Hokey-Smoke & Hoo-Wee! (as Rocket J. Squirrel & Deputy Dog Dawg would say). This turned out to be a better Battle Of The Bands installment than I thought it would be. The contest took place HERE and it featured two different songs titled 'DOITAGAIN'.
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I had a really nice voter turnout this time, so I thank every one of you who made this Battle possible. And Special Thanks to my two "Anonymous" voters who generously dropped their two cents into the BOTB Kitty. (Don't worry - "Special Thanks" is nothing like "Special Sauce"). I hope you'll both return again next time, on October 1st. And bring a name, if you feel comfortable coming out of the Film Noir shadows.
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Because The Dan's 'Do It Again' was a bigger hit than was The Beach Boys' 'Do It Again', I half-expected them to win handily here. But it was a very interesting Battle: The Boys came charging out the chute, garnering the first two votes. Then The Dan slapped 'em around for awhile, but The Boys came charging back, landing a flurry of punches just before the final bell rang.
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I really dig BOTH songs a lot, but my vote went to The Boys, because from those first few funky notes, that unique rhythm has me bopping in my chair. Plus, I can really relate to the lyrics of The Boys' song, whereas The Dan song is so lyrically unrelatable (which is true of almost all their great tunes) that it just doesn't quite bury itself into my heart & mind.
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As I said to my old drinking pal, Pooh: "girls... the beach... suntanned bodies... waves of sunshine... warm and out-of-sight nighttimes... surfing and dancing... and a beautiful coastline". Or, "sorrow... stolen water... getting dragged by the feet... a cheating girlfriend... Vegas slot machines, roulette wheels, and cards that are black". Hmmm?
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Anyway, two great songs slugged it out and here's how the judges' combined scorecards added up:
FINAL TALLY
The Beach Boys = 7 votes
Steely Dan = 8 votes
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Wow! An ideal BOTB outcome (1-vote point spread between winner and loser). I loved it!
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Thanks again, All Y'All! I hope to see y'all back here again on Oct. 1st.
Yes, it's time once again for Battle Of The Bands (BOTB).
Alright, let's get on it. Let's get ON this thing!...
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When I was young, I hated to see the Summer end. It meant that days at the beach were over and I had to return to school. In June, the kids would say, "See you in September!" (Yeah, not if I had anything say about it, you wouldn't.)
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But now that I am retired from the workforce and there are no schoolrooms in my immediate future, I can't wait to see the dog days of Summer come to an end. I can't wait to see 90-100 degree days end and the gorgeous Fall weather arrive to cool things down.
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For a variety of reasons, my all-time favorite Summer was 1974. I was recently thinking about how much I adored Summers at the beach when I was a teenager, and how at the end of August I'd be wishing that we could do Summer all over again. Why did there have to be a September? Why couldn't we just go back to June after August 31st?
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And all of that thinking reminded me of the funky Beach Boys song 'DO IT AGAIN'. (Yes, I reallyDID use the words "funky" and "BeachBoys" in the same sentence.) Naturally, this also made me think of Steely Dan's different song with the same title. And so... HERE we are, about to do one of those 'Same Title, Different Song'Battles.
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The Beach Boys' 'DoItAgain' was a #20 Billboard hit in 1968, while Steely Dan's 'DoItAgain' climbed to #6 in 1973. In researching those Billboard stats, I was surprised to learn that 'Do It Again' was The Dan's first Top 40 hit. For some reason, I'd always thought it was 'Rikki Don't Lose That Number'. In fact, 'Reeling In The Years' also preceded 'Rikki...' in the Top 40 charts.
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Anyway... below are the songs. You know what to do:
I gots me a "hangdog expression" on me mug because I'm two (count 'em: 2) days late with this Battle Of The BandsResults post. Sorry. Been a busy couple of days 'n' stuffs like that. But I sure appreciate everyone of youz what took the time to stop by here with yer two cents for the BOTB kitty. I had a lot of fun reminiscing while putting this Battle together and I hope all y'all enjoyed it, too.
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The contest took place [link> HERE, and it was a "Speed-Singing" Battle between Johnny Cash's 'I've Been Everywhere' and Reunion's 'Life Is A Rock (But The Radio Rolled Me)'.
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['The Jack Daniel's Cross-Country Tour' - New York City to Los Angeles, Oct. 1983.]
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[VW Bug somewhere in Georgia, Oct. 1983.]
