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Welcome back, my friends, to the "Battle" that never ends.
We're so glad you could attend. Come inside! Come inside!
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This is 'BATTLE OF THE BANDS' ('BOTB') where you listen to different recordings and vote for the one you like best. A new Battle gets posted on the 1st of each month and on the 7th, I place my own vote, tally 'em all up and announce the winner.
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Friend? Foe? Stranger? No matter, ALL are welcome. So pull up a chair, pour yourself 24 oz. of DOG BITE High Gravity Lager (or the poison of your choice) and turn it up to Eleven!
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[NOTE: Links to the first year of 'BOTB' (#1 - #24) can be found at the very bottom of this page.]

Friday, September 21, 2018

PSYCHEDELIC BOTB RESULTS: 2018, SEPT. 15 (Or, BROADWAY VS. HOLLYWOOD)

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STMcC’s Vote On '2018, September 15th: Battle Of The Bands' (BOTB) Or, Broadway 'HAIR' Versus Hollywood 'Hair' And The Final Tally:
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It was our third and final Battle (the 2 out of 3 rubber match) between Broadway's 'Hair' (the 1968 original) and Hollywood's 'Hair' (1979 movie). The song was 'Aquarius' and the contest took place HERE.
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The voting started out kind of slow but it picked up and we wound up with a pretty decent turnout. As always, .I thank you, and You, and YOU. (all of youz) for taking the time to visit, listen, and vote. And also as always, the comment section was a fun place to be.
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For those of you who may not have been born yet, or were just too young to remember it (or flyin' too high to remember it), here's a photograph of what 1968 looked like:
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Ronnie Dyson was the lead vocalist for Broadway's 1968 original recording, and Renn Woods was the primary singer in the 1979 Hollywood movie version.
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In The Battle Within The Battle, both The Magic 8-Ball (8-4) and The Amazing Sixwell (9-3) were "definitely" "certain" that Hollywood would win, and they were quite correct. Counting my own vote, which went to Renn and Hollyweird, the Final Tally looked like this...
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Broadway (Ronnie Dyson) = 4 votes
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Hollywood (Renn Woods) = 12 votes
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And so that settles it. Musically, the consensus is that Hollywood 'Hair' is better'n Broadway 'Hair' (2-1).
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Most folks would probably agree that the definitive version of Aquarius was recorded by The 5th Dimension. According to Billboard, their #1 hit recording of it was the 7th biggest hit song of the 1960s! I love great harmonizing, and The 5th Dimension is one of my very favorite vocal groups of all time. And it's very odd how they came to discover what would become the biggest hit of their career:
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The magic of "Aquarius" began in New York when Billy Davis, Jr. [a member of The 5th Dimension] lost his wallet in a cab that he had taken back to their hotel room. As Marilyn comforted him, the phone rang. His wallet had been found by Ed Gifford, the cab's next passenger that day. In gratitude, the singer invited him and his wife to the group's performance at The Royal Box in the American Hotel. In turn, The 5th Dimension were Gifford's guests at 'Hair', a rock musical he was producing. Singer Ronnie Dyson wowed the attending vocalists with his number "Aquarius", which the group immediately heard as a single.
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So, in other words, the 7th biggest hit song of the 1960s was born because one of The 5th Dimension's singers lost his wallet in a taxi cab. Life can be doggone strange (with or without LSD).
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It wasn't just the great vocals that made [link> Aquarius such a huge hit for The 5th Dimension. The musical backing was provided by the group of legendary A-list L.A. studio musicians known as The Wrecking Crew. It's extremely rare for me to really notice the bass playing on a track, but pay attention to the bass lines provided by Joe Osborn of The Wrecking Crew when Aquarius segues into Let The Sunshine In. Man, that cat is GROOVIN'!
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQOQqn1qH4o

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By God, that's great!!
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I've never been a Hippie and I've never dropped Acid and burned a Draft Card, but nevertheless, I really dig the movie 'HAIR'. It was directed by the brilliant Milos Forman, the same man who gave us 'One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest'. I saw 'HAIR' in a theatre when it was released in 1979 and today I own it on DVD.
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And even though I am a [link> "Confident Heterosexual" (or maybe BECAUSE I am a "Confident Heterosexual"), I think this scene from 'HAIR' is hysterically funny:
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0sjn2m47T8

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Well, that's it for this time. But I hope you'll join me again for my next installment of Battle Of The Bands. Same Bat-Time, same Bat-Channel! (i.e., October 1st, right here.)
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~ Stephen T. McCarthy
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13 comments:

  1. Ha!

    Loved the bonus clip. I may have sent it on to a few pieces of chocolate that I have enjoyed.

