You commented on my last blog post. I commented on your comment. I made excellent strides at pacing myself and visiting other blogs. I really thought I had it all under control.
Some of you already know that was a big misconception on my part (you posted a Battle and I was woefully absent). I am so sorry. I really hope that I am better this time. If not, I will at least begin with the folks I missed last time... sigh.
So, my mom had a hip replacement last week. I should have realized that this was going to consume my life. Alas, I didn't. And it did. She is healing well, and she's getting around much better now. So, that is the good news. But, I'm still very much on call all the time. I know I never would've made it as a doctor... yikes.
Anyway, my apologies if you are feeling neglected. (Note: I am so happy I opted out of A-Z this year. I never would have been able to juggle it all.)
So, here are the very late, once again, results from my last battle. It was surprisingly close. I suspected that The Crystals would win this due to familiarity. We tend to like what we know. (This is fact. The science is settled on this!)
Actually, the science was very much in contention based on how this turned out. I think most, if not all, of you knew the version by The Crystals, and still The Beach Boys were neck and neck in the beginning. And then, shockingly, they pulled ahead and BEAT The Crystals. Some of you indicated that you didn't much care for the song or that it was close. Others simply voted against the "wall of sound." Whatever. I was surprised at the end result.
The Crystals: 7
The Beach Boys: 11
I voted Beach Boys, but I was very torn with regard to my own vote. I've liked The Crystals version for many years. I still really like the movie Adventures In Babysitting; that song opens the movie. So, it has a special place in my teenage heart. However, I've always liked The Beach Boys and their harmonies. I wasn't familiar with the "wall of sound" until you folks started talking about it in the comments. It was then that I realized I appreciated the more stripped down (which it really isn't all that stripped) version by the boys.
For those of you who never saw Adventures in Babysitting and don't know what I was babbling about above... here you are:
If you're thinking that looks like a silly movie... why would she even like that??? I must confess I spent my teenage years singing into my hairbrush and/or my curling iron in my room. With dancing. With drama. So, I could relate to this entire scene as a teenager. It still makes me smile. Teenage girls are quite silly;)
Hello friends! Can you believe it is mid-March? Can you believe winter decided to go for one last dump? Sorry if you found the use of the word "dump" offensive. Seems like you can't turn a corner these days without offending someone. I know I'm getting used to it.
Speaking of offensive, I just read an article about a lady that has put out a coloring book on menstruation. Yeah, I know that's kind of gross all by itself. (Make sure you have plenty of red crayons kids!) But, the part that had me scratching my head was that this coloring book author (are these folks authors???) teaches that men and women menstruate. Confused much? Me too. I'm not sure where the boys are supposed to put those tampons, but it sounds painful to me. Kids won't be just going to the ER to retrieve those peanuts from noses with this generation. Common sense has left the building. Kiss it goodbye, folks.
Speaking of kissing, I thought of the song for my battle a few days ago. It's not to be confused with And Then You Kissed Me by The Cardigans, which is a great song, but not it! And then, since we're having so much gender trouble these days (because genitalia no longer determines gender, which begs the question of what does if not biology... but moving on... nothing to see here) I decided to choose two versions of this song by you guessed it... different genders. So, depending on you who you ask... then he kissed me or then I kissed her. I also decided to give you as much possible bang for your buck (man, I'm ON it today!) and go with two heavy hitters.
So, sit back and put on your listening ears. Are you ready to rumble???
The Crystals sing Then He Kissed Me. For your pleasure, I will actually consult Wikipedia on this song. It's been around. The competitor knows a lot about that!
The Beach Boys recorded their take, renaming it Then I Kissed Her.
Here's what Wikipedia has to say about them both.
"Then He Kissed Me" is a song written by Phil Spector, Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry. The song, produced by Spector, was initially released as a single in July 1963 by The Crystals. It is a narrative of a young woman's encounter, romance, and eventual marriage with a fellow youth.
In 2004, this song was #493 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.[1]Pitchfork Media placed it at number 18 on its list of "The 200 Greatest Songs of the 1960s".[2]
The Crystals version
The single is one of The Crystals' most remembered songs. The lead vocal was sung by Dolores "LaLa" Brooks.
