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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.]

Thursday, November 10, 2022

BOTB RESULTS: 2022, NOV. 1 (Or, GLENN MILLER VS. THE DOORS VS. CHRIS BOTTI)


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HOKEY-SMOKE! STMcC is in the ho-owww-se, but I'm days late!
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Well, you see, what happened was... I'm way late because I got waylaid and then mislaid and then my fee had to be paid and the cops made a raid and... and... and the dog ate my homework.
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I thank everyone who took the time to visit li'l ol' me and my blog and cast a vote in this 3-Way Battle Of The Bands installment. We had three different tunes titled 'INDIAN SUMMER' -- Glenn Miller versus The Doors versus Chris Botti -- and the Battle took place HERE.
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It turned out to be an excellent BOTB match-up as evidenced by the close finish:
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FINAL TALLY
Glenn Miller = 3 votes
The Doors = 4 votes
Chris Botti = 5 votes

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My own vote for Chris Botti was the deciding factor. I enjoy hearing all three of these tunes but for me it was really between Miller & Botti. Here's why I "boted" for Botti:
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[Some Notes From My 'Morning Music With Joe' competition...]
For about fourteen months (April, 2018 to May 31, 2019) in two different cities, I was on a personal quest to determine what was the ultimate music album in my collection to listen to first thing in the morning while waking up with my cups o' coffee. I call this MMWJ (or, 'Morning Music With Joe'). The album had to be pleasant to hear in the early morning hours; it had to have some life to it but not be too loud and jarring.
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'Kind Of Blue' by Miles Davis was the first album I came across which I was able to proclaim as "Ideal MMWJ". This was my first great find, which set the bar for everything that followed. I hadn't listened to it for several months, because I deemed that it had nuttin' else to prove. And that's why I was quite shocked to find that Chris Botti (seeded at #6) beat Miles Davis (seeded #4) relatively easily. ... I still think 'Kind Of Blue' is great MMWJ. But 'A Thousand Kisses Deep' is even better. The first track is 'Indian Summer', and it begins with some "chiming" notes. Every time I hear them, I have this thought: 'The Morning is ringing my doorbell'. And then there's just a kind of "groove" that most of these songs ride which is simply perfect with coffee first thing in the morning. Wow! This is the real deal! I never imagined that Chris might bump off Miles.
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So, I really dig Chris Botti's 'Indian Summer', especially first thing in the morning when I'm drinking my coffee and preparing to go out and meet the day. If anyone's interested in the MMWJ playlists I put together after the 14-month contest ended, below are two links you can check out:
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[Link> MMWJ - Morning Music With Joe - Part 1 of 2: Primarily Instrumentals
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[Link> MMWJ - Morning Music With Joe - Part 2 of 2: Primarily Vocals
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Well, thanks again, all y'all, for participating in my November BOTB contest. I'll be back here again on December 1st, and I hope YOU will be, too!
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~ Stephen T. McCarthy

Tuesday, November 1, 2022

BATTLE OF THE BANDS: NOV. 1, 2022 (Or, GLENN MILLER VERSUS THE DOORS VERSUS CHRIS BOTTI)

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[*Painting by my good friend "Doc" Cherdo*]
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HAPPY ALL SAINTS' DAY, Y'ALL!
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First of all, I want to remind you that dear dIEDRE has joined our Battle Of The Bands club. So, please be sure to visit her Battle installment [link> HERE, and please make certain to add her blog, StreamPebbles, to your blog's list of current BOTB participants {https://streampebbles.com/}. Thanks!!
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Alright, let's get on it. Let's get ON this thing!
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In part, Almanac.com says this:
The term “Indian Summer” has been around for centuries. What is an Indian Summer or Second Summer? ... it’s a period of abnormally warm weather occurring in late autumn between St. Martin’s Day (November 11) and November 20 with generally clear skies, sunny but hazy days, and cool nights.
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And The Cambridge Dictionary includes the following as a definition of Indian Summer:
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...a pleasant or successful time almost at the end of someone's life, job, or other period.
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I like that. I like that a lot! Because now, in my 63rd year, and the start of my second year of official retirement, I feel like I've been blessed by God to have finally been directed to a place that really feels like "home". I've lived in "Willoughberry", Nevada, for nearly four years now, and I love it as much today as when I first moved here.
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So, this being November, and me enjoying "a pleasant time almost at the end of my life", I'm giving you three completely different tunes titled 'INDIAN SUMMER' to hear and vote on. Please vote for your favorite 'Indian Summer' and tell me why you done that.
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I'll be back on or around November 8th to cast my own BOTB "bote" and announce the winner. Thanks for playing, my friends!
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Indian Summer -- Glenn Miller Orchestra
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aa_faILW6MQ


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~ Stephen T. McCarthy
DogGtor of Alcohology &
King of Inebriation Nation