    Looking forward to your next installment. You always put a good deal of thought into them.

    See you around on the the 1st.

    ~Mary

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    1. Thanks, MMQE! Very glad you like 'em. And if you've never seen 'Hair', I definitely recommend it. Not saying it's one of the greatest movies ever made (it's not in my personal Top 25), but it's very entertaining, Treat Williams exuded so much charisma in his movie debut, and it contains what I consider to be possibly one of the Top Ten movie twists at the end.

      In case you're at all interested, you can find my full review of 'Hair' [Link> HERE

      See ya on the next Battlefield!

      ~ D-FensDogG
      Ferret-Faced Fascist Friends

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  2. That Batman gif is going to wear out your blog batteries...or it may give me a case of the epilepsies.

    I saw a decent documentary about the Wrecking Crew on Netflix a while back. Worth a watch.

    Stephen, your content is better than ever and as I have said before, your skill at putting words where they belong still amazes me. How many times do you proofread anyway?

    May your participles never dangle. And I know they won't unless you want them to.

    Sig 2.1



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    1. PACK O' SIGS ~
      Hey, I really enjoy having you visiting my little corner of the Blogosphere again, my friend! Your comments have always been so clever and entertaining, and I genuinely missed you when you gone!

      I worry that Batman and the "Boy Wonder" are going to have heart attacks trying to outrun the Psychedelia Monster.

      I too have seen that documentary about The Wrecking Crew and also enjoyed it. There's another one from 2013 about Muscle Shoals, and you'd probably like that one as well, if you've not yet seen it.

      Thanks ever so much for the very nice comment about my writing. Truly appreciate it. And what timing! Because just yesterday I sent an Email to a friend in which I excerpted a few old paragraphs I'd previously posted and I said:

      I wrote this [*excerpt*] on my old 'Stuffs' blog in 2010, back when I was still investing time in blogging and actually doing some "creative" writing.

      I really feel like my writing has dropped a number of degrees from when I was more enthused about blogging. The wordplay doesn't seem to be there anymore like it used to be. So, it's actually a nice little shot of confidence to receive such a compliment from you right now.

      I hope you're doing well, my Brother! And I hope to see you here again for my October 1st Battle. I've got something in mind that I think will make for a neat little Battle theme.

      ~ D-FensDogG
      Ferret-Faced Fascist Friends

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  3. Hey, I voted for a winner! Glad I was here for the "Hair"-raising finale. I've got a flood of Battle ideas to put into action. Creative me is raisin' her head once more.

    Feels good.

    Great battle, cant wait till the next one.

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    1. Thanks, DOC!
      It's always fun when one has lots o' good ideas. I have to hand it to my buddy, Sheboyganboy Six (aka Sixgun McItchyfinger), because right at the point where I was burnin' out badly, he made a suggestion, and that suggestion opened my eyes to a ton o' BOTB possibilities. And it was THAT which reinvigorated me. I had dropped down to doing just one Battle per month and was truly on the verge of quitting altogether, when SBB-6 offered his suggestion.

      And in fact, my very next Battle is going to be one I put together as a result of the theme that my friend prompted me to re-explore. I'm really looking forward to it. (Hey, I'm gonna take y'all "BACK TO THE BEACH". I can't promise that Frankie & Annette are going to put in an appearance, but I got a funny feeling Jesus is gonna show up for my BOTB.)

      ~ D-FensDogG
      Ferret-Faced Fascist Friends

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  4. I know you don't like cops, McBro.. my cousin was in the CHP, the Tiffany of cop posses if you will. "Was" as past tense not because he got killed because they can retire after 25 years - before 50.

