Turns out that my battle between The Zombies vs. Sonny and Cher ran neck and neck all the way to the end. They were frequently tied as the whole thing progressed. It looked like one might pull ahead, and then the other would rack up the same amount of votes. Honestly, I couldn't be happier with how this turned out. I like a close competition. I also like the fact that my vote actually counts in this one. Usually, I'll log it, but it doesn't make any difference to the outcome. Not today, my friends. Not today.
Today, I'm in the position of changing the vote. And no, I'm not voting twice or logging a vote for my dead grandma to make the difference here.
That said, at the end (before my vote) this was how it all shook out:
The Zombies: 13
Sonny and Cher: 12
If I vote The Zombies, then it just gives them a decisive win, BUT if I vote Sonny and Cher, that makes it a TIE. I love the Sonny and Cher version of this song. It's the one I sang into my hairbrush dancing around my bedroom when I was nine years old. You just can't beat that sort of memory with any other version (though I think The Zombies are quite good). Plus, I really like the instrumentation on the Sonny and Cher version. So, I'm throwing my vote at Sonny and Cher making this one a TIE.
Everyone: thank you for voting. This was a lot of fun:)
In other news, I'm participating in the A to Z this year. If you'd asked me even a month ago if I was going to do this, I'd have said NO WAY, JOSE. It's not that I don't I enjoy reading other bloggers who participate (I do!), but I've done this twice and beat me all to hell and back both times. The first time I only pre-wrote my posts to the letter "M." Big mistake. Huge. The second time I wrote them all before April. That made a difference, but I was still wrung out by May. This time, I'm doing something different. Something I hope will leave me feeling alive at the end of it all.
I signed up under the Entertainment (ET) category. So, for one month this blog is going to be all music, all the time. I've planned a fun, interactive blogging experience for the month of April. If you read the Beer Boys blog, A Beer For The Shower, then you know they've altered their comments to accept YouTube videos and images. I really wanted my comments to accept YouTube videos for this A to Z, so I asked Bryan how he did it. He sent me detailed instructions (which look easy enough), so I should be all ready by April 1. No, my blog is not ready yet. But, have faith. It will be.
So, what exactly is going on here??? I've chosen key words for each letter of the month. You have to put on your thinking cap and come up with a song containing that word, leaving it in the comments. If you want to go full throttle, you can embed the YouTube video for the enjoyment of all. I'm anticipating that this will be something that music lovers look forward to throughout the month of April. I've enjoyed putting it all together (yep, the posts all written and pre-scheduled). So, be sure to come back and participate.
If you want to participate in the A to Z OR just see who is playing along this year, click HERE.
I think most of you know by now that I had a car accident. For the record, I'm really very good. My right ankle is still a bit swollen, but I've been doing my foot exercises and walking on it, so it really doesn't hurt any longer. The only lingering pain is in my lower back. I'm hopeful with a few more weeks of rehab (and a medical massage or two) and those muscles will decide to relax and stop trying to protect my spine from an injury that has long passed.
If you missed the photo of my wrecked car, here it is:
This is the car I just bought. It's so pretty!
I've been fooling with this since 2/28 (day of accident). Life is moving at the speed of light. Or is sound faster? Whichever one is faster, that's the rate at which we're going here. I can't believe it's time for Battle of the Bands. Again.
I'm not prepared with a soundtrack story for you today. Sorry. But, I will tell you that a couple of battles back Jeffrey Scott posted a Sonny and Cher song on his battle (I Got You, Babe). That took me way back to my childhood, because I had several Sonny and Cher albums. My mom was an avid garage seller, so even though it was the 70s, she bought many records for my turntable from the 50s and 60s. I planned to link a song to Jeffrey on his battle of a Sonny and Cher song that I particularly liked until I saw on YouTube that it was a cover.
And a new Battle of the Bands idea was born.
The song is called Leave Me Be. I think The Zombies recorded this song first, and then Sonny and Cher covered it. So, I'll load it for you that way.
Take it away, Zombies...
And that brings us to the cover by Sonny and Cher...
Please vote for the version of this song you prefer. If you
want to get into the Ins and Outs of why you like one better than the
other... I LOVE long comments!
