Battle of the Bands Results - When I Write the Book

One of my favourite musical artists is Huey Lewis. I've gone to no less than four or five of his concerts. Which ironically enough, is about the same number of concerts I've gone to for Diana Krall. But, I digress. I'm sure you are more interested to find out the results of this current musical battle (as if you have not guessed already).

The battle started with an immediate leaning towards Huey Lewis. Arlee gave the first vote for Nick Lowe, but the rest of the votes in the first round went for Huey Lewis. John led the voters, followed by Dixie & Chrys.

The second round was shorter but still went in Huey's favour. Robin & Mary for the News and Michele for Nick.

The third round changed things up a bit. No, not because the majority of the votes went for Nick Lowe, but because they were all for Huey Lewis. A complete sweep thanks to Debbie, Pat, Shady and Stephanie.

The fourth round went exactly as the third. One vote for Nick and two for Huey Lewis. In other words, mike vs diedre & Stephen.

One doesn't have to be Sherlock Holmes to deduce what this all means.....


Winners - Huey Lewis
With a final score of 11-3
Congratulations to Huey Lewis & the News


This battle, I asked fellow BOTBers about their origins of joining the BOTB. Here are the...
Top Comments

John Holton - My first Battle of the Bands was September 1, 2014. Arlee invited me. The song was "You Really Got A Hold On Me," and the competitors were Smokey Robinson and the Miracles (the original group), The Beatles, and She & Him (Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward). There was one vote for She & Him, and the rest went to Smokey Robinson.

Arlee Bird - When I saw STMcC and FAE doing BOTB I asked if they minded if I joined in since this is something big in my realm of interests. BOTB is now my favorite thing to do on my blog. Well that and A to Z. My first BOTB was "Down By the River" between Neil Young and McKendree Spring. Neil Young won that round. That post was on August 30 of 2013. Wow, going on 3 years at this now!

Dixie@dcrelief - What was your first music battle? Who won? "I Open My Mouth to the Lord," won by an unknown choir. What inspired you to join? Pressure from "the sexiest man alive" (namely, Stephen T. McCarthy!) Really!!! What date/year did you join? January 01, 2015

Robin - Well, your questions sparked a whole lot of scrolling through old blog posts. I knew my first Battle of the Bands was The Star Spangled Banner, but it didn't come up when I searched it. Don't ask. I don't know why. I did indeed tag it. Turns out that was September 1, 2013. I don't recall how exactly I joined. I think I left comments on FAE's and StMc's blogs about joining in. I really don't remember any longer. Anyway, the contenders were Madison Rising and Jose Feliciano and Madison Rising whooped poor Jose. I could've chosen much better. I like to think I've learned a lot about picking better footage, but I still have contests like that... so I don't know.

Mary Burris - I knew my love for spreadsheets would come in handy one day! …. it was shortly after the A to Z Challenge that I discovered the BOTB. I honestly don't recall exactly who's blog it was that it was, but I fired off a message begging the BossMan (Mr McCarthy) to let me join in all the fun. Not wanting to duplicate someone's battle, I opened up my excel and went back to the very beginning of time - the very first battles that FAE and BossMan held, and started tracking all the songs and contestants, adding in new participants as they came along. I didn't track winners or losers (except for my own personal battles). This spreadsheet has come in handy for me. When I have a thought about using a particular song or artist in a battle I consult my spreadsheet to see if it's been done before. Of course, I'm not able to predict or see who is in upcoming battles and such, but it has proven to be helpful to me when planning my own battles, as I like to have them written in advance. My first battle took place June 1, 2015. The song was "Baker Street". I really wanted the Foo Fighters to be a contestant, but for some bizarre reason I was not able to find a video that was playable in the USA at that time. So my contestants ended up being Game Theory and Waylon Jennings. Waylon received 11 votes, while Game Theory received 8

Michele Truhlik - I had to go back in my blog archives to find my first battle and guess what? I missed my 1 year anniversary! I didn't even realize I'd been doing this for a full year already -- I started on May 15th 2015. My battle was the song Without You pitting Badfinger against Mariah Carey. Interestingly, the votes came in at a tie so my vote was the tie-breaker and I voted for Mariah (though it pained me to vote against Badfinger). Arlee Bird was the one who invited me to participate too!

Debbie D. - You joined exactly one month after I did. Arlee got me hooked as well. First BOTB was "House of the Rising Sun". The White Buffalo beat out Frijid Pink. There's a BOTB compilation page under "Music Muse".

mike spain -My first battle was a day late on 7.16.14. The song was Dead Flowers by the Rolling Stones. They won against Blues singer Samantha Fish and songwriter Townes Van Zandt.

