Rate-O-Rama: A Hazy Shade of Winter

Welcome to Rate-O-Rama!

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Rate-O-Rama is a reader participation game.

Every Thursday evening I will publish a Rate-O-Rama article which will feature three versions of a popular song.

The object is to listen to each of the music videos provided within the post.

After listening to each video you can rate each song in the comments section below.

(You must be a member to comment. If you are not a member you can join Vocal Media for FREE. You don’t ever have to pay for membership unless you choose to upgrade your membership)

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The rating method is easy. Simply give each song a rating of 1 to 100.

(The more you like the song the higher the rating).

If possible, please provide a brief comment to let us now what you think of each song.

After a week (Thursday evening) I will tally the ratings and in the next Rate-O-Rama post, I will announce the average rating each song received.

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Last time we featured the 70s Pop Music classic: “Could It Be Magic " as recorded by Barry Manilow (1975), Donna Summer (1976), and Take That (1992).

The following are the average ratings for each song as result of the votes:

🥇 Donna Summer: 97.2

🥈 Barry Manilow: 91.5

🥉 Take That: 81.1

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The Twenty-First Edition of Rate-O-Rama features three renditions of the Folk Rock classic: “A Hazy Shade of Winter."

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Simon and Garfunkel (1966)

Written by Paul Simon, the song was recorded in 1966 during the sessions for the album Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme and was released as a stand-alone single in October 1966. In 1968 the song was included on the Bookends album.

In its initial single release, the song made it to #13 in the US, #11 in Canada, and #14 in New Zealand.

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The Bangles (1987)

By the time “A Hazy Shade of Winter” was released the all-girl band The Bangles already had four Top 40 hits including their worldwide mega-hit “Walk Like An Egyptian.”

In 1987, The Bangles were approached to record a song for the soundtrack of the film Less than Zero. They recorded a cover of "A Hazy Shade of Winter", which they had been performing live as early as March 1983.

Steve Bartek, the lead guitarist of Oingo Boingo played acoustic guitar on the track.

The song was one of four singles from the soundtrack and the only one to reach the Top 10. The Bangles' cover surpassed the original in popularity having reached #2 in the U.S., #3 in Canada, #7 in Australia, #8 in Ireland, #11 in the UK, #12 in Belgium, and #14 in New Zealand.

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Gerard Way featuring Ray Toro (2019)

Gerard Way, the lead singer of My Chemical Romance, released “A Hazy Shade of Winter” as a single. Their rendition was based on The Bangles' arrangement. It featured My Chemical Romance lead guitarist Ray Toro on guitar. The song was recorded for the superhero television series The Umbrella Academy.

The song met with minor success charting at #76 in Scotland.

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My Thoughts

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Simon and Garfunkel:

I am a huge fan of S&G. They produced some of the most consequential music of the 1960s and 70s. So, I am going to have a built-in bias. I like the upbeat tone of this song. It's a nice change from their classic melancholic ballads. Their vocals blend perfectly, with a sense of urgency that lends itself well to Paul Simon's evocative lyrics of hopelessness.

I love this song although it is not one of my favorite S&G songs. I give it a 98.

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The Bangles:

The Bangles did a bang-up job on this and with the aggressive drums and lead guitar they brought it home. Even though it's hard to beat the sublime harmony vocals of Simon & Garfunkel, The Bangles did a more than impressive job with their joint lead vocal.

I really want to give Simon and Garfunkel the point advantage here, but with The Bangles' standout musical arrangement and exceptional vocals, I must give them a 100-point score.

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Gerard Way featuring Ray Toro:

Okay, Gerard Way's rendition is top-notch. Nothing wrong with it whatsoever. However, it is a cookie-cutter copy of The Bangles' arrangement which for me lessens the effect of this version. Plus, The Bangles seem to have a stronger range of dynamics. I give this one an 89-point rating.

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I will be back next week with the results of this Rate-O-Rama Edition.

Last Week's Rate-O-Rama:



With Love, RHC ❤️