‘BATTLE OF THE BANDS’ #4 (Or, ‘BROADWAY HAIR VS. HOLLYWOOD HAIR’)

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Republican Vs. Democrat, Male Vs. Female, War Vs. Peace, Light Vs. Dark, Good Vs. Evil, Man Vs. Machine, Love Vs. Hate, Dog Vs. Cat, Sun Vs. Moon, Brain Vs. Brawn, Oscar Vs. Grammy, Angel Vs. Demon, Laurel Vs. Hardy, Beer Vs. Wine, TV Vs. Radio, Pitcher Vs. Batter, Paper Vs. Plastic, Reality Vs. Fantasy, Yeshua Vs. Beelzebub, Conservative Vs. Liberal, You Vs. Me, House Vs. Senate, Offense Vs. Defense, Kramer Vs. Kramer, Spy Vs. Spy, Fischer Vs. Spassky, W.C. Fields Vs. Sobriety, Harold Gimpy, Jr. Vs. Sheldon J. Pismire, Rock Vs. Paper Vs. Scissors, Islam Vs. Everything, Singer Vs. Singer, Band Vs. Band...

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THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BANDS!

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Shoop-Shooby –

Shooby-duh-Dooby-Doop-Dooby-Dooby-Doo-Wah –

Buh-Doo-Wah!

Yes, it’s time once again for ‘Battle Of The Bands’ (BOTB). 

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EUGENE  MARTONE  VS.  JACK  BUTLER

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Some of us have a "special treat" for ya (or "special aural-aggravation", Sheboyganboy Six). The three of us who are counting votes for the BOTB compact disc award, agreed beforehand to adhere to a particular theme in BOTB #4. So, you better get yer ‘Psychedelic’ on!

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In 1968, the controversial Broadway musical ‘HAIR’ became a national sensation. Controversial? Did you not hear about the full-frontal male nudity?

I can no longer recall how I learned about ‘HAIR’, and it’s now astounding to me that my parents actually purchased the Broadway musical soundtrack for me on Licorice Pizza (LP). Apparently they were not aware that some lyrics referred to sodomy and fellatio. And I was too young (circa 1970) to know what those words meant.

It now seems that almost EVERYONE owned that Broadway musical soundtrack album back then. (I still remember being a paperboy and collecting from a client, and while waiting for him/her [don’t ask, ‘cause I won’t tell!] to return to the front door with my “Two Dollars!”, I noticed the famous green and red cover of the album stacked against a wall in the living room.)

Man, I played the hell outta ‘HAIR’! And way back then, as a pre-teen, I was popular for being able to recite the lyrics to the song ‘Colored Spade’. Not because my friends were anti-Black racists (they WEREN'T!), but just because they thought the words were funny (and they still kinda are). 

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GODZILLA  VS.  KING  KONG

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When I got older and began attending parties, I started to notice that every host with the most, or hostess with the mostest, all had the Broadway soundtrack to ‘HAIR’ in their record collections. It made me feel kinda with ‘The “In” Crowd’.

In the Comment Section of my blog bit titled SINGING AMERICAN REVOLUTION, I explained how the group The 5^TH Dimension stumbled upon their biggest #1 Billboard hit song ‘Aquarius’, from the Broadway play ‘Hair’. Although I LOVE The 5^TH Dimension, this blog bit is not about them nor the song ‘Aquarius’.

Included on the Broadway play soundtrack for ‘HAIR’ is the song ‘EASY TO BE HARD’, sung by Lynn Kellogg. Let’s listen to it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2h3WtOVndWk

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ANDY  WARHOL'S  'STEPHEN  J.  McDANIELS'

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In 1979, eleven years later (it went “Up To Eleven!”), ‘HAIR’ was released as a major Hollywood motion picture directed by Milos Forman. The movie featured Treat Williams as ‘George Berger’ and John Savage as ‘Claude Bukowski’. In the Hollywood version, it was Cheryl Barnes who sang the song ‘EASY TO BE HARD’.

Listen to the later cover and then vote, in my Comment Section, for the version you prefer: Broadway (Lynn Kellogg) Vs. Hollywood (Cheryl Barnes)...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xblrRy64DoE

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I welcome EVERYONE – whether I know you or not -  to vote for your favorite of these two songs in the comment section below. And feel free to tell us WHY you chose one song over the other. (NOTE: Comment Moderation is activated. All submitted comments that do not transgress "Ye Olde Comment Policy" will be posted as soon as possible. Thanks for taking the time to comment.)

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After voting here, I suggest - actually I insist - you pop over to FAE’s ‘Far Away Series’ and Arlee Bird’s ‘Tossing It Out’ blogs to see which songs they have chosen and vote there also. (If their BOTB blog bits aren’t posted yet, pour yourself two shots of ‘Grand Marnier’ over ice – do it twice – and then return to ‘Far Away Series’ and ‘Tossing It Out’ to vice your voice ...vote your vice ...voice your vote.)

Voice Your Vote @ ‘FAR AWAY SERIES’ by clicking HERE.

Voice Your Vote @ ‘TOSSING IT OUT’ by clicking HERE.

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RIDDLER  VS.  BATMAN

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Find The True Meaning Of Christmas: Win Money!-Money!-Money! Spectacular, Super-Colossal Neighborhood Christmas Lights And Display Contest!

Find The True Purpose For Voting On ‘Battle Of The Bands’ Installments: Win Compact Discs!-Compact Discs!-Compact Discs! Spectacular, Super-Colossal Blogosphere ‘Battle Of The Bands’ Voting Contest!

Here’s The Deal: By voting on the ‘Battle Of The Bands’ blog bits here and at the ‘FAR AWAY SERIES’ and ‘TOSSING IT OUT’ blogs, you can win the compact disc of your choice. Every 4 months, FarAwayEyes, Arlee Bird and I will add up how many times you voted on our blogs, and the person who has participated most often (i.e., submitted the most eligible votes) will get to select one compact disc that contains any one of the songs that were included in any of our ‘Battle Of The Bands’ installments (“Super-Colossal” expensive boxed-sets, imports, and ‘out-of-print’ compact discs not included). In the event of a tie, the names will be put in a Stetson and the name drawn from the cowboy hat will win the CD.

Rules For Voting: FAE, Arlee Bird and I post new ‘Battle Of The Bands’ blog bits on the 1st and 15th of each month. We also post our own personal votes for the respective blog bits on the 7th and 21st of each month (i.e., six days later). For your vote to be counted, it must be submitted in our comment sections BEFORE we post our own votes (BEFORE we make our own votes known on the 7th and the 21st).

Every 4 months there will be a new compact disc winner. In other words, ‘Battle Of The Bands’ #1 was posted on August 1, 2013, so at the end of November, one of you lucky voters is going to win a CD that includes one of the songs we’ve featured in our ‘Battle Of The Bands’ installments (you get to choose, and it doesn’t matter if the song won or lost its battle – if you like it, it’s YOURS!)

Alright, now... VOTE ON and ROCK ON! (while we 

‘Count On...’)

~ Stephen T. McCarthy

POSTSCRIPT: If you are a blogger participating in the BOTB posts but are not involved in the vote-counting for the compact disc prize, please be sure to mention your BOTB blog bit in my Comment Section, so that others (including li’l ol’ me) will know to visit your blog and cast a vote.

Links To Previous 'BOTB' Installments:

‘BATTLE OF THE BANDS’ NUMBER 1 (Or, ‘BEBEL VS. BEBEL’)

‘BATTLE OF THE BANDS’ NUMBER 2 (Or, ‘FLEETWOOD MAC VS. THE ROCKETS’)

‘BATTLE OF THE BANDS’ #3 (Or, ‘THE BEATLES VS. BRIAN AUGER AND TRINITY’)

YE OLDE COMMENT POLICY: All comments, pro and con, are welcome. However, ad hominem attacks and disrespectful epithets will not be tolerated (read: "posted"). After all, this isn’t Amazon.com, so I don’t have to put up with that kind of bovine excrement. 

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