.
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...
THE
BATTLE
OF
THE
BANDS!
(‘BOTB’)
.
.jpeg)
.
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’)
.
 |
| EUGENE MARTONE VS. JACK BUTLER |
.
Alright,
let’s get on it...
In
my last installment of 'BOTB' I featured an English garage band (The
Kinks) original going up against an American “Classic Rock” band
cover (Van Halen). That was a darned close contest, so I've decided
to follow it up with something similar.
This
time we're putting another “British Invasion” band, The Zombies,
up against a cover by a Mexican “Classic Rock” artist, Carlos
Santana.
The
first and biggest hit by The Zombies was 'SHE'S
NOT THERE'
– it climbed to #2 on the Billboard music charts in 1964. The band
featured a singer named Colin Blunstone and a keyboardist named Rod
Argent. Sometime after The Zombies broke up, Argent started a new
band called... 'Argent'. Argent did the singing in Argent and in
1972 he had a #5 hit with a song you may have heard titled 'Hold Your Head Up'.
.
But
we're here to hear The Zombies and their original 'She's Not There',
so let's do that now:
.
'She's
Not There' – The Zombies
.
 |
| GODZILLA VS. KING KONG |
.
In
1977, Carlos Santana and his band released an album called
'Moonflower'; it featured a combination of live tracks and studio
recordings. Their cover version of The Zombies' original climbed to
#27 on the Billboard charts.
Santana
himself was the guitarist but he employed various singers in his
bands over the decades. For a couple of years – including 1977 when
'She's Not There' was getting radio airplay - Santana's singer was a
guy named Greg Walker. I thought Walker was a soulful singer, and his
vocals were featured especially well on the 1979 hit 'Stormy'.
.
But
now, let's hear Santana and Walker performing their cover of The
Zombies' song:
'She's
Not There' – Santana
.
 |
| RIDDLER VS. BATMAN |
.
Alright
now, “you know the gig”... I welcome EVERYONE
to vote for their favorite of these 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.)
After
voting here, I
suggest - actually I insist - you pop over to FAE’s ‘Far
Away Series’,
Arlee Bird’s ‘Tossing
It Out’,
Robin’s ‘Your
Daily Dose’,
and LC’s ‘DiscConnected’
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 their blogs
to
vice
your voice
...vote
your vice
...voice your vote.)
As
I've done in the past, I will continue to return to my 'BOTB' blog
bits on the 7th and 21st of each month to post my own votes and
announce the winners in the comment sections.
Links
To Previous 'BOTB' Installments:
~
Stephen T. McCarthy
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.
Funny we both featured Santana today...
ReplyDeleteYou actually turned me onto this Santana album by asking me so many times if I had it that I bought it. In fact, there is probably an entire shelf in my collection that is your fault!
I actually like this version a lot better than the Zombies (theirs sounds too dated today) and you certainly cannot argue with Santana's guitar skills.
So a vote for Carlos...
BROTHER DISCDUDE ~
DeleteWow! I'm so happy to be back. Picked up my new used computer about an hour ago, just in time to make 'BOTB #24'.
I haven't made it to anyone else's BOTB yet, but after I post and reply to comments that have been waiting for me to return from the dead, that's what I will do (even before trying to get my Email system up and running again).
I did, however, glance through my Dashboard to see what other BOTBs are posted and I saw that you also had used a Santana song. Pretty cool. Some people will probably think we coordinated this, but you and I know it was pure coincidence.
OK, one vote for the Santana cover.
I should be submitting a vote to your BOTB within the hour. See ya then.
~ D-FensDogg
'Loyal American Underground Back From Under The Ground'
Glad you are back up and running! Pretty funny coincidence, huh?
DeleteOf all the Mexican-American guitarists in all the world, we both happened onto this one...
What are the odds?
Pretty damned slim, I'd say.
Delete;-)
~ D-FensDogg
Interesting match-up, as usual. I’m very familiar with the version by The Zombies. Although I like Santana, the man and the band, I admit that I have never heard his take on this song.
