Today is the first day of fall, my
favorite season of the year, and I’m freezing my butt off. It’s
currently 41 degrees, windy, and rainy on the north shore of Lake Tahoe. After
having spent the last three years someplace where the temperature didn’t drop
below 75, and averaged 83, this is dang cold. I have even had to turn the
furnace on. YIKES!
Anyway…with all of that going on, I
almost forgot that today is the day to post the results for my Battle of the
Bands. Before I get to my vote and the final tally I want to be sure to thank
everyone who stopped by to vote or at least leave a comment. For the first time
since we stated this thing I had two people come for a visit, leave a comment
but not vote. I’ve given you credit in the contest anyway, because you were
nice enough to leave a comment even though you either couldn’t decide, or had
such an adverse reaction to these two songs you didn’t cast a vote for either.
The Broadway production of ‘HAIR’ first
hit the stage in 1968 – 45 years ago and the movie was released in 1979 - 34
years ago. It’s nice to see that after all that time it can still evoke rather
extreme reactions. Controversial then and now. As I said in the comment section
of Arlee Bird’s ‘Battle’, I have never owned a sanctioned copy of either
soundtrack. I do own the movie as a VHS tape (which is still stored in a locker
in Idaho) and at one time I had a bootleg copy, on a cassette tape, of the Broadway musical, made by
a friend. I think it might be time I remedy that situation.
Now, I know you’re all waiting for my
vote. I cast it for the version from the Movie soundtrack. The Fifth Dimension
did a wonderful job with their mash up of ‘Aquarius’ and “Let the Sunshine In’.
I do think it was one of their biggest hits. I have always enjoyed their
harmonies and particularly the beautiful voice of Marilyn McCoo. I’m very fond
of their hits ‘One Less Bell to Answer’ and ‘Wedding Bell Blues’, BUT,(Yes, Mr.
McCarthy, there’s always a BUT) when it comes to Aquarius, their sound was a
little too mellow, too ‘Brady Bunch’ or like a theme from some TV show like ‘The
Love Boat’, perhaps (BTW, those are some of your words not mine). I felt that
the movie (and the stage version) captured the essence of the song, the story
it was trying to tell, the changing of the times, if you will. I think everyone
would have to admit that those times were anything but mellow.
The final tally including my vote is:
The Fifth Dimension – the clear winner***with
7 votes
Hair the movie soundtrack – 3 votes
I was pretty sure this is how it would
turn out. I will admit that I was pretty surprised over how many of you
admitted to owning the soundtrack, but everyone was certainly more familiar
with the version by The Fifth Dimension.
Tune back in on October 1st
and see what’s up next on BATTLE OF THE BANDS V, and until then; stay warm. I
think I’m gonna go and build a fire.
Hey, we tried!
ReplyDeleteFAE ~
ReplyDeleteI've noticed that you and I vote alike... OFTEN! Off the top o' me memory, I know our votes disagreed on the song 'OH WELL' (you went with The Mac, I went with The Rockets), but other than that one anomaly, I think maybe we have agreed on every song thus far in BOTB.
Also, I want to state that I don't think it's fair to say that The 5th Dimension (ever) sounded like The Brady Bunch or something from The Love Boat. (And I know that's not YOU saying that, FAE.)
But the thing to remember is that TV was attempting to capture and copy what was considered "groovy" in real life at that time. It would be more accurate to say that The Brady Bunch was trying to sound like The 5th Dimension; The Partridge Family was trying to sound like The Jackson Five-ish Carpenters, or whatever.
I'm saying that the REAL Pop groups weren't following fictional TV groups... it was the other way around. Unfortunately though, it seems The Brady Bunch are now more remembered than are The 5th Dimension.
~ D-FensDogg
'Loyal American Underground'
The right one I think at your rink.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure which sound track I prefer but I do know I enjoyed the movie with Beverly D'Angelo. Treat Williams, and John Savage. I also remember listening to 'Aquarius' in California when I was a kid in 1966/67. Not sure who did that version either but I guess it dates me. Oh well.
ReplyDeleteI love the Cowsills version of Hair. Funny, funny song.
ReplyDeleteWOW! This post ended up being a 'Comedy of Errors', and all of 'em mine.
ReplyDeleteFIRST - that title should say 'BATTLE OF THE BANDS IV Results and NOT V.
Second - I neglected to count my vote in the final tally. So, the movie soundtrack version should have had 4 total votes not 3. It's not like it mattered by I didn't want you to think I couldn't count.
I hate excuses, and even more I hate to talk about myself, but I'm gonna do both, so bear (or should that be bare) with me for a minute.
For the past two weeks I've been dealing with some health issues that are causing me a whole lot of pain. Yesterday, I didn't even realize it was the 21st and that I needed to be posting my RESULTS. I almost didn't make it, but then thought 'I can do this' (Ha, ha, ha!). I didn't realize that I had reached my 'vertical limit' (as in the length of time I can remain vertical and coherent), so you were left with more boo boo's than usual. I'm really sorry about that.
Now, you all know I'm not really a blonde, BUT sometimes I still do really dumb things.
I just thought I'd mention that it's still triple digits in Arizona and the air conditioners are humming!
ReplyDeleteIf I turn the heat on at all, it's usually the week between Christmas and New Year's...
Larry
Hope you feel better soon!
ReplyDelete41 degrees? Yikes. Even in Colorado it's still in the 80s. Stay warm!
ReplyDeleteYikes! How did I miss your BOTB post? I could have sworn I visited your site. I would have voted for the 5th Dimension version so my vote doesn't make much of a difference. My thoughts on this are probably clarified in my results post of today.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a huge fan of Hair.
Lee
Tossing It Out
I actually got to see Hair live and in person at the Orpheum Theater in San Francisco in 1970. It was a blast. It's much better as a play than as a movie, which I didn't care for.
ReplyDeleteLiving on the farm in that part of my life, basically the only music I heard was religious and country western. If I were to choose a musical I loved, it might be "Tommy" or "Chorus Line".
ReplyDelete