BOTB RESULTS: JAN. 1, 2019 (Or, MY COUSIN CLOBBERS CANADIANS!)

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STMcC’s Vote On '2019, January 1st: Battle Of The Bands' (BOTB) - Or, Theory Of A Deadman Versus The Zone - And The Final Tally:
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Hokey-Smoke! 
I'm late, I'm late,
For a very important date.
No time to say, "Hello" -- GOODBYE!
I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!
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Usually, I'm Mr. Punctuality. How unlike me to be two days late to my own party! But I was house-hunting out-of-town the last two days. Sorry 'bout that.
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This 'Battle Of The Bands' contest was another in my subcategory 'Battle For Los Angeles', sub-subcategory "Dogtown", editions (i.e., Santa Monica / Venice).
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The two Santa Monica-related songs I used were 'Santa Monica' by the 21st Century Canadian band Theory Of A Deadman, and 'Do The Thing' by The Zone. The voting and comments can be found HERE. 
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It began as a tight race. After 8 votes were in, our competitors were tied 4 to 4. But then THE ZONE began to take over and sprinted to the finish line, winning easily.
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THEORY OF A DEADMAN = 7 votes
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THE ZONE = 12 votes
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It was a nice turnout and I thank each and every one of you for taking the time to listen and vote. And those few of you who knew that The Zone's lead singer, harmonica player, and primary songwriter was my cousin, Johnny, I thank you for not spilling the beans in your comments.
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Yes, you read that correctly. The Zone, a 1990s band from Venice, California, was fronted by my own cousin. It was I who got John really interested in Rock music while I, myself, was still just a teenager. John later went on to form / join several Rock groups, my favorite of which was The Zone. 
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In the beginning, John wasn't really much of a singer and his first band wasn't able to play anything more than raw, ragged, loud, "garage"-type Rock. But I always supported my cousin by showing up at the L.A. clubs where he was playing, and dragging as many friends with me as I could.
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In late 1992, I moved to Prescott, Arizona, and lived there until I returned to L.A. in March of 1994. One day, shortly after moving back to my "homemegalopolis", Cousin John called and asked if he could come by my apartment with a six-pack of beer and play for me the cassette of demos he and his new band, The Zone, had recorded. Of course I said, "Of course". 
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When Johnny got there, we cracked open a couple cold ones and I was prepared to hear some more raw, ragged, loud, "garage"-type Rock. But after the first song on the tape ended, I turned to my cousin and asked him, "Where did you find the crossroads?!"
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Seriously, I could not fathom how anyone could have gotten *that* good that *fast*!! I learned from Johnny that in the year and a half that I'd been in Arizona, he had started taking professional singing lessons. WOW! Did they ever pay off! I was astounded. I'm still kind of astounded, because I still remember how he and his bands sounded before I left L.A. just 18 months earlier.
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THE ZONE - photo by Stephen T. McCarthy

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Band: THE ZONE 
L-R: Peter Noss - keyboards & sax; 
John Napier - vocals & harmonica; 
??? - drums; 
John DeNault - bass;
Joel Morin - guitar
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I still have copies of 9 original songs by The Zone, and I say without the slightest hesitation that if those 9 songs were an album I owned in my teens, when I was all about Hard Rock music, I would have completely worn that album out. I still think those 9 songs sound great - I still play them pretty regularly - and I still think The Zone was far, Far, FAR more talented than most Rock bands who are popular today. I plan to use The Zone in another BOTB installment sometime later this year. 
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If I were forced to choose just one Zone song as my very favorite, I think I'd say 'How Your Puzzle Fits'. Have a listen and see what you think of it:
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Cousin John has always credited me with having ignited his interest in music. But years later, he repaid me for that when he turned me onto the movie 'This Is SPINAL TAP', which I think is hilarious. I own it on DVD and watch it every few years, and every time I do, I'm reminded of my Cousin Johnny. 
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As for Theory Of A Deadman and their song 'Santa Monica'... the lyrics include these lines:
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Funny, but that's EXACTLY the way I feel every time I hear 'Santa Monica' by Theory Of A Deadman.
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The Magic 8-Ball and The Amazing Sixwell both predicted this Battle's outcome correctly. That leaves them tied at 13 hits and 6 misses apiece.
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Again, I thank you all for your support of BOTB, and I hope to see all of you back here again for my January 15th Battle.
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~ Stephen T. McCarthy
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POSTSCRIPT: Special thanks to Julio Seis-Abeja for making this Battle possible!
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