Bob Dylan (b. Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American
musician, singer-songwriter, artist, and writer. He has been an
influential figure in popular music and culture for more than five
decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s, when he
was an informal chronicler and a seemingly reluctant figurehead of
social unrest. A number of Dylan's early songs, such as "Blowin' in the
Wind" and "The Times They Are a-Changin'," became anthems for the US
civil rights and anti-war movements. Leaving behind his initial base in
the culture of the folk music revival, Dylan's six-minute single "Like a
Rolling Stone" radically altered the parameters of popular music in
1965. (Click
here for full Wikipedia article)
-----
A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and gets to bed at
night, and in between he does what he wants to do.
All this talk about equality. The only thing people really have in
common is that they are all going to die.
And don't criticize what you can't understand.
Behind every beautiful thing, there's some kind of pain.
Chaos is a friend of mine.
Colleges are like old-age homes, except for the fact that more people
die in colleges.
Come senators, congressmen Please heed the call Don't stand in the
doorway Don't block up the hall For he that gets hurt Will be
he who has stalled There's a battle outside and it is ragin' It'll
soon shake your windows and rattle your walls For the times they are
a-changin'
Don't matter how much money you got, there's only two kinds of people:
there's saved people and there's lost people.
Everything passes. Everything changes. Just do what you think you should
do.
I believe strongly in everyone's right to defend themselves by every
means necessary.
I have no message for anyone. My songs are only me talking to myself.
I once loved a woman, a child I am told I gave her my heart but she
wanted my soul. But don't think twice, it's all right.
I think of a hero as someone who understands the degree of
responsibility that comes with his freedom.
Just because you like my stuff doesn't mean I owe you anything.
Money doesn't talk, it swears.
Morality has nothing in common with politics.
People dissect my songs like rabbits but they all miss the point.
People today are still living off the table scraps of the sixties. They
are still being passed around- the music and the ideas.
Sometimes it's not enough to know what things mean. Sometimes you have
to know what things don't mean.
The cost of liberty is high, and young people should understand that
before they start spending their life with all those gadgets.
The first way to answer the questions in the song ('Blowin' in the
Wind') is by asking them. But lots of people first have to find the wind.
To live outside the law, you must be honest.
We may not be able to defeat these swine, but we don't have to join them.
You can't be wise and in love at the same time.
You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.
How many roads must a man walk down Before you call him a man? Yes,
'n' how many seas must a white dove sail Before she sleeps in the
sand? Yes, 'n' how many times must the cannonballs fly Before
they're forever banned? The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind The
answer is blowin' in the wind
How many years can a mountain exist Before it's washed to the sea? Yes,
'n' how many years can some people exist Before they're allowed to be
free? Yes, 'n' how many times can a man turn his head Pretending
he just doesn't see? The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind The
answer is blowin' in the wind
How many times must a man look up Before he can see the sky? Yes,
'n' how many ears must one man have Before he can hear people cry? Yes,
'n' how many deaths will it take till he knows That too many people
have died? The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind The
answer is blowin' in the wind
We were living in Philadelphia in the summer of 1985, and the television
was on as background noise. A "Miami Vice" rerun was airing. I'd caught
a few minutes of the series earlier in the year and, frankly, it wasn't
on my must-see list. Anyway, I was working on something when I heard a
car engine gunned, followed by a hard cut to Tommy Shaw's driving "Girls
With Guns."
I looked up to see a tracking shot of speeding convertible. After a few
seconds, it became obvious the tracking vehicle was a helicopter,
perfectly matching the speed of the auto. I slowly became aware that
there weren't any edits... this was one long honking aerial shot.
It runs for a total of 79 seconds, an eternity in a filmed television
series. I couldn't find many details. The episode, "Glades," was the
ninth in the series' first season. It originally aired on November 30,
1984; I apparently caught the rerun on June 21, 1985. The show was
directed Stan Lathan (who would later go on to direct 122 episodes of
"The Steve Harvey Show"), and the director of photography was Duke
Callahan, who was also the D.P. on the motion picture Conan The
Barbarian. The helicopter pilot and cameraman were uncredited.
The segment starts on the west side of Miami and continues along the
Tamiami Highway. My guess is the director told the stars to drive
themselves to the location that day, and he told the DP to grab a
camera, get a helicopter, and get him some filler because the episode
timed out short.
Or, it could have been a deliberate attempt to create a shot so
impressive an old fart like me would remember it nearly 30 years later
when he accidentally encountered it on the web.
(YouTube
video: Jimmy Fallon, Idina Menzel and The Roots perform "Let It Go" on
classroom instruments!)
The song as it appears in the film was undoubtedly assembled from
multiple takes and enhanced electronically- a necessity when you're
planning to exhibit it in huge IMAX venues with several thousands watts
of audio amplification.
(YouTube
video: Idina Menzel performs "Let It Go" in "Frozen.")
Frankly, her Oscar performance wasn't her best... having John Travolta
mangle her name didn't help. Think about it- you're following Bette
Midler, you're the last musical performer of the night, singing what
everyone expects to win the Oscar for Best Song, the live
orchestra is in a recording studio over a mile away, and "Let It Go"
(which its authors say was specifically written to be "Idina's Badass
Song") is the Power Ballad from Hell, ranging from F3 to
E♭5.
Go ahead... follow along...
(YouTube
video: Let It Go arranged by Larry Moore)
Anyway, it was nice to see her actually enjoying herself with Fallon and
The Roots.
"Some people, when they're slightly feverish and taking strong
antibiotcs, have exotic dreams. I dream of digital rights management."
"Sounds exciting."
"Not the way we implement it."
-----
-----
They used a text-analysis program to measure the tone of articles in USA
Today between 2007 and 2009, and found that especially positive
articles predicted a downturn in the Dow Jones Industrial Average
between a week and a month later. The researchers also analyzed all
twenty-one U.S. Presidential inaugural addresses between 1933 and 2009,
and found that Presidents who waxed optimistic about the future saw a
rise in unemployment and a slowdown in economic growth during their
terms in office. It’s perhaps too strong to suggest that positive
thinking, alone, produced these large macroeconomic changes, but the
staggering results in this most recent paper are consistent with more
than a decade’s worth of studies in Oettingen’s lab. (The
Powerlessness of Positive Thinking)
-----
-----
Just a reminder- Abe
Vigoda's birthday is tomorrow. Get your party supplies today.
-----
-----
When the next crisis happens, and by the nature of markets, it will
happen again, the government will do the only rational thing it can, and
once again step in and save the institutions with taxpayer money. The
economy will again be wrecked and the average family will again pay the
costs.
