BoTB 2021 Round 7 You Only Live Twice Showdown

Today is the first day of the A2Z Challenge, so if landed here in search for today’s alphabet prompt, you’ll find it one more post down but I welcome you to cast your vote for your favorite artist while you’re here.  For everyone else I just wanted to point out that I’m doing something new with my BoTB posts.   I’m pinning it to the top of my blog.  I hope this generates more interest from others to play along while not over whelming folks with a long combined post.   We’ll see if that helps or just confesses people. What do you think, is this a good idea?

 

You Only Live Twice (1967) is the fifth James Bond film.  The self-titled opening theme song sung was written by John Berry and lyricist Leslie Bricuisse, sung by Nancy Sinatra but only after her father passed on the offer to record it.  Mentally, I’m plugged into a female doing this song but I wonder how I’d like a male cover?  My task was challenging.  The biggest problem was the selection and the ones I did find I had trouble getting into but I persevered finding three acceptable versions, all of which are new-to-me.      

Contender #1 I noticed the YTer who uploaded the video referred to the guy as ‘legendary’.  I thought, he can’t be all that legendary if I haven’t heard of him.  I guess he can.  According to Wikipedia this fella started the heavy rock band, Chirmaira.  Heavy rock isn’t music genre of choice but I will listen to it on occasion if put before me.   Billboard reports their highest ranking song, The Infection, #30 in 2009.  After sampling the songs on the self-titled album there is no way I would connect the lead singer as the same dude covering this James Bond song on his 1990 Night and Day album.  I give you Marc Hunter!

Contender #2 is sorta like the first except his music endeavors have been with less heavy metal sounding bands.  He formed Screaming Trees in 1984 and was part of the grunge band movement in Seattle along with some bands I do know by name Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Nirvana, … Grunge like heavy metal isn’t my thing generally speaking but this singers scratchy vocals has such character that it drew me in.  Some folks compare him to Leonard Cohan and Tom Waits.  If you’re a fan of their style of singing then you’ll enjoy, Mark Lanegan!

I debated if I should even include my third pick.  This fella’s version sounds like what you expect a James Bond theme song to sound like.  Contender #3 was a Filipino singer turned actor killed.  Unfortunately, he was killed in an auto accident at the peak of career in 1977.   I give you Eddie Peregrina!

Who gets your vote, Marc Hunter, Mark Lanegan, or Eddie Peregrina?

 

I invite you to visit BoTBers with showdowns going on today.

Polls close noon (EST) on April 6th

 

Next week, same time slot I’ll be back to announce the winner in this round, so be sure to mark your calendar to see if your favorite artist wins in this showdown.    Before you scoot off, you may want to stick around to catch my first entry in this month’s A to Z Challenge in 5-4-3-2-1! 😉  X💋X💋, Cathy



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22 comments

  2. Marc Hunter gave this an almost “smooth jazz” feel. I thought he had the best voice of the three of them. I thought the acoustic guitar arrangement Mark Lanegan gave it was unique, but I didn’t like his voice. Eddie Peregrina put a good effort behind that, but it sounded rushed. Marc Hunter gets my vote.

  3. Howdy, CAThy! ~

    A Happy Easter to ya! (Yip! I’m a day early with that wish.) He has risen!!

    First of all, I DO like your idea of separating BOTB from other subjects and posting it independently. It makes it easier to locate and hopefully will generate more interest this way.

    I’d never heard of any of these singers, nor had I heard the song before by anyone. I wouldn’t necessarily agree that “you only live twice”. I think some people may have lived more times than that. Yip! I am a staunch believer in reincarnation. In fact, it is alluded to multiple times in The Holy Bible, but few people read it carefully enough to discover the reincarnation concept in Scripture.

    As for these recordings, my favorite, by far, was the one by MARC HUNTER. Essentially, I preferred the style of it, AND I feel he easily, by a good margin, has the best voice of the three. His recording was quite good.

    Another interesting Battle, my friend!

    May you bless and be blessed!!

    ~ D-FensDogG

    1. Stephen,

      Thanks for telling me that you prefer the battles to be separate from other posts as well as pinned to the top to find easier. I thought for sure featuring the post would generate more participation but it hasn’t. I think I actually get more people playing along when I keep everything together but I’m not ready to abandon WordPress sticky feature just yet. I’ll give this a few more months before deciding if I want to continue.

