My A to Z Themes in the past have covered a range of topics and for 2025 the theme is a random assemblage of things that are on my mind--or that just pop into my mind. Whatever! Let's just say I'll be "Tossing It Out" for your entertainment or however it is you perceive these things.
It's all in the title of this post so I guess you might be able to see where I'm going here. If you know, you know and whatever else. Sit back and enjoy...
Battle of the Bands
Battle of the Bandsisthe blogging event started byFar Away Seriesand now hosted byStMcC Presents Battle of the Bands. This event happens each month on the 15th and on some there is also a Battle on the 1st of the month. My blog is one of those with a second Battle excepting over these summer months. The premise is simple: Listen to the songs presented below and then in the comments vote for your favorite and tell us why you liked it. Then visit the links listed near the bottom of this post for more Battle action.
It's almost like a cliché I guess. It's the first song I thought of when I figured I'd take a blogging break. I do need one I think. Or what I really need is to figure out where I go next with my blog. Let me think on this awhile and you can tell us which version of this song you like best. Thanks for playing along!
Time to Vote! This is my last Battle for the summer so please help make it a good one. You're supposed to vote on one of these song versions. Which one do you prefer? Battles are no fun without you the reader participating. Hopefully you have an opinion of some kind. You don't have to know about music to have an opinion since it all comes down to your own personal taste.
Please vote on your favorite by letting us know your choice in the comment section and tell us why you prefer the version you chose. Then after you've finished here, please visit the other blogs listed below who may or may not be participating this time around. And if you've put up your own BOTB contest let us know that as well so we can vote on yours. I don't know if anyone else will be doing a Battle this time around, but you can still check out these sites. Here are some other places where you might find BOTB posts: StMcC Presents Battle of the Bands 'Curious as a Cathy' Sound of One Hand Typing
July 2 question - Is there a genre you haven't tried writing in yet that you really want to try? If so, do you plan on trying it?
I've done a lot of writing experiments in younger days. I don't know that I've missed out on much. Maybe mysteries of some sort. I've never been too effective at writing such things, but I've wanted to try someday. Probably won't, but who knows. Perhaps one day if I get really bored and become infused with inspiration. You never do know.
Did you ever hear a haunting song from a distance that seemed dreamlike, but strangely familiar? I've often had that sensation. I think that's one of the things that can make music so special for many of us and filled with so many memories. Here's a couple of songs that wove their ways through my summer of 1966...
Battle of the Bands
Battle of the Bandsisthe blogging event started byFar Away Seriesand now hosted byStMcC Presents Battle of the Bands. This event happens each month on the 15th and on some there is also a Battle on the 1st of the month. My blog is one of those with a second Battle excepting over these summer months. The premise is simple: Listen to the songs presented below and then in the comments vote for your favorite and tell us why you liked it. Then visit the links listed near the bottom of this post for more Battle action.
Hits from '66
When I moved to Tennessee in the summer of 1966 I had already started immersing myself in popular music of the day. Only vaguely familiar with a few crossover country hits, I was no fan of that twangy sound of country. As I had done in Indiana keeping up with the current songs on Chicago's WLS radio station, I was now listening to music on Knoxville's WNOX to see what the next interesting song would be.
Some songs were monsters that couldn't be ignored because of their dominance on the radio waves, while others lingered enough to become locked in my memory banks. In this Battle I present two different country hits that were remade for the rock and roll audience. At the time the songs seemed new to me though I had undoubtedly heard them many times over the years. It's just that I essentially was rather dismissive of the country genre back then and couldn't tell you much about it other than there were a few good songs that I had liked over the years, but they somehow didn't seem so country to me perhaps. Bottom line is that I was young and still musically uneducated to a great extent.
In my fifteenth summer I was spending many of my idle hours listening to music over my little transistor radio that by audiophile standards was not much at all, but to me was enough to fire up my musical imagination and curiosity. I was anxious to hear the next new thing while hoping to keep hearing favorites being repeated throughout the day into the late night.
Here are two of my favorites of that summer. You likely know both songs well so I won't even mention who were the artists who originally performed the songs or those who had subsequent hits with the songs--both have had several covers done.
These are the covers from 1966 and personally I think both covers are the best ever for either song.
Time to Vote! Get your kicks on route 66 or from the summer of '66. You're supposed to vote on one of these songs. Which one do you prefer? Battles are no fun without you the reader participating. Hopefully you have an opinion of some kind. You don't have to know about music to have an opinion since it all comes down to your own personal taste.
