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| The famous Whisky-A-Go-Go on the famous Sunset Strip. Photo by Mike Dillon. |
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My friend, Sheboyganboy Six 👌 > "Be seeing you" (a.k.a. Sixgun McItchyfinger, The Amazing Sixwell, Sir Six-A-Lot, Sir Sixy, and Six), had a birthday not so awfully long ago. I ain't sayin' what month it was, nor even what year it was. I'm jus' sayin' that it was "not so awfully long ago".
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Sheboyganboy Six and I met online briefly before BigBitch.com (a.k.a. Amazon.scum) "cancelled" me. He, along with Arlee Bird, was one of my earliest blog readers and is probably still the most regular reader of my blogs. So, this BATTLE OF THE BANDS' Battle Of The Booze installment is being posted in his honor!
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I'm not sure that Sir Six finds it as humorous as I do but, although our genuine friendship has been ongoing for about 18 years, there isn't much that we agree on -- especially when it comes to music. We call it "The Great Musical Divide".
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In fact, I maintain a rarely changing, very short list of things that we DO agree on. Here's the fully updated list as it appears today:
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MUSICAL AGREEMENTS:
1. Tom Petty
2. Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66
3. The 'Who's Next' album.
4. Louis Prima & Keely Smith
5. Joe Morello (best drummer ever).
6. Johnny Cash & U2 were highly overrated songwriters / singers / musicians.
7. The Dip
8. Rare Earth
9. The Babys
10. Loggins & Messina
11. 'Drinking Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee' by Jerry Lee Lewis (> is better than 'Rock This Town' by The Stray Cats).
12. Traffic
13. Brian Auger
14. Steely Dan
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NON-MUSICAL AGREEMENTS:
1. GOD Is!!!
2. Tiny Tim (er... 'The Tiny Tim Christmas Day Wish', that is).
3. Valerie Bertinelli was cute & hot!
4. Jean Gonzalez was a VERY hot girl!
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If you were paying attention, 9. The Babys should have stood out for y'all. Sir 6 and I both dug & still dig The Babys.
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Who are The Babys? A late '70s / early '80s English Rock band that had a couple big hits. Their first hit (#13 in Billboard), from their second album scored in late 1977, and was titled > 'Isn't It Time'. That song grabbed me immediately & I went out and bought both of their albums, 'The Babys' & 'Broken Heart'.
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Other than the hook-laden songs, I think 6 digs The Babys primarily because of John Waite's vocals. I dig them primarily because of Wally Stocker's "Paul Kossoff School of stun-vibrato guitar playing" and drummer Tony Brock's "rolling thunder style & sound". In fact, Brock is one of my all-time favorite Rock music drummers! So... 6 & I disagree even when we agree. GOL! 😄
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Originally, I was planning to tell y'all 3 short stories about my strongest memories associated with The Babys. Like, Eric & I listening to > 'Dying Man' while drinking Southern Comfort & Coke in Redondo Beach. Like, my Ma & I seeing some sort of "Baby" while we were having lunch at Le Dome, where > Even A Dog Can Shake Hands. Like, Eric & I seeing The Babys live at The Whisky-A-Go-Go on the Sunset Strip on December 31, 1978; and me yelling > "READ MY STARS!" all night, while The Babys pretended not to hear me. The Bloody British! I'd like to catch 'em sometime "in the town of New Orleans!" 😎
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But I can't tell ya them 3 stories because it would take too long. So, let's get on it! Let's get ON this thing!
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Please vote for the song you like best. And then please visit all of the other BOTBers and vote in their Battles. I plan to return here on March 22nd with my own vote and the Final Tally.
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"At home on the BoulevardCheap whiskey and Tarot cards
Man, she's outrageous!"
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"Feels like I'm falling on a whiskey sea
Come on, baby, and rescue me"
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RESCUE ME
by The Babys
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~ D-FensDogG
DogGtor of Alcohology &
King of Inebriation Nation
I'll have to admit that I was not familiar with the music of The Babys until the current century. I guess we were hearing and listening to other music back in Tennessee in those days.
ReplyDeleteI like their style of music and it is certainly up my alley of interest. I did buy one of John Waite's albums in the eighties. Loved "missing You".
Of these two songs it's a tough call for me. There is so much similarity, but that's what I would have probably liked about their albums. Consistency of a style that I like.
Give my vote to "Rescue Me" as there was something that stood out to me more so than the first tune.
Lee
BOIDMAN ~
DeleteI'm pleased as Grand Marnier-spiked punch that you enjoyed the tunes.
In an overall sense, I would describe The Babys as having the archetypical "Classic" Hard Rock sound. But, in a more nuanced statement, I would say that they added some "special" elements to the sound. They did some songs with really cool string arrangements, and the drumming of Brock & the guitar work of Stocker definitely set them apart from so many typical Hard Rock bands of that same time.
The fact that I can no longer listen to about 85% of the stuffs I loved as a teenager, but I still dig The Babys' sound is a solid recommendation.
~ D-FensDogG
They're both good, but I'll go with "Rescue Me" as well.
ReplyDeleteNow, now, Sir John! Chin up and all that sort of thing. A rescue's being thought of. Be brrr-aaa-ve, Sir John!
Delete~ D-FensDogG
Stephen -
ReplyDeleteI'm humbled that you are posting this battle in my honor! We do go back a long way at this point! Now... surprise, surprise: I will disagree with you about the following points:
1) You said: "there isn't much that we agree on..." I disagree. I think we agree on 95% or more of the things that really matter!