Published Wednesday, January 08, 2014 @ 6:17 AM EST
Jan082014
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 - August 16, 1977) was an American
singer, musician, and actor. One of the most significant cultural icons
of the 20th century, he is often referred to as "The King of Rock and
Roll", or simply, "The King". Presley is one of the most celebrated
musicians of 20th century. Commercially successful in many genres,
including pop, blues and gospel, he is the best-selling solo artist in
the history of recorded music. He was nominated for 14 Grammys and won
three, receiving the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award at age 36. He has
been inducted into multiple music halls of fame. (Click
here for full Wikipedia article)
-----
Ambition is a dream with a V8 engine.
Don't let your head get too big, it'll break your neck.
Don't criticize what you don't understand, son. You never walked in that
man's shoes
I believe the key to happiness is: someone to love, something to do, and
something to look forward to.
I don't feel I'll live a long life. That's why I have to get what I can
from every day.
I don't know anything about music. In my line, you don't have to.
I have no use for bodyguards, but I have a very special use for two
highly trained certified public accountants.
I was training to be an electrician. I suppose I got wired the wrong way
round somewhere along the line.
I'd never do anything vulgar before an audience. My mother wouldn't
permit it.
Music should be something that makes you gotta move, inside or outside.
My voice is ordinary. If I stand still while I'm singing, I might as
well go back to driving a truck.
Rhythm is something you either have or don't have, but when you have it
you have it all over.
Singers come and go, but if you're a good actor, you can last a long
time.
Talent is being able to sell what you're feeling.
The image is one thing and the human being is another. It's very hard to
live up to an image.
The Lord can give, and the Lord can take away. I might be herding sheep
next year.
The only thing worse than watchin' a bad movie is bein' in one.
There is nothing more notable in Socrates than that he found time, when
he was an old man, to learn music and dancing, and thought it time well
spent.
Those movies sure got me into a rut.
Truth is like the sun. You can shut it out for a time, but it ain't
goin' away.
When things go wrong, don't go with them.
When you're a celebrity, people treat you nicer. The bad part is, they
also tell you what they think you want to hear, which ain't always the
truth.
You only pass through this life once; you don't come back for an encore.
-----
Elvis Presley is the greatest cultural force in the twentieth century.
He introduced the beat to everything, music, language, clothes, it's a
whole new social revolution- the 60s comes from it. -Leonard
Bernstein
We're the Axis of Elvis. -John Lileks
America is Elvis Presley- the most beautiful, talented, rebellious
nation in the history of Earth. And now, you're in your Vegas years.
You've squeezed yourself into a white jumpsuit, you're wheezing your way
through 'Love Me Tender' and you might be about to pass away bloated on
the toilet. But you're still the King. -John Oliver
He was a unique artist… an original in an area of imitators. -Mick
Jagger
A lot of people have accused Elvis of stealing the black man's music,
when in fact almost every black solo entertainer copied his stage
mannerisms from Elvis. -Jackie Wilson
On a scale of one to ten, I would rate him eleven. -Sammy Davis,
Jr.
(YouTube video: "It's Bigger," the opening number from the 2013 Tony
Awards.)
Watch Neil
Patrick Harris' jaw-dropping performance at last night's Tony Awards
show- eight minutes of stunning perfection that includes singing,
dancing, a ten-second costume change, an acrobatic leap through a hoop,
nearly having his ear bitten by Mike Tyson, a trick that mystifyingly
transports him in under ten seconds to the back of the cavernous Radio
City Music Hall, plus the choruses from every musical currently on
Broadway.
Mr. Harris is unique. I know of no other performer with these stellar
abilities, in addition to being intellectually brilliant,
self-deprecating and dedicated to his family.
He turns 40 this Saturday- at 40, I began having difficultly bending at
the knees.
Baritone Frank Sinatra (December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was
indisputably the 20th century's greatest singer of popular song. Though
influenced by Bing Crosby's crooning, and by learning from trombonist
Tommy Dorsey's breath control and blues singer Billie Holiday's rhythmic
swing, Frank Sinatra mainstreamed the concept of singing colloquially,
treating lyrics as personal statements and handling melodies with the
ease of a jazz improviser. His best work is standards- Cole Porter,
Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, and the Gershwins- but Sinatra, despite his
1957 denunciation of rock & roll as degenerate, recorded songs by the
likes of Stevie Wonder, George Harrison, Jimmy Webb, and Billy Joel. Not
only did his freely interpretive approach pave the way for the
idiosyncrasies of rock singing, but with his character- a mix of
tough-guy cool and romantic vulnerability- he became the first true pop
idol, a superstar who through his music established a persona audiences
found compelling and true. (Click
for full article.)
-----
Alcohol may be man's worst enemy, but the bible says love your enemy.
Being an 18-karat manic-depressive and having lived a life of violent
emotional contradictions, I have an overacute capacity for sadness as
well as elation.
Cock your hat- angles are attitudes.
Fear is the enemy of logic. There is no more debilitating, crushing,
self-defeating, sickening thing in the world- to an individual or to a
nation.
For years I've nursed a secret desire to spend the Fourth of July in a
double hammock with a swingin' redheaded broad... but I could never find
me a double hammock.
Hell hath no fury like a hustler with a literary agent.
How can a free people make decisions without facts? If the press reports
world news as they report about me, we're in trouble.
Hunger is inexcusable in a world where grain rots in silos and butter
turns rancid while being held for favorable commodity indices.
I believe that God knows what each of us wants and needs. It's not
necessary for us to make it to church on Sunday to reach Him. You can
find Him anyplace. And if that sounds heretical, my source is pretty
good: Matthew, Five to Seven, The Sermon on the Mount.
I like intelligent women. When you go out, it shouldn't be a staring
contest.
If you possess something but you can't give it away, then you don't
possess it... it possesses you.
I'm gonna live 'til I die.
I'm not one of those complicated, mixed-up cats. I'm not looking for the
secret to life... I just go on from day to day, taking what comes.
I'm not unmindful of a man's seeming need for faith; I'm for anything
that gets you through the night, be it prayer, tranquilizers, or a
bottle of Jack Daniel's. But to me religion is a deeply personal thing
in which man and God go it alone together, without the witch doctor in
the middle.
I'm supposed to have a Ph.D on the subject of women. But the truth is
I've flunked more often than not. I'm very fond of women; I admire them.
But, like all men, I don't understand them.
I've always had a theory that whenever guys and gals start swinging,
they begin to lose interest in conquering the world.
People often remark that I'm pretty lucky. Luck is only important in so
far as getting the chance to sell yourself at the right moment. After
that, you've got to have talent and know how to use it.
Put your sunglasses on, because you ain't going home 'til the morning
comes.
Stop worrying about communism; just get rid of the conditions that
nurture it.
What I do with my life is of my own doing. I live it the best way I can.
Whatever else has been said about me personally is unimportant. When I
sing, I believe. I'm honest.
