Bucking Some Dang Blogs & BOTB Results for Bodang Buck

Arlee Bird promoting A to Z Challenge at Mt. Rushmore

     Finally!  I'm back from one of my longest vacations ever.   It's been a great summer for me and my wife.  We've spanned the United States from coast to coast and seen plenty of the wonderful sights this country has to offer.  We've also enjoyed the company of family members and friends whom we don't get to see enough.

       Now, coming back to the usual routine of our most-of-the-year life, it's time once again for me to reassess my life and everything in it.  One of the first things I'm going to be tackling is my subscriptions to a number of Wordpress blogs that I've followed over the years.  There are many that I regularly read and comment on and they never seem to acknowledge the existence of my blogs.  I've already begun unsubscribing to many of those.

       Don't get me wrong, there are a number of Wordpress bloggers who have seemed to figure out how to cross comment on my Blogger platform and those will stay on my list.  I appreciate the support of the Battle of the Band bloggers  'Curious as a Cathy', Sound of One Hand Typing, The Doglady's Den,  Angel's Bark as well as a few other WP bloggers who regularly comment at Tossing It Out or Wrote By Rote.   I'm not dropping any of these bloggers and I hope we continue to have long meaningful relationships in the years to come.

      Maybe I'm being a bit petty about this, but my time is as valuable as anyone else's and even if I'm just taking a few seconds to delete notifications from my email it all adds up.  I need to start restructuring my time better and it's going to start with certain blogs.   No point in reading some of those blogs or leaving comments that never get reciprocated.  My comments on those blogs might get answered in some instances, but I'd appreciate some of those bloggers just letting me know that I mean something to them beyond my visiting their blogs.  

      Sorry for this bit of nonsense, but it's been bugging me.  It's time to do something about it--again.  If you have a Wordpress blog and feel that I might unjustifiably unsubscribe from your blog, please leave me a comment below so I know you are out there and what your thoughts are about my current course of action.

Bodang Buck Results

      The two versions I offered for the song Bodang Buck were so similar that I'm not surprised by the narrow margin of the outcome.   Some of you suggested that you couldn't explain why you chose the version you did, but if it wasn't a matter of a coin toss or some other such decision making process, I guess it was just a matter of which one sounded better at the time you listened to it.

      Since I have a history with this McGuinness Flint tune from having owned the album back in the 70's (and still having it in my collection), their version has been ingrained in my mind.  The McGuinness Flint album is a long time favorite of mine.  It has some fine tunes and the band has a good sound.  So that's where my vote goes.  Jonny Young Four did a great job with the song, but I prefer the instrumentation and subtler vocals of the Flint version.

Final Voting Results:

Jonny Young Four       10

McGuinness Flint         14

      My next Battle of the Bands post will be on Tuesday September 1 and will be combined with that month's Insecure Writer's Support Group post.    However I'll have at least one post next week so I hope you stop by for that or those whichever the case may be.

      Does anyone else share my frustration about bloggers who won't cross blogging platforms to leave comments?   If you've ever unsubscribed from a blog, why did you do it?   How was your summer?

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Bo Dang Buck (BOTB Vacation Version)

       It's time for Battle of the Bands.  This is an event that takes place on the 1st and 15th of each month.  Far Away Eyes at Far Away Series gets the credit for first conceiving this study in song version comparison. Stephen T McCarthy maintains the participant list and answers your questions about the event--you can find his blog with a list of participants at  StMcC Presents Battle of the Bands.   This is not at all complicated:  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 Battles to vote on.

      I'm in a bit of a iffy situation this time around.  I've gone ahead and prepared kind of a simple battle with a song that I like, but one that doesn't have a whole lot of personal significance to me or interesting story value to tell about the artists.   If I'm on proper travel schedule then I should be in Montana or Wyoming when this post goes live and then heading home from there.  A western sounding song seems kind of appropriate.


Jonny Young Four  "Bodang Buck" (1972?)

