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| View of Santa Monica from Lifeguard Station #26. |
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For me, this BATTLE OF THE BANDS' Battle Of The Booze installment is a kind of bittersweet stroll down Nostalgia Lane in my homemegalopolis. I'm going to explain that, but if you'd prefer to skip my yakking and cut straight to the action, feel free to scroll on down the blog bit.
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I thank God that none of my friends and family members lost their homes during the recent outrageous fires in the Los Angeles area.
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I've been known to frequently say:
"I grew up at Dodger Stadium".
It's true. When I was a tot, my Ma worked for the Dodger organization, and my Grandpa had season tickets at Dodger Stadium from Opening Day in 1962 into the 1990s.
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| Stephen (left) and brother Judge Al Bondigas (right) with some unknown Dodger player in 1962. |
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| Judge Al Bondigas on the cover of a 1962 Dodgers score book, painted by famous artist Nicholas Volpe. |
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| Stephen modeling the latest Dodger fashion for five-year-old future Hall Of Famers. |
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I've also been known to frequently say:
"I grew up in the shadow of Lifeguard Station #26" (on Santa Monica Beach).
It's true. While in school, all of my Summers were spent right next to Station 26 on "Dogtown" Beach. I still have my very old beach towel but, sadly, I now use it as a mat on my bathroom floor. However, truth be told, I didn't really spend a lot of time on that towel at the beach; I was usually in the water, riding the waves.
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| Lifeguard Station #26 in the distance, Santa Monica Beach. |
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| Station 26, where the cool kids spent their Endless Summers acquiring future skin cancers. |
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No doubt, I spent at least as much time at Disneyland & the Disneyland Hotel as I did in Dodger Stadium. But I never say that "I grew up in Disneyland" because I didn't. I went to Disneyland and its formerly great Hotel in order to forestall growing up; in an effort to nourish & protect the life of the Neverland "Lost Boy" in me (a.k.a. "my inner Tom Sawyer").
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When I have trouble falling asleep at night, I imagine myself back in certain areas of the (fantastic but long gone) Disneyland Hotel and that usually does the trick.
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| Alice... call me! I'm taller than the Mad Hatter, and I don't talk as funny as he does. |
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| STMcC, circa 1990, in front of his favorite Disneyland ride. |
Some time after learning of the massive fires in the helL.A. metropolitan area -- my homemegalopolis -- I wondered about 'Moonshadows'. Moonshadows was a unique restaurant right on the coast in Malibu, and it always made me think of a cute gal whom I nicknamed Chantilly Lace (after the Big Bopper's big hit song).
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When I did an iNet search for Moonshadows, I was saddened to learn that it had burned down to the sand:
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Then I thought about another really cool place on the Pacific Coast Highway that I used to frequent called 'The Sunspot '. It was a dance club, and I have a couple of early 1980s stories from The Sunspot -- goot juans! But when I did an iNet search on it, I was shocked to learn that, what remained of The Sunspot after a mudslide, was razed in 1995! (The same year I moved away from Los Angeles for the second and last time.)
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| The Sunspot, as it appeared in the 1945 Joan Crawford film 'Mildred Pierce'. |
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The Los Angeles that I once knew and loved is mostly gone now, and all of this bittersweet nostalgia (eliciting E-Ticket goldenshadow feelings in me) inspired the following BOTB match-up:
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What we have is Linda Ronstadt singing 'Adios' -- a "goodbye" song that was musically arranged by Beach Boy #1, Brian Wilson, and which also includes his background vocals. Booze: Margaritas.
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The competitor is 'Disney Girls (1957)' written by and featuring the lead vocals of long-time Beach Boy Bruce Johnston. The song appeared on the 1971 Beach Boys album 'Surf's Up'. Johnston said that he wrote the song "because I saw so many kids in our audiences being wiped out on drugs" and he had wanted to capture the feeling of an era in which people were "a little naive but a little healthier".
Booze: Wine.
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Alright, let's get on it. Let's get ON this thing!
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ADIOS by Linda Ronstadt
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DISNEY GIRLS (1957)
by THE BEACH BOYS
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After voting in the comment section, please visit the other BOTBers and drop your two-cents worth in their Battles. I plan to return here on Feb. 22nd with my own vote and the Final Tally.
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Bless & Be Blessed!!
~ STMcC
This surprised me: I was ready to like Linda Ronstadt a whole lot better than the Beach Boys, but after listening to the two songs I liked the song by the Beach Boys better. They get my vote.
ReplyDeleteJOHN ~
DeleteThanks for your vote! I'm sure that the surprises in BOTB will never come to an end. (If they did, I'm sure BOTB would come to an end, too.)
~ D-FensDogG
Since moving to L.A. in 1991 I've been to all of those places you mention a few times, but not that often. Then I was working a lot until 2009 and after that I haven't been able to afford to do that much. But I like staying home anyway.
