BOTB RESULTS: FEB. 15, 2020 (Or, TOM WAITS VS. TOM WAITS VS. TOM WAITS)

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My unexpected February 15th BATTLE OF THE BANDS contest took place HERE, and it was Tom Waits versus Tom Waits versus Tom Waits. Guess who won!
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The BOTB installment was actually a tribute to my late friend MARTY BRUMER, wherein I related to y'all what was probably his favorite of my many stories. And I also featured Tom Waits because Tom's 'BROKEN BICYCLES' was quite possibly Marty's very favorite song. But the theme was 'Songs That Mention Reno'.
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Well, I'm walking on down Virginia Avenue
Trying to find somebody to tell my troubles to
Harold's Club is closing
And everybody's going on home
What's a poor boy to do?
~ Virginia Avenue
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I told y'all how, in 1986, while on a road trip with my buddy Pooh and a stuffed dog named Muddy, I suffered the worst hangover of my life. After upchucking on Geiger Grade a 7&7 that I drank at Harold's club on Virginia Street in Reno, I spent the whole day and night lying in bed at the Sugarloaf Mountain Motel in Virginia City, Nevada.
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Then with my double barrel shotgun and a whole box of shells
We'll celebrate the Fourth of July
We'll do 100 miles an hour spending someone else's dough
We'll drive all the way to Reno
On the wrong side of the road
~ Wrong Side Of The Road
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I also told you how Pooh and I inadvertently drove out of Reno on the wrong side of a closed or unfinished stretch of freeway.
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Hang on, Saint Christopher, on the passenger side
Open it up tonight the devil can ride
Hang on, Saint Christopher, now don't let me go
Get me to Reno, got to bring it in low
Put my baby on the flat car, got to burn down the caboose
Get 'em all jacked up on whiskey, then we'll turn the mad dog loose
~ Hang On, Saint Christopher
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And I told you about that laminated night Pooh and I spent in Reno at Xenon's Lounge and Circus Circus, all jacked up on whiskey and... God only remembers what all else. (Black Russians? Gin & Tonics? Margaritas?) And how Pooh got so drunk he couldn't even find his way back to our motel without help from me.
{*Cough!-Cough!*}
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Pooh at the Bucket Of Blood Saloon, 1986.

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The exact same spot as it looks today (or, as it looked two days ago - Wed. Feb. 19, 2020.

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I was pretty sure that 'Virginia Avenue', the most mainstream, most commercial-sounding (most "normal") of these three Tom Waits songs would win the Battle. And I figured that 'Wrong Side Of The Road', the most rough 'n' ragged sounding of the three songs, would come in third place. But this only shows to go ya how difficult predicting BOTB outcomes can be.
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Virginia Avenue = 4 votes
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Wrong Side Of The Road = 6 votes
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Hang On, Saint Christopher = 3 votes
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For me, the contest was definitely between 'Wrong Side' and 'Saint Christopher'. And it was SO-ooo close between those two songs that I decided in advance that if it came down to it, I would cast my vote in whatever way necessary to break up a tie, or to avoid creating a tie. But, thankfully, it didn't come to that, because 'Wrong Side' was going to win no matter how I voted.
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After much deliberation, I gave my BOTB bote to 'Saint Christopher', by about a 51%-49% advantage.
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It was a lower than usual turnout, but I thank every one of you who took the time to come by here and read my long, long story; listen to the 3 songs; and to cast a BOTB bote in my contest! Thank you, All!
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I hope you'll return for my MARCH 1st BATTLE OF THE BANDS installment.
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EXTRA  CREDIT:
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At the peak of his powers, I think Tom Waits was an unsurpassed lyricist. I mean, it takes an extraordinary talent - I would argue a "genius" - to come up with lines like "Catch the tears of a widow in a thimble made of glass" and "Poison all the water in the wishin' well".
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Although I never heard or read this anywhere, knowing how many references to people, places and things Tom Waits tended to use in his songs, I have long believed that most likely this verse...
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Strangle all the Christmas carols
Scratch out all the prayers
Tie 'em up with barbed wire
And push 'em down the stairs
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...was inspired by the following famous Richard Widmark scene from the 1947 film noir 'Kiss Of Death':
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~ Stephen T. McCarthy
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