RESULTS: BATTLE OF THE BANDS -- 2017, MARCH 15 (Or, DJANGO REINHARDT VS. CLYDE McCOY)

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STMcC’s Vote On '2017, March 15th: Battle Of The Bands'
(Or, 'Django Reinhardt Versus Clyde McCoy')
And The Final Tally:
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Well, this was an unexpected bust.
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Granted, I knew going into this Battle that Clyde McCoy would have his hands full against Django Reinhardt. Nevertheless, with 'Battle Of The Bands' being primarily a Rock crowd, I figured the jet-fueled tempo of McCoy's version would rocket him to victory. Apparently the Magic 8-Ball was thinking along the same lines. But, WRONG! & WRONG!

This being BOTB (and to borrow a line from the late great Chuck Berry), "You never can tell."

Django was an absolute master and his recording of 'I've Found A New Baby', with all its subtle shadings played in such a seemingly effortless way is pretty mesmerizing to me. However, it probably comes as no surprise that my vote lands on the Clyde McCoy version which I dubbed "Punk Jazz".

When I was a teenager, long ago in a land far away, I got into the Punk Rock scene when it first exploded. Yep, I had those first two Sex Pistols albums, as well as the first three albums by The Clash. I owned a couple of albums by X, the first one by The Germs, also some proto-Punk albums by Iggy And The Stooges, The Ramones, and 'Radios Appear' by Radio Birdman.

A few years older and wiser, I realized it was all a bunch of shit and I jettisoned that noisy vinyl.

But make no mistake, I understood the Punk Rock genre -- I "got it" and liked it for those first few years before my musical tastes changed and made it unlistenable to me.

In the mid-1980s I turned heavily toward the Blues which led me into Jazz by the late-'80s. And it was probably around 1990 or '91, after hearing 'Sing, Sing, Sing' by The Benny Goodman Orchestra that I (as far as I was aware) coined the expression "Punk Jazz".

What Punk Rock lacked in quality musicianship it attempted to make up for with loads of attitude, speed, and volume (as in "up to eleven") on nearly every track.

Now, obviously, you're not going to find the anger of Punk Rock lyrics in old Jazz tunes -- many of which were instrumentals anyway. But that 1937 recording by Benny Goodman was the first time I had found the same sort of aural attack, the same energetic, all-out ferociousness of Punk Rock in a Jazz track. It was like "take-no-prisoners" music; it was like "get outta my way and hang onto something" music. I felt like I wanted play along on my air-guitar; I felt like I wanted to break something and start a fight. Ha!

A few years later, my dear ol' Ma gave me for Christmas some great Jazz CDs. Those discs introduced me to Ralph Marterie, Bill Doggett, and Clyde McCoy. I loved them all, but especially that early Jazz "Wah-Wah" sound of McCoy's trumpet. And it was on that McCoy disc that I found his 1931 recording of 'I've Found A New Baby'. I recognized in it that same attacking energy, that guttural ferociousness that I heard in Goodman's 'Sing, Sing, Sing' and in most of that early Punk and proto-Punk Rock. And Clyde's track preceded Goodman's by 6 years!

That fierce energy and sound really runs throughout McCoy's 'I've Found A New Baby', but if you want to hear perhaps the most prominent point, go back HERE and listen from 2:09 until the end. That sounds like a cross between a barroom brawl and a bull elephant! Or perhaps bull elephants in a barroom brawl.

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FUN FACT: I went to YouTube to grab a video of Benny Goodman's 'Sing, Sing, Sing' (the 1938 Carnegie Hall version) and while I was there, I scrolled through some of the comments. I was surprised to see that I'm not the only person who has noticed some of the attributes it has in common with Punk Rock. Read these 5 different comments and then give a listen to Benny Goodman's great band rockin' out!

Wow. This punk rocker bows down in respect. Absolute brilliance from beginning to end, but throughout, the raw jungle power of Gene Krupa drives this monster like a muscle car. Flat-out crazy awesome!

This rocks. One of the great moments in popular music history.

Quite punk, in its own way. Excellent raging tune.

This is the best Rock drumming ever!  Not even our Blessed John Bonham could do better.

Have often thought that a lot of Swing could be arranged for Heavy Metal band and vice versa.

Which gives me the idea that I suppose I could have even called the Clyde McCoy version of 'I've Found A New Baby' "Heavy Brass" as well as "Punk Jazz".

'Sing, Sing, Sing' -- The Benny Goodman Orchestra


Well, "Punk Jazz" aside, my own vote for Clyde did nuttin' in terms of preventing a blowout:

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Django Reinhardt = 12 votes
Clyde McCoy = 5 votes

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I thank y'all for voting and I hope you will return on April Fool's Day when this fool will present another installment of 'Battle Of The Bands'.

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Just for fun, while on your way out the door, check out this third rendition of 'I've Found A New Baby'. I'd never heard of The Speakeasies' Swing Band until I was putting this latest BOTB installment together, but I think they're terrific! See what YOU think:

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcych1Uqic4

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~ Stephen T. McCarthy
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