ReplyDeleteI ‘get it’ in the lyrics (or at least what the lyrics say to me). This guy wants to be angry about HER not being there, after all she lied, but he still can remember every little detail about her – sounds more like hurt than anger to me (of course, I’ll admit being female maybe that’s how I want to hear it), and yet The Zombies version doesn’t quite pull it off for me. Yeah, it’s kind of mournful and all that jazz, but there’s something about that guys voice that doesn’t quite have me empathizing or sympathizing with him.
The instrumental interlude by The Zombies has always intrigued me. To this day it reeks of incense and something a little more interesting in the background, but again it doesn’t quite seem to fit the overall mood created by the lyrics.
I always thought I liked this song by The Zombies.
The Santana version with Walker providing the vocals has a lot more feeling and conveys tons of emotion. From the Bossa Nova Intro to the soft mournful strains of Walkers opening vocals. As he sings on and Carlos plays on, the feelings seem to intensify. This guy still has strong feelings for HER, but as he sings on you also being to feel his rage.
Then Carlos takes over with his version of the instrumental interlude (Is it hot in here, or is it just me?) Wow! That goes from a mournful wail to blatant range. Now, Walker is back just about screaming his feelings all over the recording, then we’re treated to an even more intense instrumental. Oh yeah, I’m hooked. I feel his pain, rage and total indignation THAT ‘She’s Not There”.
Just maybe all that emotion is a female perspective, but what the heck, I’m a girl, and that’s how I feel it.
Good Job on this one. I really liked it.
Give my vote to Santana.
FAE ~
DeleteI am so ecstatic to be back! I never imagined I would miss my "virtual friends" so much!
Everything is now a little different looking to me because we weren't even able to save my hard drive, so this is basically a totally new used computer and my Word Program isn't really a Word Program. I'm amazed I was able to get this posted even with my traditional BOTB photos.
See? I told you I'd be back and I would get my 24th BOTB posted! I didn't get it up as quickly as I thought I would but then... I'm older'n I used to be. But the important point is... I DID get it up in time to get in on the action. (Get yer mind outta the gutter, girl!)
'She's Not There', But McMe's Still Here.
Hopefully I can get my Email system working this evening.
Great comment; I enjoyed your analysis, regardless of whether or not I agree with it.
>>... The instrumental interlude by The Zombies has always intrigued me. To this day it reeks of incense and something a little more interesting in the background...
Incense And... Peppermints?
Oh, wait! Wrong band.
In about 1970 or '71, I traded my Monkees album to my friend Greg Ford for his Strawberry Alarm Clock album.
Today, I own that same Monkees album on compact disc and I wouldn't accept the Strawberry Alarm Clock album if someone wanted to give me a copy for free. My how times changed and my tastes went full circle... just before rocketing off into Jazzland.
Thanks for your vote, FAE.
~ D-FensDogg
'Loyal American Underground'
Actually, I have heard the Santana version once or twice. If I was coming in completely neutral, it might be more of a toss=up, as it is, it's a close one. But Been a Zombies fan (musically), so give this one to Colin and Rod. And welcome back!
ReplyDeleteBROTHER MARTIN ~
ReplyDeleteThanks! It's good to BE back!
Also, thanks for the breaking up the shutout. I was sure this would NOT be a shutout, but it was you who ended it early.
Soon as I have some time I will have to see what I've missed on your blog while I was offline and outta communication with my blog buddies.
~ D-FensDogg
'Loyal American Underground'
Glad you are up and runnin' again! So, if your HD is gone does that mean you have lost all your old word files and emails? I hope not!!
ReplyDeleteI liked the original when it came out. I was also always a Santana fan from day one.
In this contest, Santana is far superior, to my ears. Their version has a lot of energy and musicianship... which you would expect, of course.
It has been fun hearing all this Carlos stuff(s) today. I'll have to go drag out a couple of his old albums and give them a listen!
SBB-6 ~
DeleteNo, my man was able to copy my old Word Files into the new used hard-drive. (He also copied them into a 'Memory Stick' for me, so they've been saved from death, thankfully, because I had YEARS of stuffs recorded on that old-hard drive.)