When lip service to some mysterious deity permits bestiality on
Wednesday and absolution on Sunday, cash me out.
You can be the most artistically perfect performer in the world, but an
audience is like a broad- if you're indifferent, endsville.
You gotta love livin', baby, 'cause dyin' is a pain in the ass.
The first Canadian commander of the International Space Station, Chris
Hadfield, is scheduled to return to earth this evening with U.S.
astronaut Tom Marshburn and Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko.
Hadfield's been in orbit for 148 days, and during that time he's not
only done whatever it this they do on the ISS, he's maintained constant
contact with the people of this strange little blue ball via Twitter
and other media. But he obviously saved the best for last.
(YouTube video: "A Space Oddity," from the ISS.
Godspeed, guys. May you have a safe and uneventful landing.
Published Saturday, February 09, 2013 @ 7:41 AM EST
Feb092013
The Beatles made their first appearance on
The Ed Sullivan Show on February 9, 1964.
The show was watched by 73 million people.
Trivia: The Beatles' performances and recordings of "Till There Was You," the love ballad from the
Broadway musical "The Music Man," earned writer Meredith Willson more money than all of the
show's royalties combined. The Fab Four wanted something in their repertoire that would appeal
to parents and critics. Sir Paul McCartney now owns the publishing and performance rights to
Meredith Willson’s music catalog.
Published Wednesday, October 24, 2012 @ 8:28 AM EDT
Oct242012
It's the fiftieth anniversary of the release of Allan
Sherman's first record album, My Son, The Folk Singer, which
broke sales records and hit number one on the 1962 Billboard pop album
chart.
I was eight when I first heard Allan Sherman.
I memorized all of the songs on all his albums.
That should explain a great deal.
Sherman is best known for his hit single Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah.
My favorite Sherman pieces aren't even complete songs, but medleys
comprised of two or four lines, or a single verse, concatenated,
recorded before a live audience, and positioned as the last track on the
record.
Herewith are Shticks and Stones from My Son, The Folk Singer,
and Shticks of One and a Half a Dozen of the Other from My
Son, The Celebrity.
For those of you not familiar with early 60s culture, you may need to
click the links which following to appreciate the references to Levittown,
David
Susskind, Geritol,
Billy
Sol, and Metrecal..
As for the Medicare reference, the songs were recorded prior to the
program's creation in 1965.
Also note my cats were fascinated by the pigeon in the second video.
Turn down the sound, put it on an endless loop, and watch the ensuring
hilarity.
Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr. (December 31, 1943 – October 12, 1997),
known professionally as John Denver, was an American singer/songwriter,
activist, and humanitarian. After traveling and living in numerous
locations while growing up in his military family, Denver began his
music career in folk music groups in the late 1960s. His greatest
commercial success was as a solo singer. Throughout his life, Denver
recorded and released approximately 300 songs, about 200 of which he
composed. He performed primarily with an acoustic guitar and sang about
his joy in nature, his enthusiasm for music, and relationship trials.
Denver's music appeared on a variety of charts, including country and
western, the Billboard Hot 100, and adult contemporary, in all earning
him 12 gold and 4 platinum albums with his signature songs "Take Me
Home, Country Roads", "Annie's Song", "Rocky Mountain High", and
"Sunshine on My Shoulders".
Denver further starred in films and several notable television specials
in the 1970s and 1980s. In the following decades, he continued to
record, but also focused on calling attention to environmental issues,
lent his vocal support to space exploration, and testified in front of
Congress to protest censorship in music. He was known for his love of
the state of Colorado, which he sang about numerous times. He lived in
Aspen, Colorado, for much of his life, and influenced the governor to
name him Poet Laureate of the state in 1974. The Colorado state
legislature also adopted "Rocky Mountain High" as one of its state songs
in 2007. Denver was an avid pilot, and died while flying his personal
aircraft at the age of 53. Denver was one of the most popular acoustic
artists of the 1970s. (Click
for full article.)
Perhaps love is like a resting place A shelter from the storm It
exists to give you comfort It is there to keep you warm And in
those times of trouble When you are most alone The memory of love
will bring you home
Perhaps love is like a window Perhaps an open door It invites you
to come closer It wants to show you more And even if you lose
yourself And don't know what to do The memory of love will see you
through
Oh, love to some is like a cloud To some as strong as steel For
some a way of living For some a way to feel And some say love is
holding on And some say letting go And some say love is everything And
some say they don't know
Perhaps love is like the ocean Full of conflict, full of change Like
a fire when it's cold outside Or thunder when it rains If I should
live forever And all my dreams come true My memories of love will
be of you.
And some say love is holding on And some say letting go And some
say love is everything And some say they don't know
Perhaps love is like the ocean Full of conflict, full of change Like
a fire when it's cold outside Or thunder when it rains If I should
live forever And all my dreams come true My memories of love will
be of you.
Published Wednesday, October 03, 2012 @ 2:44 AM EDT
Oct032012
(YouTube video: "Lydia the Tattooed Lady,")
Yesterday was Groucho's
birthday, and every other year or so I post this clip of him singing Lydia,
the Tattooed Lady from the classic Marx Brothers film At The
Circus.
I was just about to re-post the video when I remembered an e-mail I had
received from a reader the last time I published it. A 21-year-old
college student asked if Lydia was a "gibberish" song, because
many of the lyrics made no sense to him.
No sense?
Lyricist E.Y. "Yip" Harburg was at the top of his form when he wrote Lydia.
It's fiendishly clever, invoking historical and contemporary references,
and he effortlessly blends them with oblique asides describing Lydia's
impressive physical characteristics. The result was an instant classic.
I watched the video again, and then it dawned on me... if my young
reader had failed to pay attention during his history, literature, and
geography classes, he just wouldn't get it.
So, if you've listened to Lydia and found yourself not only
tapping your toes but scratching your head, here are the lyrics. With
footnotes.
There will be a quiz later, so please pay attention.
Lydia The Tattooed Lady (music by Harold Arlen, lyrics by
E.Y. Harburg, the guys who also did "Over the Rainbow.")
Ah, this meeting brings back memories. Childhood days... Lemonade!
Romance! My life was wrapped around the circus... Her name was Lydia. I
met her at the World's Fair in 1900 (marked down from 1940). Ah, Lydia...
She was the most glorious creature under the sun... Thaïs!(1) du
Barry!(2) Garbo!(3) Rolled into one...
Oh......
Lydia, oh Lydia, say, have you met Lydia? Lydia The Tattooed Lady She
has eyes that folks adore so, And a torso even more so. Lydia, oh
Lydia, that encyclopedia.(4) Oh Lydia The Queen of Tattoo. On
her back is The Battle of Waterloo,(5). Beside it The
Wreck of the Hesperus(6) too. And proudly above waves the
red, white, and blue(7). You can learn a lot from Lydia!