Jonny Young Four won the Billboard and Record Mirror's 'Top UK Group Award ' three years running in 1972, 1973 and 1974 at the International Festival of Country Music, Wembley, London, England.  I couldn't find much about this group.  This is their cover of the song originally done by the group McGuinness Flint.





McGuinness Flint  "Bodang Buck" (1970)

        "Bodang Buck" was originally written by Benny Gallagher and Graham Lyle of McGuinness Flint. and appeared on the group's debut album.   This is by the way a great album well worth checking out.





Time to Vote!

          Okay Buckos, time to do your part.   Which song version do you like the best?   Surely you think one is better than the other even if you don't like the song that much.  Just judge what you hear.  I realize they sound pretty close, but there are some obvious differences.   Which version do you prefer?    It's up to you to help determine the winner.   

        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 (or which one was the least objectionable to your ears).  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.

Here are some other places where you might find BOTB posts:

‘FAR AWAY SERIES’ 

 StMcC Presents Battle of the Bands

 ‘YOUR DAILY DOSE’ 

  'MIKE'S RAMBLINGS'

'Curious as a Cathy'

Sound of One Hand Typing

DC Relief Battle of the Bands

The Doglady's Den 

Angel's Bark  

Cherdo on the Flipside  

Jingle, Jangle, Jungle 

Women:  We Shall Overcome  

Book Lover

J. A. Scott  

Quiet Laughter

Holli's Hoots and Hollers

NovelBrews

Results on Friday August 21st

         I'm messing with my scheduling some since this Battle falls on a Saturday and I'm traveling and all.  I'll be home by the middle of next week so I'll tally up any votes I might get on this and announce the winner on Friday August 21st.   Also since this Battle post falls on a Saturday I'm going to forego my Monday post to allow more visitors to find the post on Monday and throughout the week.   Please vote!   Battle of the Bands works better when I have votes to count.  I may be slow making my rounds this week, but I'm going to try my darnedest to come visit all of you.  

          Are you familiar with the song or the artists?   Doing any travelling this summer?   Have you been to Yellowstone?





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"I'm the Zombie? How'd That Happen?"

...with Battle of the Bands results!

 Mr Zombie (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

        Back in May, Robin at Your Daily Dose got me to thinking about issues she brought up in a post that you can find here.  In my comment responding to her post I contemplated some of  the metaphorical implications regarding the popularity of the zombie genres found so often in modern culture.  Thinking that perhaps my ponderings might make for an interesting blog post, I tucked away my thoughts in my idea file to be pulled out later.  My recent blog series about death and zombies seemed to be a good place to finally bring these ideas out as a conclusion to that series.

        Over the past few posts on Tossing It Out, as well as a post at my memoir blog Wrote By Rote, I've been discussing the topics of death and zombies partly in relation to the Halloween season, but primarily to call attention to my Battle of the Bands installment that featured the song "When I'm Dead and Gone".  I'll be getting to the winner of the BOTB contest shortly, but first I want to present my theory about our increasing societal obsession with zombies.

        This topic has been addressed by many others.   Andrew Leon directed me to one of his own posts, "Zombies: A Cultural Metaphor" from a few years ago at his blog Strange Pegs.  In short, Andrew offers the concept that our fascination and fear of zombies is related to issues regarding the influence of technology, corporations, and government on our society.  You might want to go back and read his post to get the full story behind his theory.  

         Other theories I've found have suggested that the zombie metaphor extends to viruses, contagion, human isolation, paranoia, and the general fears that confront us.  The Ebola Virus crisis has probably made others beside myself think about a future epidemic unlike any we've seen previously that could include reanimated corpses.   Farfetched?  Probably, but it makes for a good scary story.

         Here is what came to my mind as I was commenting on Robin's previously mentioned blog post:

Regarding hope vs purpose. Personally I think internally hope is the force that drives any of us. Without hope we merely act on autopilot to get the days work done with nothing more to look forward to. Goals are the result of hope and the hope provides more meaning to the purpose.

