This Is Me--2024 A to Z Theme

My A to Z Themes in the past have covered a range of topics and for 2024 the theme is a personal retrospective that I call "I Coulda Been" which is in reference to my job and career arc over my lifetime. I'll be looking at all sorts of occupations that I have done or could have done. Maybe you've done some of these too!

Friday, May 7, 2021

And It's Over Again ( #BOTB Results )

 

    It ain't over until it's over some would say while others might say something to the effect of saying it ain't over until Brünnhilde sings and if you don't know what I'm talking about with that then look it up.  I just don't want to be raising any hackles for saying "lady" or describing how big she is.  People get their hackles raised too easily these days and I don't want to be known as a "hackle raiser"...


Battle of the Bands Results


       As Stephen T McCarthy pointed out in the comments of my recent Battle of the Bands post, the bands I used, Badfinger and Electric Light Orchestra, both have a Beatle-esque sound.  That's one reason why I liked both these bands.  Back in my early days of interest in pop music the Beatles were one of my top favorite groups and this held true for many in that era.  There is little doubt that the Beatles influenced so much popular music after they arrived on the scene and their music continues to have influence to the current time.

       This Beatles influence hit me as soon as I began listening to Badfinger in 1970.  After all they were four musicians recording on the Beatles' Apple record label and they sure sounded kind of like the Beatles.  In fact for quite some time I actually thought they were the Beatles recording under the guise of a fabricated imaginary group.  Later after I discovered another similar sounding Brit group called Grapefruit I thought that they might be the same group as Badfinger/Beatles for the same reasons I thought Badfinger was really the Beatles.  And at the time the Beatles had been playing around with all sorts of weirdness that one might not be ridiculed for believing what I did.  

       Eventually I did come to a realization that the Beatles split up and Badfinger and Grapefruit were their own groups and not some incarnation of each other or anyone else.  Sadly both groups faded away and now have been mostly forgotten by later generations.

       Electric Light Orchestra managed to maintain a longer active history than those other groups and this can be mostly attributed to the driving creative force of Jeff Lynne.  He has appeared with many other artists and produced a number of albums. Lynne's style often reflects the Beatles influence.  Perhaps even a greater influence of Beatles producer George Martin can be heard in the sound of Electric Light Orchestra.  The band has managed a long successful history without much attention grabbing drama.

        I'm a fan of both groups.  The "orchestral" sound of ELO is especially pleasing to my musical tastes.  However the over all quality of songwriting on the Badfinger albums is better in my opinion.  Badfinger had some fantastic songs on their albums and I have listened to far more Badfinger over the years than I have listened to ELO.

       In the match of two songs named "It's Over" by Badfinger and ELO the preference was in the bag for me.  As much as I like ELO's song and wonderful recording production, Badfinger's song is the one that resonates with me the most.  Love that song!  Badfinger got my vote, but they didn't get the win.


Final Vote Tally

Badfinger                   5 votes

ELO                           7 votes


Next Battle of the Bands on Saturday May 15th

        As I've been doing over the past years I'll be slacking off blogging during the summer.  I'm not saying it's over for my blogging, but I might take a break.  But in the meantime don't miss my next Battle of the Bands!







5 comments:

  1. Good result , Look forward to the next BOTB.

    Yvonne.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sorry I missed it! Definitely would've voted for Electric Light Orchestra.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Lee,

    I picked ELO and felt like they'd win just because most grew up listening to their stuff. Close battle! I hear you on time for a break. I definitely will slack off for the summer months but I probably won't cease blogging altogether. I just to take it ease and get some future posts done to make life easier later on. Thanks for reporting the outcome of your battle. Enjoy your weekend, my friend!

    ReplyDelete
  4. A two-vote spread between winner and loser.
    Translation: Dern good Battle, Mr. Lee!

    By George, I think you've got the hang of this thing!
    [;^D}

    See ya on the next BOTB Battlefield!

    ~ D-FensDogG
    'STEPHEN T. McCARTHY REVIEWS...'

    POSTSCRIPT: Who's "George", anyway?

    ReplyDelete

Go ahead and say something. Don't be afraid to speak your mind.
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Lee