La-la-la...la-la-la. La-la-la...la-la-la.
When her robe is unfurled she will show you the world, If you step up
and tell her where. For a dime you can see Kankakee(8) or
Paree(9), Or Washington Crossing The Delaware.(10)
La-la-la...la-la-la. La-la-la...la-la-la.
Oh Lydia, oh Lydia, say, have you met Lydia? Oh Lydia The Tattooed
Lady. When her muscles start relaxin', Up the hill comes Andrew
Jackson.(11) Lydia, oh Lydia, that encyclopedia. Oh
Lydia the queen of them all. For two bits(12) she will do
a mazurka(13) in jazz, With a view of Niagara(14)
that nobody has. And on a clear day you can see Alcatraz.(15) You
can learn a lot from Lydia!
La-la-la...la-la-la. La-la-la...la-la-la.
Come along and see Buffalo Bill(16) with his lasso. Just a
little classic by Mendel Picasso.(17) Here is Captain
Spaulding(18) exploring the Amazon(19). Here's
Godiva,(20) but with her pajamas on.
La-la-la...la-la-la. La-la-la...la-la-la.
Here is Grover Whalen,(21) unveilin' the Trylon.(22), Over
on the West Coast we have Treasure Island.(23) Here's
Najinsky(24) a-doin' the rhumba.(25) Here's her
social security numba.
Oh Lydia, oh Lydia, that encyclopedia Oh Lydia the champ of them all. She
once swept an Admiral clear off his feet. The ships on her hips made
his heart skip a beat. And now the old boy's in command of the fleet, For
he went and married Lydia!
I said Lydia... He said Lydia... I said Lydia... We
said Lydia... La la!
Notes:
(1) Thaïs, a stunningly beautiful and rich fourth
century courtesan who lived in Roman-controlled Alexandria, Egypt. She
eventually saw the error of her ways, converted to Christianity, gave
her money to the church, spent three years immured in a convent cell as
extreme penance, and died 15 days after her release.
(2) Jeanne Bécu, a.k.a. Madame du Barry
(August 19, 1743 - December 8, 1793), the stunningly beautiful and,
alas, final Maîtresse-en-titre (chief mistress) of King Louis XV. She
was convicted of treason for helping people flee the French Revolution
and was beheaded on the guillotine.
(3) Greta Garbo, born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson,
(September 18, 1905 – April 15, 1990), the stunningly beautiful Swedish
film actress and international star. She made fewer than 30 films during
her 1920-1941 career, retired at the age of 36, and spent her remaining
years shunning publicity.
(4)A book or set of books containing articles on
various topics, usually in alphabetical arrangement, covering all
branches of knowledge or, less commonly, all aspects of one subject.
(5)The military engagement in which an imperial French
army under the command of Emperor Napoleon was defeated by the armies of
the Seventh Coalition on June 18, 1815.
(6)The Wreck of the Hesperus is a narrative poem
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow describing... well, bottom line, we're
talking about a tattoo of a wrecked, ice-covered ship on a reef with a
dead little girl tied to a broken, floating mast.
(7)The colors of the U.S. flag, a reference to the flag
itself, or a reference to the country.
(8)Kankakee, Illinois, a city about 60 miles south
southwest of Chicago.
(9)Paree (Paris), France's capital and largest city.
(10)German-American artist Emanuel Gottlieb's 1851
oil-on-canvas painting depicting, with numerous inaccuracies and
anachronisms, then-General George Washington standing in a boat, leading
his troops in the Christmas 1776 sneak attack against Hessian
mercenaries stationed in Trenton, New Jersey.
(11)Andrew "Old Hickory" Jackson (March 15, 1767 –
June 8, 1845), the seventh President of the United States, serving two
terms from 1829 to 1837. He's best known as the guy on the $20 bill and
the first President someone tried to assassinate. Prior to entering
politics, he was a noted military leader whose exploits included leading
his troops up a steep hill near Tohopeka, Alabama on the March 27, 1814
Battle of Horseshoe Bend during the War of 1812. (The War of 1812 lasted
until 1815.) The reader is encouraged to learn more about Jackson.
His presidency makes the current situation in Washington look like a
60s' hippie love-in. Old Hickory was ill-tempered, unforgiving, and the
target of vicious personal attacks. During the 1828 election, his
opponents called him a jackass. Political cartoonist Thomas Nast later
used the jackass to characterize members of Jackson's then newly-formed
Democratic party, a symbol that remains to this day. Jackson had been
involved in numerous duels and had so many bullets lodged in various
body parts that it was said he "rattled like a bag of marbles."
(12)25 cents. The etymology is left as an exercise for the
reader.
(13)An upbeat Polish folk dance.
(14)Niagara Falls, the three cataracts located on the border
of New York state and the province of Ontario, Canada.
(15)The island in San Francisco Bay. Alcatraz Federal
Penitentiary operated there from 1933 to 1963.
(16)William Frederick "Buffalo Bill" Cody (February 26, 1846
– January 10, 1917), whose eponymous wild west shows toured the U.S. and
Europe.
(17)Either badly-punctuated references to geneticist Gregor
Mendel and artist Pablo Picasso, or lyricist Harburg coupling the last
name of a world famous artist to a funny-sounding Jewish first name. You
know, like Shlomo Warhol. Come to think of it, Shlomo Picasso is
funnier.
(18)The character Groucho portrayed in the stage play and
film Animal Crackers.
(19)The river in South America, not the website.
(20)In 1028, Lady Godiva repeatedly asked her husband Leofric
(the Earl of Mercia) to not pass along to the impoverished citizens of
Coventry the taxes levied on him by the King of England, Edward the
Confessor. ("Trickle down" had a different meaning then.) Leo told Lady
G that if she'd ride naked through the town market on a horse, he'd nix
the tax hike. The next day she did just that. Leofric kept his promise
and eliminated all taxes in Coventry except for those related to
boarding horses. The bits about her covering her, uh, bits, with her
long flowing hair- and the story that Tom the Tailor was struck blind
when he took a peek as she passed by his shop (the origin of "Peeping
Tom")- are later embellishments.
(21)President of the New York World Fair Corporation.
(22)One of two large structures located at the center of the
1939 World's Fair in New York.
(23)A man-made island in San Francisco Bay between San
Francisco and Oakland.
(24)Vaslav Nijinsky (March 12, 1889 or 1890 – April 8, 1950),
considered by many to be the greatest male dancer of the early 20th
century.
(25)A style of ballroom dancing based on the Cuban
bolero-son. Not to be confused with the terminal emulation software. Or
the autonomous robot vacuum cleaner.
