Friday, October 14, 2016

No Battle... that said...

Dear fellow BOTB participants, and other voters...

Please remove my link from your battle posts. I fully agree with the new rule that Stephen has made, regarding carrying a site that has no battle. I have no idea if or when I might return. I haven't even been able to check everyone's battles to vote,

Be well and some day... as it's written... This too shall pass.

Love to all,

Dixie

Friday, August 26, 2016

Lounging ~ In My Room







Hello! 


Looks like I'll be off of BOTB for a while longer. Five therapy sessions, and I've only begun my health restoration. It is very challenging. The homework exercises leave me exhausted. I do see a small margin of improvement. This will take more time than I originally thought.


I'm trying to not let this discourage me, though I had no idea how bad things were. Awareness has tempted me to lose hope, but my stubborn nature won't let me. (smile).

Meanwhile, one of my favorite Beach Boy songs... I fell in love with it in high school. Everybody knows that high school brings its on set of frustrations, secrets, and heartaches... right?! Back then I had my own room where I kept my entire life compartmentalized. Ironically I now own the house which includes that very room.  Times have changed though, and I find my computer- art studio to be the new room of choice. It has a great big window I can view life through. I keep telling myself, "Come October I'll walk the long pathway to my gazebo." For now I must be content to view it through the window.


I hope summer has brought lots of treasure to each of you. Hard to believe we're on the verge of the Fall season, right?! Okay, here's the tune.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-b5WsEDZvsE


Thursday, July 7, 2016

Result post ~ surprise, it's a tie!

Welcome back!  It's Results Day for BOTB.  Wow. What a battle it was. I returned midday on 7-7-16, to find Shania Twain leading by one vote!! Yes sir.


Ladies and Gents... we have a tie. Surprisingly my vote tied the battle up.

Ozielzinho & Isael Melo @ 8 votes (including mine.)

Shania Twain @ 8 votes


I leave you good people with a couple of the winners' action songs and videos. ENJOY!  

Thanks to everyone for voting here. I hope to return on the 15th. If not, I'll definitely be here for August, (smile).


1 - Victory Theme (Portuguese: Tema da Vitória) is a Brazilian instrumental song composed specially for the broadcast of Formula One by Rede Globo. The music was composed by Eduardo Souto Neto.  This cover by Ozielzinho & Isael Melo.

2 - Up next, Shania is working the house!!


Friday, July 1, 2016

August Absence

I apologize to my BOTB co-hearts, and those non participants that vote here. Looks like August will be a repeat of July. My health is still not to the point where I want to research songs for battles. Too much sitting takes a toll on me.

On the health issue, it was discovered that my right carotid artery is blocked. It is inoperable. The miraculous thing is... some other arteries have enlarged, naturally, and some new artery branches have appeared. I call it a gift from God.

I've not decided to leave BOTB, but come September, I may have to make a decision. I'm still in therapy, and hoping for good results... it's a slow battle so far.

Lastly, I'll make every effort to get to other battles and vote. I could not do so for the July 15th battle. Have fun with the month's battles. I hope to get back soon.

~ Dixie

From this Moment On..- Health comes first.

















WELCOME TO BATTLE OF THE BANDS!! aka, "BOTB".

Due to many doctor appointments and therapy, I thought I'd be absent,  but wait! I can't resist kicking one in for today. If you want to know my health status, see my main blog post at dcrelief. From this moment on, my health comes first. I think it's all about my attitude too. (Being thankful there's a chance to fully recover from a stroke.)

On with the show...

A big shout out, and thank you to our blog host...Stephen T. McCarthy

We feature two different recordings of the same song. Listen to both, and then vote for the song version you like the best.  Feel free to leave me a comment, along with your vote. Our battles take place twice a month ~ on the 1st and 15th. The results come six days later ~ on the 7th and 21st. That's when I return, add all of the votes, including mine, and announce the winner. Feel free to return and see if your choice won!

If you would like to listen, and vote in other battles, please see the participant list in the right hand margin. If you would like to join this bi-monthly blog-event, visit the blog host, Stephen T. McCarthy. Leave him a message, and your blog address. We would love to have you participate.

I wasn't going to post a battle, but it seems I have one that's ready... lucky you!

Today's featured song is "From This Moment On." Written and recorded by Canadian artist, Shania Twain. Yes! I dare to pit her original against Brazilian artists, Isael Melo and Ozielzinho. I love both versions so I have no favorite yet. Good luck with your own choice. I'll be back on July 7th to post results.

1 - Isael Melo and Ozielzinho 
2 - Shania Twain

Tuesday, June 21, 2016

Result Post - Mantovani wins!



















Welcome to RESULTS DAY for Battle of the Bands!!

First things first... 


A big Thank You to our Event Host, Stephen T. McCarthy!

Your interest in joining this blogging event would be most welcomed. Please go to Stephen T. McCarthy's blog, leave your name and blog link in the comment box!