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I really dig BOTH of the songs I used in this Battle, but I prefer the very catchy, earwormy song by Reunion. After my vote was added in, we wound up with this Result:
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FINAL TALLY
Johnny Cash = 6 votes
Reunion = 6 votes
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A tie. So, what else is new?
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Anyway, thanks again, my friends, for making this BOTB installment a success. I will return with a new Battle on September 1st, so be here or be... banished to the 7th circle of Planet Le Pétomane!
Yes, it's time once again for Battle Of The Bands (BOTB).
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On July 11th, I wrote this to our friend [link>dIEDRE:
"Next Battle will be pretty unique. Here's a big clue: What do Speed Racer, Speedy Gonzalez, and The Roadrunner have in common?"
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Tha-aaa-t'sright! They're all cartoonsvery fast.
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Today's Battle features two songs sung very fast. I very cleverly call this "speed-singing". Today we have Johnny Cash and his recording of 'I've Been Everywhere' (1996) against 'Life Is A Rock (But The Radio Rolled Me)' which was a #8 Billboard smash for the one-hit-wonder group Reunion in 1974.
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I have never made a secret of the fact that I think Johnny Cash was one of the very most overrated music "artists" of all time. I only like two of his songs (the grifter didn't write either one of them). And, helck, as the old saying goes: Even a broken, nutty squirrel finds a blind clock twice a day.
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One of those two Cash recordings I like is the super-fast 'I've Been Everywhere'. Of course, Johnny didn't write it because he couldn't have -- he simply didn't have that much talent. But he DID record a good rendition of it. (If you're curious about the history of this interesting song, click HERE.)
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I haven't been EVERYWHERE, but I have been to many places. Some examples:
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I have been to Winnemucca, Mac. I have been to San Fernando Valley; Monument Valley; Silicon Valley; Simi Valley; Death Valley; and Goblin Valley.
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Goblin Valley, Utah
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STMcC with a big ol' bottle of Almaden wine in Goblin Valley.
Tom Sawyer's (i.e., Mark Twain's) boyhood home. That's STMcC's Marvelous Ma in Hannibal, MO.
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I've been to Saint Louie; and Oklahoma City looks mighty pretty.
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STMcC's brother, Judge Al Bondigas, in St. Louis, 1984.
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...photo by STMcC.
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I've seen Flagstaff, Arizona - don't forget Winona - Kingman; Barstow; San Bernardino. (In fact, I got a speeding ticket just outside of Barstow in 1980.)
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STMcC & Muddy hitchhiking on the original Route 66.
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I've gotten to Amarillo by morning, and I've been seen standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona.
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Judge Al Bondigas, STMcC & Muddy standing on a corner in Winslow, AZ.
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I've been to Colorado; Kentucky; Washington, D.C. and the Devil's (other) Tower in Wyoming.
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I've seen Grants Pass, Oregon; jumping frogs in Calaveras County; and I've fallen in love with the cute cashier at the Santa Fe drug store.
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I've been in Maine; Mississippi; Minnesota; and Butte, Montana.
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I've been to Tonopah; Tucson; Tombstone; and Toontown. I've seen Gotham City; Bullhead City; Virginia City; the Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia; and Hawkeye's "Swamp" in Korea.
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Judge Al Bondigas & STMcC in Virginia City, NV. (circa 1975).
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Okefenokee Swamp, GA., where I got completely lost one night with nothing but a flashlight and only one Lowenbrau beer to sustain me! The alligators were closing in and the hoot owl was "WHOooo"-ing. *I'm NOT kidding!*
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By the time I got to Phoenix, it was 1995 (degrees). I've been ON, ABOVE and UNDER the Vincent Thomas Bridge; and 40 years later, the authorities are still looking for me on Catalina Island!
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I once made a wrong turn and 12 miles later I found myself in McGill, Nevada. (Nah, I'm just joking. Nobody "finds himself" in McGill. McGill is a place you LEAVE in order to find yourself.)
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Oops!Wrong turn.
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I've been to Appleton; Sheboygan; and Weyauwega, Wisconsin.
(Why the helck was I in Weyauwega??!!)
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I've been in Kansas... (wait for it... wait for it...)
... but I don't think I'm in Kansas anymore.
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I have been in the state of Confusion and the state of Despair. I've been in Hot Water and A-Day-Late and A-Dollar-Short. I've been lost at sea in a fifth of Bacardi. I have hallucinated on the road out of Vegas, and I've gone to jail in Mexico.
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Daphne Moon and I NEVER should have hired those undercover cops posing as "male escorts"!!