ReplyDeleteBoth of these are really great songs and fit well with my states of mind of late. The first song was a bit more on the depressive side though very beautiful to listen to. The second song made me feel more wistful and happy. Give my vote to Bruce Johnston and the BeachBoys. Great sound.
Lee
R. LEE BOID ~
DeleteYes, I agree that there's a greater sadness in 'Adios'. It conveys the sense that the change is permanent. While the Beach Boys song has a wistfulness but seems a bit more hopeful, as if the paradise lost can perhaps -- just maybe, mind you -- still be recovered before it's too late.
~ D-FensDogG
I had not heard either of these before, although I like the BB and I like LR. I am especially fond of the early iterations of LR and of the BB.
ReplyDeleteAfter hearing them, neither song is near the top of a list of favorites, though both are enjoyable and I can see why you garner goldenshadow from them. The lyrics of "Adios" were a bit much for me in the attempts to rhyme with adios: morose, grandiose (next I was expecting bellicose, comatose, and overdose.) In spite of that I am going to vote for Linda because of her voice and the Wilson backup singing.
Very cool old photos of you guys in your Dodgers unis. If that is Judge Al in the Volpe drawing, could that be your Ma and Pa on either side of him? And what about those eyeglasses? Is Judge Al ambidextrous? He's got a baseball in each hand!
Sixgun McItchyfinger
SIXGUN McITCHYFINGER ~
Delete>>... "The lyrics of "Adios" were a bit much for me in the attempts to rhyme with adios: morose, grandiose (next I was expecting bellicose, comatose, and overdose.)"
Actually, I thought the rhyming of "adios" with "morose" and "grandiose" worked quite well. The average Millennials and Gen-Zers today don't even know the meaning of those words.
John Belushi was quit bellicose until the overdose made him comatose.
I have no idea who the woman on the cover was, but I've long suspected that the man was possibly Danny Goodman. Goodman was a very generous man who was in charge of Dodgers concessions, and the man whom my Ma originally worked for as his secretary.
More on Danny Goodman:
http://opinionofkingmansperformance.blogspot.com/2014/01/dodger-marketing-genius-danny.html
My Pa was left-handed (in many ways), and according to my Ma, when I was just a toddler (the first born of three siblings), I showed indications of also being left-handed. However, my Pa told my Ma that being left-handed was tougher than many folks realized, because everything was geared toward the right-handed. So, when I was a very young age, they discouraged me from favoring my left hand / left arm. And over time, I was transformed into a right-hander.
But, Nappy (a.k.a. Judge Al Bondigas) and I have noticed in a lot of old photos that it seemed he also favored his left hand. So, we're left wondering if my Ma had it wrong, and it was really Nappy who was transformed into a righty. Or perhaps he and I BOTH started out as lefties and later came to adopt the right hand / arm as the dominant one. (That was a good catch on your part, Six!)
~ D-FensDogG
You must have left a lot of broken hearts when you left that town. How many fake #s did you give out the morning after like my hubby did? Lol. Without reservation, it's all about Linda for me. That voice, the control of her voice..she is magic to me.
ReplyDeleteOh and I forgot to mention how cool that you were around these great ball players and that your brother is immortalized in that poster. So cool
ReplyDeleteBIRGIT ~
DeleteHa! I don't think I've broken any hearts, but I certainly broke some of my own teeth. I managed to slightly chip the corner off of my right front tooth once when I jumped from the roof of a house into the swimming pool. (Imagine the damage I could have done had I been drinking!)
Thank you. Yes, I have been extremely blessed by God in so many ways -- none of which I ever take for granted. I'm sometimes astounded by all of the special moments and events that I've been blessed to experience. (But... I'm still waiting for that pony on Christmas morning!)
~ D-FensDogG
VOTE = LINDA RONSTADT
ReplyDeleteSTEPHEN!!! (Imagine Marlon screaming Stella). This one is too tough! But... I was always more into the get-up-and-go Beach Boys as opposed to the lie down and sleep ones. In addition, Linda is like my most favoritest female vocalist ever (well, it is kind of a tie with like 10 or 12 others, but, you know). Linda wins.
~Ed.
ED ~
DeleteHey, it may have been tough, but at least you were still able to make a decision and cast a vote. Which is more than I can say for myself in my previous BOTB installment. For me, that wasn't just tough, it was literally impossible.
Glad I could give you a match-up that required some good contemplatin'.
~ D-FensDogG
You and your siblings have sure led interesting lives! I always enjoy reading your memoirs, Stephen. ☺
ReplyDeleteAs for the battle, I choose Linda Ronstadt. That song evokes a much stronger emotional response. And the stellar vocals can't be beat!
DEBBIE D'DOGLADY ~
DeleteThank you so much for coming by with some Crown Royal for the BOTB punch bowl!
And I appreciate that you dig my yakking. I can no longer even remember all of the stories I used to have. But I guess I still recall enough of them that I always have sumpin' to say.
~ D-FensDogG
And Stephen....
