Act Naturally (Battle of the Bands) #atozchallenge

            Welcome to Tossing It Out for Day one of the Blogging for A to Z April Challenge.   If you want to know more about the Challenge you can visit the A to Z Blog.   Also, a regularly scheduled event on this blog every 1st and 15th of the month is the Battle of the Bands.  So in this post you get a double whammy conveniently tied together with a common thread.  More on the Battle after the first marketing concept.   My A to Z Theme for 2014 is Marketing Concepts from A to Z.

Act Naturally

         Unless it's part of the role you're playing, no one cares much for a phony.  You can play a part like Pee Wee Herman or the band members of Kiss if that's your shtick, but when it comes to serious marketing efforts playing the buffoon can only go so far.

          We've all encountered the sleazy salesman who may even come across as completely sincere, but once we feel duped then we lose confidence and don't go back to that person.  Some public figures may come across as haughty, unapproachable, or condescending.  If you're trying to make inroads with someone whether it be a potential customer or someone you want to go out with on a date, if you sell yourself, your brand, or your product in a genuine manner you're going to make your prospect a lot more receptive to what you have to say.

          Nervous?  Shy?  Afraid?   Don't worry--those are natural feelings that most of us share and they can work in your favor in many cases.  Just be yourself.  Act naturally.  Eventually you'll get used to being out there before the public and self-confidence may become part of your natural persona.  It might take some practice so be persistent.

Battle of the Bands:   Act Naturally

         The Battle of the Bands posts spotlight two versions of the same song.  You the reader pick your favorite version and let us know in the comments which version you chose and why.  At the end of this post you'll find a list of other bloggers who have usually been participating.  If you'd like to start joining us let us know in the comments and we can add your link.

         "Act Naturally" is the obvious song pick for this Battle.   The song was first recorded by country artist Buck Owens in 1963.  It became Buck's first number one hit and catapulted him into stardom after toughing it out for many years in the music business.  Buck later co-hosted the popular television cornpone comedy show Hee Haw for a number of years.  Here's the song that made Buck Owens a star:

Buck Owens   "Act Naturally" (1963)



The Beatles "Act Naturally"  (1965)

          Once the Beatles had established themselves as teen idols they had personas developed for each of them.    Girls had their favorite Beatle and recognized each of the lads for their personas.   Ringo was the funny one.  Most Beatle albums had at least one song that featured Ringo and the song was typically a novelty type song.  In 1965, The Beatles' cover of  "Act Naturally" appeared on the B-side of the monster hit "Yesterday".   Here's The Beatles with Ringo Starr on vocals with "Act Naturally":



Time to Vote!

         Now it's up to you to vote for your favorite version of "Act Naturally" and tell why you preferred that version.  Let us know in the comments.  I'll announce which version won next Wednesday April 9th.  The next Battle of the Bands will be on Tuesday April 15th.

          Here are some other bloggers who may be participating in the Battle of the Bands:

         Faraway Series
         Ferret-Faced Fascist Friends
         Your Daily Dose
         DiscConnected
            Donna Hole
            SteveIsHungry by Steve Foster, an old friend from Tennessee who travelled on a road show with me back in 1991.  Haven't seen him since then so it's good to see him show up now with a blog to join us in the A to Z Challenge and BOTB.  He's been blogging for several years and I never realized it until today.

         Do you have a difficult time acting naturally around people you don't know?   Can you think of a good time to put on a false front?    Do you feel betrayed or let down when you see a person you admire from a perspective of which you disapprove or with which you disagree?