THE
ELVIS
TRIPLE
THREAT

The dog days and cat nights of August are ON FIRE with this week’s Friday Night Cat Fight Battle Royale, THE ELVIS TRIPLE THREAT!  Matt The Cat commemorates the 33rd anniversary of Elvis’ death with not one, not two BUT THREE Cat Fight’s rolled into one.  In round one, the “King” returns from his stint in the Army only to battle Lowell Fulson over “Reconsider Baby.”  Then, round two heats up with Elvis’ top 10 rendition of Ray Peterson’s classic “The Wonder Of You.”  Finally, the crowd can’t sit still as the Big “E” takes it to the streets to battle the gang from Washington, DC better known as The Clovers way “Down In The Alley!”

Vote three times in this week’s historic Cat Fight.  Can Elvis win 2 out of 3 and take the title OR will he be defeated and sent back to the minors.  The answer is in your hands.

Listen to the Cat Fight Podcast and then vote THREE TIMES below!

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“Do You Want To Dance”

Put on your dancin’ shoes for this week’s Friday Night Cat Fight Podcast over the classic rock n’ roll tune, “Do You Want To Dance.”  This week, all six of the versions in competition made the pop charts.  Of course, some did much better than others, but they all cracked the Hot 100.  So I really think we have an even playing ground.  Bobby Freeman wrote the tune and scored its biggest hit to date with his 1958 original.  The Beach Boys came close to Freeman chart-wise as did Bette Midler (the song that really launched her career).  Del Shannon, The Mamas & The Papas and The Ramones all did their own unique versions of the tune, even if they didn’t chart as high.

So listen to the podcast, dig the tunes and VOTE for the one you DIG THE MOST!

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“Hang On Sloopy”

“Hang On Sloopy,” which has become the official State Rock Song of Ohio is this week’s feature on the Friday Night Cat Fight Podcast.  We’ll start with the original version (“My Girl Sloopy”) by The Vibrations and follow that with 6 other mostly hit versions of the tune, including the McCoy’s #1 version from 1965.  So listen to the show, hear the varied versions and decide for yourself which one you DIG the most!  Then vote below.

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“You Are My Sunshine”

This week’s Cat Fight is a battle royal as 10 different versions of the classic tune, “You Are My Sunshine” battle it out.  Now, 10 are in competition, but this podcast contains 18 1/2 different versions of the tune, so stand back!  For many years, country music legend and former governor of Louisiana Jimmie Davis claimed to have written “You Are My Sunshine,” but the reality is that he bought it off of Paul Rice of The Rice Brothers Gang (who cut their version in 1939).  Listen to the show to hear many unique versions of the song ranging from country to pop to R&B and soul.  Pick the one you dig the most and vote for it below.

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“Sloop John B”

This week’s Friday Night Cat Fight takes on a classic folk tune and shanty, “The Sloop John B.”  It began as a Bahaman folk tune and was first recorded by archivist Alan Lomax in 1935.  From there, groups like The Weavers, Kingston Trio and The Beach Boys made it a part of popular culture.  Listen to all five versions of the “Sloop John B” that are in competition this week and vote for the one you dig the most.

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“Only In America”

This week, the Friday Night Cat Fight takes on a song about the “American Dream” that was a hit for Jay & The Americans in August of 1963.  The tune was originally presented to and recorded by The Drifters.  However, Atlantic didn’t feel that they could release a tune that spoke of opportunity for all by a black group at that time.  Now, it’s your turn to judge who had the better song.  Listen to the Cat Fight and vote for your favorite version of “Only In America” below.

Have a safe and happy 4th of July!

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“Java”

The Cat Fight puts 3 versions of the instrumental “Java,” by 3 different cats from Louisiana up against each other this week.  All 3 versions appeared on RCA Victor.  Allen Toussaint, who originally recorded for RCA under the name “Tousan,” wrote the tune and recorded the first version.  Then, piano master Floyd Cramer took it to the charts in 1963.  But “Java” didn’t really heat up until Al Hirt hit #4 with it back in 1964.  Listen to all 3 and vote for the one that moves you the most!

Plus, I’ll feature a terrible cover of the Buchanan & Goodman classic, “The Flying Saucer” as well as a groovy tune that got a lot of inspiration from Santo & Johnny.  All this and more on this week’s Friday Night Cat Fight Show!

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“(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons”

This week’s Cat Fight tackles one of the sweetest love songs of all-time, William “Pat” Best’s “(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons.”  He wrote it as a poem to a girl when he was just a kid and then it became an enormous hit for Nat King Cole in 1946.  This week, I feature 15 different versions of this classic tune, but only 9 of them are in competition for the Cat Fight.  Listen to the show and then vote for the version you truly dig the most. 

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“Frankie & Johnny”

This week, The Friday Night Cat Fight tackles one of the greatest folk tunes of all-time, “Frankie & Johnny.”  We trace the history of the tune back to the Nineteenth Century and play 15 different versions of the song.  Only 6 versions are in competition in the Cat Fight this week, though.  The classic blues rendition of the tune by Mississippi John Hurt leads us off, then we jump to Johnny Cash’s telling of tale as “Frankie’s Man, Johnny” from 1959.  From there, Brook Benton and Sam Cooke give the tune a soul twist from the early ’60s.  Versions by the Greenwood Country singers and Elvis round out the competition. 

The rest of the show is filled out with various blues, country, big band and rockabilly versions of “Frankie & Johnny” that it’ll make any man think twice before doing his woman wrong. 

So listen, dig and VOTE for your favorite version of “Frankie & Johnny” on the Friday Night Cat Fight Radio Podcast with Matt The Cat.

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“Prisoner Of Love”

Six different versions of the 1931 song, “Prisoner Of Love” compete this week in the “World Famous” Friday Night Cat Fight.  We begin with Russ Columbo’s original recorded version, which he also had a hand in writing.  Then we move to Perry Como’s chart-topping rendition from 1946, a year that also saw 2 successful R&B performances of the tune.  In 1960 Bo Diddley recorded a unique version of “Prisoner,” but it was never released.  Finally, we end with one of James Brown’s biggest pop hits and his inspired take on “Prisoner Of Love.”  Listen to all six versions of the tune before voting on which one you dig the most.

Also, on this week’s program, a song set salute to the 1960s dance, The Watusi as well as a set of songs about fairy tale legend, Little Red Riding Hood.

So listen, vote and dig!

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Have a fantastic Memorial Day Weekend and start of summer!  If you feel like some summer songs, please visit my Cat Fights from last year at this time by using the “archive” menu to the right.

There will be no Cat Fight Show next week, but I will return on June 11, 2010.

Soulfully,

Matt The Cat