All the Emails should be safe and waiting for me to log into them again, because they are independently stored by CenturyLink. I'll find out about the Emails later tonight or tomorrow morning, but I expect they are still available to me. Speaking of Emails, did you get the one I sent from work two nights ago?
OK, got you down for a Santana vote. (Kind of odd that DiscDude and I both went with a Santana song on the same date. I'm just glad we didn't use the SAME one!)
~ D-FensDogg
'Loyal American Underground'
Not only am I very familiar with both versions of this song, but also this was one of the match-ups I had for a future BOTB post--it seemed like such a natural choice. That's okay though--at least we didn't do it on the same day.
ReplyDeleteI agree with some others that the Santana version is smoother and more well executed. However the Zombies version is still my favorite and I'm voting for them.
Lee
Tossing It Out
LEE ~
DeleteI had you figured as a 'Zombies' voter.
Every once in awhile someone throws me for a gigantic loop (like Sheboyganboy Six did in the Kinks Vs. Van Halen battle) but for the most part I've gotten a pretty good handle on how most of my regular BOTB voters will vote.
~ D-FensDogg
'Loyal American Underground'
It's good to see you back! I almost thought the Internet swallowed you up. I don't suppose you sol' your soul to Scratch at the crossroads for a computer that'll never break, did you?
ReplyDeleteActually, I don't think even he could deliver on that... if a computer lasts me 2-3 years, I could practically cry with joy.
The Zombies version is great, but man, I could listen to Santana wail on that guitar all day long. One easy vote for Santana. I'll have to consult with my partner in crime later and see what he thinks, as this one I'm NOT entirely sure what he'd pick. I'm actually leaning toward Zombies for him, but we'll see. Stay tuned.
~6B
"Scratch? Where you been at, Slick? He done changed his name back to LEGBA!"
DeleteHa!-Ha! It's great to get up in the morning and get a laugh with muh cup o' joe.
Nah, didn't have to offer my soul. Just $200. for a brand new used computer. My man says the motherboard was dying and he thought he could put the hard drive into another machine, but the hard drive bit the dust while he was trying to save it.
But he was able to save all my most impo'tant info and put it on the hard drive in this other machine. Also recorded my stuffs on a memory stick (or "thumb drive", if that's the correct term) so I feel grateful 'bout dat.
I went over to your blog yesterday and was going to leave a comment but I couldn't because I was too late. What I mean by that is this: Ever since you redesigned your blog, I've found that after maybe 60 to 70 comments, all the later comments begin to overlap on each other with that big white text until there's nothing toward the bottom of the comment section but big streaks of white, which are actually hundreds of unreadable words layered on top of each other.
I get the sense that this may be because the text size in the comment section is so large. But that may not be the real cause, however, because I've noticed that from the computer where I work, I can read all the comments clearly right down to the end.
So, I dunno what the reason for this is, but I was hoping that this brand new used computer would not have the same difficulty, but it does.
So, if I don't get my comment written and posted on your blog bits within the first 60 or so, I can't see what I've written, nor would I be able to read your later response.
I have yet to figure out how to get to my Email system, but that's the project for today.
Maybe we can TRT something next Monday or Tuesday.
Looking forward to receiving Beer Brother Brandon's vote.
Yak later, 6-B.
~ D-FensDogg
'Loyal American Underground'
>>... "Scratch? Where you been at, Slick? He done changed his name back to LEGBA!"
DeleteI can easily imagine people reading this and thinking: WTF they talkin' 'bout?!
~ D-FensDogg
Ha, well to keep that rolling, not even Jack Butler's magic fingers could fix a motherboard. Those things are the worst. Cost almost as much as the damn computer (explain that one) and as you probably already know, usually just cheaper to get another computer than to try to replace the motherboard.
