#BattleOfTheBands: Last One?



Time for another Battle of the Bands!   I’m hoping this one has a better turnout than the last. This may be my last battle otherwise. Thank you to the six of you that took the time to vote in the previous battle.

A little background on the song:

The song was written and composed by producer Keith Forsey and Steve Schiff while scoring The Breakfast Club. Both were Simple Minds fans and wrote the song with the band in mind. Forsey played a demo for the band's label, A&M Records, who invited him to meet the band backstage after one of their "Tour du Monde" shows in the U.S. However, A&M did not notify Simple Minds that Forsey would appear, and the band declined the offer of the song despite Forsey's enthusiasm for them.
Forsey next offered "Don't You (Forget About Me)" to Bryan Ferry, then to Billy Idol, whom Forsey was producing at the time, but both declined. The record company suggested Corey Hart, who had a hit at the time with "Sunglasses at Night", but Forsey did not think Hart would be the right singer for the song. Fixx lead singer Cy Curnin also passed.
According to Simple Minds frontman Jim Kerr, the band was reluctant to record the song, as they felt they should only record their own material. "We are Simple Minds - we don't do songs that sound like Simple Minds. We are Simple Minds. We do our own songs," he recalled to the BBC in 2018. The band was also frustrated that their attempts to find success in the U.S. market had not succeeded in getting them significant radio airplay, and did not see how recording the song would turn out any better.
The band relented after persuasion from A&M and from Chrissie Hynde, Kerr's wife at the time, and after receiving a phone call from Forsey in which he reiterated his admiration for the band. According to one account, the band "rearranged and recorded 'Don't You (Forget About Me)' in three hours in the north London studio and promptly forgot about it," believing that it would be a throwaway song on the soundtrack to a forgettable movie.
In the process of recording, Simple Minds added such as Kerr's "la lala" vocal fills. They then resumed work on Once Upon a Time, their next album. However, some of the band members had realized they had recorded something with genuine commercial potential.

As a reminder for you seasoned readers and to help out those of you who may be new here

Here is how a battle works:

Step One - Listen to each of the contenders. TRY not to be persuaded by the videos

Step Two - Pick  the contender that you prefer the most (not just the one with the name you are familiar with) Pick ONLY from the contenders provided in THIS battle.

Step Three - Comment  with your selection. The comment section has been set up so that anyone can leave a comment. I do ask that you please include your name, should you use the anonymous feature.

Step Four - Visit Stephen’s blog to check out his battle and for a list of other bloggers that have battles going on. We each have different battles, so please be sure to visit everyone. I'll provide a link below the videos to Stephen's blog for your convenience.


Now that we’ve got the formalities out of the way, let’s get to it!


Contender #1 -  Billy Idol






Contender #2 - Smash Mouth






Now, to repeat myself:

YOU DON’T NEED TO BE FAMILIAR WITH AN ARTIST OR A SONG TO KNOW WHICH ONE YOU PREFER. You only need to listen to the videos and choose which one sounds better to you.  There are no right or wrong votes, unless you vote for someone not listed as a contender or don’t vote at all.


For those of you who may be interested in joining in our fun - The battles take place twice a month. Once on the 1st, and again on the 15th. Some participants have chosen to participate only once a month - and that’s okay - we’re just happy to have you join us! Your battle can consist of covers of the same song, different songs with the same title, or even a themed type battle. We just want you to join in the fun!  Catch the link to Stephen’s blog to join in - all you need to do is drop him a comment on his blog stating you’d like to participate and he’ll add you to the roster of participants.

I’d like to encourage you to visit the other bloggers participating in the battle of the bands blog hop as well.  We’ve all put a lot of time and effort into putting together these battles and they are a lot of fun. Each blogger has a different battle taking place. You can find a current list of participants on Stephen’s blog (don't forget you can also request to join the battle of the bands blog hop by simply commenting on his blog that you'd like to join us). 


Alright now… Cast your votes for Billy Idol or Smash Mouth!
Voting will end on Wednesday, May 6 with results being posted on Thursday, May 7. 








Comments

  1. Maybe the blog action over the past several weeks shouldn't influence you too much. I think a lot of folks have other things on their minds these days other than blogging. And then there was A to Z. Don't give up BOTB yet!

    I've never been much of a Billy Idol fan so I figured I'd be voting for Smashmouth. But I did like Billy Idol's version better--it flowed better for me. A vote for Billy Idol.

    Arlee Bird
    Tossing It Out


    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Lee!

      The jury is still out for me as to what I'm going to do with the battles going forward. I'll definitely be giving it some thought over the next few days.

      Delete
  2. I hope you'll stay with BOTB, Mary! Have you considered maybe doing once a month? I found that to be a good solution. I parked the website end of March and didn't make a lot of blogging rounds in April. My husband has been laid off and we've been doing stuff around the house. I'm ready to get back into it (sort of) and will have a BOTB post up on the 15th. I hope you're doing well throughout this pandemic lockdown situation. Best Wishes!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh geez, I forgot to tell you I was voting for Billy Idol! I prefer his vocal style, here. Sorry for the oversight!

      Delete
    2. Thanks, Debbie!

      I think I'm just a bit tired and worn out from all that is going on around me. I need to give this some thought before making a decision. Thanks for coming back with a vote.

      Delete
  3. So, ok, I like the song, I like Billy Idol, I like Smashmouth. I enjoyed listening to both versions, but my vote goes to Billy Idol.

    Arlee is right, we live in interesting times, it’s affecting what people do. I’m blogging more because I have time for it, but other people will have different priorities.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Robin!

