This is the battle we’ve all been waiting for. To recap: My friend Mary (from Jingle Jangle Jungle) and I teamed up on putting together this fun Dog v Cat Battle of the Bands Tournament.It’s been so much fun and hopefully you’ve had a chance to check it out. But if not, no worries! You can still play in this very exciting AND HISTORICAL event!
After weeks of battles choosing best Dog songs and best Cat songs in the categories of Hard and Soft Rock, we had Playoffs to determine which song was going to Represent going into the Championship Battle. And now we are here with the exciting finish.
Last month’s mid-month battle of the bands was the Final Playoff to choose the Dog song going into the Superbowl of Championship Battles. And at Mary’s place (Jingle Jangle Jungle) was the Playoff to choose the Cat song to send to this Grand Finale.
Here voters had an opportunity to vote for either the hard-rock Led Zeppelin’s “Black Dog”or the soulful soft pop by Marvin Gaye, “I’ll Be Doggone”.
It was a super tight race and tied all the way up to the very end, when two votes came in, pushing Led Zeppelin over the finish line. The final playoff tally was 8-6. (FYI: I voted for Marvin Gaye’s song). So the NDC (National Dog Conference) is sending hard rock winner “BLACK DOG” to today’s big Battle Championship!
So just what Cat song is our Dog champ going up against? Mary’s NCC (National Cat Conference) Playoff winner is the beloved “CATS IN THE CRADLE” by Harry Chapin.
SO THIS IS IT! It’s time for the knock-down drag-out battle between CANINE and FELINE. Who will be the reigning victor of the first ever DOG v CAT BATTLE OF THE BANDS TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIP??
It’s in your hands People! Are you a dog person or a cat person? LET’S HEAR FROM YOU!!!
And now, without further ado, Let’s Battle!
BLACK DOG by Led Zeppelin
CATS IN THE CRADLE by Harry Chapin
PLACE YOUR VOTES IN THE COMMENTS SECTION BELOW.Being this is the Championship, both Mary and I have the same exact battles going today, using the exact same videos. We know that the regular BOTBers will be placing duplicate votes. Don’t worry about it; we’re going to take out the duplicates. PLEASE VOTE WHEN YOU VISIT EACH OF US. Thank you so much! Thanks for playing along…
If you’re looking for my Monday’s Music Moves Me post, go here.
But first, stick around and participate in this all-important Battle of the Bands!
[Yelling]:
ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL!!!!!
Oh, wait, this isn’t football. But it’s just as good!!
This is the Ultimate DOG v CAT Battle of the Bands Tournament SEMI-FINAL ROUND!(Round Three for those counting).
For the Dogs, it’s all coming down to this. The winner of this Semi-Final Round will advance to the CHAMPIONSHIP where that age-old question just might be answered. Who will come out on top, the Dog or the Cat?? But let’s not get ahead of ourselves yet. We have this all important Playoff Round.
You were there for Round One, the hard rock battle, in which Led Zeppelin kicked Ted Nugent’s ass and became the Tournament’s Hard Dog winner.
And you were there for Round Two, the soft battle, where Marvin Gaye handily beat out Lobo for the Soft Dog win.
And now, here we are, theSEMI-FINAL PLAYOFF ROUND, the battle that will decide who goes to the CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND. Who is going to REPRESENT the Dogs, the HARD dog or the SOFT dog??
It’s in your hands, folks. Give a listen to our Dog finalists here and cast your votes. And I can assure you that this system is hack-proof and at this time we are sure there is no Russian interference…
Without further ado, here is the SEMI-FINAL BATTLE, with no commercial interruption.
Led Zeppelin’s “BLACK DOG” vs Marvin Gaye’s “I’LL BE DOGGONE”
Contender #1
Led Zeppelin with Black Dog:
Contender #2
Marvin Gaye with I’ll Be Doggone:
I wanted to also give you voters a taste of these songs performed live by our contenders so feel free to give a listen to these as well before making your decision:
Contender #1:This is Led Zeppelin performing at live at Earl’s Court May 24th 1975:
Contender #2:This video is a duet clip of Marvin Gaye and Tina Turner taking turns singing. Marvin starts signing “I’ll Be Doggone” at the :25 second mark. Realize that the audio quality isn’t up to par with today’s standards so if you’re using this clip in your decision, be sure to factor that in.
IT’S TIME TO VOTE! Keep your eye on the prize here and remember that not only are we choosing the winner of the DOG Division here, that winner will be advancing to the Championship Final and will be competing against the winner of the CAT Division (and that winner will be selected with the battle being held over at Mary’s place right now: Pantera doing “Cat Scratch Fever” vs. Harry Chapin’s “Cat’s in the Cradle”).
So now, which DOG song are you voting for to win this Semi-Final Round: Led Zeppelin’s “Black Dog” or Marvin Gaye’s “I’ll Be Doggone”???
THE RESULTS ARE IN! In case you haven’t noticed, the Angels Bark and Jingle Jangle Jungle blogs are in the middle of a battle tournament of epic proportions. This tournament will may provide answer to a long-time battle between cat-lovers and dog-lovers. Who’s at the top: the dog or the cat?
Well, we’re one step closer on that quest. The Round Two battles took place on August 1st, featuring soft song versions (Round One was the hard-rock battle). Here the soft-rock battle pitted Lobo’s “Me and You and a Dog Named Boo” against Marvin Gaye’s “I’ll Be Doggone.”
I just tallied the votes. And this was an exciting battle, especially at first as both songs were running neck and neck. But Marvin Gaye pulled ahead and kept on going, coming out the winner.
Both songs are winners in my opinion. I really love both songs and I was pretty undecided on where to place my vote. In the end, I went with Lobo. I guess because it is such a beloved song (except by John 🙂 ) and has been a long-time favorite of mine. But I’m not at all disappointed by the result:
Lobo with “Me and You and a Dog Named Boo” received 4 votes.
Marvin Gaye with “I’ll Be Doggone” received 7 votes.
Marvin Gaye’s “I’ll Be Doggone” is the Round Two Winner.
So what’s next in this epic battle? ROUND THREE will pit the Round One’s HARD ROCK DOG against Round Two’s SOFT ROCK DOG.
(Mary’s Round Three battle will feature Hard Rock Cat vs Soft Rock Cat)
Thanks for your participation and your votes.
Be sure to come back on August 15th for ROUND THREE of the
Ultimate Dog v Cat Battle of the Bands Tournament!
Since we won’t be seeing Lobo in Round Three, I’m going to leave you with another Lobo hit from the 70s. Here’s “I’d Love You to Want Me”, Lobo’s highest charting hit from 1972. It hit #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed there for two weeks (it was kept from the top spot by Johnny Nash’s “I Can See Clearly Now”, another favorite of mine).
To catch you up: Round One was a battle of Hard-Rock Dogs and Cats. My Hard-Rock Dog Song battle (here if you missed it) featured these two contenders: Led Zeppelin’s “Black Dog” going up against Ted Nugent’s “Dog Eat Dog”. Led Zeppelin’s “Black Dog” was the victor in Round One.
My Contenders duking it out for the Soft-Rock Dog title are Lobo’s “Me and You and a Dog Named Boo” vs Marvin Gaye’s “I’ll Be Doggone”
Are you ready for this dog-fight? Here we go…
Contender #1: ME and YOU and A DOG NAMED BOO by Lobo
“Me and You and a Dog Named Boo” is the 1971 debut single by Lobo. Written by Lobo under his real name Kent LaVoie, it appears on the Introducing Lobo album. Lobo means “Wolf” in Spanish.
Roland Kent LaVoie (born July 31, 1943), better known by his stage name Lobo, is an American singer-songwriter who was successful in the early 1970s, scoring several U.S. Top 10 hits including “Me and You and a Dog Named Boo”, “I’d Love You to Want Me”, and “Don’t Expect Me to Be Your Friend”. These three songs, along with “Where Were You When I Was Falling In Love”, gave Lobo four chart toppers on the Easy Listening/Hot Adult Contemporary chart.
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“Me and You and a Dog Named Boo” is about two hippies and a dog taking a cross-country road trip in an old car that runs poorly. The protagonists of the song get mired in the Georgia clay, steal food from a farmer and work to pay it off, and end up living in Los Angeles, but the old car makes them want to hit the road again.
The single peaked at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was the first of four of his songs to hit #1 on the Easy Listening chart, where it had a two-week stay at that top spot in May 1971. The song also reached #4 in the UK Singles Chart in July 1971, and spent four weeks at #1 in New Zealand.
Internationally, “Me and You and a Dog Named Boo” was Lobo’s second most successful song among more than 15 single releases. It was surpassed only by “I’d Love You to Want Me” the following year.