Please vote on your favorite by letting us know your choice in the comment section and tell us why you prefer the version you chose. Then after you've finished here, please visit the other blogs listed below who may or may not be participating this time around. And if you've put up your own BOTB contest let us know that as well so we can vote on yours. I don't know if anyone else will be doing a Battle this time around, but you can still check out these sites. Here are some other places where you might find BOTB posts: StMcC Presents Battle of the Bands 'Curious as a Cathy' Sound of One Hand Typing
Currently it's cloudy and mild in Los Angeles with a chance of riots and civil disorder later today. Might be like this all week and maybe all summer. You never know what you're going to get in this city, but on this blog you can expect some Battle of the Band Results...
Battle of the Bands Results
A double whammy of Double Shot
My most recent Battle was pretty much a pounding. Dick didn't Holler much when the Medallions came out Swinging and knocked him down for a resounding win. McCarthy and I both went with Dick Holler. We both liked that organ in the SM version, but as for me I don't like the party sounds as much as I did when I was a teen. Call me old-fashioned or just call me old. I'm either not paying attention or I can't hear you.
Final Vote Tally
Dick Holler 2 votes
Swinging Medallions 10 votes
Next Battle on Sunday June 15th
This will be a good one staying with the 1966 theme. Two of my big favorites of that year against each other. What will they be?
June 4 question - What were some books that impacted you as a child or young adult?
My earliest childhood memories regarding books were the several of the Little Golden Book series that my parents bought me early on. My favorites were The Little Engine that Could, The Gingerbread Man, and Little Black Sambo. I'm not sure how many of the books in the series I had, but I can recall looking at those books often as a young child. I don't know how much literary impact those books had on me, but they did give me a certain sense of pride of book ownership and having my own home library.
When I was about 8 years, the pastor at the church we were attending at the time gave me my first Bible, a book which I still have to this day although it is very well worn with the cover coming off. I gave this a lot of use throughout the years and like many people I'd say that this is the book that has had the most influence over me and a book that continues to influence me.
Two more huge influences on me were the Webster's Dictionary and the grocery store bought set of Funk & Wagnall's Encyclopedia. Through the years I spent hours perusing the dictionary and the encyclopedia set just for the fun and curiosity. This probably made a huge contribution to my good grades through my school years. Kids today who no longer use these resources are missing out on a wealth of information in my opinion. And I question the veracity of some of the online resources.
I read a lot when I was a kid--especially after I entered my teens and began getting regular deliveries from various book clubs. I can't say any one particular writer impacted me greatly when I was a kid. However, after I started college I discovered some of the great Southern writers like William Faulkner, Flannery O'Connor, and Cormac McCarthy. This school of writers from the American South have impacted me most as far as literature goes.
What were some of your biggest writing influences?
Looks like I've gotten onto a themed subject matter which is the music of the summer of 1966. My previous Battle got me to thinking about all the great music that came out during the summer when my family first moved to East Tennessee from the Chicago area.
It was the summer before my first year of high school. I made some new friends and many of them were into music--like really into music. I recall many an hour with the transistor radio blaring as we listened to the current hits playing on Knoxville's top forty station at the time, WNOX. So many great songs! Including this next one...
Battle of the Bands
Battle of the Bandsisthe blogging event started byFar Away Seriesand now hosted byStMcC Presents Battle of the Bands. This event happens each month on the 15th and on some there is also a Battle on the 1st of the month. My blog is one of those with a second Battle excepting over these summer months. The premise is simple: Listen to the songs presented below and then in the comments vote for your favorite and tell us why you liked it. Then visit the links listed near the bottom of this post for more Battle action.
Double Shot of My Baby's Love
When this hit by The Swinging Medallions started getting airplay I immediately liked it and apparently a lot of other music fans liked it as well. It's now a classic from 1966 and it's one of the first songs of the era that popped into my head. And does it qualify for a Battle of the Booze? I'll let Mr. McCarthy be the judge. It does sound like a fun drinking song nevertheless. The recording has lots of fun party sounds and rowdiness which was likely something that attracted me as a teen.
As I started exploring I discovered that not only there are many covers of the song available, the hit version that I have always known was actually a cover of an earlier regional hit that didn't go much of anywhere on the charts. I guess this is one of those cases where I can use an original version against a later version and see what the crowd thinks. Hope you enjoy...
Time to Vote! It's a double shot of musical fun and games. You're supposed to vote on one of these song versions. Which one do you prefer? Battles are no fun without you the reader participating. Hopefully you have an opinion of some kind. You don't have to know about music to have an opinion since it all comes down to your own personal taste.