For more Battle of the Bands fun, check out the other BOTB bloggers to vote on their battles:
Debbie at The Doglady's Den is the brains behind this fantastic list. Is it a meme or a list? I'm a bit confused. Anyway, there are questions to be answered using the names of songs by one artist.
I thought long and hard about this one. There were several artists I could use. I love Mary Chapin Carpenter, and she nearly got the honors.
I still love you, Mary!
Alas, that didn't happen. Here is my life according to...
Yep. These guys:
TRAIN!
I will embed a couple of songs. The rest you can click on if you'd like to hear them. Enjoy!!!
This is going to be another "combination post." In this post, there will be results for Battle of the Bands, an update on my car accident, and my answers for the Music & Words Award. So, buckle in, peeps, because it's about to get hot in here.
First, let's go over how it all shook out for Battle of the Bands. The song was I Could Not Ask For More. The contenders were Edwin McCain and Sara Evans. By golly, that turned out to be a neck and neck battle all the way up to the end. (A mighty fine battle, if you ask me, which you didn't, but I'm still saying it.) So, how did you guys vote?
Edwin McCain: 11
Sara Evans: 12
This is one of those rare occasions when my vote actually COUNTS. If I vote Edwin, I get a tie. If I vote Sara, she gets the win. So, what's the verdict? Let me tell you, this is tough for me. I like them both. However, since I HAVE to vote, I'm choosing Sara Evans. I like her sound (always have). Congrats Sara!
UPDATE ON THE CAR ACCIDENT
If you missed my post about the car accident, click HERE.
A few days after the accident, which was on a Wednesday, I noticed that my right leg hurt. My right ankle, in particular, hurt like the devil. When I peeled off my sock Friday night, there were deep indentations from my sock. With a bit of inspection, I could see that my ankle was swollen and beginning to turn green. My lower back was also giving me trouble, so I called my doctor Monday morning for an appointment. She sent me to physical therapy. Nothing "major," but she said I'd heal faster going this route.
I've had two appointments thus far. I can already see a big difference in my ankle and right leg. I can also see that my lower back is going to be the thing that takes longer to heal. BUT, it will heal.
Alas, my car will not. The frame was bent in the accident. State Farm decided to total it out. They paid all of my car note, but $1400. Fortunately, I had gap coverage. They will pay the rest of the note. That is a relief. The stress comes in the form of needing another car with no trade-in. I've been running like a chicken with her head cut off since Monday (when this was decided) lining up pre-approval on a car loan and looking at cars.
If you haven't bought a car recently... when did they get so darn expensive???
I loved my Verano, but my mom had difficulty getting in and out (as I feared she would when I bought it). Back then, she kept saying, "Just get what you want." I think she was still under the delusion that she would be moving out soon. So, this time around, her tune has changed. She really wants a small SUV. I'm okay with that (it feels sturdier, and I'm now a bit gun-shy about driving). The problem is that my budget isn't working so well with a small SUV with low mileage and the features we want.
My stress level has been through the roof over this entire mess. I'm constantly reminding myself that worrying is a useless occupation.
If you're the praying type, I could use some. Stress and migraines... not a good combo. You can also factor in therapy and car buying. I think that covers it all!
Let's move on to something fun...
Here are the rules:
Once accepted, the award process has five steps:
Link back to the person who nominated you
Answer the questions with words AND music
Pass the award on to 5 bloggers who inspire you with their posts about music
Tag your post with #MWA, for Music&Words Award so that we can all find you down the line
Quote these 5 steps and the award icon in your post. You can display the icon on your sidebar as well.
The person who nominated me for this award is Stephen T. McCarthy at STMcC Presents Battle of the Bands. If you haven't visited his site for Battle of the Bands, I encourage you to do so. He always chooses excellent contenders. He also keeps an up-to-date list of everyone who's participating in BoTB on the 1st and 15th. Thank you for the award, Stephen!
Q and A
Q1: What does music mean to you? There is an excellent song by Alison Krauss called I Don't Know Why. There is a lyric in that song that goes, "If there were no music, I would not get through. I don't know why I know these things, but I do." Music is the thing that makes me happy. Music is the thing that raises my spirits when life feels too hard. Music is the thing that cuts through all of the garbage and reminds me that there is good stuff in the world. There has to be. There is music.