Stephen T. McCarthy - (What was your first music battle? Who won?) - It was BEBEL GILBERTO Vs. BEBEL GILBERTO on the song 'AGANJU'. And Bebel Gilberto won. And lost. She had recorded the song twice with two drastically different arrangements. I wanted to illustrate how important arrangements can be in making or breaking a song. So my very first Battle was designed more as an "object lesson" than it was designed to be competitive (which it wasn't, no surprise to me).
(What inspired you to join?) - HA! Well, I didn't really "join". I "began". But everyone already knows that story.
(What date/year did you join?) - Started on August 1, 2013.

Shady Del Knight - My first battle took place May 1, 2015, and was a three way contest with Petula Clark, Peggy Lipton and Billie Davis performing "Wasn't It You." Pet Clark won the contest by a three vote margin.



Please note: My next battle will be July 1st.

Once again, thanks to everyone who stopped by and placed a vote.
Come back again for a new battle June 1st
Who will you vote for?
What song will I choose?
Which artists will battle it out?
Stay tuned.

Don't forget to visit the other participants in the Battle of the Band to see who won their battles.

FAR AWAY SERIES (We miss your battles!)
STMcC PRESENTS 'BATTLE OF THE BANDS'
TOSSING IT OUT
JANIE JUNEBUG RIGHTING AND EDITING
YOUR DAILY DOSE
MIKE'S RAMBLINGS
CURIOUS AS A CATHY
DCRELIEF - BATTLE OF THE BANDS
THE DOGLADY'S DEN
CHERDO ON THE FLIPSIDE
ANGELS BARK
QUIET LAUGHTER
BE_REINVINTAGED
THE SOUND OF ONE HAND TYPING
JINGLE JANGLE JUNGLE
eViL pOp TaRt
HOLLI'S HOOTS AND HOLLERS


Are you currently in the BOTB and don't see your name in the list above? Let me know in comments and I'll include it.

Battle of the Bands - When I Write the Book

When I write the book about my music battles, today's date is going to have some importance.

Exactly one year ago I joined the Battle of the Bands community. I've seen members come and go, but one thing has remained constant, the battles have continued to be interesting, inspiring, informative and fun.

Special thanks go out to:
FAE / Far Away Eyes - For starting all this madness. (She has since stepped down from the music battles).
Stephen T. McCarthy - For keeping and maintaining the battles. What would we do without him?
And the Arlee Bird - Who, whether he realizes it or not, was a big encouragement for me to join in on the fun.
But! The biggest thanks goes to YOU. Without so many stopping by to listen and vote, this feature would not have lasted as long as it has.

So on to the battle!
Last year, I began my music battles with the song 'Giving It All Up For Love'. It was the version from Huey Lewis I was most familiar with but it was actually Philip Lynott's song.

This year, I decided to use Huey Lewis covering another song.
Last year, Huey failed to beat the original artist. Can he do better this year?
YOU DECIDE!


For reference only: (MY FIRST BOTB)
Huey Lewis vs Philip Lynott - Giving It All Up For Love

BATTLE OF THE BANDS
The two musical contenders for this Battle of the Bands are below.
Please listen to both and tell me who you like best.

Nick Lowe


Huey Lewis


Those are the two contenders. Ignoring the actual videos, who do you think performs the song best? I collected the two bands to battle it out, now it's your job to vote on your favourite. Please list your preferred song choice in the comments. Additionally, let me know why you feel the way you do. Voting ends on the 22nd when I'll cast my vote (if needed) and announce the winner in a separate posting.


Additional Questions for BOTBers:
What was your first music battle? Who won?
What inspired you to join?
What date/year did you join?

Additional Questions for everyone else:
Besides a wedding or birthday, what anniversary to you pay special attention to?
Have you ever considered joining BOTB? (We would love to have you).
When you hear a well known song being performed by someone else, do you immediately dislike it or do you try and give it it's own merit?


If you enjoyed this Battle of the Bands feature, don't forget to visit the other participants in the Battle of the Band to see what sort of music they are featuring. You will certainly be entertained, so click on their links below.

FAR AWAY SERIES No longer providing, but shall remain at the top of the list in honour of what she has started.
STMcC PRESENTS 'BATTLE OF THE BANDS'
TOSSING IT OUT
JANIE JUNEBUG RIGHTING AND EDITING
YOUR DAILY DOSE
MIKE'S RAMBLINGS
CURIOUS AS A CATHY
DCRELIEF - BATTLE OF THE BANDS
THE DOGLADY'S DEN
CHERDO ON THE FLIPSIDE
ANGELS BARK
QUIET LAUGHTER
BE_REINVINTAGED
THE SOUND OF ONE HAND TYPING
JINGLE JANGLE JUNGLE
eViL pOp TaRt
HOLLI'S HOOTS AND HOLLERS

Are you currently in the BOTB and don't see your name in the list above? Let me know in comments and I'll include it.

