Battle of The Bands - November 1st, 2024

 

Hey, hi! Glad you stopped by ;-)

The Battle of The Bands (BOTB) is your basic Which-do-you-like-best contest, where the one that gets the most votes wins. All you have to do is show up (the 1^st and/or 15^th of every month), give a listen, and cast your vote in the comment section. Votes will be tallied, and the winner revealed on or about 8 days later.

I hope your November is off to a good start. My area of Arizona has finally turned down the heat, so we won’t mind turning the oven on in a few short weeks ;-) I wait all year to have turkey on Thanksgiving, though I’m willing to eat Pumpkin pie anytime. As far as music for the occasion, besides Nat King Cole, and any of those old favorites, a song that comes to mind (because we play it every year) is one by Arlo Guthrie about an unforgettable Thanksgiving, which I’ll just leave a link to, since it’s nearly 20 minutes long.  Instead, here are a couple versions of another song written by Steve Goodman (1970) but made famous by Arlo Guthrie in 1972.  You may be surprised (I know I was) by who else covered this song about riding on a train. 

There you have it, folks. Which do you like best?

Be safe if you're traveling, and have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Battle of the Bands October 15th results

 

Many Thanks to everyone who stopped by to listen and cast a vote on my latest Battle of the Bands! Boris, the battle-winning spider song was written by John Entwistle, (of the iconic band, The Who) about one of his least-favorite things; spiders. As he so eloquently illustrated in the lyrics, the tragic demise of one such dreaded insect occurred beneath a (no doubt behemoth) book, which, incidentally, reminds me of myself ;-)  In fact those who know me also know that if they ever come to my house and see a book on the floor – for no apparent reason – there actually is a reason. But it might not be a spider. We have scorpions here in the desert…big ones. 

Contenders                                  Song(s)                                      Votes

The Who                                Boris The Spider                        7  (Including me and Anon.)

Tom Waits                           What’s He Building?                     2

If the song itself doesn’t raise those little hairs on the back of your neck, check out what Tom Waits had to say about “What’s He Building?”: In April 1999, when asked about this song by Mojo, Waits replied, "We seem to be compelled to perceive our neighbors through the keyhole. There's always someone in the neighborhood – the Boo Radley, the village idiot – and you see that he drives this yellow station wagon without a windshield, and he has chickens in the backyard and doesn't get home till 3 a.m., and he says he's from Florida but the license plate says Indiana... so, you know, 'I don't trust him.' It's really a disturbed creative process."  ~ Songfacts.com

 

On a lighter note:

See ya soon!

Battle Of The Bands - October 15th 2024 Don't Look Now

 

 

Hey, hi! Glad you stopped by ;-)

The Battle of The Bands (BOTB) is your basic Which-do-you-like-best contest where the one that gets the most votes wins. All you have to do is show up (the 1^st and/or 15^th of every month) give a listen and cast your vote in the comment section. Votes will be tallied and the winner revealed on or about 8 days later.

I wasn’t going to post this time; you know, holidays coming, candy to buy, meals to plan... but who can resist the hijinks of Halloween?  Do any of you decorate for the Holidays? How about scary movies? Have you watched any yet? I’ve seen at least one a day for the last week or so. Well, if not seen then at least I listened while doing something else. There are some outstanding soundtracks attached to those movies!  Though, as far as I know, I’m not using any ;-) Enjoy!

I sure hope I'm not taking someone's idea with this next one...

Hope to see you all soon, but if I don't make it back in a few days as planned, I'll see ya on Nov 1st with a new battle - AND the results of this one. Have a spooky Halloween!

BOTB October 1st 2024 - Blue Moon - Results

 

A blue moon is a real astronomical phenomenon when a second full moon appears. When that actually happens depends on who you ask. The modern definition simply asserts that it's when two full moons occur in the same calendar month. The original definition, however, is a little more complicated. About every 2.7 years, there are four full moons in a season instead of three - the third moon, not the fourth, is dubbed the blue moon. The rarity of the occasion inspired the old saying "once in a blue moon."   songfacts.com

Many thanks to everyone who stopped by to listen and kindly cast a vote on my latest Battle of the Bands! 