Q2: What is your first music-related memory? I had a turntable (record player) as a kid. My mom loved to garage sale. Thanks to her garage sale prowess, I had quite a few albums. She also bought a yellow and black record holder full of 45s. I had a couple of Sonny and Cher albums, as well as this one by Cher:
I listened to this album on repeat AND spent many moments hoping I'd turn into a full-grown woman with brown skin and long black hair. No, that never happened. The woman part? Yes. The rest? No. I used to walk around the house with an orange towel wrapped around my hair (it was the 70s!) pretending I was Cher had long hair, like Cher. Q3: What was the first album you’ve purchased yourself? I think the answer to this question is an album that I purchased from a TV commercial. I've looked on Google images to see if I can find it (nope, I cannot!). I'd swear it was called "Can't Stop Dancing," and was purple with a huge high heeled shoe on it. My mother saved the letter I wrote to accompany my payment for this montage of disco fantastic-ness. I can't recall how much it was, but it was something like $6.99. In my awesome letter, I told them how much I wanted the record, thanked them for sending it (in advance), and included my $7.00. I also gave them my return address so they could send back the penny. I think I was eight years old. Did I really want the penny or was I trying to impress them with my mathskills? Probably both. I could still buy a gumball with a penny back then... Q4: What was the latest music you purchased? (No online streaming or free downloads, I’m talking about cash here!) This question makes me realize I haven't bought a CD in a very long time. It's not that I don't like them, though I don't play them nearly as often as I used to... Even so, there are several that I would like to have that aren't in my collection. I think my lack of CD buying goes back to my shortage of funds since I quit working and live on disability. There simply isn't the room for the extras there once was. That said, I'm pretty sure my last CD purchase was back in 2007 (that blows my mind!).
I still love this CD in its entirety. Makes me remember why I like buying CDs... There are so many gems that never make the radio. Those songs often end up becoming my favorites. I was going to include the big hit, Watching Airplanes, which is an excellent song, but I think I'm gonna go a different way (and play a B side). Enjoy!
Q5: Which song did you listen to last? (No cheating, come out with the dirty pleasures!) That would be East to West by Casting Crowns.
The hardest part of this award is nominating 5 people. Hmmm.
Once again, Battle of the Bands has collided with Soundtrack of My Life.
Let's begin with the story.
I'm going to tell this with nary a wisp of how it all turned out in the end. I mean, you guys know this relationship didn't last (for good reasons). You've seen that my decision-making about this relationship up to this point has been iffy at best. But, every relationship has its moments. The highs.
So, we're going to look at a high (for a pleasant change of view) and not speculate about the reasons it all went south.
Desert Storm ended. J1 went back to Germany and was there for a while before that base closed. Maybe six months??? Maybe longer??? I don't remember now. What I do remember is the relief I felt when that conflict ended, and he made it through alive. He was given several weeks of leave. J1 came to NYC and spent several weeks with me, and then we went together to spend a week or so with his parents, which I was heartily looking forward to after so many months on the phone with his mom.
It was a really good time in my life. At that time, he and I were talking about him moving to NYC after his four years came up (we had no idea the base would close in Germany). So, J1 explored the city while I was at work. I'm not sure I can describe the feeling of what it was like to come home knowing he was safely ensconced in my apartment (after so many months of worry and uncertainty about his safety).
Life is made up of moments. Sometimes they are bizarre in their inanity. J1 was talking with his mom on the phone (which was attached to a wall in the kitchen) while I sat on the couch pretending to read, but discreetly watching. He was wearing jeans and long sleeved red shirt. Nothing fancy. I remember thinking to myself, "I want to remember this forever. This moment. How I feel. All of it." And I still do.
In that moment I was happy, hopeful, content. I don't seem to inhabit those moments for great lengths of time, so I clearly recall it. If I could sell it, I'm sure I'd be rich!
Other bloggers participating in the Soundtrack of My Life:
The song for this battle is I Could Not Ask For More. Both of these artists charted with this song. It's up to you to decide who did it better!
First is Edwin McCain:
Now Sara Evans:
Please vote for the version of this song you prefer. If you
want to get into the Ins and Outs of why you like one better than the
other... I LOVE long comments!
For more Battle of the Bands fun, check out the other BOTB bloggers to vote on their battles:
