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 1st and/or 15th 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.
In keeping with my zany “For
the Birds” theme, I’ve chosen a couple of light-hearted songs by artists/bands
you may not have heard of to compete in today’s battle.
First up, a song written
by Pat McManus and Woody Bomer called Christmas Is for the
Birds was first released in 1994
on Conway Twitty’s Christmas album for kids. He is accompanied by his
granddaughter “Twitty Bird”
Next up, a group of fifth-grade teachers perform an original version of a classic centuries-old song
about 23 birds, among other things, for Christmas called The Twelve Days of
Christmas.
Lastly,
just a really pretty song I thought you might enjoy, called The
Gift, by Canadian pop and Celtic
music singer Aselin Debison,
whose singing career began at age nine at a
rally in her hometown of Nova Scotia
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)
Merry
Christmas Everybody!
See you soon!
Merry Christmas Diedre!
ReplyDeleteInteresting theme you have going on here.
Aselin sang such a beautiful song, but it just didn't speak to me the way it should for the holidays.
12 days was entertaining to watch, but it's a bit overdone.
I really enjoyed Conway Twitty and his daughter Twitty Bird. Please give my vote to them.
Hope your holiday season is filled with lots of joy!
- Mary
Merry Christmas, Mary! Wishing you the very best. I agree, the 5th grade teachers may have surprised the students but they likely annoyed the parents no end ;-) A vote for Con and Twitty duly noted, my dear. Thanks!
DeleteMaybe it's just too early for me (couldn't sleep in--guess I was excited about BOTB?), but those first two songs were just too cutesy annoying for me. Yeah--bah! Humbug!
ReplyDeleteI'll go with the last one. Less novelty, more music.
A vote for Aselin.
Lee
Arlee, is your Christmas tree not up yet? Maybe just one little Christmassy thing will help squash the humbugs. I brought my tiny Santa candle from the closet the other day. I think it's helping ;-)
DeleteToo much jocularity, huh? I'm glad you liked Aselin. I've got you down for a vote for the very first nightingale song - thanks!
The first two were certainly fun, and those teachers had pleasant voices! 🙂 That said, I'm not a big fan of novelty songs and prefer something with more emotion. Aselin fits the bill nicely and bonus - she's a fellow Canadian! 🍁
ReplyDeleteWishing you and your family a wonderful holiday season, diedre! 🎄🥳
I thought of you as I read Aselin's bio ;-) Glad you enjoyed - and thanks for the vote ;-)
DeleteI hope your holiday is magical, dear friend!
I'm going to go with the teachers. Their rendition of Twelve Days of Christmas was fun and it reminded me of how much we had such a good time singing this song on the school bus. Have a glorious Christmas season, Diedre!
ReplyDeleteA vote for the teachers sharing the holiday spirit! Thank you, Cathy. Enjoy your holiday getaway ;-)
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteMerry Merry and Happy Happy to you, dEAR dIEDRE!
ReplyDeleteDid you think I wouldn't show up? Did you think I'd been kidnapped by evil elves? I was! They beat me nearly unconscious with their candy canes. But, later, when they all got loaded on rum & eggnog and passed out, I just walked away.
Before I get to the voting part of this process, I gots to tell you a story...
At John Holton's BOTB installment I mentioned that I find it impossible to even read the name Perry Como without instantly thinking of [Link> THIS.
Likewise, whenever I come across the name Conway Twitty, I am always reminded of this story from the Waylon Jennings autobiography (highly recommended!)
Country music singer George Jones was a friend of Waylon's, and also a notorious drinker. In Chapter 13 ['The Four Horsemen'] Waylon tells the story of how one time George came to visit him at his house, proceeded to get loaded, cantankerous, and began tearing the place apart. He even threw a metal-framed picture at Waylon's head, barely missing him. Finally, with help from another friend who was there, Waylon tied up George Jones and placed him on the couch.
Waylon told him, "Now you be still. I'm going to call your manager to come pick you up."
George sneered at him and said, "I'll get you, you Conway Twitty-actin' sonofabitch!"
To this day, nobody really knows what that means.
OK, on to the Battle...
I absolutely LOVE everything about Christmas. (That little boy who "believes" is still alive and well in me.) I refuse to listen to Christmas music until the day after Thanksgiving (which I refer to as "The Gateway to Christmas"). But as soon as 'Black Friday' arrives, Christmas music is almost all I listen to through "December the 25th" -- "CORRECT!!" [That was a reference to the fantastic 1970 musical 'Scrooge' starring Albert Finney.]
I love most of the classic Xmas songs and even a great many of the goofy novelty ones. So, in my opinion, this Battle of yours is underrated. It's not "for the birds" at all. I really enjoyed it!
I didn't care too much for the high, little girl voice of Aselin Debison, so for me, the contest was really between that Conway Twitty-actin' SOB and The 5th Grade Teachers. I liked them both.
I can really appreciate how much work went into choreographing that skit, and how much the kids must have enjoyed seeing their teachers act foolish for the sake of entertainment. (I particularly got a kick out of the "four calling birds" and the Santa hat that got saved from being crushed underfoot.)
I gotta give an A+ to THE 5th GRADE TEACHERS -- "They play well with others", and get my vote.
Brother Judge Al Bondigas is submitting a vote for ASELIN DEBISON. He said, "I'm gonna throw the kid a bone."
I'll leave you with one of my very favorite novelty Christmas songs, in case you've never heard it. Judge Al told me about it before the Internet was a thing. I'd never heard it, nor even heard OF it, so I called a local radio station to request it. The DJ actually put me on the air (I still have my request and interaction with the DJ on an old cassette tape) and he assured me that the singer was "the *real* Porky Pig!"
I hope you enjoy this:
[Link> BLUE CHRISTMAS
~ D-FensDogG
Hi Stephen,
DeleteI did wonder what happened to you. But I just channeled my inner Tom Bodett and went on about the business of Christmas ;-) Good to see you!
Thanks for reminding me about John. Half the time I don’t see a post when I first check (he is a really busy guy!) and then I forget to check back later.
Perry Como was cute when he was young. He had a long run at fame, too. Doesn’t he have 3 stars on that Hollywood sidewalk? Did you know he started as a trombone player in an Italian band featuring bandleader Stan Vinton, father of Bobby Vinton, who I met in the early 70’s when he played the Sands in Vegas.
I remember a sign on the Tropicana billboard announcing Ella Fitzgerald “Live!” and have wondered ever since; live as opposed to what? And of course, Jane Fonda was marching the strip – for welfare rights, I think it was.
Funny story about George Jones. I do know that Conway was regarded as the “High Priest” of country music (before George Straight eclipsed him) and an all-around nice guy. Maybe Jones didn’t like Waylon kicking him off his sofa so considerately ;-)
I appreciate you and your brother Judge Al voting in this battle. I really wasn’t sure what to expect. But therein lies the intrigue ;-) An A+ vote for the 5th Grade Teachers, and a bone (vote) for the youngest contender Aselin – thank you both a bunch.
Blue Christmas by Porky Pig was delightful!