Ever have one of those days where you have this notion that you’re forgetting something? Yesterday was one of those days. In my case, the wrapup to my most recent Battle of the Bands, which pitted Julie London against Rosemary Clooney on the 1948 version of "Black Coffee." The votes are in, and here’s the final…

Julie London – 8

• Ed
• Aliyah
• Frank
• Eugenia
• Cathy
• Max
• Jack
• Stephen

Rosemary Clooney – 5

• Dan
• Arlee
• Ally
• Loretta
• Shady

Congratulations to both ladies on keeping it close, and to Julie for winning the round.

My next battle will com your way this coming Thursday, April 15. Be sure to join us then!

I can hear you already: "Didn’t you just do ‘Black Coffee’?" I did, but not this one. That one was written by Ike Turner; this one was written by Sonny Burke and Paul Francis Webster in 1948. Stephen likes this one better, or so he told me when he voted on the last one. I promised him we’d do this one next.

He gave me the Bobby Darin version, which posed a slight problem, because the majority of covers I found were done by women, so I went in search of covers by men, only to discover most of those (specifically by Ray Charles and Earl "Fatha" Hines) were instrumentals. So, I’m going to try a battle between two of my favorite singers from the ’50’s and ’60’s…

Julie London

From her 1960 album Around Midnight.

Rosemary Clooney

From her 1964 album Thanks For Nothing.

You know the drill:

I’ll tally the votes and announce the winner on Aptil 8, so be sure and cast your ballot by then.

The lines are now open. Good luck to Julie and Rosemary!

Last week’s battle pitted Humble Pie against Joe Bonamassa and Beth Hart to see who, in your opinion did a better cover of Ike and Tina Turner’s "Black Coffee." I was happy to see that this was nowhere near the blowout the last couple of battles have been. Here are the results:

Humble Pie – 9

• Max
• Frank
• Maggie
• Eugenia
• Cathy
• Dan
• Willow
• Jack
• Mary B

Joe/Beth – 6

• Ed
• Birgit
• Shady
• Arlee
• Stephen
• Mike

Congratulations to Humble Pie and a pat on the back to Joe and Beth for making it a real battle.

There’s another song called "Black Coffee," which Stephen pointed out. That will be the subject of my next Battle of the Bands, which will take place on Thursday, April 1, the first day of the A to Z Challenge. See you then!

And we’re back to doing traditional Battles of the Bands again. There are a couple of songs called "Black Coffee," so we’ll do them separately.

"Black Coffee" was written by Ike Turner for wife Tina to sing. It appeared on their 1972 album Feel Good.

Humble Pie

Stevie Marriott and Humble Pie (which at the time included Peter Frampton) covered "Black Coffee" on their 1973 album Eat It. It was issued as a single, but failed to chart; nevertheless, it became one of their better-known songs.

Beth Hart and Joe Bonamassa

Singer Beth Hart and guitarist Joe Bonamassa have released three albums of covers, the most recent being 2018’s Black Coffee.

So there are your choices. Here’s what you need to do to participate:

I’ll tally the votes and announce the winner next Monday, March 22, so be sure and get your vote to me by then. And remember, anyone can play this game, so jump right in and let your voice be heard.

The lines are now open. Good luck to Humble Pie and Beth & Joe!

Hopefully, this battle won’t be as lopsided as the last one was. This time, I have three female child stars who made their singing and acting debuts in the late ’50’s and early ’60’s.

Shelley Fabares, "Johnny Angel": Shelley was the TV daughter Mary Stone, daughter of Donna (Donna Reed) and Dr. Alex (Carl Betz) Stone on The Donna Reed Show. She was apparently told that she would come out with a record in 1962. The song was "Johnny Angel," written by Lyn Duddy and Lee Pockriss. It had been done previously by Laurie Loman and Georgia Lee, with little success. Shelley’s version was recorded in the fall of 1961 and released the following year and spent 15 weeks on the chart, peaking at #1 and earning a gold record.

Patty Duke, "Don’t Just Stand There": Patty Duke gained fame by playing Helen Keller in the stage play The Miracle Worker, playing Helen Keller to Anne Bancroft’s Annie Sullivan, and in the 1962 film adaptation. From 1963 to 1966, She played Patty and Cathy Lane ("identical cousins") in The Patty Duke Show, which also starred William Schallert as her father/uncle. She had two hit records in 1965, "Say Something Funny" (#21) and "Don’t Just Stand There," which peaked at #8.

Annette Funicello, "O Dio Mio": The original, and to my mind only, "Disney Princess," Annette had a pretty good singing career after The Mickey Mouse Club. "O Dio Mio" was written by Al Hoffman and Dick Manning and peaked at #10 in 1960.

Those are our contestants. Here are your instructions:

I’ll tally the votes and let you know the winner next Monday, March 8, so get your vote to me by then.

The lines are now open. Good luck to Shelley, Patty, and Annette!