It’s Magic #BoTB showdown
Good-morning, kittens and dawgs! I’m struggling to find my blog groove after a busy April. I had lots of fun pulling together my All Thing Vintage series and now I’m ready to settle into a life of normalcy again.
It’s Magic was written by Jule Styne (music) and Sammy Cahn (lyrics). The song introduced by Doris Day in her film début, Romance on the High Seas in 1948. Day’s recording spent 21 weeks on the billboard chart at #2.
Here is Doris Day from Romance on the High Seas singing It’s Magic at the 1:37 mark.
U.K. artist, Keely Smith, recorded It’s Magic ten years later with a similar style as Day.
Who did you like the best, Doris Day or Keely Smith? There’s no right or wrong vote, except for a no vote. Cast your vote by leaving your favorite choice in comments and if you have time feel free to tell me why your pick is the best.
The fun continues with more epic battles underway; I invite you to visit, Stephen, for a complete list of BoTB players and a special thanks to the brain child of this music meme, Fae.
I will share the results of this competition a week from day, so mark your calendar and stop by to see if your pick gets named! Thanks for joining in on the fun and I hope you’ll dance by tomorrow for Mewsic Moves Me.
This is Curious as a Cathy signing off with have a bandtastic day!
31 Comments
Far Away Eyes
Cathy, STMcC asked me to stop by and let you know that he left his vote for your BOTB in the comment section of HIS blog. Seems the old guy just could not get through your security to leave a comment here. Not sure what’s up with that, but maybe the two of your can figure it out.
Cathy Kennedy
Thanks, Fae. I hopped over to Stephen’s just now and got his vote. I have no idea what sort of problem he had. I hope no one else has had problems. Have a good day!
Myke Todd
The Doris Day performance was average for her, so I thought, perhaps, perhaps, perhaps the Keeley Smith rendition would raise the bar, but that did not happen for me.
Doris Day is my choice.
Cathy Kennedy
Myke, thank you for playing along this round of BoTB. This isn’t the best Doris Day performance, but it was nice. She has such a lovely voice with an undeniable feminine quality that I totally enjoy hearing in female artists. I have your vote recorded for Doris Day. Please check back on Friday to see who wins the showdown!
Far Away Eyes
Both of these are really great, I like Doris a whole lot, but here I’m going to go with Keeley. I like everything about her version.
Cathy Kennedy
Fae, I have you down for Keeley Smith. Thanks for stopping in to vote. Here’s hoping you’re all settled into your new place.
mike spain
Interesting battle Keely Smith is my preference on this one
D-FensDogG
mmmmmmmmm
D-FensDogG
WTH???!!! 7 Attempts to post a simple comment?! System all fouled up, but why am I the only person having a problem with it? …PART 1 OF 2:
CATHY ~
I was going to use Keely Smith in my April 15th BOTB contest – just before deciding to sit that one out.
And this time I went a different musical route because I’m combining BOTB with TSOML. But within the next few Battles I’ll finally be using that Keely Smith song I have in mind. (Continued…)
Cathy Kennedy
Stephen, thanks for popping in, but you didn’t vote! Were you having trouble leaving a comment here?! I noticed you used a different blog url when you left this comment. Now, I”m confused and I’m not blond. lol I hope you come back to cast your vote or to clarify what’s going on. That’s interesting that you were going to use Keeley last BoTB. I’ll look forward to seeing what you share by Keeley in the next round, though. Hop back over when you get a chance, my friend!
Cathy Kennedy
Mike, I put you down for Keeley, now I’m off to vote in your BoTB. 😉
Jeffrey__Scott
Both versions are really good, but I have to admit, it’s hard to beat Doris Day.
I really like her voice and I’m placing my vote for her.
Cathy Kennedy
Jeffrey, It’s hard to beat a classic as Doris Day. She’s getting quite the number of votes here. Let me hop over to your place now.
Janie Junebug
I have to vote for Doris Day. I loved watching her movies on TV when I was growing up. Although Kelly Smith has a good voice, no one can quite match the vocal styling of Doris Day.
Love,
Janie
Cathy Kennedy
Janie, Yeah, I always liked watching Doris Day movies and her old TV show when I was a kid. In recent months DH & I watched one of her movies on Netflix. We got a real kick out of seeing it ~ delightfully innocent and cute! Thanks for voting for Doris. Next stop your place!
Cherdo
Hey, neighbor! I love both of these songs and both of these artists. So, I have to go to me roots! There’s something about Doris Day (insert Rizzo from Grease: “hey…I’m Doris Day” mockery) that is comforting. In the land of limited television channels (i.e., grandma’s house), I seemed to see ole’ DD often and that makes her family-ish. Like my other family, Davy Jones, Peter Tork, Mickey Dolenz and Mike Nesmith….
A VOTE FOR DORIS DAY!
Lovely job, Cathy!
Cathy Kennedy
Howdy, neighbor! 😉 I have some fond memories of DD, too. I loved watching her old TV show. Oh, I’m a Monkee’s fan, too. I had such a crush on Davy Jones. Do you remember in the mid-80s when they went on tour? They came to Knoxville and I got to see them. That was so much fun! Thanks for voting. I have you down for Doris Day. Now I’m off to see you! 😉
Birgit
I still have to see that Doris Day film! I know, I know….I did not see this one:) Gosh, this is tough for me because Doris always sings these songs with a little bit of perkiness to them while Keely has some of the sexy style that is needed but some of the swingin style in Smith’s version didn’t appeal to me as much so I am going with Doris Day. On a rare point, my hubby was here listening to both and he preferred Keely Smith’s version because of her voice being a bit more sultry
Cathy Kennedy
Birgit, Hmmm, do I log both votes? Yours for Doris and the hubs for Keely? lol Both gals do a fab job, don’t they? Their similar, yet different styles can be enjoyed the best depending on the day you hear them, I think. Thanks for playing along, now to hop over to visit you!
John Holton
These are both wonderful. I’ve never seen “Romance On The High Seas,” but it looks like the kind of movie I’d like. I love both these singers: Keely Smith was Louis Prima’s wife and the two of them did some great songs together, and it seems like Doris Day has been around forever. I felt like Doris sang this with a lot more emotion, and she gets my vote here.
Cathy Kennedy
John, I haven’t seen Romance On The High Seas either, but would like to, as well. To be honest, I hadn’t heard of Keely Smith before this battle. It’s nice discovering new-to-me retro singers like Smith. I have you down for Doris Day, now I need to hop over to you place.
dcrelief
Wow! Another tough battle choice for me. I am thrilled by the big band sound that accompanies Keely Smith. I only wish it didn’t sound like she’s yelling the lyrics. I really want that ‘Romance on the High Seas’ to sound soft and dreamy…. that said… my vote is for Doris Day.
Congratulations on a fine A-Z challenge theme. I hated to miss so many of your posts. Have fun with this battle. See you later.
@dcrelief from
dcrelief – Battle of the Bands
greyzoned/angelsbark
Hey Cathy. Congrats on a fantastic A-Z! I enjoyed your posts so much!
As for your battle, I like Keely Smith’s voice better overall so please give my vote to her.
Have a great and restful Sunday!
Michele at Angels Bark
Cathy Kennedy
Michele, I’m delighted you liked the All Things Vintage series I used in the A2Z challenge. It was a lot of fun to do and it makes me very happy that others such as you liked it, too. I appreciate you popping in to cast your vote for Keely. I’m a day behind on the BoTB, so I better get cracking. Next stop your place!
McGuffy Ann
Hi, Cathy! I have not been getting your notifications. I put my Follow info in, again. Do you have a Subscribe by Email option? That seems to work best for me. Blog Lovin’ is very unreliable for me: lots of ads, but ones that I follow are often left out. I understand this happens for others, too. I have missed a lot, unfortunately, but am trying to correct it. I did the A-Z, for the first time…that consumed me, but was fun!
Cathy Kennedy
McGuffy Ann, I’m sorry for the delay in addressing your question, but yes I do have email notifications. You can subscribe in my side menu, just above my Twitter icon you should see CATHY MEWS with a box to add your email address. Thanks for being such a loyal reader and friend. I am now playing catch up on A2Z comments and visits for the past 2-weeks when my schedule snow balled out of control. lol OH well, have an awesome week! If you want to vote in this round of BoTB then I’d love, if you did! 😉
Mary B
Wonderful battle! While I am fond of Doris Day, I do believe that Keely Smith really did a fantastic job with her version. Please give my vote to Keely Smith.
i’ll have my battle posted on Monday. I do hope you’ll stop by.
Mary
#AtoZChallenge Z is for Zenda
Cathy Kennedy
Mary, I’m glad you enjoyed both women’s recordings. They do, do a nice job each in their own personal styles that makes equally nice to listen to. I have you down for Keely, now it’s time to dash over to your place!
Thomas Anderson
Hi, Cathy!
I love it when you turn back the clock to the 40s and 50s. My mother loved Keely Smith and I agree that she has a fine voice, but I have a soft spot in my heart for Doris Day, and I prefer her late 40s version of It’s Magic performed in Romance On the High Seas. Young Doris delivered the song with freshness and innocence and she was accompanied by a great orchestra which included Oscar Levant on piano. I enjoyed Oscar’s many comedic guest appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. He always cracked Johnny up. The Keely Smith version had a brassy tempo change in the middle which was a nice touch but, all things considered, I give my vote to the earlier version, Doris Day singing the song in her film debut.
Thank you very much, dear friend Cathy!
Arlee Bird
Great song. My father used to love this one and my mother used to use it in her magical tap dance routine where she performed magic tricks while dancing. I remember seeing the orchestrated sheet music around the house for the times when they had a live band.
I was pretty sure that I was going to go with Keely’s version because I really like her, but the uptempo big band portion kind of turned me off. I like this song done slowly and sweetly like Doris did it. Keely was good but just not totally to my taste–she started off the way I like though.
A vote for Doris Day after a few listens to both. Good Battle.
Arlee Bird
A to Z Challenge Co-host
Tossing It Out
Cathy Kennedy
Lee, I think I read Doris Day used It’s Magic for her TV show. It’s really a pretty song, especially with her soft singing style. I have your vote recorded for Doris Day!