My Life According to Huey Lewis & the News - Musical Challenge

How To Play:
Using only song names from ONE ARTIST OR BAND, answer the following questions. Try not to use the band I used, or repeat a song title. (It’s a lot harder than you think!) Publish as “My Life According to (BAND NAME)” and link back to this post.

Pick Your Artist:
Huey Lewis & the News

Questions:
1.) Are you a male or female?
Jacob's Ladder

2.) Describe yourself.
Hip to be Square

3.) How do you feel?
But It's Alright

4.) Describe where you currently live.
Finally Found a Home

5.) If you could go anywhere, where would you go?
100 Years From Now

6.) Your favourite form of transportation.
Pineapple Express

7.) Your best friend is...
You Crack Me Up

8.) Your favourite colour.
Blue Monday

9.) What's the weather like?
It's Al right

10.) Favourite time of the day.
When the Time Has Come

11.) If your life was a TV show, what would it be called?
Who Cares?

12.) What is life to you?
Perfect World

13.) Your relationships.
Never Found a Girl

14.) Your fear.
So Little Kindness

15.) What is the best advice you have to give?
Respect Yourself

16.) If you could change your name, you would change it to...
Bobo Tempo

17.) Thought for the day.
Better to Have and Not Need

18.) How you would like to die.
Going Down Slow

19.) Your present condition.
I'm Not in Love Yet

20.) Your motto.
I Know What I Like

If you had fun reading this, make sure you stop by and visit the inspiration behind this post.

Debbie at The Doglady's Den

Music & Words #MWA

I was recently nominated (twice) for the Music & Words Award. First by Stephen T. McCarthy (even though we rarely see eye to eye on our musical tastes), then by Michele Truhlik. With two such nominations, how could I ignore this?

Here are the rules:
Once accepted, the award process has five steps:
1.) Link back to the person who nominated you.
2.) Answer the questions with words AND music.
3.) Pass the award on to 5 bloggers who inspire you with their posts about music.
4.) Tag your post with #MWA, for Music&Words Award so that we can all find you down the line.
5.) Quote these 5 steps and the award icon in your post. You can display the icon on your sidebar as well.

Questions & Answers.
Q1: What does music mean to you?
Music is my motivator, music is my constant companion, music is my best friend, music enhances my emotions. I listen to rocking songs when I'm in a good mood and sad songs say so much when I'm depressed. What would life be without music? It wouldn't be life at all. So music means life to me.



Q2: What is your first music related memory?
I never listened to music much as a kid. It wasn't till middle school that I started to notice it. In fact, I remember the first day I started listening. It was 1983, I wasn't even in High School yet. But I was sitting around the house when I heard a loud noise from outside. I ran to the door to find out what it was and it was someone walking across the street blasting their ghetto blaster. You see, back in those days kids, we didn't have headphones. We walked around with large cumbersome radios if we wanted to take our music to go. And we LIKED it that way. The song was Eddie Grant's, 'Electric Avenue'. The radio and the song were soon gone, but I wanted to hear more. I ran to my bedroom and turned on the radio, turning till I found another song I liked. I was now hooked. So much so, music became a part of my personal journal. Every year I would listen to radio stations count down. Here is an actual countdown I recorded in my 1984 journal. Do you remember any of these?
10.Klymaxx - I Miss You
9. Eddie Murphy - Party All the Time
8. ZZ Top - Sleeping Bag
7. Mr. Mister - Kyrie
6. Sting - the Russians
5. Starship - Sara
4. Survivor - Burning Heart
3. Sheila E. - A Love Bizarre
2. [I inaccurately noted this one as A-Ha - Amotaua / I literally have no idea what it should be]
1. Paul McCartney - Spies Like Us



Q3: What was the first album you've purchased yourself?
Does anyone remember Columbia Record Club? Yea, I got sucked into that. 6 or 8 cassettes for only one penny!!! And then the fine print. LOL I still remember most of the cassettes I picked out. Prince 1999, Fleetwood Mac Greatest Hits, Hall & Oates Rock 'n Soul Part 1 & Huey Lewis and the News Sports.