Please vote on your favorite by letting us know your choice in the comment section and tell us why you prefer the version you chose. Then after you've finished here, please visit the other blogs listed below who may or may not be participating this time around. And if you've put up your own BOTB contest let us know that as well so we can vote on yours. I don't know if anyone else will be doing a Battle this time around, but you can still check out these sites. Here are some other places where you might find BOTB posts: StMcC Presents Battle of the Bands 'Curious as a Cathy' Sound of One Hand Typing
If I had a million dollars for every blog post I've done about Battle of the Bands I'd be surprised. And I'd probably still be broke. Life is like that sometimes. In any case, with every BOTB post comes a results post. And this is another one...
Battle of the Bands Results
My most recent Battle was a contest between sixties pop groups Dino, Desi, & Billy and Gary Lewis & the Playboys. I like both groups pretty well and they both presented good versions of the old Cyrkle song "Turn Down Day". I was tempted to give my vote to DD&B because I do like their version and they needed the help with the vote. Still, my vote wouldn't have made much difference, so I stuck with my real choice of Gary Lewis and gang. I liked the orchestration and fuller vocals better. So did most of the voters I guess...
The rich and famous seem like their lives would be so fulfilled. Sometimes I guess they are, and for others there are so many struggles and hassles they can go through. You figure if you are the kid of a celebrity you have a menu of opportunity at your pleasure. Can just your name pay the meal ticket?
This past week I watched a documentary about the life of Dean Martin. Since I had followed Martin as I was growing up and through his television career, I was familiar with a lot about his life. He became biggest after he teamed up with Jerry Lewis and for nearly a decade they were huge stars. Then in 1956 Lewis decided to go on his own and made a rather acrimonious separation.
The documentary delved into Dean's love of family and his willingness to embrace the social institution of kids and relatives. On the other hand, I'd long heard about the cruelty of Jerry Lewis toward his own kids. They were not only cut out of his will, but 3 of his sons were barred from coming to their father's funeral.
One of the stories they told in the film was about son Dean Paul Martin's successful foray into show business. This brought back my own memory of the summer of 1966 when my family moved to East Tennessee from northern Indiana. I was about to begin high school. The move didn't bother me that much since Indiana had only been home for less than three years. Seemed like time to move on.
My new friends had similar musical interests as my friends up north. I'd became drawn into the current of British groups as well as listening to a lot of Beach Music groups and Tijuana Brass. However one of the new groups that greeted me in Tennessee was Dino, Desi, and Billy, a group that included the sons of Dean Martin and Lucy & Desi Arnaz ("I Love Lucy"). I'm sure I was aware of them, but just hadn't known anybody who had any of their albums. My new friend Fred had two of them and we would listen to them often. Fred, being an aspiring young musician, liked this group I think because they were mostly a cover band. Most of the songs on their albums were hits from other groups or artists. Since any band Fred would be playing in locally would be playing music covers, then DD&B seemed like the kind of band to listen to.
I was already a fan of Jerry Lewis's son Gary's band. They'd had several hits on Chicago radio in 1965 and I liked all of them. I even broke down and bought a 45 RPM copy of their song "Just My Style" which I still think is a pretty great tune. Back then I knew about the relationship between Gary and Jerry, but wasn't aware of the bad part. I figured Gary was mostly helped into the business by his dad. Apparently his mother helped, but forget help from Daddy. Fortunately, Gary and his Playboys put out some good songs that people liked and they were a hit.
Which, by golly, that makes me think of something! You know...
Battle of the Bands
Battle of the Bandsisthe blogging event started byFar Away Seriesand now hosted byStMcC Presents Battle of the Bands. This event happens each month on the 15th and on some there is also a Battle on the 1st of the month. My blog is one of those with a second Battle excepting over these summer months. The premise is simple: Listen to the songs presented below and then in the comments vote for your favorite and tell us why you liked it. Then visit the links listed near the bottom of this post for more Battle action.
Turn Down Day
Once I came up with the two competitors in my Martin vs Lewis Battle I started scouring for a song they had both covered. Since Gary Lewis recorded mostly songs his team came up with there were less covers from which to choose. And then I saw a song from one of my favorite groups of the sixties: The Cyrkle. You likely know their biggest hit "Red Rubber Ball" which was often played on the radio during the summer of '66. Their next release was a song that I liked even better. Fortunately for my BOTB this time, there are versions recorded by both of my featured artists. Hope you will enjoy!
