enjoy BOTH of the recordings I used in this Battle. I agree with everything that everyone said about them. That is to say, I can understand all the reasons for preferring Carole's original over Nils' cover, and the reasons for preferring Nils' cover over Carole's original.

For sure, Carole has that bittersweet reminiscing tone which matches the sentiment of the lyrics, and I really dig the guitar and harmonica touches. Nils approaches the song in a more determined, uptempo, rollicking piano way. His arrangement seems more focused on the lines "Catch me if you can. I'm goin' back."

The bottom line for me is that I side -- ever so slightly -- with Nils. Some voters said this installment of 'Battle Of The Bands' was a toughie for them, and it was for me as well. And to be honest, I can't be sure that the "Familiarity Factor" didn't play a small part in my vote: For a long time, I've been a fan of that 1975 Nils Lofgren solo album, even to the point that I may have subconsciously borrowed that album's cover concept when I arranged for a good friend to photograph me in New York in 1983:
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NILS  LOFGREN  AND  GRAND  MARNIER

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STEPHEN  T.  McCARTHY  AND  JACK  DANIELS

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When Carole King jumped out to a 7-3 vote lead, it looked like The New & Improved MAGIC 8-BALL had predicted this Battle's outcome correctly. But Nils absolutely dominated the voting after that and we wound up with this result:

Carole King = 8
Nils Lofgren = 10
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A close Battle (as it should have been), and again I thank you voters "Twice each, individually, in the mornin'!" I hope to see you again for my January 15th BOTB installment.

VERY SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT:

I'd like you all to be aware that I have just started a new blog and I invite you to visit it, 'Follow' it, comment on it. (Just don't pee on it, please. It's not a fire hydrant and you're not a dog.)

This blog is where I will be reviewing all sorts of things -- everything from "Avocados" to "Zevon, Warren". You likely don't know this, but in 2008 I was very nearly a Top 1000 reviewer at Amazon.com (like #1120 or so).

And I don't mean to boast, but very truthfully, on many occasions Amazon.com readers left me comments saying that my review (whichever one they happened to have read) was the best they'd ever seen at that website. More than a few readers left comments saying that they just happened to come across one of my reviews and found it so entertaining and informative that they wound up spending 2 to 4 hours reading ALL of my reviews, even for products they had zero intention of buying!

Again, I tell you this not to boast but to hopefully interest you in checking out my new blog. All 199 of my old Amazon.com reviews were recently deleted from their site at the prompting of a political adversary. So, I will be re-posting them on my new blog, and once I've got them all publicly available again, I will begin occasionally writing brand new reviews for my blog.

If this "advertisement" has piqued your curiosity, then I hope to find you at (Link:) STEPHEN T. McCARTHY REVIEWS... Just think of the fun comment section discussions you and I can have. (But remember, no peeing on anything, OK? :o)
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~ Stephen T. McCarthy
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