Music has been delivered for decades on various forms of discs that spin and scratch, from the 78rpm shellac recording through the 45 to vinyl and finally, in the mid-1980s, the Compact Disc. It’s hard to remember that the CD was once a miraculous piece of technology–especially now that most
Recently I decided to unearth a pile of delicate, glass 78rpm records that I’ve been dragging around with me from one house to another over the years, each move threatening the life of these beauties. I hadn’t played them for many years–most were acquired when I was a kid and
For the grand finale of this weeks tap-centric postings, lets watch the grand finale of ‘Stormy Weather’ (1943) featuring the astonishingly elegant, athletic and altogether delightful dance team of Harold and Fayard Nicholas. This five minute clip includes the opening chorus of Cab Calloway singing ‘Jumping Jive’ so either skip
The astounding tap dancer Arthur Duncan, who died early this year aged 97, spent years performing on Lawrence Welk’s weekly TV show. For that the much maligned Welk should be commended. Duncan had the misfortune of being the very best at his craft at a moment in history when only
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiWpmprZDrAhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ufop72Q74fA Here are two deleted scenes from ‘Cafe Metropole’, a 1937 20th Century Fox musical (sort of) starring Tyrone Power, Loretta Young and Adolphe Menjou. Both feature tap-dancing legend Bill Bojangles Robinson, who already had made screen history by dancing with Shirley Temple in another Fox movie ‘The Little Colonel’
Jerry Lewis’s ‘The Ladies Man’ (1961) is one of his most inventive and, simultaneously, unfunny films. Indeed, most of the comedy falls flat because of the films stylistic advances and ideas, which conversely still feel fresh, interesting and even startlingly good. The big deal in this movie is the massive
It’s June 11, 1929: the first of a three-day film shoot for Judy Garland and her two sisters known as “The Gumm Sisters” at the Tec-Art Studios in Hollywood, California, for the Mayfair Pictures short “The Big Revue” (aka “The Starlet Revue”). This is Judy Garland’s film debut. She’s just
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78gt7pfjlCUhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unOnSonpZfY To close this weeks series of original versions of movie themes that my trio and I (redundant? is just ‘my trio’ enough?) performed last week, here’s the first screen appearance of Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley’s iconic ‘The Candy Man’, from ‘Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory’ (1971). The
Here’s the original theatrical trailer for Stanley Donen’s 1967 film ‘Two For The Road’, starring Albert Finney and Audrey Hepburn. Last week my trio played Henry Mancini’s gorgeous eponymous theme song at our concert in Temecula, at which we devoted a full set to title tracks from movies. Alas, I
Yesterday I posted the opening title sequence of ‘The Tender Trap’ (1955). Today I offer up the ending of the film and its adjacent ‘The End’ sequence. (Spoiler: everyone falls in love and is happy). Perhaps tomorrow I’ll begin posting the reel changes. I like the idea of posting the