      Reincarnation isn’t in my belief system. It seems naturally to go against the reason for Christ’s purpose to coming to this earth to start with. To live repeated lives, wouldn’t this mean that one of your lives might not choose to follow Jesus’ footsteps? I will have to do some scripture digging now. You’ve peeked my curiosity.

      I’m delighted to see your vote for MARC HUNTER. I was concerned that he was going to get pushed out of this showdown altogether. I’m also happy to know that you like his style. I rather like him, too. All three artist are different but deserving the win. However, Marc and Mark are both behind Eddie. Thanks for joining me for this battle, my friend. Have a fantastic day!

  4. voting for EDDIE PEREGRINA also! I am playing 2021 A to Z also- stop by for a cuppa soup! Cheers!

    1. Kathe,

      I would love to visit you but your Gravatar profile doesn’t have your blog URL and I forgot your address. 🙁 Thanks for voting for EDDIE PEREGRINA!

    1. Nicole,

      I hope you’re feeling some better now. Turn out is slow today but I’m glad to see you made it by to cast your vote for EDDIE PEREGRINA. When I put this battle together I felt he would run away with it but right now he’s only ahead by one. It’s early and things can change. Thanks for joining in the fun, my dear!

  7. I really don’t care for the legend in his own mind although I like the guitar in it. Lanegan was different and it grew on me so I am going with him even though I prefer the Bond theme as song by the young boy who died too young. I found the instruments were stronger than his voice and, sad on me, he can’t pronounce his R’s so I kept hearing that which took away from the song. I sound so shallow.

  9. That first guy might be a legend in his own mind or a product of PR hype. Never heard of him. His version was okay, but not particularly original. The last guy had an arrangement that was overblown and overly dramatic.

    I liked the arrangement of the Lanegan version best. Give my vote to him.

    Arlee Bird
    Tossing It Out

    1. Lee,

      You’re the second person to comment on Marc being a legend in his own mind. I can’t recall where I read that but I’m thinking it was a fan who wrote it. His voice seems docile compared to his metal voice which sounds evil. I’m glad you went with MARK LANEGAN, though. His textured voice and arrangement might be the most unique one of the three. Thanks for voting, my friend!

  10. Eddie Peregrina has my vote. What a voice he had.

    Have a fabulous day and A-Z Challenge my friend. Love and hugs. ♥

  11. Hi, Cathy!

    Happy April Fool’s Day, Thankful Thursday, start of A to Z, and BOTB, dear friend!

    At age 17 I ran out and bought the Nancy Sinatra double-sider 45 that contained “You Only Live Twice” backed with what I consider the much better song “Jackson” sung as a dueling duet with Lee Hazlewood. I never before heard “You Only Live Twice” sung by a male. Kiwi pop and rock artist Marc Hunter must have been a legend in his native New Zealand (or in his own mind) because, like you, I never heard of him, even though I read that he and his band toured with Johnny Winter in late 1978. His cover of “You Only Live Twice,” released on his 1990 solo album Night And Day, has an arrangement similar to “Love Is In The Air” and “Rock The Boat.” I find that type of rhythm overused and irritating. Marc’s version sounded like something you’d hear from a wedding singer or a guy hired to entertain on a Love Boat cruise.

    The version by Mark Lanegan wasn’t pleasing to my ears either. He sounded like Willie Nelson and I just found myself asking “Why?”

    I was relieved to find a third contender, and Eddie Peregrina’s rendition is by far my favorite, even though the sound quality is muddy on the YouTube upload. The bold, brassy orchestration is much better suited for a song from a Bond film than the arrangements used on the other two recordings, and so is Eddie’s soaring vocal style. It’s a shame to learn that he only lived once and died young. I give my vote to contestant #3 – Eddie Peregrina!

    Have a boogietastic day, dear friend Cathy!

    1. Tom,

      I appreciate your analysis of what you like and didn’t like about my BoTB contenders. Each of the artists I picked for this round I like for various reasons and had I only used the first two vocalists I’m not sure who I would’ve gone with but like you Eddie Peregrina’s voice is perfectly in line with what one has come to think of as a James Bond theme song. So, the first vote goes to EDDIE PEREGRINA! Thanks for playing along, my friend. 😉

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