DeleteNot that I want to clog your comment thread with non BOTB stuff, but I once got a computer with a motherboard that kept exploding. It was under warranty, so replacement was free, but it was annoying as hell because I had to call them, have a tech come over (at their leisure), and then have them replace it (they wouldn't let me do it - company policy). Well, here's why it kept exploding - I did some research online, and that motherboard doesn't mix well with that particular computer, so they recommend using a different one. But oh no, Dell didn't listen to me. I told them this 4 times (each time the motherboard exploded), and invariably the same tech would come over, he'd put in the same motherboard ("BECAUSE IT IS STANDARD EQUIPMENT," he'd say, in his nerdy robot voice), and then it would explode in a matter of days. Rinse, lather, repeat. Even the damn tech didn't listen to me. But you know, I just have an IT degree and 12 years of IT experience for nothing.
It took Dell SIX motherboards before they finally gave me a solution. And you know what that solution was? No, they didn't give me the recommended motherboard that I had researched. They gave me a brand new computer. An upgraded model, their way of saying 'this would never happen again.'
Each motherboard cost approximately $275. The laptop itself cost about $500. The upgraded laptop was being sold for $650. You do the math... look how much money Dell wasted because they wouldn't listen to me.
I still shake my head and laugh when I think about that. And I also still use that computer to this day... I'm writing this comment on it right now. Thanks, Dell!
So... I have not forgotten about the other vote. Looks like I know my other writing half pretty well. One vote for the Zombies... you know, to keep things interesting.
Out of curiosity, what browser are you using when you visit our blog, and are you using a computer, laptop, or tablet? We've had only a small handful of people complain about the white space thing, but I actually have yet to see it or replicate it. For both of us, on any browser, on any machine, we see the long, long thread of comments with the full background. It's odd.
Oh, and expect an e-mail later today.
~6B
6-B ~
DeleteYou need never worry about going off-topic in one of my Comment Sections. I'm perfectly willing and able to yak-outside-the-box anytime, anywhere. (I'm not big into rules and restrictions, as I know ya know. All rules - except God's - were made to be broken.)
>>... Rinse, lather, repeat.
See? That's what I'm yakkin' 'bout. I like that free-form association stuffs. Not everyone is capable of it, but I enjoy it when I find someone else who has a mind that stretches and snaps back like a rubber band.
I'm using an HP computer with the Mozilla Firefox browser. At work, where I AM able to see the full comment thread to the bottom, it's also a computer, but I'm not sure which browser.
Nappy has a Nook, and I'll try to remember to check your blog from that to see how the Comment Section looks on it.
In this 'Battle', The Zombies appeared to be dead but they have suddenly come back to life and are closely chasing after Santana... just like a Zombie.
Please tell Brandon I said thanks for the vote.
~ D-FensDogg
'Loyal American Underground'
Nine times out of ten, (or something like that... sounds as good as any other numbers I could pull out of thin air) I'm so emotionally invested in the original version of any given song, I'm likely to prefer it over any other later "imitation." So, since I already knew I liked the Zombies version of this song, I was prepared to cast my vote in their direction. Much to my surprise, that's not what gonna happen. I LOVE the smooth vocals and wailing guitar in the Santana version. So, that's who gets my vote. No one could be more surprised than I am.
ReplyDeleteSUSAN ~
DeleteI'm pleased that I was able to take you by surprise in this one. I think that's pretty neat when a BOTB installment is so competitive that some of the voters find themselves stunned to discover another version of a song that turns upside down their preconceived idea about it.
Thanks for stopping by to vote!
~ D-FensDogg
'Loyal American Underground'
Okay, well I am going to be on the losing side of this one (I suspect), but I don't really care. I have always liked The Zombies version of this song. And I still like it a lot. The Santana version was in contention for me right up until the end. I liked how the "Santana spin" with the guitars and percussion pushed the song forward in between the vocals. BUT, the end just felt like Santana showing off to me. Music and writing have something in common... for it to be great it has to have purpose. So, the use of the guitar and percussion in the middle of the vocals worked very well. But, when they just hang out there for a minute at the end... well, it's like writing a bunch of fancy words that shows off what an excellent vocabulary the writer has, but it doesn't really tell me anything.