From the outside though, as far as other people are concerned, the purpose is mainly what matters. Our hope may spread to others around us and inspire them, but on the whole the people we deal with are mainly interested in the purpose we serve.

The burger flipper may hope toward vacation time or a college degree and the purpose of the job is to get them to their goal, but the job is not their ultimate purpose. The guy waiting for his burger hopes that his burger is fixed right and the flipper has no purpose to him other to get his burger done.

Maybe a lot of the zombie stories metaphorically represent a world that increasingly consists of people who are losing hope and the burning internal desire to find ultimate purpose only to become hopeless empty shells merely left with the purpose to survive.

          To take this thinking a step further I sense that many people today have a spiritual disconnect and rely on outside forces such as governmental or societal support.   They are burdened with the desire to have more and do more which in turn leads to enslavement of debt, jobs they don't like, and a general lack of direction about where they are going in this life.  Consequently they plod lifelessly from one day to the next from job to the shopping mall to do whatever else everyone else is doing.   We all wait, stand in lines, and face frequent let-downs in our lives.  What we do with these experiences and how we react to everything we encounter determines the amount of actual life we have burning within us.   Some people don't take it so well and spend time complaining and just following the rest of the crowds who have little or no idea what's coming next.

        There is certainly more that can be added to all this but I must move on to BOTB results.

Battle of the Bands:  The Outcome

        What I thought was going to be an essentially uneventful BOTB contest turned out to be a heated  horse race.   There were surprises like those voters who I thought would surely know the original version of "When I'm Dead and Gone" by McGuinness Flint who did not know the song.  Maybe they just didn't remember it since it's a song that is not often played anywhere these days.   A few of you knew the song but most did not.

         As I somewhat expected in the case of those who did not know the song or the original artist several cast their votes based on the greater familiarity of Def Leppard.   I was surprised that some voters did not like the song as I find it to be catchy and quite entertaining, an opinion shared by at least a third of the voters. But like I say it was a horse race all the way.   As I read the comments and tallied the votes I could almost hear the sports announcer detailing the back and forth nature of the contest.  This was one of my craziest BOTB posts ever as far as close voting goes.

        My preferred version is the original by McGuinness Flint for the same reasons cited by some of you.  The instrumentation, especially the mandolin and the solid drum backing, as well as the vocals give the song a better sound to my ears than the version by Def Leppard.   Those hard rockin' Def boys did a fine job with the cover and it's grown on me through subsequent listenings, but I don't think they could ever surpass McGuinness Flint for my taste.   I love this song--it's a catchy foot-tapping memorable romp and I can't understand why anyone wouldn't like it.   But some of you didn't as indicated in your voting.

        So how did my vote affect the outcome of the Battle?  It almost puts McGuinness Flint in a tie with Def Leppard.

The Final Tally

 McGuinness Flint     13

Def Leppard             14


         The next Battle of the Bands posts will come on Saturday November 15th and I've got what will be one of my favorite matches so far.   It's a pop song from a 1969 concept album by a hugely popular artist whose career spanned over half of the 20th century.   The seemingly unlikely competitor is a very eclectic band that came together in the early 90's and is still active today.   Be sure to join me for this one and I don't want to hear anyone say they don't like this coming song pick.   How could you not like this song?  Anyway, be here and find out for yourself.

         Does my zombie theory hold credence in your estimation?   What is your own opinion as to why zombies are so fascinating to so many?    Do you know what my blog post title is derived from?    

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Battle of the Bands: When I'm Dead and Gone

November 1st is Day of the Dead

        ...But it's also the day of the Battle of the Bands!

          Some of you might also think of November 1st as All Saints or All Souls Day.   In many other parts of the world this official day of remembrance of the Roman Catholic Church calendar celebrates those who have passed from this life.  It's a huge celebratory day in Mexico known as Day of the Dead that has now been tied in with the celebration of Halloween.  Though primarily a religious holiday, the day has become one of parties and public gatherings.