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I've even been in Monstro.
The beast swallowed me while I was watching the birdie. [Photo by the one & ONLY "Countess". Don't be fooled by cheap imitations like Jeanne Moreau!]
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But worstofall, I've been in Fringe & Paisley...
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...and I killed a bottle of bourbon in Reno just to watch it die.
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The hangover I had when I took this picture in 1986, no mortal man could have survived. *I'm NOT kidding!*
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But unlike Johnny Cash, I haven't been EVERYWHERE... man.
I never went to Katmandu, and I've never seen holy Toledo!
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Alright, let's get on it. Let's get ON this thing!...
First & Foremost: Big Thanks to everyone of you who took the time to visit my July 1stBattle Of The Bandsinstallment and contributed your two cents to the kitty. Although the Battle was a blowout, I still feel it was a goot juan, and I had some funs in ye olde comment section.
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The BOTB contest took place [link>HERE. The song was 'SAIL ON, SAILOR', and the contestants were The Beach Boys with Blondie Chaplin singing the lead vocal versus The Beach Boys with Ray Charles singing the lead vocal. Although our resident so-called "psychic" (Psychic Sidekick) unequivocally predicted a Ray Charles victory, Blondie Chaplin actually won... unequivocally.
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FINAL TALLY
Blondie Chaplin & The Beach Boys = 9 votes
Ray Charles & The Beach Boys = 3 votes
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Occasionally the underdog wins. And every once in a blue moon, the underdog even kicks the McNuggets out of the favorite. That's what happened this time.
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I actually love BOTH versions of this song a great deal, so for me, personally, this Battle was a lot closer than it was for our BOTB community. However, like most other BOTB boters, I sided with Blondie Chaplin's original recording. Maybe it was partly due to the fact that I grew up with the original recording, so familiarity bred contempt (too strong a word) for the "new" version. But also, when a song gets the classic "Blues" treatment (a la Ray Charles) it tends to alter the musical meter. Sometimes that's an improvement. But not this time, according to mine own ears.
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Anyway, I sure do appreciate those who voted for Ray, preventing a (first) shutout! And because I did manage to get at least 10 votes again (12 - *Thank you, Birgit'sHubby!*), I'll be back with another Battle Of The Bands installment on August 1st. I hope you'll all return for that one, because I've got something rather unique up my sleeve. It's an idea I've had on my 'ToDo' list for quite awhile, and I'm thinking that the month of my birth is the time to bust out thisone-of-a-kind musicalBattle.
Yes, it's time once again for Battle Of The Bands (BOTB).
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"Roll down the window, put down the top
Crank up the Beach Boys, baby
Don't let the music stop"
~ Randy Newman
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Well, well, well, we're now in the patriotic heart of Summertime. Having grown upin the shade of Lifeguard Station #26in "Dogtown", California, this time of year fills my mind with good memories of Fourth of July celebrations, lemonade, body-surfing waves all day long, and the sunny, cheery songs of The Beach Boys. The Boys are on my very short list of all-time favorite musical artists.
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In 1975, I purchased my first three LPs in a single visit to Tower Records, and one of those three albums was this one:
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It included several lesser-known songs that I loved as much as I did the massive hits. One of those songs was 'SAIL ON, SAILOR', which actually got played on Los Angeles FM radio stations very frequently and, along with 'Good Vibrations', was the primary reason I purchased this LP. In putting together this Battle, I was shocked to discover that 'Sail On, Sailor' was never a Billboard Top 40 hit. I guess its massive popularity was more of an "underground" type of thing in L.A. back then.
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I've decided to put The Beach Boys up against The Beach Boys, with two different singers performing the lead vocals. Ray Charles needs no introduction. But who is this "Blondie", who sang the lead on the original recording?
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No, no, not *that* Blondie! "Don't let's be silly!!"
Terence William "Blondie" Chaplin grew up in South Africa under apartheid where he was classified as Coloured, and where he played in the band The Flames... Beach Boy Carl Wilson heard The Flames while the band was performing in London and signed them to the Beach Boys' Brother Records label, producing their self-titled album, The Flame. In 1972 and '73, "Blondie" was a member of the Beach Boys and contributed to their albums Carl and the Passions' 'So Tough' (1972) and 'Holland' (1973).
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See which version of the song you prefer -- Blondie Chaplin's original, or Ray Charles covering it with The Boys themselves.
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Q: Will Ray Charles & The Beach Boys beat Blondie Chaplin & The Beach Boys?