Late Night with David Letterman observed the 30th anniversary of
the iconic disco tune It's Raining Men yesterday with a big
end-of-show production number featuring surviving Weather Girl Martha
Wash; Paul Shaffer on keyboards; an augmented CBS orchestra; six(!)
backup singers; three female dancers; and three male acrobats suspended
from ceiling-mounted silk streamers.
No wonder it's Homer Simpson's favorite song.
Why Letterman, you may ask? The song was co-written by Shaffer, the late
night host's sidekick/bandleader, and was featured early in the run of
Letterman's late night show on NBC- episode 174, which aired on January
12, 1983.
Originally written in 1979 by Shaffer and Paul Jabara, the song was
rejected by Diana Ross, Donna Summer, Cher, and Barbra Streisand. Martha
Wash and the late Izora Armstead, originally performing as "Two Tons O'
Fun," became "The Weather Girls" and released "Men" in October, 1982.
An international hit, it sold 6 million copies worldwide. While it
reached #1 on the US disco chart, it only climbed to #46 on the
Billboard Hot 100. In April 2001, Geri Halliwell released a cover
version that was used in the film Bridget Jones' Diary. It was a
big hit in the UK and Europe, but received little airplay in the US.
Used for decades in dozens of films and television episodes, "Men"'s
most recent reincarnation is in the Broadway production of the stage
musical Priscilla Queen of the Desert- The Musical. It was
performed by the show's cast, plus Wash and Shaffer, at the 2011 Tony
Awards.
The clip from last night is at the bottom of this post.
My all-time favorite version remains this one. The quality leaves a bit
to be desired and the audio is slightly out of sync for the first minute
or so, but it's, well, two tons o' fun. Watch the audience, especially
when Martha heads into their midst and intimidates those in the aisle
seats with her powerful gospel soprano. As Letterman commented later in
the show, "They ripped the roof off the joint."
(YouTube video: The Weather Girls perform live on NBC's "Late Night
with David Letterman" in January, 1983.)
(YouTube video: Martha Wash and Paul Shaffer lead a lavish (for late
night TV) 30th anniversary performance on CBS' "The Late Show with David
Letterman".)
Published Saturday, September 22, 2012 @ 8:36 AM EDT
Sep222012
(YouTube video: Martin Short sings "It's Raining Mitt")
He likes firing people
("I like being able to fire people...")
Doesn't care about the very poor
("I'm not concerned about the very poor...")
He's wealthy and good-looking
("My name is Mitt Romney...")
Yes, that's I guy I'm for
When campaigning in the Deep South
He pretends to like eating grits
Rick Santorum's gone post-mortem 'cause
It's gonna start raining Mitt
It's raining Mitt
Holy heaven
Everyone needs a hit- of Mitt
Under Romney
There's a future in sight
Where all our trees are the right height
It's raining Mitt
What a wager
I'll make you a ten
Thousand dollar bet
So white, rich and fit
It's stormin' for a moment Mitt
President Obama
Mitt Romney says you're to blame
For too much federal spending
Though your healthcare plans look the same
I don't know economics
But when Mitt mentions income tax
Then I guess he must know something
Since his wife drives two Cadillacs
(She drives two Cadillacs!)
It's raining Mitt
I ain't lyin'
It's raining Mitt
No s**t
It's raining Mitt
Let's show the kind of Mitt that we are
And tie the dog to the roof of our car
Mitt, hallelujah
It's raining Mitt...
Good God it's raining mitt, yeah...
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was one of the
most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he
is commonly known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as
the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King".
Presley is regarded as one of the most important figures of 20th-century
popular culture. He had a versatile voice and unusually wide success
encompassing many genres, including country, pop ballads, gospel, and
blues. He is the best- selling solo artist in the history of popular
music. Nominated for 14 competitive Grammys, he won three (surprisingly,
all in the gospel genre), and received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement
Award at age 36. He has been inducted into four music halls of fame.
Presley was scheduled to fly out of Memphis on the evening of August 16,
1977, to begin another tour. That afternoon, he was discovered,
unresponsive, on his bathroom floor. Attempts to revive him failed, and
death was officially pronounced at 3:30 pm at Baptist Memorial Hospital.
Presley's funeral was held at Graceland, on Thursday, August 18. Outside
the gates, a car plowed into a group of fans, killing two women and
critically injuring a third. Approximately 80,000 people lined the
processional route to Forest Hill Cemetery, where Presley was buried
next to his mother. Following an attempt to steal the singer's body in
late August, the remains of both Elvis Presley and his mother were
reburied in Graceland's Meditation Garden on October 2.
Graceland was opened to the public in 1982. Attracting over half a
million visitors annually, it is the second most-visited home in the
United States, after the White House. It was declared a National
Historic Landmark in 2006. (Click
for full Wikipedia article.)
---
It was one of the handful of "where were you" moments that occur in a
lifetime. In August, 1977 I was working in a now-defunct typesetting
shop in Bethel Park, less than two miles from my current home. At the
time, though, we were living hand-to-mouth in West Mifflin, with a
17-month old baby and another due in about two months.
I was getting reading to leave to catch the trolley to downtown when the
phone rang. This could not be good news. A bill collector? A baby
deciding to arrive ahead of time?
No- the voice on the line said The King was dead.
The trolley and bus ride home, usually a solitary activity, was instead
a rolling conversation with fellow riders about Elvis' unfortunate
demise and how a major contributor to the soundtrack of our lives was
gone.
That was 35 years ago, and Elvis- who paved the way for all the one-name
wonders that followed- is still The King.
James Lee Jamerson (January 29, 1936 - August 2, 1983) was the
uncredited bassist on most of Motown Records' hits in the 1960s and
early 1970s. He is now regarded, along with fellow Motown bassist and
Pittsburgh native Bob Babbitt, as one of the most influential bass
players in modern music history. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame in 2000.
Starting in 1959, Jameson found steady work at Berry Gordy's Hitsville
U.S.A. studio, home of the Motown record label. There he became a member
of a core of studio musicians who informally called themselves The Funk
Brothers. The small, close-knit group performed on most Motown
recordings during the 1960s. Jamerson's earliest Motown sessions were
performed on double bass, but in the early 1960s he switched to a Fender
Precision electric bass
Jamerson, like most of the other Funk Brothers, were jazz musicians who
had been recruited by Gordy. For many years, they maintained a typical
schedule of recording during the day at Motown's small garage "Studio A"
(which they nicknamed "the Snakepit"), then playing gigs in the jazz
clubs at night. They also occasionally toured the U.S. with Motown
artists. For most of their career, the members of the Funk Brothers went
uncredited on Motown singles and albums, and their share of record sales
was considerably less than the artists or the label received.
Eventually, Motown placed Jamerson on a $1,000 per week retainer.