      I do have some new themes/features coming out on the blog, so it will be interesting to see how this unfolds.

      Delete
  4. Like everyone else, I hope you stay with BotB.

    I prefer the version by Simple Minds. Compared to that, neither of these really grabbed me, but Billy Idol was a little easier to listen to, so he gets my vote here.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, John!

      Appreciate the input. I will be giving this some consideration.

      Delete
  5. Replies
    1. Thank you, Mike! And just like that... it's no longer a shutout. I can almost always count on you for that :)

      Delete
  6. MMQE ~

    I don't blame you for being upset about a mere 6 votes.

    I made up my mind some time ago that if my vote count ever got down to single digits, it would be time for me to retire. But that hasn't happened, thankfully.

    But it's true that all this coronanonsense probably has people thinking about and doing other things. Plus, the A To Z thing also tends to redirect a lot of people who would otherwise be voting. There really is only just so much time a person can / should spend on the Internet.

    In this Battle, I *LITERALLY* flipped a coin to determine my vote. Truthfully, I never liked the original song (the band name Simple Minds really does say it all), and I don't think the covers are any better.

    So, the quarter came up 'Heads' and that means BILLY IDOL gets my vote.

    ~ D-FensDogG
    STMcC Presents BATTLE OF THE BANDS

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh Stephen

      You always have such hate in your heart toward the songs that I pick! It was En Vogue that taught us to "Free your mind, and the rest will follow"

      I kid, I kid!!

      I like the song because it's nostalgic for me. I was one of those that really enjoyed the Molly Ringwald movies, including Breakfast Club.

      I'm taking all of the comments that are being given here into consideration before I make my decision of 'Should I Stay or Should I Go'

      As usual, I do appreciate your feedback.

      Delete
  7. (this is my second attempt at posting; first one seemed to fail Chrome browser, so I am trying again with Firefox. Apologies if it posts twice)

    I almost never have time to get around to commenting on BoTB contests except the two remaining originals (Far Away Eyes being the other,) McCarthy's and Lee's. But I read of your discouragement because of poor turnout and wanted to come check it out.

    Thanks for the background on the song. Very interesting! I liked the band Simple Minds (I can relate, as McCarthy will attest) and had not heard either of these versions. Billy Idol's is not terrible, but is a little too... well... "Billy Idol-y." I actually really liked SmashMouth's version, though not quite as much as the original. I cast my vote for SmashMouth.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Sixgun

      For both your input and your vote. Sorry to hear that Chrome was giving you fits with the commenting. I wish I knew why it does that some times.

      Delete
  8. Hey Mary,

    How are you. I am sorry I missed the previous one. I been working off and on and also I had a week where I had to figure out coding as my website went haywire. Coding is a bit of a pain.

    My vote goes to Billy Idol because he is my other rock dream boyfriend next to David Bowie. And also I didn't really Smash Mouth's version too much, it sounded like they tried too hard.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Amy!

      Sorry to hear of your coding issues. I know that can be a real pain at times trying to figure it all out. Hope all is going well for you. Are you still in Japan, or did they send you home when everything started being shut down?

      Delete
  9. Mary,

    I thought maybe I had forgotten your battle last month, so I double checked and I did not. Phew, that's a weight off my shoulders! I tell you I don't know if I'm coming or going lately. April was a crazy month for us all doing the A2Z thingy and then you my poor darling dealing with all you've had on your plate. You're a tough cookie!

    I will say this, I'm going to scale back on all posting through the summer months. Internet traffic crawls so it's a great time to step away from a lot of the normal blogging activity. I'm closely considering only doing one battle per month, but I'm not sure which date to go pick.

    Alrighty now to give you my two cents worth on this battle. Both covers are good. Smashmouth's rendition is a bit peppier than the original. I'm not much of a Billy Idol fan but like Lee Idol resonated with me, maybe because Billy's version slowly sounds like Simple Minds'.

    Have a bandtastic week and thanks for dropping by over the weekend to vote in my showdown!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hiyas Cathy!

      It sounds like quite a few people will be scaling back this summer. It's something I need to think about some more before I make a decision.

      Thanks for stopping by with your vote. You brought the total votes up to double digits. Hurray!

      Delete
  10. Hi there,

    I hope the COVID19 is not getting to you...shut the tv off and go for a walk or watch something or listen to some music you love. Enjoy your time away from stores and other places. I love this song and am not enamoured with either one but I am voting for Billy Idol as it just sounded a bit better to my ears. Stay safe

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Birgit

      Believe it or not, but I haven't owned a tv for well over a decade now. What I think is getting to me is the fact that I have not gone a full 2 weeks since the start of the year without some sort of medical issue - be it he finding of the return of my cancer to outpatient and inpatient radiation treatment, pressure sores that don't look like sores but look more like someone sliced me with a knife, pneumonia (I was tested for Covid19 and not even told about it!) and now broken teeth. It's been a long year so far.

      Thanks for stopping by with your vote. Much appreciated!

      Delete
  11. One of those absentees may have been me. The "quatantined" students required video classes. Video! What? I was already done with all my careful lesson plans and then I had to create videos. So stressful, kids not nearly as techy as they think. Ugh! But I'm here now!

    And I vote for BILLY IDOL!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Extra work? Man that really bites! I feel a lot better today. Actually got some sleep - first time in 3 days (even though it was in 2 hr increments). By the time I got to the dentist today, the pain had pretty much gone away - but he still wants me to be seen by an oral surgeon and have some teeth pulled. Yay me. Sure hope he has the good drugs on hand!

      Thanks for voting, Cherdo! I'll be making a decision and announcing either on Thursday or Friday.

      Delete

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