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WARNING: This song can be a nastyearworm that keeps you awake all night long. Take it from an extremely tired guy who knows: Don't play this song shortly before bedtime!!
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Alright, let's get on it. Let's get ON this thing!...
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SAIL ON, SAILOR - The Beach Boys (with Blondie Chaplin)
Please vote here and then check out the other folks in the BOTBClub to see what Battles they are running this week. (See the Linked List of "Participants" in the right-hand column, punks.)
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I should be back here on July 8th to announce the winner. Git you a Happy Fourth of July, my friends! (Don't gorge yourself on fireworks and then play with your food!!)
First of all, a big ol' "THANK YOU!" to everyone who contributed to my most recentBattle Of The Bands (BOTB) installment. I sincerely appreciate your time and input.
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The contest took place [Link>HERE and it was Dogg versus Doggette (or, Eddie & The Hot Rods versus Elizabeth McQueen & The Firebrands). Eddie's rendition of the song 'All I Need Is Money' was the original and Elizabeth's was the cover version.
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I have always dug the original and I like Elizabeth's cover nearly as much. For me, it's kind of a 55% to 45% preference for Eddie's Hot Rods. Why? Well, musically, I really like what Elizabeth did with the tune; but lyrically, the song works better coming from a man. Plus, I gotta side with that super revved-up, pedal-to-the-metal "toxic masculinity". This is a song full of attitude, and I like hearing it roar down the road at "130 miles an hour while the singer smiles at the camera with a toothpick in his mouth". (130 Kudo Points if you caught that reference without having to search for it online.)
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My vote notwithstanding, Elizabeth and her Firebrands beat Eddie and his Hot Rods with their own song, but it was pert-dern close:
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FINAL TALLY
Eddie & The Hot Rods = 5 votes
Elizabeth McQueen & The Firebrands = 7 votes
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My thanks again to all y'all for stopping by here and making this BOTB installment a success.
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I hope to see y'all here again for my nextBattleon July 1st. We will be in the heart of Summer then, so I have something appropriately Beachy planned for that contest.
Yes, it's time once again for Battle Of The Bands (BOTB).
Alright, let's get on it. Let's get ON this thing!...
Aerosmith; Bad Company; The Clash; Devo; Emerson, Lake & Palmer; Eddie & The Hot Rods; Foreigner; Gentle Giant; Hall & Oates; Janis Ian; Jefferson Airplane; Kansas; Led Zeppelin; Steve Miller; Randy Newman; Gillbert O'Sullivan; The Police; Queen; The Rolling Stones; Styx (aka REO Journey Styxwagon); 10cc; Uriah Heep; The Velvet Underground; Joe Walsh; X; Yes; and ZZ Top.
In my teen years - the era of "Licorice Pizza" (LPs) - I owned at least one album by every one of those musical artists above. But over the decades, my musical tastes changed so drastically that, today, I don't own even one album by any of those same artists. ...Except for one! Can you guess which one?
"Tha-aaa-at's right!!" ...Eddie & The Hot Rods. I bought their LP 'Teenage Depression' in 1976 or '77. I'd never even heard of them, but the album cover piqued my curiosity so I took a chance. (Sometimes you take a chance and get lucky with Eddie & The Hot Rods; other times you take a chance and wind up with "Daniel D!psh!t and the Diarrhetic Donkeys". Hopefully, you'll know the difference.)
That roll of the dice paid off so well for me that, later, when I sold off my LPs (Licorice Pizzas) and transitioned to compact discs, Eddie & The Hot Rods was the only group from that list above that I reacquired on CD. And, now, in my Geriatric Years (aka my 'Edward & The Sunday Drivers' years), I still play Eddie every once in a while.
FUNFACT: There was no "Eddie" in 'Eddie & The Hot Rods'..
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What genre of music was it? Contrary to some beliefs, it wasn't Punk Rock. In Britain, they called it [link> Pub Rock:
Pub Rock was a U.K.-based precursor to Punk, but while Punk was the sound of kids smashing up Rock's formal structures and stripping them to the frame, the pub bands were about taking Rock back to its breezy roots ... the music was meant to sound good played in a bar on a Friday night, accompanied by a few pints of beer. Pub Rock was also a strictly British phenomenon, and the pub stars best known in America are those who later hitched their wagon to the New Wave a few years later, such as Nick Lowe and Ian Dury.
Eddie & The Hot Rods played fast, loud originals and also some fast, loud covers. Their song 'All I Need Is Money' was an original. It has a sneaky rhythm which one might not catch after just one listen.