2) You said: "I think 6 digs The Babys primarily because of John Waite's vocals. I dig them primarily because of Wally Stocker's "Paul Kossoff School of stun-vibrato guitar playing" and drummer Tony Brock's "rolling thunder style & sound". In fact, Brock is one of my all-time favorite Rock music drummers!" WRONGO, Steverino! I AGREE with your assessment of Stocker and Brock. FANTASTIC musicians with style I love! I do not agree that I primarily like The Babys because of Waite. I loved the whole package, in particular the hook laden songs. One point I am firm on, however, is that The Babys would not SOUND like The Babys without the unique vocals of Waite. They would still be a really talented and tight group... but to me they would not be "The Babys." They still tour these days - old gents without Waite - as The Babys, BTW. They should change the name to The Toddlers.
3) You said: "So... 6 & I disagree even when we agree." On the contrary, I think we AGREE even when we DISAGREE!" Or something.
But I will agree with you that I do love the singing of John Waite. There is not anyone else that sounds like him. I take that back (disagreeing even with myself.) There is a great similarity of style with Adam Duritz of Counting Crows, another band I like a lot. Both those guys never sing right ON the melody, and never sing the same way twice. They always bounce up and down around the melody, embellishing, and either speeding the timing or slowing down from what you expect. I have had friends say "I don't like the voice! It sounds like 'talk-singing!'" I kinda see that point, but I hear a lot of soul and a great sense of what works with the melody from Waite.
I correctly guessed both songs (after one miss guess of a Waite solo number) from the hint you dropped last time. I love both songs, of course, but I particularly like the hook of "So come on, wipe your tears away..." of Broken Heart, so that one gets my vote.
Of course, since I am voting for this one, you will vote for that. But we will agree on the important point of just how excellent The Babys were.
You should put your stories in the vote summary at the conclusion. After all, what else ya gonna spend your time on?
Sixgun McItchyfinger
AMAZING SIXWELL ~
Delete>>... You said: "there isn't much that we agree on..." I disagree. I think we agree on 95% or more of the things that really matter!
I'll bet I'm the only guy on the planet who could call you an "optimist" and, by comparison, get away with it! :^D GOL!
>>... I AGREE with your assessment of Stocker and Brock. FANTASTIC musicians with style I love! I do not agree that I primarily like The Babys because of Waite. I loved the whole package, in particular the hook laden songs.
Methinks thou did overlooketh what I said before I said the aforementioned. Firsteth & Foremostest, I wrote this:
Other than the hook-laden songs(!!!), I think 6 digs The Babys primarily because of John Waite's vocals.
So, yes, we agree that the overarching attraction is "the whole package", certainly beginning with the (well-played) "hook-laden songs".
>>... One point I am firm on, however, is that The Babys would not SOUND like The Babys without the unique vocals of Waite.
"I don't know about tha-aa-t!" (to quote Martin Crane).
I think they could have replaced John Waite with Tom Waits and they still would have sounded about the same. ;^)
>>... They still tour these days - old gents without Waite - as The Babys, BTW. They should change the name to The Toddlers.
I read that remark to Nappy and he laughed-out-loud! That was a goot juan!
>>... I have had friends say "I don't like the voice! It sounds like 'talk-singing!'" I kinda see that point, but I hear a lot of soul and a great sense of what works with the melody from Waite.
But I'll bet those same idio-- er... I mean, "friends" of yours, probably LOVE Cash & Springsteen (who never, EVER sounded like they were "talk-singing").
>>... You should put your stories in the vote summary at the conclusion. After all, what else ya gonna spend your time on?
Clearly, you have NO understanding of the paradise that is the combination of Wild Turkey 101 bourbon & the movie 'Hollywood Or Bust'!! I'll keep prayin' fer yer enlightenment, [Link> "muh bruhthuh"
~ D-FensDogG
And Stephen.....,
ReplyDeleteYou know, I liked the Babys too and John Waite when he was on his own. I kind of forgot about them. But speaking of babies...was it Judge who said when a kid asked to be picked up by his mom.....hey don't baby that kid make him walk?
I like isn't it time better than these two songs as well as his solo Missing You better, protly my favorite song of his.
Now back to my vote: I go with Broken Heart because well, I've had a few of em and its a bit catchier of a tune in my opinion. But when did that ever matter.
JW,
Pooooooooooooooooooooohoooooo!
Oohhh...you always have something interesting to say. My ex, we took him out for his birthday last night since ,on his birthday, Feb. 16th, there was a big snowstorm and everything was shut down. He is big into Facebook and Instagram and he got banned! Not just suspended but banned which is hilarious since he wouldn't hurt a fly. He made the error of friending the site " Canadians against Puerre Pollievre.". He didn't have a chance to look at the site until he came back a half hour later and he was taken off both sites!! We can't stand Peter Polyp but many like him because he's an ultra conservative ass who says a lot but does not say how he will implement change. Anyhoo, what's funny is they are the first to cry freedom of speech but when you like a page and join it( yes, he should havevread more before joining) , he got banned. How is that Freedom of Speech? Bejos and Zuckerberg cam kiss my grits! Oops, I ranted...
ReplyDeleteOk I prefer the first song which just sounds cleaner to me. I don't know if that makes sense. Happy birthday to your friend McItchenfinger
I don't remember this group at all. Where was I? Both songs are good. I think I like "Broken Heart" a wee bit more than the other, so am placing my vote on this song! Have a bandtastic week, Stephen!
ReplyDelete