Somebody's Baby (#BoTB)

I'm so sorry, gang... I've been missing too many battles lately. Yes, it's fast times here in Curaçao, but that's really no excuse—I'm sure you all have oodles of stuff to do, too, and yet you manage to post promptly, on time and regularly. So I apologize, and I hope you still love me.

Speaking of fast times, do you remember the movie Fast Times at Ridgemont High?

Man, I loved that movie. Not really a classic, more like a cult film, but I can honestly say it changed my life—for many reasons, but one of the big ones is its music. I mean, Don Henley—Jimmy Buffet—Donna Summer—Oingo Boingo (that was the first I ever heard of them, but it wasn't the last)—The Go-Go's—The Cars—Stevie Nicks—Sammy Hagar—Led freakin' Zeppelin!!!

Admittedly, not all of the fabulous music was included in the 'official' soundtrack, but it's in the movie: take, for instance, the opening theme by The Go-Go's, We Got The Beat. That's about as iconically Fast Times as it gets, right? But... nope, it's not on the soundtrack list.

The Fast Times soundtrack list, courtesy of Wikipedia.
Sadly, Spotify doesn't feature any except "Somebody's Baby", but you can find a compilation playlist on YouTube
—which has the advantage of including the tracks left out of the official soundtrack.

And it wasn't just the quality of the artists featured; whoever compiled this was a genius, because the whole thing embodies the spirit of the 80's. Few movies achieve this capturing of an era as well as this one, in my opinion. (But I'd love it if you shared any you think do, whether it's 80's or anything else.)

So... The Battle. Although several of the film's songs (in the official soundtrack or not) became—or already were—undisputed hits, I think there's no argument that Somebody's Baby was the landmark success. It reached #7 on Billboard singles chart. To me, perhaps more than any other song (even We Got The Beat), this is the one that takes me right back to that era. And that's the one I picked for this battle.

The original, as included in the Fast Times soundtrack, is by Jackson Browne (and you can listen to it here, if you like), but today's battle is between two covers. The first is by Jessica Manning, and it's actually the one that inspired this Battle. I came across it on Spotify a few weeks ago and loved the sound. Take a listen:

Contestant #2 is Phantom Planet, a 90's millennial band from LA (whom I really think need to forget about their hiatus and come back!):

There it is, y'all. And now it's up to you: whose version do you like best? Were Jessica's switched-genre lyrics refreshing or did they put you off? Did Phantom Planet's cover sound like an ode to the original or just an imitation? Which of these would you be most likely to want to hear again? Were you of the Fast Times generation, or did it pass you by? If you are of that generation, what other 80's movies feel like 'home' to you?

And when you're done listening and voting here, click over to the other BoTB players for more awesome music match-ups:

STMcC Presents 'Battle of The Bands'

Debbie D. ("Doglady")

Your Daily Dose

Tossing It Out

Mike's Ramblings

Jingle Jangle Jungle

Curious as a Cathy

Cherdo on the Flipside

The Sound of One Hand Typing

Janie Junebug Righting & Editing (Back in May)

J. A. Scott

Angels Bark

dcrelief ~ Battle of The Bands

ReInVintaged Goods

Evil Pop Tart

Thank you so much for coming by. I promise to do better... not just with BoTB posts, but with blogging in general. I miss it. I miss you.

Happy August!