    What I'm trying to say with my above non-sequitur if you would just be quiet and listen: Cops don't believe in coincidences. I don't either, besides Lee Harvey Oswald's adult life and how LSD got dropped to keep dumb dopes looking at daisies instead of protesting.


    What I'm trying to say - don't talk over me - is your "The magic of "Aquarius" began" story is the best set of coincidences. The moon was in line with Venus that day. Your history/story is the best story I've ever read on coincidences, thank you sir. Gives me faith.


    Also, Sixwell 9-3. That doesn't just happen. It takes insight.. which is why every four hours I bow to the north for Sixwell.


    McBro, cheers to another great prelogue middlelogue, postlogue - I don't know what those words mean. Kudos to a good intro, battle, and summary.

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    1. A Happy Sunday to ya, Bruhthuh McDogG!

      I apologize for the interruptions. You know how I am. I don't mean to be rude, it's just that good conversations get my mojo charged and runnin'.

      Like you, I'm not a big believer in coincidences, either. I think they do occur occasionally, but most often there is actually a plan being played out, and coincidences are... NOT!

      This scenario? Coincidence? Doubtful. Possible, but my instinct says doubtful.

      I can think of SO MANY things just in my life alone that boggle my mind. In an ordinary day, things just seem to happen, we make decisions on a second to second basis, we happen to meet people, we stumble into this job or that job, we suddenly remember we wanted to pick up a bottle of shampoo so on a whim we make a right turn at a street we'd normally not be on. What made me think of the bottle of shampoo right at THAT moment?

      What I'm saying is that while we're in the moment, most things seem kind of random, we think we're ad-libbing our way through life. But I have found in tracing events and people backwards in my life that there is often an amazing number of coincidences that pile so high that I'm sometimes forced to stop and "call bullshit on Coincidences". Sometimes it really challenges the authenticity of random coincidences, and "an almost miraculous pattern" seems like the more logical answer.

      I know you've read Dave McGowan's (terrific) 'Wagging The Moon Doggie'. You should also check out his book 'WEIRD SCENES INSIDE THE CANYON: Laurel Canyon, Covert Ops, & The Dark Heart Of The Hippie Dream'. There are no definitive answers in that book but, man, what a long strange trip it is! It blew my mind like few books have. He just piles up one "coincidence" after another regarding the Psychedelic Hippie Revolutionary music of the late '60s until any reasonable, rational person just has to "call bullshit"! Like me, you may not be able to say what it all adds up to, but the fact that Uncle Scam definitely had a hand in what was happening on the home front during the late '60s is really undeniable.

      Thanks for the kind words, my friend! I hope you'll like my next Battle. It'll be about one of your favorite places -- SoCal -- and I'll have a pretty wild 'n' wooly drinkin' story from my youth to share wid ya.

      Rock on, DogG!

      ~ Stephen
      'Loyal American Underground'

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    2. I haven't read the book, McMc Bro (I have a Welsh last name it's not the same as a fully Irish name)… I did read McGowan's Laurel Canyon stuff back in the day on his webpage... with the same moon links and others.... He writes more words in one article than 200 Twitter posts, by cracky. If I remember right, Laurel Canyon was full of "kids" of CIA and military. I forget the rest but his name was Owsley who dropped, somehow got 10s of thousands of its of acid to get people's mind off the ball - in concert with the Laurel Canyon scene. Who knows? The protests didn't get out of hand.

      And then Manson ended the 60's some people say. I say. Nobody will ever know. That could have been separate from anything. Just a criminal

      Party in the hills Friday night at 10.

      Candles, leather, handcuffs, whips, beastiality, floggings, picking up teens on Sunset for filmed orgies, heroin, speedballs, occultism. No freaks please."