Contender #2: I’LL BE DOGGONE by Marvin Gaye
Marvin Gaye (April 2, 1939 — April 1, 1984), born Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr., was an American singer-songwriter and musician who helped to shape the sound of Motown Records in the 1960s with a string of hits.
“I’ll Be Doggone” is a 1965 song recorded by American soul singer Marvin Gaye and released on the Tamla label. Gaye is known for his smoldering love songs, but this one takes a different approach, as it finds him warning his girl that if he ever finds out she is cheating, he will leave her. The song talks about how a man tells his woman that he’ll be “doggone” about simple things but if she did him wrong that he’d be “long gone”.
“I’ll Be Doggone” represents three firsts for Marvin Gaye: It was his first million-selling record, his first chart-topping #1 R&B single and his first song to be co-written by Smokey Robinson and his fellow Miracles bandmates, Pete Moore and Marv Tarplin. The clever wordplay – “I wouldn’t be doggone, I’d be long gone” – is typical of Smokey Robinson’s songwriting.
Along with the Motown’s long-standing female back-up group The Andantes, the Miracles provided backing vocals to the song. (Fun fact: Smokey Robinson also penned Gaye’s second R&B hit, “Ain’t That Peculiar”).
“I’ll Be Doggone” also gave Marvin his third crossover top-ten Pop hit, where it peaked at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 (which matched his follow-up record “Ain’t That Peculiar”, also charting at #8).
On the Motown roster, Marvin Gaye was far more than a singer – he was also a songwriter and drummer. Early on, Gaye wrote his own songs, including “Pride and Joy” and “Stubborn Kind Of Fellow,” and had an interest in recording standards (he wanted to become “the black Frank Sinatra”).
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Mickey Stevenson, who was head of A&R at Motown, convinced Gaye to go in another direction as a singer, recording more R&B material. Robinson wrote this song specifically for Gaye, but Marvin put his own spin on it. Said Smokey, “When I showed him the song, he began to sing it like I had never imagined it being sung.”
And when you’re done with that, be sure to check out the other cool battles that are happening this week. You can get links to all the other participants in the sidebar at Stephen McCarthy’s Battle of the Bands page.
PLEASE JOIN THE FUN WITH OUR ULTIMATE DOG v CAT BATTLE OF THE BANDS TOURNAMENT! Give us your votes! And then spread the word: We’d love to have a rockin’ turnout for this very unique battle tournament so feel free to share our links on your social media: invite your Facebook and Twitter friends to play along and cast their votes. This is after all almost as big as the battle of the sexes: it’s DOGS VS CATS Y’ALL! C’mon!
And remember to come back on AUGUST 15 for ROUND THREE of this fun and funky Battle of the Bands!
I’ll post the results from my ROUND TWO Soft-Rock Dog v Dog battle in 7 days…
As always, thanks for participating and ROCK ON my friends!
For my Hard-Rock Dog Song battle (here if you missed it), the contenders were Led Zeppelin’s “Black Dog” going up against Ted Nugent’s “Dog Eat Dog” —
It was a bonafide dog-fight (although at first Zeppelin was getting all the votes). Unfortunately it’s summer and the number of participants is way down so there were only nine voters.
First let me tell you how I voted: I chose Ted Nugent’s “Dog Eat Dog” for two simple reasons: as mentioned in the original post, the whole Free For All album brings back a rush of memories for me from the late 70s, which were my glory days, so to speak. And the second reason is, although I very much like Led Zeppelin’s “Black Dog,” the song was soooo overplayed on the radio that I got sick of it. Even today it’s played frequently on Classic Rock stations so I find myself saying “Not again! Can’t they ever go deep???!”
So of course my vote went with the three others who voted for Ted Nugent.
And you know what that means: Five folks cast their votes and…
Led Zeppelin’s “BLACK DOG” is the victor in ROUND ONE of the Dog v Cat Tournament….but let it be known this song won only by a hair (of the dog)…
FINAL TALLY: Led Zeppelin “Black Dog” – 5 votes
Ted Nugent “Dog Eat Dog” – 4 votes
To close out Round One, here is Led Zeppelin live, performing Black Dog:
They may be old(er) now, but they can still rock! Here’s Led Zep performing the winning song in their later years:
And be sure to mark your calendars and come back on August 1st for ROUND TWO of this Ultimate Dog v Cat Battle of the Bands Tournament! Round Two will feature battles with Soft Rock Dog and Cat songs! What songs might those be?? Come back on 8/1 and find out!
