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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.]

Sunday, January 21, 2018

BOTB RESULTS: 2018, JAN. 15 (Or, DAVID VS. HENRY VS. HERB)

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First things first: I thank every single one of you who voted. You made my 100th BATTLE OF THE BANDS Birthday Bash a success! I think it was a terrific Battle and I thank y'all for making it .F.-.U.-.N.. This was precisely the sort o' contest I was hoping to have to mark this BOTB milestone. 
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A special shout-out to my two first-time voters G Dogg and LarryR, and also to our BOTB friend Kim who has been AWOL for quite some time. I hope to see all three of you fine people back here again for my next Battle on February 1st.
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The action took place [link> HERE, and it was a 3-Way "Twisted BOTB" installment with a Burlesque theme. This was a really close back-n-forth horse race all the way into the home stretch. Not quite a photo finish, but nearly so. There wasn't a dog in the race -- all thoroughbreds, all American Pharoahs! Woo-Hoo!
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David Rose's Orchestra ('The Stripper') got the first 3 votes right out of the chute but ended up finishing third behind the other two contestants, Henry Mancini ('Hub Caps And Tail Lights') and Herb Alpert ('Love Potion #9').
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My own vote went to the recording from Mancini's musical soundtrack for the movie 'Breakfast At Tiffany's'.  I love that throaty sax, the quirky drum solos, that striptease dame's exclamation "That's all!" at the very end, and even the humorous as all get-out title, Hub Caps And Tail Lights.
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It was a tight stripper showdown but ended up looking like this...
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David Rose = 5 votes 
Henry Mancini = 9 votes
Herb Alpert = 6 votes 
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Nice turnout! Thanks!!
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I had been planning this particular Battle to commemorate my 100th BOTB installment for at least 4 or 5 months. Originally, I was seriously thinking about including [link> PASTIES AND A G-STRING by the incomparable wordsmith Tom Waits. But I decided at the 11th hour to leave it out because, A) a 4-Way Battle is too time-consuming; B) I figured Tom had no realistic chance of winning; C) some of the fabulous and humorous lyrics are a little on the dirty side, and I didn't want anyone forced to listen. But I can tell you, that is a fun song to drink along with!
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Now, I'll confess, Henry Mancini had my own vote in his hip pocket all along. His musical soundtrack for 'Breakfast At Tiffany's' is probably one of my Top Ten favorite albums of all time. Here's something I wrote about it years ago:
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Ironically, I’m not a major fan of the movie ‘Breakfast At Tiffany’s’, but the soundtrack is one of the most often played albums in my collection.
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Henry Mancini is a musical genius. The longest cut on this soundtrack is a mere 3:18, but the compositions swing fiercely. And although you know that each musical piece was structured, every note was scripted, the instrumentalists are so loose, jivey and jammin’ that the tracks leave the listener with the impression that most of them are six to seven minutes long and loaded with Jazz improvisation. This is pure magic and the musicianship is A-List and E-Ticket.
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It is almost criminal that the album does not name all of the musicians and singers individually. The credits simply read: “Henry Mancini and his Orchestra and Chorus”. But in my opinion, these musicians could have gone toe-to-toe and trumpet-to-trumpet with the Basie and Ellington orchestras and not surrendered an inch of ground. Listen to ‘Loose Caboose’. Had that been recorded by the great Count Basie, I think Jazz journalists would STILL be writing about it! It explodes out of the speakers and packs seven minutes of music into its three minutes and eight seconds. Play 'er LOUD!!
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1JrO2l9twA

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This album contains the classic song ‘Moon River’, as well as the playfulness of the striptease number humorously titled ‘Hub Caps And Tail Lights’ and the big blow out titled ‘The Big Blow Out’. But best of all (IMO), it contains three musical pieces -- ‘Sally’s Tomato’, ‘Holly' and ‘Breakfast At Tiffany's’ -- which evoke in me a feeling which C.S. Lewis called “joy” but which I refer to as “Goldenshadow”.
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Someday I’ll throw the big [link> SAKE PARTY I’ve been talking about for decades, and when I do, you will ALL be invited. The festivities will officially open and close with ‘Mr. Yunioshi’, the fourth cut on this fantastic movie soundtrack.
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Thanks again to all who took the trouble to listen and vote. You are greatly appreciated. And I hope to see each of you here again on FEBRUARY 1st when my BOTB installment will include what I think might well be the single greatest electric guitar piece ever recorded! See ya then?
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~ Stephen T. McCarthy
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Monday, January 15, 2018

