Muzak was an American brand of background music played in retail stores and other public establishments. The name has been in use since 1934 and has been owned by various companies. The soothing, full orchestral arrangements of popular songs were heard in supermarkets, shopping malls and–somewhat infamously–elevators, leading to the
‘Half Shot Shooters’ (1936) is the 14th short subject made by The Three Stooges for Columbia Pictures. It was photographed from Wednesday, March 18, through Saturday, March 21 1936 and released a scant five weeks later on Thursday, April 30th 1936 (the 121st day of the year on the Gregorian
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXIja9Yze0U Al Jolson and Ruby Keeler were married from 1928 through 1940. Despite both being major stars during that period they only appeared together once, in Go Into Your Dance (1935). The film, directed by Archie Mayo, features Jolson as a self-destructive Broadway star who, after being banned from working
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWOB9GBqJAAhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=op0NY8Fc5GY&t=55s In yesterday’s post we saw behind-the-scenes of the shooting of the MTM credits sequence. Today we’ll learn about the creation of that famous credit sequences’ equally famous theme song ‘Love Is All Around’. On a segment of CBS Sunday Morning, Sonny Curtis (who wrote among other hits ‘I Fought
Behold some very cool behind-the-scenes footage of a crew shooting material for the iconic opening credits sequence of ‘The Mary Tyler Moore Show’. As you probably know, the show took place in Minneapolis and the tasty, charming front credits set the stage in a very nice, semi-doc verite style, showing
Yesterday I posted a commercial from 1956 featuring the all-new RCA clock radio. I mentioned that I thought it was an invention from the 70s, not the 50s, and the above 1974 commercial for G.E. clock radios does make it seem falsely like its a new concept. They roped Sammy
Above is a charming reel of a few old RCA Victor television and radio ads. As always with ads for old technology, the yuk-yuk factor is easy, low-hanging fruit. Of course old TV sets look silly. So do the annoucers who sit there extolling their virtues. (They also sound silly–the
‘Idiots Deluxe’ (1945) is the 85th short film made by The Three Stooges for Columbia Pictures. It was photographed from Thursday, October 5 through Monday, October 9, 1944 (that’s 78 years and ten months ago) and was released on Friday, July 20, 1945 (the 201st day of that year on
I realize that by using the word ‘jazz’ in the title of this post I’ve probably caused at least half of my little audience to quickly move onto another blog (or to compulsively check their email) rather than explore today’s post. But hear me out; as a jazz musician myself
On June 10, 1956, Nat King Cole guested on Ed Sullivan’s famous Sunday night TV broadcast. Sullivan wisely asked Nat to do a piano instrumental–no vocals necessary. The song chosen was ‘Just One Of Those Things’ and, to put it mildly, Nat kills it. This is a superb clip as