However Let Us Remember

          For many bloggers the 1st and 15th of each month is now celebrated as Battle of the Bands Day.  Twenty-four times per year  a group of bloggers join in with BOTB founders Stephen T McCarthy and Faraway Eyes to present different versions of one song for you the readers to vote upon your favorite.  Each participating blogger picks their own songs to use for the event.   After several days we all will announce which of our contestants has received the most votes to be named as the favorite in their contest.   After you've voted on my choices, I hope you will visit the participants listed at the bottom of this page and vote on their Battles.

In Honor of Day of the Dead

         In my Battles I usually try to do some kind of thematic tie-in that will present something to offer for the readers who don't care about BOTB.  I always hope that everyone will be willing to jump in with us to listen and vote, but in the event that anyone doesn't want to or even can't  listen to the song offerings I like to have an issue or idea for us to think about.   In the case of this current song I will be doing a tie-in with my Insecure Writer's Support Group post coming up on Wednesday November 5th.

        Also of late I've had a secondary theme in a sense of pitting female artists against males.   In this Battle the boys are back in town for a guys only Battle.   That doesn't mean only the guys can vote.  I'm counting on you ladies since you're the majority of voters in each contest.   Even if you don't know the song or like it or whatever, please try to find something that stands out for you to make one or the other version the one that you prefer.  I think it will be interesting to see how those of you for whom this song is a new one will run with this contest.

        In this round of Battle the contest is one of subtleties.   In the past some other participants including me have posted versions that were very similar.   This Battle is one of those, but there are also some very distinct differences that make each stand out from the other.   The song presentations are virtually the same so please rather than dismissing them as such, listen a bit more closely to determine which version you prefer and tell why you think so.  I have a definite preference based on something very specific, but I'll tell you what that is when I announce the winner next Friday November 7th.

McGuinness Flint  "When I'm Dead and Gone" (1970)
      After my good friend Marvin started raving about this song in early 1971 I started to take note.  He and I had similar tastes in music, but often the music I was keeping up with was different that the songs that caught his ear.  He was mostly picking up with what was being played on the top 40 radio where I wasn't listening to that much radio--at least not the mainstream rock stations.  Soon after the song caught on with me I bought a copy of the very fine album by McGuinness Flint, the only album I would own by them and their only album of note.  The group didn't last long, but the members went on to play roles in other groups.

        The song was inspired by the life of bluesman Robert Johnson.  In the U.S. this song peaked at number 47 on the charts, but it made it to number 2 in their homeland of the United Kingdom.  "When I'm Dead and Gone" has been covered by a number of artists over the years.  Co-writer Graham Lyle's most well known song is the Tina Turner hit "What's Love Got to Do With It".   






Def Leppard  "When I'm Dead and Gone" (2006)

        The cover version I decided to use is by rockers Def Leppard.  They're the band with the drummer who  lost his arm.  Ironically, though drummer Rick Allen appears in the video photo montage, there is no drumming in their version of the song.   "When I'm Dead and Gone" appears on the 2006 album Yeah which being a collection of covers might be ripe picking for future Battles.   Others can feel free to use the other songs as I've got songs lined up for a long time and may not get to this album for a while.





Time to Vote!

           Which version do you like best?   Show some life don't play dead, perk up and cast a vote for your favorite.   Leave your vote in the comment section and tell us why you prefer the one 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.


‘FAR AWAY SERIES’ 

 StMcC Presents Battle of the Bands

 ‘YOUR DAILY DOSE’ 

 ‘DISCCONNECTED’ 

 ‘CREATIVE OUTLET OF STRATPLAYER’ 

 'MIKE'S RAMBLINGS'

'Curious as a Cathy'

Sound of One Hand Typing

           The results of my Battle will be announced on Friday November 7th.  I'll also be talking about zombies in that post.

          Are you familiar with the song "When I'm Dead and Gone"?    What differences did you hear between the two versions?   Do you want people to come to mourn at your grave when you're dead and gone?

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