      By the time the LSD and love Manson family gets to Southern California, they think the high society people there are too dark and crazy. Folks adjusted. In the pre-murder era, celebrities, drug dealers, hippies, occultists, hitchhikers all mixed at parties. Tex Watson and Susan Atkins had already been to the Polanski pad for pool parties. Manson was at the Polanski pad when Doris Day's son lived there, and later knocked on the door and made eye contact with Sharon Tate... Manson was seen hanging out at Mama Cass' house, bunked at Dennis Wilson's house with the gals feeding them grapes for months until Wilson got crazy and split. The police found nine cans of compromising film at the Polanski pad that was hush-hushed.. while Warren Beatty offered 25k for tips that led to the capture of the killers... John Phillips was Polanski's lead suspect so much so that Polanksi looked for blood in his car and at his hand-writing to see if it matched the walls...

      via a bus ride from San Francisco, and preceded by a brisk jaunt of Manson's life leading up to his release in 1967. (For most convicts, prison is like grad school for criminality. Always the rebel, Manson learned philosophy, psychology, Scientology, and hypnosis from his mentors). The journey without moral or prosecutorial angles. Conspiracy theories. The most of the least plausible is that Manson used his unwitting dupes to carry out contracted mob-hits. (Tate wasn't expected to be there - she had plans to spend the night at a friend's and her Ferrari wasn't in the driveway because it was in the shop). Then tenuous ties are made to MKUltra mind-control experiments, government infiltration of leftist cults and adding violence to discredit hippies and communes.. to link evil to communism etc etc-- now that's just crazy.

      Who knows? It's like JFK getting iced.. nobody will EVER know.. keeps it interesting.

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    3. Whoa! GEE, McDOGG, I thought you said you couldn't write "paragraphs". That's like the whole history of Southern California insanity (minus the less violent League Of Soul Crusaders facet) in a single comment!

      Yeah, you got it - Laurel Canyon - lots of long-hairs with parents from Military and Intelligence backgrounds. And lots of stories that don't make sense because... lots of people have to be lying.

      McGowan's 'Programmed To Kill' and Nick Bryant's 'The Franklin Scandal' -- those two depressed me like no other books I've ever read. I was already a strong, faithful believer (something of a "very flawed saint"), but those books more than any other had me eagerly hoping sooner than later for The Judgment Day.

      The degree of evil and the level of corruption in the organs of society are so far beyond what the vast majority of Americans can even imagine.

      "Party in the hills Friday night at 10.

      Candles, leather, handcuffs, whips, beastiality, floggings, picking up teens on Sunset for filmed orgies, heroin, speedballs, occultism. No freaks please."


      Ha!-Ha! Yeah, no freaks need apply. Hilarious!!

      McBrother, for my next Battle, we're going to a better place. No, I don't mean death. I mean Santa Monica Beach. I'll bring the umbrella drinks and you bring 'Endless Summer' by The Beach Boys.

      ~ D-FensDogG
      Stephen T. McCarthy Reviews...

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  5. Ha! Yeah, LEE, going to listen to Richard Nixon at a Billy Graham Crusade pretty much automatically bans you from the Hippie movement.

    Of course, by the time I graduated from high school in '77, the Vietnam "Police Action" was no longer a thing, so I didn't have a military draft to worry about.

    But I remember that guys just one year younger than I was were required to register with the military. There was some kind of paperwork they needed to submit. I guess it was just so Uncle Scam knew who they were if he decided to institute another military draft in the future. I recall my buddy, Marty, worrying about it and asking me what I thought he should do -- submit the registration form or not.

    I can't recall what I told him but probably that he should submit it. Of course I was young and stoopid then. If that were happening today, I'd tell him what I'd do: Send it back to Uncle Scam with a copy of the 10th Amendment attached to it.

    Here I am typing this out while listening to 'Sing' by The Carpenters. I'm a funny kind of radical, ain't I?


    ~ D-FensDogG
    Ferret-Faced Fascist Friends

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  6. Howdy Reno!
    I don't know why I can't ever seem to make your second of the month battles. I should really retire, but the pay is not as good. Anyhow, I've signed up for notifications (again, I think), so we'll see if I can't get better at this. You should know that reading this post, as well as the comments, was nearly as fun as participating in the battle. Fascinating insight into the 5th Dimension!

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    1. Thanks, dIEDRE!

      And no worries! I'm always happy to have your BOTB input, but I understand that "Life Happens" (as William Shakespeare famously wrote) and there are only so many hours and twice that many chores and responsibilities.

      However, my next Battle will be taking everyone on a trip to the beach, and although you're more of a desert gal, I think you might dig it anyway.

      Stay safe and well and be (just) good (enough).

      Yak Later.

      ~ D-FensDogG
      Ferret-Faced Fascist Friends

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