Q4: What was the latest music you purchased? (No online streaming or free downloads, I'm talking about cash here)!
There is a store close to where I work called, 'Mega-Media Exchange'. I get a lot of great CD's & DVD's here for a low price. Which is good because I buy a lot. I have about 500 CD's in my collection currently and the number is always increasing. The last full priced album I purchased was probably 'Weird' Al Yankovic's - 'Mandatory Fun'. Because Weird Al or Diana Krall CD's I buy as soon as they are out. But the last actual CD I purchased was from the Mega Media. It was Michael Bublé's 'To Be Loved'. I love his music and he makes the best videos.



Q5: Which song did you listen to last? (No cheating, it's only fun if you're honest).
I love listening to all sorts of music. I have the maximum amount of Pandora stations and they are always changing. When I listen, I put all the stations on shuffle. When I started answering this question my 'Wang Chung' channel started and Billy Idol's 'White Wedding' was playing.



Nominations:
The people I nominated, I've noticed have almost all been nominated already. So I'm simply going to nominate them again, so they know they were thought of. I'm a little slow, so most of these have already done a similar post.
Shady Del Knight
Jingle Jangle Jungle
Doglady's Den
Tossing It Out
Mike's Ramblings

The Listing Hop - Top Five Favourite Songs

I was recently with a group of friends when the topic of top five favourite songs came up. A few had a hard time deciding what to put on their top five, one had songs they liked, but couldn't remember the names of the artists. The interesting thing is, it doesn't matter if you remember the names of the artists, or if you can fill out your top five favourite songs on a moments notice. It doesn't even matter what the top five songs are. The thing is essentially a Kobayashi Maru test. (A no-win test that judges a persons internal character) There is no right way to answer the question correctly. But in this case, it's a test of determining what sort of music you listen to. A lot can be told about a person by the music they listen to. However, the question never got around to me. So you can say I got off "Scott" free. But I started wondering and created my top five list. So when I agreed to do this listing hop, I thought it would be a good time to explore my top five favourite songs. The list may surprise a few people (for what is or is not included), but there are specific reasons I have chosen the songs I have chosen and I shall explain.

Top Five Favourite Songs
5. Bond - 1812 Overture - I love this song as performed by Bond because it's always motivating and inspiring. Even when I'm in a lazy mood, when I play this song, I'm suddenly energized and raring to go. It's my go-to song for when I jog.

4. Beatles - Hard Days Night - I would be remiss if I didn't throw in a Beatles song. The Beatles were an amazing band and help revolutionize the music industry. As a Beatles fan, this is my favourite. Though if you ask me, it could use more cowbell.

3. Blondie - The Tide is High - "Wow! That is an odd choice", I hear you say. Though I do love the group Blondie, there is a specific reason I have this included in my list. It was the early 80s and I was sitting in my living room when suddenly a guy across the street walked past with his ghetto blaster blairing. The song at the time was this one. It was so catchy, I ran to see if I could find it on a radio station. Side note, till I heard this song, I never listed to music on the radio. So this is the song that got me interested in listening to music on the radio. I was probably 15 at the time.

2. Huey Lewis - The Power of Love - Unsurprisingly, another of my favourite 80s. Unlike the other selections, this song is chosen because for me, it typifies 80s music which I have come to love so dearly. There is no coincidence this is also the signature song from one of my favourite films as well. Can you guess it?

1. Michael Bublé - Haven't Met You Yet - One of only a few songs where I absolutely love the video as well as the song. As a single guy, I'm still looking for that one special lady. There has to be at least one special person for everyone. Shouldn't there be? But the problem is I've broken my hear so many times I've stopped keeping track. But I believe she is out there. Wherever she is and whenever it's right, she'll come out of nowhere and into my life. And I know we are going to be so amazing, and her love is going to change me. But I just haven't met her yet. One day I shall.

Top Five Questions:
5. What song really motivates you?
4. What song do you feel revolutionized music?
3. Do you remember a song that got you into music?
2. What is your favourite genre of music?
1. Which song best fits your life?
Bonus Question: Who did you think you would see on this list that you didn't see?

Perhaps I shall do a follow-up post indicating who my top five favourite artists are and why.
Hint: My top artists will not ALL be in that list.

Thanks for stopping by and visiting me on this Listing Hop.
For other cool and fantastic lists, visit the hosts of this blog hop.
Host - Bish Denham
Co-Host - Alex J. Cavanaugh

Battle of the Bands Results - Giving It All Up For Love

Congratulations to my first Battle of the Band winner - Phil Lynott.

This was an interesting battle for me, and difficult as I am a Huey Lewis fan and I really wanted to see him win the battle. That being said, I certainly didn't want to sway anyone, and I wanted to make the challenge interesting and fair. This was the reason I decided to go with a lesser known song of Huey Lewis. When I heard Phil Lynott's version of 'Giving It All Up For Love', I loved it and immediately knew this was going to be my first battle.