Time to Vote! Please don't turn down this opportunity to vote for your favorite. You're supposed to vote on one of these song versions. Which one do you prefer? Battles are no fun without you the reader participating. Hopefully you have an opinion of some kind. You don't have to know about music to have an opinion since it all comes down to your own personal taste.
Please vote on your favorite by letting us know your choice in the comment section and tell us why you prefer the version you chose. Then after you've finished here, please visit the other blogs listed below who may or may not be participating this time around. And if you've put up your own BOTB contest let us know that as well so we can vote on yours. I don't know if anyone else will be doing a Battle this time around, but you can still check out these sites. Here are some other places where you might find BOTB posts: StMcC Presents Battle of the Bands 'Curious as a Cathy' Sound of One Hand Typing Jingle, Jangle, Jungle
I've got some Battle of the Band results to post, but first I'll make some reflections on my recent Blogging from A to Z April Challenge experience.
It was a good year I thought. I managed to post as I should daily in April and wasn't too stressed about it. I enjoyed the content I posted and hopefully some of you did as well. Simplicity was my goal and I think I achieved it.
As usual, I didn't visit other blogs as much as I had intended and know that I should for a blog event such as A to Z. Bottom line is that I'm just not on my computer as much as I used to be and blogging time is sacrificed. I guess I'll have to figure that out eventually.
Thanks to everyone who participated by posting and reading. And a very big appreciation for the fantastic A to Z Team:
My recent Battle was between the groups Badfinger and Electric Light Orchestra. I have so many more memories associated with Badfinger that they are my general favorite. I do enjoy the classical music setting of ELO and there is not a thing wrong with their music in my view. I just prefer Badfinger.
Final Vote Tally
Badfinger 2 votes
Electric Light Orchestra 8 votes
Next Battle on May 15
That's my plan and I'm not planning to change it yet.
May 7 question - Some common fears writers share are rejection, failure, success, and lack of talent or ability. What are your greatest fears as a writer? How do you manage them?
Well, if you're not doing anything then there's not much fear involved until you confront that which you are not doing. I know what I'm not doing much of and that is writing. No writing means no submissions to get rejected, or failing or succeeding. I wouldn't necessarily call that management, but at least I'm not frozen in fear.
Frozen in laziness maybe. Or frozen in lack of inspiration. But no fear for now.
The Blogging from A to Z April Challenge is now over! Now back to the business of regular blogging. More on my experience with this year's Challenge in an upcoming post, but today it's..,
Battle of the Bands
Battle of the Bandsisthe blogging event started byFar Away Seriesand now hosted byStMcC Presents Battle of the Bands. This event happens each month on the 15th and on some there is also a Battle on the 1st of the month. My blog is one of those with a second Battle excepting over these summer months. The premise is simple: Listen to the songs presented below and then in the comments vote for your favorite and tell us why you liked it. Then visit the links listed near the bottom of this post for more Battle action.
It's Over
In keeping with the end of the blogging event of the season, I'll be presenting a Battle between two different songs with the same title by two groups that essentially emerged from the Beatles era of music. Both these groups I enjoy a great deal and since there are so many different songs that have the title "It's Over" I decided to go with these two songs of a similar lineage. Listen and enjoy and then tell us which one you like the best.
This song easily fits in the "Songs from Lee's Basement" category since Badfinger was high on my playlist when my friends would come and hang out with me in the early 70s. When the group first came out I actually thought that they might be the Beatles in disguise. Badfinger remains one of my favorite groups from that era. Do you remember this song?
Jeff Lynne of ELO makes no secret that he was strongly influenced by the Beatles and it's pretty obvious to anyone who has listened to both groups. ELO's greatest popularity began after the heyday of Lee's Basement parties so their music doesn't fit into that category for me, but they certainly could have. I think they are a pretty great group. What do you think?
Time to Vote! It ain't over until it's over and that means you need to do your part. It's time for a Battle of the Bands! You're supposed to vote on one of these songs. Which one do you prefer? Battles are no fun without you the reader participating. Hopefully you have an opinion of some kind. You don't have to know about music to have an opinion since it all comes down to your own personal taste.
Please vote on your favorite by letting us know your choice in the comment section and tell us why you prefer the version you chose. Then after you've finished here, please visit the other blogs listed below who may or may not be participating this time around. And if you've put up your own BOTB contest let us know that as well so we can vote on yours. I don't know if anyone else will be doing a Battle this time around, but you can still check out these sites. Here are some other places where you might find BOTB posts: StMcC Presents Battle of the Bands 'Curious as a Cathy' Sound of One Hand Typing Jingle, Jangle, Jungle