ReplyDeleteIronically, as soon as I saw that this was your song, I laughed. I thought to myself, "OMG, this is like my awful Sunday date." As I listened to The Zombies (and Santana) sing it, I was nodding. Yeah, someone at the restaurant (where we are both regulars) could have given me the Heads Up on this guy. No one did. So, let me tell you about the way he looked, the way he acted, the color of his hair. His voice was soft and cool. His eyes weren't all that clear, but they were bright. And he definitely was not there. The lights were on, but no one was home. Hahaha.
Oh, chalk one up for The Zombies. I love their sound.
GIRL WONDER ~
DeleteInteresting way of looking at the Santana version. And, well, you're not alone, because The Zombies have scored some votes as well, even though it would be tough for them steal the win from Santana at this point.
Ha! And I liked the way to drew a comparison between the song and your last date. Yeah, his eyes were probably red, and his mind wasn't too bright.
[;-)}
Thanks for your vote!
~ D-FensDogg
'Loyal American Underground'
This is a tough one -- good job, STMc!
ReplyDeleteI like both!
I've always liked the hits the Zombies had in the 60's with "She's Not There," "Tell Her No," and especially "Time of the Season." "She's Not There" is the oldest one and is the roughest (compare the organ solos between it and "Time of the Season" to see how much Rod Argent's chops improved in just a few years), but it still has a lot of things to like about it.
I also owned "Moonflower" (but then I used to be a huge collector of albums in the '70s and '80s-- even stuff that would rarely, if ever, get played, like the Patti Smith records I told FAE I once owned). Moonflower was an album that showcased a lot of great playing, and I think it was very popular (seems like I remember everyone I knew had a copy), but it also struck me as almost a little too slick at times. Santana's overall sound changed a lot after Greg Rolie and Neal Schon left to form Journey, and I missed the edgier feel of the earlier records. Still, the cover of "She's Not There" has a lot going for it, and while the production on the records may have gotten slicker, Santana's playing also got smoother and cleaner while still exhibiting those blazing, burning, bursts of speed and emotion. It's simply impossible to ignore the wonderful guitar on this cut.
So, although I really like the Zombies original and do consider it THE official "She's Not There," I have to go with the blazing guitar of Santana for my vote in this battle.
CHRIS ~
DeleteThanks for returning and casting a vote in this 'BOTB'. (I'm looking forward to the day when you will rejoin us BOTBers, because I appreciate your love and knowledge of music.)
I don't think any of my high school buddies collected records the way I did, so I can't say that I can think of anyone I knew back then who definitely had a copy of 'Moonflower'. But I sure wore the grooves off of my copy.
I intend to revisit Santana again in a future 'BOTB' blog bit - I have a very, very interesting match-up in mind but probably won't get to it for awhile yet.
I think "ferocious" is the one word that best describes Carlos' playing on 'She's Not There'. And I like the fact that in this contest we have two different instruments (keyboards and guitar) being the musical focal point of the two different approaches to the song.
Thanks again for listening and voting, Brother.
~ D-FensDogg
'Loyal American Underground'
I like the Zombies version better.
ReplyDeleteHey, MIKE...
DeleteThanks for visiting and voting. You're welcome to put in your two cents here any time you feel like it.
Got you down for The Zombies, which is keeping it interesting. I know there will be a few more votes coming in, but it feels like The Zs have some serious ground to make up here at this point.
~ D-FensDogg
'Loyal American Underground'
A BIG vote for the original Zombies version, here!
ReplyDeleteAny decent band can do a good cover of a really great song -- the trick is writing and producing a really great song to begin with. And it's important to remember just how utterly new and different The Zombies' "She's Not There" sounded when it debuted 50 years ago. At a time when the Beatles were still singing "Yeah, yeah, yeah," The Zombies were writing and producing songs that reflected a musical sophistication far beyond their years. (They were teenagers, for crying out loud!)
So while I appreciate Santana for calling attention to this wonderful Zombies tune, it's The Zombies who deserve all the credit for giving it to us in the first place.
