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What Day Is It?
Being the 15th of the month when this post goes live it's Battle of the Bands (BOTB) day. If you're scratching your head over this then I'll provide a brief explanation for you unenlightened ones. Each month on the 1st and 15th an assortment of bloggers with little else to do (well not really) present different versions of the same song on each of their sites. Then you who have visited our sites vote on the one version that you prefer. It doesn't necessarily have to be the best version, but the version that you like best. Easy, right?
Battle of the Bands was initially put together by our blogger friends at Far Away Series and Stephen T. McCarthy Presents the Battle of the Bands. After voting at my site I hope you'll pay both of them a visit to vote on their Battles. And then please do proceed to the other sites listed at the bottom of this post, some of whom sometimes participate in foresaid Battle event.
My Perspective of the Inevitable
BOTB participants have contemplated the possibility of the same songs being used on different sites on the same or even different days. Actually it's already happened with "All Along the Watchtower" (that's the only one I remember so far). And it's going to happen again--I'm sure of it.
Stephen T McCarthy said that he almost used my pick for the previous Battle--"September Song"--but decided to postpone using it until this current Battle session. If he hasn't changed his mind that's the song you'll find on his site now, though by different artists than I used.
With all the great cover versions out there it makes sense that songs might be used more than once. I realize that I haven't always kept my choices for Battle contestants limited to two, but I'm going to try to do so in my future Battles and I'd recommend that others do the same not only to provide us more opportunities to reuse songs, but also in consideration of those of us who are listening to your picks. Evaluating your song choices is an investment of time for your visitor and choosing between two is more comfortable than going beyond that number. Remember, you can always use the same song with different artists later--something that I plan to do sometime in the future. That's just my suggestion so don't think you have to do it this way.
I will usually offer a link to original sources or videos that provide more info about the songs I've used, but as I've done in the past I'll let you know that's what I'm doing and encourage visitors not to use those versions in the contest. Henceforth, my Battles will be between two versions--unless there's some strong reason for doing otherwise.
Oh, and for one last thought on this topic of repeating songs, maybe at some point some computer savvy person might be able to come up with a practical way of creating a database of sorts for participants to go to in order to find out if a song and artist they plan on using has already be done on some previous Battle. I'm starting to forget the ones I've used on my own Battles let alone what others have used. We've got a lot of songs behind us at this point and many to come if we keep going with this. Just something to think about.
I'm Using a Repeat Song in This Battle
I dedicate this Battle to Larry Cavanaugh at DiscConnected. This is a song that he used nearly a year ago in one of his match-ups between the composer Todd Rundgren and multi-genre artist Alison Krauss.
Early 1972 saw the release of the classic album Something/Anything by Todd Rundgren. One of the songs "It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference" (click link if you want to hear Todd's original version) has become one of the most often recorded Rundgren songs. It being such a lovely song, it's understandable why it's become a classic tune recorded by many.
Hello People "It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference" (1975)
In the early 70's Todd Rundgren toured with an interesting and highly talented band who served as his back-up. The Hello People had already established themselves as a moderately successful band before hooking up with Rundgren. Their tour with Todd gained them more exposure, but star status continued to elude them. Rundgren later went into the studio to produce the Hello People album "Bricks" in 1975. I haven't heard the rest of the Bricks album, but Todd's production gives this retake on his hit song a dose of the Philadelphia Soul sound--fitting for the time of its release.
There is a cross marketing scheme involving my using a cover by the Hello People in this week's battle. More of the story will be coming next Monday on Tossing It Out when I announce the winner of this Battle and also participate in the Underrated Treasures Blogfest. Another part of the story will appear on my blog Wrote By Rote on Saturday September 20th. Hope you'll come back for those, but now let's listen to the Hello People version of this song with a very long title. There's a 45 second into to the song by Music Mike so you can skip ahead if you want, though Music Mike is pretty good at what he does.
Laurel Masse "It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference" (1976)
I've been doing a "boys vs girls" theme on my recent Band Battles. Since Larry already had taken the great rendition by Alison Krauss, that meant that I needed to find a version of this song performed by a female artist. I found several good ones, but I thought this version by Laurel Masse was particularly appealing.
The name Laurel Masse was one I'd never heard, but as the video started up I realized that she was one of the singers in the very popular vocal group Manhattan Transfer. Further investigation of Laurel's life made this song pick more poignant. She had been a founding member of the group and as their popularity was starting to really take off she was involved in a near fatal car crash which rendered her unable to perform with the Transfer.
The group continued with a replacement. Laurel's recovery took a few years. Over the period of the years since her recovery she has resumed her singing career as a solo artist as well as other pursuits. She's recorded several albums during this time. "It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference" was recorded under the Manhattan Transfer name in 1976 though for all practical purposes it's a Laurel Masse solo with some back-up by the group.
Time to Vote!
Which do you prefer? The difference between the versions is not much so you might think it wouldn't make any difference which one you pick, but it would be nice if you chose one. Please take time to 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’
The results of my Battle will be announced on Monday September 22 at which time I'll also be participating in the Underrated Treasures Blogfest hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh (click on the link for more info and sign-up list).