Votes came in early for Huey Lewis and I was concerned it was going to be a sweep. But after the first five votes were in, Lynott was already leading 3-2. After ten votes, there were another 3 for Lynott and 2 more for Huey lewis making the total 6-4, Lynott. Ironically enough, the next ten votes resulted the same number of 6-4 in favour of Lynott. The total after 20 votes was 12-8. As the last four votes came in, Huey started to make a come back. Lynott only received one vote. The last two votes to come in were for Huey Lewis and I gave my vote to Huey Lewis aslo. So the final results are: 13-11 Lynott / Lewis.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by and placed a vote.
Did you enjoy this feature? It seems like everyone did.
22 unique comments were received this post. The most I have ever received for a single blog post.
A lot of friends and family told me they thought this was a great new feature.
So what does that mean? Look for a new battle July 1st.
What song will I choose?
Which artists will battle it out?
Who will you vote for?


Make sure you visit the other participants in the Battle of the Band to see who won their battles.

STMcC PRESENTS 'BATTLE OF THE BANDS'
TOSSING IT OUT
JINGLE JANGLE JUNGLE
WOMEN: WE SHALL OVERCOME
ALEX CAVANAUGH
YOUR DAILY DOSE
BOOK LOVER
MIKE'S RAMBLINGS
CURIOUS AS A CATHY
THE SOUND OF ONE HAND TYPING
DCRELIEF - BATTLE OF THE BANDS
THIS BELLE ROCKS
THE DOGLADY'S DEN
CHERDO ON THE FLIPSIDE
ANGELS BARK
FAR AWAY SERIES
NOVEL BREWS 

Once again. The winner. Phil Lynott

Battle of the Bands - Giving It All Up For Love

Welcome to the new feature "Battle of the Bands".

Starting today, I'm joining a group of other music enthusiasts who have decided to band together (pun intended) and showcase differing selections of the same song. Here is how it works. On the 1st and 15th of each month, I'll be posting two versions of the same song. Your job will be to vote on your favourite. Which artist did you think performed the song the best? I encourage everyone to listen to both versions all the way through, then comment, letting me know which you thought was better. It would be nice to know why you feel the way you do as well. On my next BOTB (Battle of the Band) feature, I'll reveal who I have voted for, and the overall winner.

For my first battle, I've chosen the song 'Giving It All Up For Love'.
I'm a big fan of 80's music Huey Lewis was one of the first artists I started collecting cassettes of. Yes, that's right. Back in my day we listened to music on cassettes. And we liked it. However, I didn't think it would be fair to choose one of his most popular songs, so I thought I'd find one most people are not familiar with.

So without further ado, let's begin with the song performed by Huey Lewis and the News.
The group was originally named Huey Lewis and the American Express, however their manager convinced them to change the name. Huey Lewis and the News provided for Back to the Future and Huey Lewis himself has a cameo in it. He tells Marty McFly (Performing one of the songs from Huey Lewis and the News) that he is just too dang loud. Huey has also provided his harmonica talents to Thin Lizzy's 1978 Live and Dangerous album and he produced Bruce Hornsby's 1986 album 'The Way it Is'. Take it away Huey Lewis and the News.



This song was also covered by Phil Lynott, a member of Thin Lizzy. Thin Lizzy is probably best known for their song 'The Boys Are Back in Town'. One of the cool things I found about Phil Lynott, he is a poet like me. In 1974 he published a collection of poems titled, 'Songs for While I'm Away'. Phil died in 1986. So let's listen to his rendition of the song.


And that's it. Which version of the song did you like? Don't forget to comment and let me know so I can tabulate which song wins my first ever Battle of the Bands.

Did you enjoy the Battle of the Bands feature? Come back on the 1st when I'll announce the winner. Also, check out more band battles by following the links below to others hosting their own 'Battles of the Band'.

STMcC PRESENTS 'BATTLE OF THE BANDS'
TOSSING IT OUT
JINGLE JANGLE JUNGLE
WOMEN: WE SHALL OVERCOME
ALEX CAVANAUGH
YOUR DAILY DOSE
BOOK LOVER
MIKE'S RAMBLINGS
CURIOUS AS A CATHY
THE SOUND OF ONE HAND TYPING
DCRELIEF - BATTLE OF THE BANDS
THIS BELLE ROCKS
THE DOGLADY'S DEN
CHERDO ON THE FLIPSIDE
ANGELS BARK
FAR AWAY SERIES
NOVEL BREWS