ReplyDeleteGood Battle my friend. The Reel Inn was also burned in the fire. Neptune's Net did not burn. Not that we should have gone that far from home, what with the drinkin and all. The fire's were pretty devastating my friend. We drove a few blocks in Altadena, which is close to us, and had to turn around after a few blocks as it was too much to fathom all the folks who lost everything. So much destruction. They are all in my prayers. The Palisades parade route was also destroyed. I think the bank we sat on prior to the Parade and most of those businesses along Sunset are pretty much gone. They are in our prayers too.
Now back to our regularly scheduled program. I liked both songs and the Beach Boys was better than I had imagined it would be but my vote goes for Linda Ronstadt due to the crush I had on her and I like the song better too. So Adios....
JW,
Poooooooooooh!
...AND, POOH, THAT'S NOT ALL...
DeleteYeah, those fires, man... and, you know me and my tinfoil hat -- I don't think all that stuffs adds up quite right. But... it's in God's Hands, and vengeance is His.
You had a crush on Linda Ronstadt? I thought it was Dennis Wilson you had a crush on. But NO, but NO, but NO!!!...
Thanks for bringing some Pepthy Light for the punch bowl, ye olde friend O'mine!
~ D-FensDogG
Al Bondigas here. Interesting idea you done come up with here. Good songs and good videos also. Me being the wishy washy judge that I am, as so often happens with me in these battles, I went back and forth a couple of times. Well, I be makin’ a rulin fer The Beach Boys. That’s it!! That’s muh rulin’. Hey, by the way, do you think Sandy Koufax keeps that photo of the three of us and shows it off to his family and friends too?
ReplyDeleteJUDGE AL
Delete(not to be confused with 'Weird Al') ~
Sandy Koufax??!!!
Is *that* the player who asked if he could appear with us in that photograph?! Wow! Now *that's* a curveball from out of left field.
I was never sure who that player was, but I always suspected that maybe he was "Sweet Lou" Johnson.
Goes to show ya what I know about beeesball.
~ D-FensDogG
I didn't mention Koufax because I figured everyone would KNOW it was Fauxkax! The greatest pitcher of all time! That is one pretty cool photo, Brothers!
DeleteSix
SIR SIXY ~
DeleteThat photo with Koufax was taken in '62, which also happened to be the year of his first no-hitter. I can't help thinking that Sandy appearing in that photo with us was the turning point for him. Yuk!-Yuk!
Fun Fact: I used to complain (jokingly) that it wasn't fair that Sandy's left hand was wrapped around Nappy, and I only got his non-famous right hand. :^D
~ D-FensDogG
This was a great post, and a great battle. You've shown me quite a few of those pictures, and I love how big of a part baseball was of your life as a youngin. I loved besbol as a kid, too - begged my dad after school every day to take me to the field so he could throw me some underhand pitches and let me nail 'em into the outfield - but alas, the professional variety was never a part of my upbringing. By the time the Colorado Rockies became a team, I was starting to enjoy watching football with my dad, wasn't hitting homeruns after school any more, and it certainly didn't help that the Rockies did (and still do) suck.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I'm sad I never got to see the cool LA of your youth. By the time I got there to help Pop Star with her awful music video, it hardly looked anything like your pictures or videos above. At least I'll always have TBR; that place always looks better in my imagination, anyhow.
Oh, and you know, I'm kinda sad Alice never wrote me back on Facebook... if that was the real Alice, that is.
As for the battle, this was a tough one. I actually really enjoyed both songs. I've never been the biggest Linda Ronstadt fan. After all, my favorite Linda Ronstadt song is actually a Paul Simon song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcD8b5vJQzc
After today, I might say that my second favorite Linda Ronstadt song is a Brian Wilson song. Maybe one day my favorite Linda Ronstadt song will actually be a Linda Ronstadt song. Oh well.
Till that day comes, she can at least have by bote. Or share it with Brian Wilson.
~Chief Julio (down by the diamond on wounded knee, uh I mean skinned knee)
JULIO (Down By The Trainyard ) ~
DeleteI'm pleased as spiked punch that you enjoyed this post and Battle!
For me, L.A. started to become HELL.A. beginning in 1986. So, 'THE BEACH REPORT', recorded on Sept. 21, 1985, represents (to me), the last golden rays of a great & innocent era. I moved out of the state (for the first time) in October of '92. Four months later, Zucky's in Santa Monica closed its doors. It's almost impossible for me to describe how symbolically poignant that fact is. That is as meaningful to me as is the fact that the house at 824 Bay Street was demolished in 1988 to make way for new condominiums.
Linda Ronstadt was not really a songwriter, but an interpreter of other people's songs. And I gotta admit that your "bote" surprised me a bit. I kind of expected you to say 'Adios' was too morose, and that you preferred the Uncle Walt-inspired "fantasy fun" song. But, that's why we play this game. The surprises always keeps it interesting.
Thanks for bringing a bottle of Maker's Mark to the party, Ju-dogg.
~ D-FensDogG