In my first ever BOTB installment [here> August 1, 2013, I highlighted how a musical arrangement can make a cover song seem like a completely different song from the original. This is another excellent example:.
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Elizabeth McQueen & The Firebrands (there actually *IS* an "Elizabeth" in the band) take the same song but slow down the tempo and add a semi-subtle 'Country' element to the sound which turns it into nearly a completely different animal. The first time I heard it, years ago, it "knocked me for a row of lib-labs!"
See which version you like better - the original by Eddie & The Hot Rods or the cover by Elizabeth & The Firebrands:.
My most recent 'Battle Of The Bands' installment took place [link> HERE, and it was match-up between the three big Billboard hits by the group REO Journey Styxwagon.
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I thought the Battle was a fun one (semi-tongue-in-cheek, but ONLY "semi") and the comment section exchanges were just as much fun if not funner. (Yeah, funner is not a real world, but it should be, and since when did a maverick like me begin paying attention to all the arbitrary rules invented by the eggheads? Huh? When? When did I? Answer! Answer the damned question! ;-)
I really, sincerely appreciate everyone who stopped by with a vote! You peoples are the reason I keep playing this game. And since I did manage to reach double-digit votes again (barely), there will indeed be another BOTB installment from me on June 1st. It won't be as outside-the-box as this one was, but I still think it'll be worth our time.
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So, how'd I "bote" in this contest and what was the outcome of this Battle?
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I have an occasional sweet tooth, but 'Babe' by REO Journey Styxwagon was just way too saccharine sweet for me!
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I have an occasional sweet tooth, but 'Open Arms' by REO Journey Styxwagon was just way too saccharine sweet for me!
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I have an occasional sweet tooth, and 'Can't Fight This Feeling' by REO Journey Styxwagon was sweet but not TOO SWEET for me!
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FINAL TALLY:
'Babe' = 3 votes
'Open Arms' = 4 votes
'Can't Fight This Feeling' = 4 votes
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Today, I don't own a single compact disc by REO Journey Styxwagon, but if I were to buy one, it would most definitely be the album [link> 'hi INfiDELITY'. To me, this was the best album ever put out by R.J.S. and it carries a lot of fond memories for me:
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For a year or so in the early 1980s, my dear ol' friend Big Al and I used to drive down to the Redondo Beach Pier most Tuesdays to partake of the all-you-can-eat dinner buffet at the EL TORITO Mexican Restaurant there. And 9 or 10 times out of 10, 'hi INfiDELITY' was the cassette we'd listen to while making the drive in Big Al's little MG convertible sports car. I have goot memories associated with that one particular album by REO Journey Styxwagon and I really should purchase the CD someday.
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Although it's not my favorite song on 'hi INfiDELITY', I think 'Tough Guys' has the single greatest intro ever tacked on to a song. Take a listen here:
Anyway, thanks again, all y'all, for your participation. I feel that a tie was actually apropos for a Battle like this. It's the first BOTB tie I've ever had that I can wholeheartedly applaud. I hope you'll all come to visit me again on June 1st for more "Jocularity! Jocularity!"
Yes, it's time once again for Battle Of The Bands (BOTB).
Alright, let's get on it. Let's get ON this thing!...
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My old friend Pooh and I had a long-running, ongoing joke throughout the first half of the 1980s. In the same way that AndyKaufman, Tony Clifton, and Latka Gravas were the same person, we maintained the idea that the Rock groups Styx, Journey, and REO Speedwagon were in fact the very same musicians simultaneously marketing albums under three different band names. Pooh and I always referred to allthreebands as "REO Journey Styxwagon". Why $ell just 1 mu$ic album a year when you can $ell 3 per year?
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Just for kicks, I recently conjured up the idea of doing a 3-way 'Battle Of The Bands' contest pitting REO Journey Styxwagon against REO Journey Styxwagon and against REO Journey Styxwagon. I figured the fairest way of doing this would be to match up all the biggest Billboard hits in chronological order. And so that's what you'll find below. In the comment section, please vote for your favorite of these three big hits byREO Journey Styxwagon. After that, please check out what the other BOTBers are offering this week.
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'Babe' by REO Journey Styxwagon was a #1 hit for two weeks in 1979 :
While 'Open Arms' by REO Journey Styxwagon failed to reach #1, it actually remained at #2 on the Billboard charts for an impressive six weeks in 1982. Not bad for an underdog, eh? :
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