For my June 15th battle I featured the theme song from the movie, EXODUS. It is also known as "Ari's Theme"... the main character of the movie. It has been covered many times instrumentally and vocally, since it's 1960 creation by Ernest Gold.

Contender, Mantovani caught my interest with his subtle guitar and coronet accompaniment in the cover's transitional phase. However, it fell short of the excitement I remembered from Ferrante & Teicher. As a pre-teen I saw them in concert, and suppose that "newness" will always stay with me. Maybe there's 'something' about seeing artists live?


Per my 6/15 post, I was able to prove that many would make an 'exodus' to a vacation spot. Father's  Day was on Sunday (6/19). Almost every text I sent, expressing good wishes (for the day) was responded by... "Thanks, we're at the beach, mountains, lake, etc."

Okay, results here:

Mantovani @ 10 votes
Ferrante & Teicher @ 5 votes, ( including mine).

Our next battle takes place on July 1st! Hope to have you visit, though some of you may make your own EXODUS to a vacation spot, aw heck... maybe even me!

Thank you, everyone for playing my battle. I'm okay with the results, as I realize the power of a full orchestra executing this song. I close out today with the original composition by Ernest Gold.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEPZ1ef2g_A&feature=youtu.be

Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Exodus - stage right

WELCOME TO BATTLE OF THE BANDS!! aka, "BOTB".

We feature two different recordings of the same song. Listen to both, and then vote for the song version you like the best.  Feel free to leave me a comment, along with your vote. Our battles take place twice a month ~ on the 1st and 15th. The results come six days later ~ on the 7th and 21st. That's when I return, add all of the votes, including mine, and announce the winner. Feel free to return and see if your choice won!

If you would like to listen, and vote in other battles, please see the participant list in the right hand margin. If you would like to join this bi-monthly blog-event, visit the blog host, Stephen T. McCarthy. Leave him a message, and your blog address. We would love to have you participate!

I think Summer officially starts on June 21st. Already, in my neck of the woods, people are making a big Exodus to vacation spots all over. A bit of relaxing, and beautiful scenery does it for me. So with that thought I bring a featured oldie... the Main Theme song from the movie EXODUS.


Exodus came out in 1960. It had a wonderful soundtrack. Composer Ernest Gold won the Academy Award for Best Original Score at the 1960 Oscars. You can hear his original score HERE

Today's versions are both instrumentals:

1- Mantovani - Wikipedia states: Annunzio Paolo Mantovani (Italian pronunciation: [anˈnuntsjo ˈpaːolo mantoˈvaːni]) (15 November 1905 – 29 March 1980),[1] known as Mantovani, was an Anglo-Italian conductor, composer and light orchestra-styled entertainer with a cascading strings musical signature. The book British Hit Singles & Albums states that he was "Britain's most successful album act before the Beatles...the first act to sell over one million stereo albums and [have] six albums simultaneously in the US Top 30 in 1959".[2]


Mantovani recorded for Decca until the mid-1950s, and then for London Records. He recorded in excess of 50 albums on that label, many of which were Top 40 hits. His single tracks included "The Song from Moulin Rouge", which reached Number One in the UK Singles Chart in 1953;[2] "Cara Mia" (with him and his orchestra backing David Whitfield) in 1954; "Around the World" in 1957; and "Main Theme from Exodus (Ari's Theme) in 1960. In the United States, between 1955 and 1972, he released more than 40 albums with 27 reaching the "Top 40", and 11 in the "Top Ten". His biggest success came with the album Film Encores, which attained Number One in 1957.[4]

2- Ferrante & Teicher - Their cover of Exodus hit US pop chart at number 2 and at number 1 worldwide!Ferrante & Teicher were a duo of American piano players, known for their light arrangements of familiar classical pieces, movie soundtracks, and show tunes. Arthur Ferrante (September 7, 1921, New York City – September 19, 2009), and Louis Teicher (August 24, 1924, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania – August 3, 2008) met while studying at the Juilliard School of Music in New York.[1][2] Musical prodigies, they began performing as a piano duo while still in school. After graduating, they both joined the Juilliard faculty.


In 1947, they launched a full-time concert career, at first playing nightclubs, then quickly moving up to playing classical music with orchestral backing. Steven Tyler of Aerosmith relates the story that in the 1950s the two students practiced in the home of his grandmother Constance Neidhart Tallarico.[3] Between 1950 and 1980, they were a major American easy listening act, and scored four big U.S. hits: "Theme From The Apartment" (Pop #10), "Theme From Exodus" (Pop #2), "Tonight" (Pop #8), and "Midnight Cowboy" (Pop #10).[4] They performed and recorded regularly with pops orchestras popular standards by George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers and others. In 1973, they did the Hollywood Radio Theater theme for the Rod Serling radio drama series, The Zero Hour.[5][6]


Here we go....have fun.... I'll return midnight on the 21st to count votes and post the results.