100th BATTLE OF THE BANDS: 2018, JAN. 15th (Or, DAVID VS. HENRY VS. HERB)

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Republican Vs. Democrat, Male Vs. Female, War Vs. Peace, Light Vs. Dark, Good Vs. Evil, Man Vs. Machine, Love Vs. Hate, Dog Vs. Cat, Sun Vs. Moon, Brain Vs. Brawn, Oscar Vs. Grammy, Angel Vs. Demon, Stephen T. McCarthy Vs. Sobriety, Rock Vs. Paper Vs. Scissors, Islam Vs. Everything, Singer Vs. Singer, Band Vs. Band...
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'BATTLE OF THE BANDS' ('BOTB')
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A Happy New Year to Y'All, and welcome to my Milestone! 
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This is my...
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  🎱🎆🎈🎊📣
..100th BOTB installment! 
🎱🍻🎉👏🎂
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I wanted to do something .F.-.U.-.N. for this Battle and I decided on a 3-Way Burlesque theme. 
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Alright, let's get on it. Let's get ON this thing!...
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EUGENE  MARTONE  VS.  JACK  BUTLER
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Here's what Wackypedia sez about our first competitor:
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"The Stripper" is an instrumental composed by David Rose, recorded in 1958 and released four years later. It evokes the feel of music used to accompany striptease artists. ... The song reached number one on Billboard's Top 100 chart in July, 1962. ... it also became famous as the background music for a contemporary Noxzema Shaving Cream commercial, featuring a Swedish model.
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My parents owned a copy of that album, as did several other "old" people I knew. Methinks David's 'THE STRIPPER' may have been my parents' generation's version of the soundtrack to the Broadway musical 'HAIR'
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THE STRIPPER -- DAVID ROSE 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXnGgxbur7w


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GOODNIKS  VS.  NO-GOODNIKS
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Our next competitor is Henry Mancini who composed the musical soundtrack for the movie 'Breakfast At Tiffany's'. In that movie, there's a scene where Paul Varjak (George Peppard) and Holly Golightly (Audrey Hepburn) enter a bar that has a striptease act for entertainment.
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HOLLY  GOLIGHTLY  GO  INCOGNITO.
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The instrumental that plays during that scene is titled...
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HUB CAPS AND TAIL LIGHTS by HENRY MANCINI
"Embedding" is disabled for this video, but click the URL link below and the video will open up for you in a new window:
[Link> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7FNBaO_JO4
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GODZILLA  VS.  KING  KONG
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In their famous 1965 album 'Whipped Cream And Other Delights' -- that album with the legendary, often duplicated cover -- 
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Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass included an instrumental cover of the song 'Love Potion #9' and they gave it a decidedly burlesque treatment...
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LOVE POTION #9 -- HERB ALPERT & THE TIJUANA BRASS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjdQ3uh7wCQ


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THE  RIDDLER  VS.  BATMAN
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Question: Did you feel like stripping off your number and dancing?
🎱Magic 8-Ball sez:  "Without a doubt"
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*PLEASE NOTE: MY BOTB SCHEDULE WILL BE REVERTING TO TWICE-A-MONTH BEGINNING ON FEBRUARY 1, 2018.*
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Alright now, “you know the gig”... I welcome you (whether I know "you" or notto vote for your favorite of these songs in the comment section below. And feel free to tell us WHY you chose one song over the other. 

After voting here, I suggest - actually I insist - you pop over to the blogs of the other 'BATTLE OF THE BANDS' participants to see which songs they have chosen and vote there also.  

Vote your vice... Vice your voice...

Voice Your Vote...

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@ ‘TOSSING IT OUT’ by clicking HERE.
'MIKE'S RAMBLINGS' by clicking HERE.
@ 'CURIOUS AS A CATHY' by clicking HERE.
@ 'THE SOUND OF ONE HAND TYPING' by clicking HERE
@ 'JINGLE JANGLE JUNGLE' by clicking HERE.
@ 'ANGELS BARK' by clicking HERE.
@ 'CHERDO ON THE FLIPSIDE' by clicking HERE.
@ 'RIGHTING & EDITING' by clicking HERE.
@ 'THE DOGLADY'S DEN' by clicking HERE.
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As I've done in the past, I will continue to return to my 'BOTB' blog bits on the 21st of each month to post my own votes and announce the winners in the comment sections.
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~ Stephen T. McCarthy
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