Jamerson's discography at Motown is a catalog of the major soul hits of
the 1960s and 1970s, including "Shotgun" by Junior Walker & the All
Stars; "For Once in My Life", "I Was Made To Love Her" by Stevie Wonder;
"Going to a Go-Go" by The Miracles; "My Girl" by The Temptations,
"Dancing in the Street" by Martha and the Vandellas; "I Heard It Through
the Grapevine" by Gladys Knight and the Pips, and later by Marvin Gaye;
"Reach Out I'll Be There" and "Bernadette" by the Four Tops; and "You
Can't Hurry Love" by The Supremes. According to fellow Funk Brothers in
the 2002 documentary Standing in the Shadows of Motown, Gaye was
desperate to have Jamerson play on "What's Going On", and went to
several bars to find the bassist. When he did, he brought Jamerson to
the studio, who then played the classic line while lying flat on his
back, a feat prospective Motown bassists had to duplicate if they wanted
to join the Funk Brothers.
Some sources claim Jamerson played on roughly 95 per cent of Motown
recordings between 1962 and 1968. He eventually performed on nearly 30
number one pop hits— surpassing the record commonly attributed to The
Beatles. On the R&B charts, nearly 70 of his performances went to the
top. (via Wikipedia).
This YouTube video consists of just the vocal and bass track of the
Marvin Gaye/Tammi Terrell hit "Ain't No Mountain High Enough." The
complex bass line was improvised by Jamerson during the recording
session, and is one of the best examples of the bass countermelodies
that helped to give Motown its distinctive sound. The recording isn't
the best, but it reveals Jamerson's talent and personality.
From the mid to late 60s, Jamerson split recording duties with native
Pittsburgher Bob
Babbit, who died on July 16 of this year.
Bob Babbitt, the bass guitarist who provided the driving, iconic bass
lines for "Cool Jerk," "Band of Gold," "The Tears of a Clown," and
scores of other hits, died yesterday of brain cancer. He was 74.
Born Robert Kreinar in Pittsburgh on November 26, 1937, Babbitt was a
member of Motown's house band, The Funk Brothers, from 1966 to 1972. He
alternated with the legendary James Jamerson on most of the label's hits.
Babbitt's legendary performances include "Cool Jerk" by The Capitols;
"Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours" by Stevie Wonder; "War" by Edwin
Starr; "The Tears of a Clown" by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles; "Mercy
Mercy Me (The Ecology)" and "Inner City Blues" by Marvin Gaye; "Band of
Gold" by Freda Payne; "Ball of Confusion (That's What the World Is
Today)" and "Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)" by The
Temptations.
One of the most sought-after session musicians in the industry, Babbitt
played on hundreds of recordings for scores of stars. His distinctive
stylings helped to make many of those songs classic hits. A small sample
includes "Little Town Flirt" by Del Shannon; "I Got a Name" by Jim
Croce; "Midnight Train to Georgia" by Gladys Knight & the Pips;
"Scorpio" by Dennis Coffey & the Detroit Guitar Band; and "(The)
Rubberband Man" by The Spinners. His bass line in "Scorpio" was the
standard by which bass players were judged in the 70s; those who
couldn't duplicate Babbitt's performance didn't get the gig.
Babbitt is featured in the 2002 film "Standing in the Shadows of
Motown," which documented the Funk Brothers' previously unheralded
contribution to the label's success. He also performed on Phil Collins'
2010 Motown tribute album, "Going Back." In March, 2011 he appeared
onstage in an episode of American Idol, backing up Jacob Lusk's
performance of "You're All I Need To Get By" for the show's "Motown
Week."
A full biography of Babbitt is available on his
web site.
As a kid growing up in Homestead, PA in the 60s and 70s, Babbitt was an
integral part of my daily existence, even though I didn't learn of his
contributions- let alone his name- until decades later. Motown was everywhere
then- and for me, it still is. I don't think I've gone more than two or
three days without hearing something with a Babbitt bass line since I
bought "Cool Jerk" at the little record store on Eighth Avenue in July
'66.
Thanks, Bob, for all the memories.
(YouTube video: Cool Jerk, with Bob Babbitt on bass, from the film
"Standing in the Shadows of Motown")
(YouTube video: Love Is Like A Heat Wave, with Bob Babbitt on bass, from
the film Phil Collins' "Going Back" documentary.)
...but you can travel on ten thousand miles, and still stay where you are..."
Harry Forster Chapin (December 7, 1942 – July 16, 1981) was an American
singer-songwriter best known for his folk rock songs, including "Taxi",
"W*O*L*D", and the number-one hit "Cat's in the Cradle". Chapin was also
a dedicated humanitarian who fought to end world hunger; he was a key
player in the creation of the Presidential Commission on World Hunger in
1977. In 1987, Chapin was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold
Medal for his humanitarian work. (Click
here for full article.)
(YouTube video: Harry Chapin performing "W*O*L*D")
(YouTube video: Harry Chapin performing "Circle")
All my life's a circle, sunrise and sundown The moon rolls through
the night-time, 'til the daybreak comes around All my life's a
circle, but I can't tell you why The seasons spinning 'round again,
the years keep rolling by
It seems like I've been here before, I can't remember when But I've
got this funny feeling that we'll all get together again There's no
straight lines make up my life, and all my roads are bends There's no
clear-cut beginnings and so far no dead ends
I've found you a thousand times, I guess you've done the same But
then we lose each other, it's like a children's game As I find you
here again the thought runs through my mind Our love is like a
circle, let's go round one more time
Telstar is the name of various communications satellites, including the
first such satellite to relay television signals. Telstar 1 was launched
on top of a Thor-Delta rocket on July 10, 1962. It successfully relayed
through space the first television pictures, telephone calls, fax images
and provided the first live transatlantic television feed.
(YouTube video: Newsreel of Telstar launch.)
(YouTube video: Telstar by The Tornados.)
Telstar was a 1962 instrumental record performed by The Tornados. It was
the first single by a British band to reach number one on the U.S.
Billboard Hot 100, and was also a number one hit in the UK. The record
was named after the AT&T communications satellite Telstar, which went
into orbit in July 1962. The song was released five weeks later on
August 17, 1962. It was written and produced by Joe Meek, and featured a
clavioline, a keyboard instrument with a distinctive electronic sound.
It was estimated to have sold at least five million copies worldwide
(YouTube video: "Walking in Memphis" official music video.)
Born on July 5, 1959, Marc Cohn was raised in Cleveland, Ohio. Orphaned
as a youngster, he was barely out of infancy when his mother died; his
father died ten years later, when Cohn was 12. As a teenager in the
1970s Cohn was inspired by the plaintive voices of his generation,
idolizing Van Morrison, Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne and especially
Paul Simon, whose music, Cohn says, can bring him to tears. Cohn learned
to play guitar and started writing songs when he was in junior high
school, playing and singing with a local band called Doanbrook Hotel.
