Well, it is Boxing Day. I imagine you might have better things to do. But just in case you're at a lose end, here are some Boxers. Who will win this Title Fight?
THE BOXERS #1
Taken from the soundtrack of a 1964 Broadway musical that explored controversial themes for the time (the immigrant experience, mixed race relationships, boxers dying in the ring). The show ran until 1968 with Sammy Davis Jr. in the lead role, by which time his marriage had ended and his voice was seriously damaged. This was the overture...
THE BOXERS #2
In 1983, the geniuses at Gypsy Records had the brainwave of getting a bunch of professional boxers to enter a recording studio. From the image below, I've been able to identify Errol Christie, Terry Spinks and, yes, Frank Bruno. You might recognise some of the others.
THE BOXERS #3
A promo single for the famous South African boxer Arthur ‘The Fighting Prince’ Mayisela, released in 1986... though you could probably work that out just by listening to it.
BOXERS #4
1999 German hiphop "cover" of the Simon & Garfunkel classic... except all they really do is steal the "Li-la-li" bits and then make up the rest on their own time. I like this a lot more than I expected to - it reminds me of the Fun Lovin' Criminals.
BOXERS #5
Eminently forgettable fare from a landfill in Sackville, New Brunswick, released in 2013.
THE BOXERS #6
From 2016, a Chicago band described by one fan on bandcamp as "that filipino psychedelic doo-wop band". I'm not sure I hear any of that, but...
THE BOXERS #7
This, on the other hand, is a punk band who actually do come from the Phillipines.
BOXERS #8
Meandering acoustic singer-songwritery stuff from Asheville, North Carolina in 2019.
THE BOXERS #9
Finally, an Australian band from 2020, with a track called... erm...
Did any of them knock you out... or should we just ban Boxers altogether?
#2 - I immediately recognised Charlie Magri (bottom left) as he used to be the landlord of the Victoria pub which is about 800 yards away from where I live. Prior to that he ran a sports shop about the same distance away in the opposite direction.
ReplyDeleteI also recognised Maurice Hope (top right) and Alan Minter (below Terry Spinks). I don't know the rest.
#3 - I'll vote for this as I'm partial to a bit of cheesy 80s South African pop due to my upbringing. Very sadly, The Fighting Prince died in a car crash a few months after this record was released so never got the chance to fulfil his potential.
#4 - is terrible. If you are looking a more uplifting German version of the Simon & Garfunkel song I recommend Musictramps. Admittedly it sounds better if heard in a bar in Leipzig on New Year's Even which is when I first encountered it:
https://youtu.be/Roc-4RkOZMw?si=QWIzY_7cIkUo2PTY
None of the others excited me, I will leave it to George to do his usual forensic analysis.
Last but not least, I hope Santa brought you all everything you wanted.
In less than a minute I've heard fiddle and banjo, now all it needs is a bit of flautistry. I'm enjoying this track more than the Boxer Collective, enjoyable nonsense.......but alas no fluting
DeleteThe first two are possibly the very worst tracks you've posted in this series. I can't get nearly as excited as Ernie about #3, it's bobbins. I truly hated #4, it almost put me off my oat-milk coffee.
ReplyDelete#5 was not as bad as you suggested, #6 could have been my favourite psychedelic doo-wop flavoured filipino track if I had discerned any doo-wop or psychedelic influences, all I heard was some bland indie-ish music. #7 was total nonsense. #8 was meanderingly tedious, and I'm looking forward to playing #9 because so far I've been uninspired
ReplyDelete#9 seems to be giving up after 1 minute 50 seconds............but I've reached the end. So my pick is #5, but I will not be acquiring the album or putting that track on vol 212 of the download series
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't the best of selections, but I honestly didn't believe anyone would pay them any attention today. It seems I was wrong!
DeleteHope you had a lovely Christmas Day - sorry, I didn't get round all the blogs this year ahead of the big day.
ReplyDeleteAs for Boxers, who knew there could be so many - not me. I going to go for #3 and #8 for listenability. The rest were bobbins to borrows George's very descriptive word.