In the United States the single peaked at number six and in the United
Kingdom the single peaked at number two. The single was The Crystals'
third single to chart in the top ten in the United States and their
second to reach the top ten in the United Kingdom. The song was also a
major hit in the Republic of Ireland, reaching number three in the
charts there.
The Crystals' version was used in its entirety in the 1990 film Goodfellas during the famous three-minute tracking shot through the Copacabana night club. In an homage to that scene, the song (in an artificially extended version) was used in the final episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
The song was also used during the opening credits of the film Adventures in Babysitting, as Elisabeth Shue dances and lip-syncs the song. It is also heard at the end of the film during the last scene and over part of the end credits.
The song was re-worded to the title "Then I Kissed Her" and released by The Beach Boys on their 1965 album Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!) with Al Jardine on lead vocals and production by Brian Wilson.
Beyond title and gender changes, new lyrics were written retelling the
story of the Crystals' song from the boyfriend's point of view.
Two years after appearing on the album, in April 1967 the song was
released as a single in the United Kingdom, appearing as a stop-gap
release while work continued on the "Heroes and Villains" single. This was reportedly done against the band's wishes, Beach Boys band member Mike Love
commented on May 7, 1967 "The record company didn't even have the
decency to put out one of Brian’s own compositions. The reason for the
hold up with a new single has simply been that we wanted to give our
public the best and the best isn't ready yet."[3]
"Then I Kissed Her" charted at number four in the United Kingdom. The B-side of the single was "Mountain of Love", a song off the band's 1965 Beach Boys' Party! album.
Okay, now that you're on info overload, let's just play them both.
The Crystals:
The Beach Boys:
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. I've stopped trying to keep up with who is running a battle and
who isn't. To see who is participating, go here: Stephen T. McCarthy's Battle of the Bands Blog.
This is a results post on my last Battle of the Bands. The song was The Race Is On. The original recording was made by George Jones. I must say as all of the initial votes rolled in for Sawyer Brown, I was thinking I called this all wrong. I was thinkin' I shoulda put Sawyer Brown directly against George Jones. But then all of you Deadheads weighed in and it got more interesting. Just joking about the Deadhead thing. Some of you couldn't be more unDead. Ha!
The good news was that my once lopsided battle started to even out.
In the end, your votes stacked up like this:
The Grateful Dead ~ 6 votes
Sawyer Brown ~ 8 votes
So, like usual, my vote doesn't change anything at all (not that there's anything wrong with that!). I really like Sawyer Brown. In fact, I like their version even better than the George Jones original. So, my vote lands squarely with Sawyer Brown. And that increases their lead to 9 votes.
I fully intend to be back here on the 15th with another battle. I've even got some battles floating around my brain. However, I'm totally psyched for what I have planned on April 1. I'm really looking forward to that one, so please come back for it, as it will be unlike anything I've done here.
Hey all. I did post a very late results post a few days ago. For those of you who don't feel like jumping back one post, I Won't Dance finished in a tie (8-8). I got the pleasure of deciding the winner (for once, maybe twice). And that means that Frank Sinatra came out on top. I love his version of that song. I also included my backstory with that song (if you're interested). There's almost always a backstory.
Anyway, it's the 1st of the month again. That means I had to dig up another song to do battle.
I first heard today's song in the early 90s. I had no idea (until today) that this song had been covered so many times. Wow. So, if there is another version to which you are particularly partial you can inform me in the comments. You can't vote for it, but you can yak all about it.
What is this song????
THE RACE IS ON.
Ole Possum (George Jones) recorded it first (I do believe). I'm not even going to consult wikipedia on this. I'm simply going to trust my memory.
The Grateful Dead liked it so much that they recorded it in 1981 on their Reckoning album. That is the first contender in this very fast battle.
Sawyer Brown recorded it in 1989 on their album The Boys Are Back. It's also pretty darn fast;)
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. I've stopped trying to keep up with who is running a battle and
who isn't. To see who is participating, go here: Stephen T. McCarthy's Battle of the Bands Blog.