ANON ~
DeleteYou shoulda been The Zombies' press agent!
(Just kidding.)
Thanks for your vote and for your analysis. I too am one who places a real value on the original creator of an artistic endeavor - whether the topic is music, stories, paintings, or film. As I have written in several places at several different times, when a truly great artist reaches his/her apex, (s)he is amongst the best in terms of talent and the ability execute their vision. At that point, it's the vision or the style that really counts.
Example: Eddie Van Halen could never play anything on a guitar that Lee Ritenour couldn't duplicate. So then it becomes a question of whose style you like the best; which form of music do you prefer?
I hear what you're saying... and by the way, I myself like to pick on The Beatles because I feel they were overrated. But, to be honest, in 1964, while The Beatles WERE singing "Love, love me do..." (pretty simplistic shi--- stuffs), they also recorded 'A Hard Day's Night' (which started with that "electric razor" sound), and it went to #1 even before 'She's Not There' charted at #2. And truthfully, in my opinion, The Zombies' song isn't really that much more sophisticated than is 'A Hard Days Night'.
When I get into interesting discussions like this though, I never fail to point out that EVERYONE was influenced by Dylan - he changed songwriting forever.
Even before there was 'A Hard Days Night' and 'She's Not There', there was 'Blowin' In The Wind', 'Don't Think Twice, It's All Right', and 'The Times They Are A-Changin', and lyrically speaking, those songs were light years ahead of both The Beatles and The Zombies.
Had there been no Dylan, The Beatles probably never would have graduated from the school of 'Love, Love Me Do'. And had there been no Beach Boys, The Beatles would never have created the 'Sgt. Pepper's' album, because that was a conscious attempt to musically match 'Pet Sounds'.
Really, it was Dylan who revolutionized the song lyric, and it was The Beach Boys who musically elevated 1960s Pop music to the level of complex innovation.
Nevertheless, I get your point and appreciate your vote for The Zombies. (Feel free to return and vote on my next 'BOTB' installment on August 1st.)
~ D-FensDogg
'Loyal American Underground'
Although I love Santana's guitar playing, my vote is for Zombie's original, featuring Rod's surgical keyboards!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your vote, CLAUDIO!
DeleteThis Battle has suddenly heated up and gotten more interesting.
~ D-FensDogg
'Loyal American Underground'
STMcC’s Vote On ‘BOTB #24’
ReplyDeleteAnd The Final Tally:
After working for a year in the Movie and Television industry in the late 1970s, I took my first tax return check and bought myself a really nice stereo with it – excellent turntable, powerful receiver and a couple of large, great-sounding speakers. And that was what I listened to my LPs on for many, many years thereafter.
Whenever I wanted to show someone how great my stereo sounded I would play Santana's version of 'SHE'S NOT THERE' because it had so much going for it: a great range of sound, that marvelous percussion, Greg Walker's fantastic vocals, and of course Carlos Santana's ferocious electric guitar lines (which I consider some of the best Rock guitar work from the Classic Rock era). That is some seriously angry guitar playing, and at the 3:21 mark Santana's guitar LITERALLY sounds like the roar of a wildcat! Man, I LOVE that!
I think Rod Argent's keyboard work in the original is really quite interesting, but it is no match whatsoever for Santana's guitar, and Colin Blunstone's vocals in the original just sound weak and pale compared to the rich, fiery vocals of the great Greg Walker in the Santana cover.
In my opinion, this contest should have been a blowout! Not a shutout, but a big blowout. (I think FAE did a great job of comparing these two tracks in her comment above.)
In my 23rd 'BOTB' installment I had The Kinks' original version of 'You Really Got Me' going up against Van Halen's cover. I mentioned that Ray Davies of The Kinks had gone on record publicly as saying he really liked the Van Halen cover of their original, and he felt Van Halen had taken The Kinks' “prop plane” and turned it into a “jet fighter”. Well, that's also EXACTLY how I feel about THIS contest between The Zombies and Santana: Carlos & Co. took that old prop plane and turned it into a jet fighter (with guns mounted all across both wings!)
Honestly... I can't even wrap my mind around a vote for The Zombies in this contest, but they sure got some. In fact, they got enough votes to turn 'BOTB #24' into a tie. My vote for Santana gave us the following result:
The Zombies = 7 Votes
Santana = 7 Votes
Now, Al Bondigas told me privately that he intended to vote for Santana, and had he done so, Santana would have (rightfully!) won this 'Battle' by one vote. But since Bondigas never got off his meatball ass to submit his vote, 'BOTB #24' ended in a tie. As Duffy Daugherty said, “A tie is like kissing your sister.” (Thanks, Brother!)
Normally, I really don't care who wins these 'BOTBs', but every once in awhile I do root for one contestant over another because I feel the Battle is a no-brainer. This was one of those instances, which means I feel it was one of my least satisfactory 'BOTBs'. The only one with an outcome that shocked me this much was when I put Fleetwood Mac up against The Rockets, sure that The Rockets would win because their version of 'Oh Well' was OBVIOUSLY better. In the end, The Rockets got only ONE vote: mine.
Anyway, my thanks to EVERYONE who submitted a vote (even if I think you voted wrongly) and I hope to see y'all back again for 'BOTB #25' on August 1st. I will be starting a new blog for that “Battle”, a new blog that I am currently designing for use exclusively for 'Battle Of The Bands'. So, I hope to see y'all at my new digs on 08/01/2014.
Yak Then...
~ D-FensDogg
'Loyal American Underground'
Well, as one of those wrong voters I am laughing my butt off. I am sorry that this was such a disappointment to you. Welcome to the real world... it happens to me ALL OF THE TIME. Not just on BOTB (but there, too).
ReplyDeleteYour comment made my day.
Laugh it up, FUNNY GIRL!
DeleteYou'll get yours.
You vote THAT "wrongly" ever again and I will ban your butt from this blog!
(Kiddin'.)
~ D-FensDogg
'Loyal American Underground'
As one of the RIGHT voters, I say I'm shocked that this ended up in a tie. Maybe you need a recount. I can't imagine seven folks thinking The Zombies did it better. But then my BOTB is the home of the Shut-out. Ha! so what do I know. I musta just got lucky on this one.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I truly am shocked outta my boots by the outcome. I mean, I KNEW this would be no shutout. I figured The Zombies would probably get about 3 votes, because I think there are a few folks who tend to vote for the FIRST version of a song due to greater familiarity.
DeleteBut in a case like this one, where I personally think the Santana cover is just far, Far, FAR better (more interesting, exciting, and musically complex), all I can do is scratch my head and wonder. I really thought this one was pretty much a no-brainer.
Oh well... when all is said and done, music is an entirely subjective art form so... there's no accounting for taste. (Ha!)
Now my next 'BOTB' on August 1st, this one is so damned tough that even I myself am not yet sure which version I will vote for. Both are A-List recordings for sure, and yet quite a bit different in some ways (although not much different in tempo, as I recall). This next one is going to be a really tight race, I think, and I can understand why it should be.
~ D-FensDogg
'Loyal American Underground'
I'll agree that Santana's version was technically "the best", but "the best" is not always the best when it comes to personal taste and everything that goes along with why we prefer one version over another. I think the outcome of this match-up turned out just as it should have--both versions are darned good.
ReplyDeleteLee
Tossing It Out
Yeah, LEE, music is just so subjective that all opinions must be considered equal (for the most part, anyway).
ReplyDeleteFor me, this one was a lot like my last one - The Kinks' 'You Really Got Me' versus Van Halen's cover. I was perfectly happy with The Kinks' version for many years... until Van Halen came along, and suddenly the original didn't sound so great anymore.
For me, it's the same situation with 'She's Not There'.
I've got a good one scheduled for August 1st. Guaranteed no shutout, and no blowout. This one is going to be really tight, I'm sure. And I wouldn't even attempt to guess who is going to win it. Could be another draw.
~ D-FensDogg
'Loyal American Underground'