While attending Oberlin College in Ohio he taught himself to play the
piano, then after transferring to the University of California at Los
Angeles began to perform in the intimate coffeehouse and steakhouse
venues popular in that locale.
... and late night television's never been the same. Johnny Carson's
last day as host of The Tonight Show. The video below is actually
from the night before, but it's the one most people as Johnny's official
"farewell."
(YouTube video. From the description: Bette Midler singing "One For
My Baby (And One For The Road)" on Johnny Carson's final show with guest
appearances (1992). On May 21, 1992, the eve of Johnny Carson's last
show, he hosted his final guests, Robin Williams and Bette Midler. It
was also the final show before a regular studio audience; fans, who had
been camping out to get into the final shows, waited up to 35 hours to
get into this one. Once underway, the atmosphere was electric and Carson
was greeted with a sustained, two-minute ovation at the start. Williams
displayed an especially uninhibited take on his trademark manic energy
and stream-of-consciousness lunacy. Midler, in contrast, found the
emotional vein of the farewell. When the conversation turned to Johnny's
favorite songs- "I'll Be Seeing You" and "Here's That Rainy Day" --
Midler mentioned she knew a chorus of the latter. She began singing the
song, and after the first line, Carson joined in and turned it into an
impromptu duet. Midler finished her appearance from center stage, where
she slowly sang the pop standard "One for My Baby (and One More for the
Road)". Carson became unexpectedly tearful, and a shot of the two of
them was captured by a camera angle from across the set which had never
been used before. The audience became tearful as well, and called the
three performers out for a second bow after the show completed. This
penultimate show was immediately recognized as a television classic, and
Midler would consider it one of the most emotional moments of her life
and would win an Emmy Award for her role in it.)
Ross
Bagdasarian, Sr. (January 27, 1919 – January 16, 1972), aka David
Seville, creator of Alvin and the Chipmunks, was the cousin of writer William
Saroyan. Bagdasarian and Saroyan wrote the song "Come
on-a My House" in 1939, which became a hit when it was recorded
by Rosemary
Clooney in 1951.
(YouTube video: Elvis Presley sings "In The Ghetto". Written by Mac
Davis and included in his 1969 album "From Elvis in Memphis," it was The
King's first non-gospel top-ten hit in six years and perhaps the last of
the great "message" songs. The album also contained "Suspicious Minds,"
"Don't Cry Daddy," and "Kentucky Rain.")
Published Saturday, December 10, 2011 @ 12:02 AM EST
Dec102011
Alexander (Sandy) Courage, who wrote the enduring, eight-note Fanfare
for the Starship Enterprise and the theme to the television series Star
Trek, was born on December 10, 1919 in Philadelphia. He died May 15,
2008 in Pacific Palisades, California. He was 88.
Fanfare, written in 1965 for the first of two Star Trek
pilots, was heard throughout the three original seasons of the show, has
been reprised in all of the Trek feature films and several of the
TV series, and may be the single best-known fanfare in the world. When
told by writer Jon Burlingame that more people knew his Trek
flourish than Aaron Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man,
"Courage- in his typically self-deprecating fashion- said that must
surely be an exaggeration," Burlingame reported.
Courage was not the first choice to write the Star Trek theme. Trek
creator Gene Roddenberry initially approached Jerry Goldsmith with the
assignment. Goldsmith declined because of other commitments, and
recommended Courage. Much later, Courage did the orchestrations for
Goldsmith's scores for Star Trek- First Contact and Star Trek-
Insurrection.
In addition to the fanfare, the series theme and the scores for the two
pilot episodes ("The Cage" and "Where No Man Has Gone Before"), Courage
composed the music for four episodes: "The Man Trap" and "The Naked
Time" in the series' first season, and "The Enterprise Incident" and
"Plato's Stepchildren" in the third. However, themes from first season
score were frequently "tracked" in other episodes.
Jeff Bond of TrekMovie.com ended his comprehensive
article on Courage with a quote by Michael Giacchino, who scored
J.J. Abrams' Star Trek reboot:
"... Alexander Courage is responsible for the musical heart to the world
of Star Trek. I feel that if you were to strip away everything,
bit by bit, in order of importance, the last thing you would be holding
in your hands would be the sheet music for the opening fanfare to the Star
Trek main theme. To me, that small piece of music is and always
shall be Star Trek."
Published Sunday, November 27, 2011 @ 11:07 PM EST
Nov272011
Paul Shaffer (b.
November 28, 1949) is perhaps best known as late night talk
show host David Letterman's band leader, a position he's held
since the show's original premiere on NBC in 1982.
That year, a song Shaffer co-wrote in 1979 with Grammy
and Academy Award winning composer
Paul Jabara was
recorded by a duo of plus-sized black women originally called Two Tons o' Fun. To
tie in to the theme of the song, the group renamed themselves The Weather Girls.
The recording, a disco tune with a driving beat and unusual minor chord progression, was
It's Raining Men.
The rest, as they say, is history.
In 1982, I was working as the second-shift supervisor of
a financial printing company on the fringes of downtown
Pittsburgh, and I always tried to make it home in time
to catch Letterman's show.
I vividly remember the night Men made its appearance.
Letterman had repeatedly razzed Shaffer about his new disco tune, and when
the two huge black women in glittering evening gowns appeared as the
now-iconic intro began, I expected a clever disco parody sketch.
Instead, Shaffer's band and the vocalists gave a raw, spontaneous performance that
had the audience clapping along and cheering wildly.
Letterman admitted they'd "ripped the roof off the
joint."
The original performance is here,
and it's definitely worth watching. (The video's owner prohibits embedding it here.) It's a
rare opportunity to watch the birth of a pop culture phenomenon.
Shaffer gives the history of the song in this interview,
and introduces it at the 2011 Tony Awards, where it's the opening number in the Broadway
music adaptation of the film
Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
The Phantom of the Opera officially
premiered October 9, 1986 at Her Majesty's Theatre in London's West End.
It opened in New York in January, 1986, and it's still playing- making
it the longest-running musical in Broadway history.
The 25th anniversary performance at Prince Albert Hall was filmed- which
means a complete recording of the show will finally be available on DVD
and Blu-Ray. Here's hoping they collect and destroy the remaining copies
of the 2004 film, which was nothing short of an abomination.
Published Monday, September 26, 2011 @ 6:29 AM EDT
Sep262011
(YouTube video: Weird Al Yankovic's "Stop Forwarding That Crap To Me")
Oh the sand keeps falling through the hourglass
And there's no way you're going to slow it down
You say we gotta treasure each moment
Who knows how long we're gonna be around
Yeah you keep on telling me life is short
And its hard to disagree with what you say
But if time is so precious why ya wasting mine
'Cause I'm always reading, always deleting
Every useless piece of garbage that you send my way
Every stupid hoax
All those corny jokes
Stop forwarding that crap to me
Well I don't need tons of cringe-inducing puns
Stop forwarding that crap to me
No it isn't okay if you brighten my day
With some cut-and-pasted hackneyed Hallmark poetry
And I didn't request a personality test
Stop forwarding that crap to me
Ahhhh...
