Rate-O-Rama: People Are Strange

The Rate-O-Rama raffle winner for October 2023 will be announced next week!!!

If you wish to receive a notice when the next Rate-O-Rama post is published please mention that you would like a notification in the comments section.

Rate-O-Rama : Songmania is a reader participation game.

Every Sunday 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 explaining the reasoning behind your ratings for each song.

After a week (Saturday evening) I will tally the ratings and in the next Rate-O-Rama post I will announce the winner from the previous post.

The winners will be determined on a scale of averages.

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The Raffle!!!

I am taking the Rate-O-Rama series to the next level. At the end of each month I will do a raffle in which the winner will win a $5.00 tip.

To enter all you have to do is participate in playing the Rate-O-Rama game. Since R-O-R is updated every Sunday night in order to qualify you must play the game during it's initial seven day period with Sunday evening being the cutoff period.

For each game you play you will receive a ticket for the raffle. Therefore if you play all four games in the month you will have four chances to win.

The winner will not only win the $5 prize but I will feature your Vocal Profile on Vocal + Assist on both Facebook and Discord and you will be featured in the first R-O-R game of the month after your win.

The September 2023 Rate-O-Rama Raffle Winner:

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Last week we featured the Synth-Pop, New Wave classic: "Mad World" as recorded by Tears For Fears (1983), Gary Jules and Michael Andrews (2001), and Pentatonix (2020).

The following are the average ratings for each song as resulted from the votes:

🥇 Tears For Fears: 90

🥈 Pentatonix: 86.6

🥉 Gary Jules and Michael Andrews: 86.2

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The Eleventh Edition of Rate-O-Rama features three renditions of the Classic Rock classic: "People Are Strange."

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The Doors (1967)

"People Are Strange" is featured on The Doors' iconic album Strange Days which also includes the classics "Strange Days," "You're Lost Little Girl," "Love Me Two Times," "Unhappy Girl," "Moonlight Drive," "My Eyes Have Seen You," and "I Can't See Your Face In My Mind."

"People Are Strange" was written by Jim Morrison, Ray Manzarek, Robbie Krieger, and John Densmore (The Doors). In its initial release as a single the song was a moderate hit in the US reaching #12. However in Canada it was a #1 hit and reached #9 in New Zealand. As time has passed the song has become an enduring classic.

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Echo & The Bunnymen (1987)

The British post punk, new wave band Echo & the Bunnymen recorded a cover version of "People Are Strange" for the soundtrack of the 1987 film The Lost Boys. The Doors' keyboardist, Ray Manzarek produced the song therefore giving it an authentic Door-ish sound. Manzarek also produced the first four albums of the punk band X.

Echo and the Bunnymen's rendition was released as a single and despite its popularity from the soundtrack it only reached #29 in the UK and #21 in Ireland.

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The Dead South (2022)

This bluegrass rendition of the song was initially released on March 4, 2022 as part of the double EP Easy Listening for Jerks Pt 1 and Pt 2. "People Are Strange" was a popular part of their pre-show playlist. They released the song as a single with a creative music video which has garnered more than 10 million views in one year.

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My Thoughts

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The Doors: Jim Morrison's haunting blues tinged baritone lead vocal is one of the major factors that carries this song. The lyrics capture the essence of the counterculture movement that was going on in the late 1960s. Betsy Swanson of oldtimemusic.com stated, "The song explores the idea of feeling like an outcast in society, highlighting the struggles of individuals who don’t fit into the norms and expectations set by the mainstream."

Ray Manzarek's keyboard gives the song an ironically upbeat tone. Robbie Krieger's slide guitar adds a touch of beauty in an otherwise bohemian beatnik song.

I love this song and it was the soundtrack of my life throughout most of the 1980s. I was a late bloomer with the Doors and started catching on to their music around 1979 at the age of 19. I give this song a solid 100.

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Echo and the Bunnymen: Echo and the Bunnymen is one of my favorite groups of all time. When I heard them singing, "People Are Strange" while watching the film Lost Boys, I was thrilled. It sounded great throughout the movie. I especially love the guitar work. My score for this one is 93.

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The Dead South: I am a huge fan of stringed instruments and this song has a lot to offer. There's a bounty of stringed instruments including guitar, bass guitar, mandolin, and banjo. Colton Crawford's banjo stands out in the midst of some excellent musicianship. My score is 88.

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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 ❤️