Contenders                                    Song(s)                               Votes

Toby Keith                            Does That Blue Moon                  5 (Including Anon and me.)

Cowboy Junkies                          Blue Moon                            4

 

Since the first 1933 recording of the original Blue Moon song by the Marcels, it’s been recorded by more artists and featured in more movies than I could shake a stick at. In fact, the 1981 film American Werewolf in London presents versions by three different artists!  Here’s one of them:

Happy October, everyone!

BOTB October 2024 Blue Moon

 

Hi all! It’s  National Walk your Dog Day so walk ‘em if you’ve got them ;-) I’m not sure what the trouble is with my favorite BOTB music hunting ground, but I’ve had to toss two ideas before landing (with a heavy sigh) on one last moon theme. I’m guessing you haven’t heard of either Artist/Band, but I’m fairly sure one will strike your fancy.  Richard Rogers and Lorenz Hart wrote a song entitled ”The Bad in Every Man” for a 1933 movie musical called “Hollywood Party” before it was cut from the film (!). The song was eventually used in “Manhattan Melodrama”, starring Clark Gable, but not before MGM demanded the title be changed to Blue Moon. The Marcels original doo-wop version (1961) was recorded in only two takes and although covered by a great many artists, was their most successful single reaching #1 

First up, the distinctive sound of Cowboy Junkies, featuring Margo Timmins

Next up, wildly popular Grammy Award-winning Country artist Toby Keith offered his own take on the Blue Moon theme in 1996

There you have it, folks! Which do you like best? And how come? Let me know in the comment section below. Oh! And, before you go, hop around and see the rest of today’s battles (participating sites are located in the top right sidebar of this page)

 Lastly, on the subject of Blue Moons, George Carlin's thought is one we can all appreciate.

~ “There are nights when the wolves are silent and only the moon howls”

BOTB Results September 2024 – Second battle

 

Hi everyone! Many thanks to all of you who stopped by with a comment and a vote – I really do appreciate it!  It was a fun battle, and the results weren't half-bad ;-)

Battle Name:             Full Moon Rising

Desert Moon – Dennis DeYoung VS Mexican Moon – Concrete Blonde

Tallies:

                                    Desert Moon = 3 votes

                                    Mexican Moon = 5 votes (Including mine)

Can you believe the Supermoon we've had going on? It was still bright and fabulous last night! Now we can look forward to a Mini-moon showing up to follow us around for a couple of months - Crazy!

Enjoy the cooler mornings as we ease into Autumn.

See you next month!

BOTB September 15, 2024 Full Moon Rising

 

I may have mentioned I’m somewhat of a lunatic when it comes to lunar events. We’re due for a full Harvest moon (my favorite!) this coming Tuesday! The event is also called a Corn moon because farmers (including Indians) take full advantage of all that extra light to harvest their crops ahead of the Autumn equinox. I’m so excited (you’d think I’d grown out of this by now – ha!) I’ve decided to do this second Battle of The Bands with the moon in mind. I bet at least two, maybe three moon songs just went through your thoughts ;-) I’ll also bet it wasn’t either of the songs I’ve chosen for your keen consideration today.

Just a note: We’re also due for a partial eclipse – wouldn’t ya just know it? – on Wednesday, so get your moon gazing in early, just in case.

On this day in 1965 Ford Motor Company began offering factory-installed  8-Track Tape Players in Thunderbirds, Mustangs and Lincolns. You could purchase your favorite music tapes at your local Auto Parts store! However, later that year 8-track tape roadkill became an issue when the players had a tendency to chew up the tapes causing frustrated music lovers to toss the tangled ribbons out of their car windows. Home 8-track equipment was still a year away.

Getting back to the moon…Doesn’t it seem like everyone’s going?

Once upon a time, long-time lead singer of Styx, Dennis DeYoung may have read my mind and tossed my thoughts right into some of his awesome songwriting.  Especially with this 1984 chart-topper set in my neck of the woods:   Desert Moon

Ten years later, Concrete Blonde seemed to be on the same wavelength in a different locale: under a Mexican Moon

So, which one suits your fancy? Right now, I am firmly on the proverbial fence!  

See you on or about the first day of Autumn ;-)