You're sending virus-laden bandwidth-hogging attachments
To every single person you know
You're passing around a link to some dumb thing on YouTube
That everybody else already saw three years ago
And wacky badly Photoshopped billboards
Were never that amusing to me
And I just can't believe you believe those urban legends
But I have high hopes
Someone will point you toward Snopes
And debunk that crazy junk you're spewing constantly
No I don't want a bowl of Chicken Soup for the Soul
Stop forwarding that crap to me
Send more top 10 lists and I'll slash my wrists
Please stop forwarding that crap to me
Well I'm sorry i can't accept your paranoid rant
And I don't want the Neiman Marcus cookie recipe
Won't you kindly refrain 'cause it's hurting my brain
Stop forwarding... that crap to me
Like glittery hearts and unicorns
And pictures of somebody's cat
Now tell me, in what alternate reality
Would I care about something like that?
And by the way, your quotes from George Carlin
Aren't really George Carlin
Mr. Rogers never fought the Viet Cong
And Bill Gates is never gonna give me somethin' for nothin'
And I really doubt some dead girl is gonna kill me
If I don't pass her letter along
Well now I know you're wishin'
I'll sign your petition
But stop forwarding that crap to me
And I don't want to read your series
Of conspiracy theories
Just stop forwarding that crap to me
And your two million loser friends
All have my address now,
'Cause you never figured out the way to BCC
Now I gotta insist
Take me off of your list
Stop forwarding that crap to me
(Stop forwarding that crap to me)
(Stop forwarding that crap to me)
(Stop forwarding that crap to me)
(Stop forwarding that crap to me)
Just stop it now
(Stop forwarding that crap to me)
Oh, no
(Stop forwarding that crap to me)
Ohhh...
(Stop forwarding that crap to me)
I can't take it
(Stop forwarding that crap to me)
Aw, please
(Stop forwarding that crap to me)
(Stop forwarding that crap to me)
You gotta stop
(Stop forwarding that crap to me)
Right now
(Stop forwarding that crap to me)
(Stop forwarding that crap to me)
I'm not kidding!
(Stop forwarding that crap to me)
At the risk of being slightly repetitious
Gonna ask you now to stop! (Stop!)
Sending me that... (Crap!)
I don't want it!
Don't send it to me
Now don't send it to me!
(Stop forwarding that crap to me)
Just stop!
(Stop forwarding that crap to me)
Ohh...
Stop forwarding that crap to me
To me
Published Friday, September 23, 2011 @ 4:23 AM EDT
Sep232011
You can't think of Bob Fosse (June
23, 1927 – September 23, 1987) and not remember "Bye Bye Life," the spectacular ending of
his semi-autobiographical All That Jazz (1979).
(YouTube video of the "Bye Bye Life" finale. Warning: contains brief nudity.)
When it's time to shuffle off this mortal coil, most just limp into an ill-defined tunnel with a
light at its end. Fosse's Joe Gideon character does it with a Palme d'Or-winning Broadway finale.
The ending is abrupt and unsettling. Only Fosse could blend body bags and Ethel Merman and make it
work.
Published Friday, September 09, 2011 @ 7:19 AM EDT
Sep092011
You may not know his name, but you've heard his music.
Hoyt
Curtin (9/9/1922-12/3/2000) wrote most of the now-iconic music for
all of the Hanna-Barbera cartoon series from Ruff and Ready in
the 50s through The Smurfs in the 70s- 145 themes in all.
Curtin is perhaps most remembered for his themes to The Flintstones
and The Jetsons, but his music for Jonny Quest is perhaps
the best example of great 60s jazz:
Published Friday, September 02, 2011 @ 8:53 AM EDT
Sep022011
(You Tube video)
Vietnam Vet with a cardboard sign Sitting there by the left turn line Flag
on the wheelchair flapping in the breeze One leg missing, both hands
free No one's paying much mind to him The V.A. budget's stretched
so thin And there's more comin' home from the Mideast war We can't
make it here anymore
That big ol' building was the textile mill It fed our kids and it
paid our bills But they turned us out and they closed the doors We
can't make it here anymore
See all those pallets piled up on the loading dock? They're just
gonna sit there till they rot 'Cause there's nothing to ship, nothing
to pack Just busted concrete and rusted tracks Empty storefronts
around the square There's a needle in the gutter and glass everywhere You
don't come down here 'less you're looking to score We can't make it
here anymore
The bar's still open but man it's slow The tip jar's light and the
register's low The bartender don't have much to say The regular
crowd gets thinner each day
Some have maxed out all their credit cards Some are working two jobs
and living in cars Minimum wage won't pay for a roof, won't pay for a
drink If you gotta have proof just try it yourself Mr. CEO See how
far five fifteen an hour will go Take a part time job at one of your
stores Bet you can't make it here anymore
High school girl with a bourgeois dream Just like the pictures in the
magazine She found on the floor of the laundromat A woman with
kids can forget all that If she comes up pregnant what'll she do? Forget
the career, forget about school Can she live on faith? live on hope? High
on Jesus or hooked on dope When it's way too late to just say no You
can't make it here anymore
Now I'm stocking shirts in the Wal-Mart store Just like the ones we
made before 'Cept this one came from Singapore I guess we can't
make it here anymore
Should I hate a people for the shade of their skin Or the shape of
their eyes or the shape I'm in? Should I hate 'em for having our jobs
today? No I hate the men sent the jobs away I can see them all
now, they haunt my dreams All lily white and squeaky clean They've
never known want, they'll never know need Their shit don't stink and
their kids won't bleed Their kids won't bleed in the damn little war And
we can't make it here anymore
Will work for food Will die for oil Will kill for power and to us
the spoils The billionaires get to pay less tax The working poor
get to fall through the cracks Let 'em eat jellybeans let 'em eat cake Let
'em eat shit, whatever it takes They can join the Air Force, or join
the Corps If they can't make it here anymore
And that's how it is That's what we got If the president wants to
admit it or not You can read it in the paper Read it on the wall Hear
it on the wind If you're listening at all Get out of that limo Look
us in the eye Call us on the cell phone Tell us all why
In Dayton, Ohio Or Portland, Maine Or a cotton gin out on the
great high plains That's done closed down along with the school And
the hospital and the swimming pool Dust devils dance in the noonday
heat There's rats in the alley And trash in the street Gang
graffiti on a boxcar door We can't make it here anymore
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Current weather from my backyard in South Park, PA.
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