Annette Funicello is back with us again this time with a dance called ‘The Clyde’. Have you heard of ‘The Clyde?’ No? Well there’s a reason for that. It’s because it stinks. A truly lousy dance. Performed on a Bob Hope Chrysler show from 1964, it’s followed by another lousy
‘When they met they way they smiled I knew that I was through…oh, you crazy moon, what did you do?’ With that opening line the stage is set for a song that depicts a nauseating moment for anyone who’s experienced it; the moment when the one you love suddenly fixes
See my previous post (if you haven’t already wallowed in it) in which I discuss the sub-genre of songs in the American Popular Songbook that deal with cuckoldry. Yesterday’s song, ‘Two Cigarettes In The Dark’, featured a husband coming upon his wife in flagrante delicto with her lover. Today we
The great songs of the 20s/30s/40s/50s mostly have as their subject love. True love, unrequited love, past loves etc. It’s very sweet that this was what the ‘music of the street’ focused on and, if you’re a deep fan of the so-called ‘Great American Songbook’, you’ll know the really great
Merv Griffin–talk show host, game show creator, media mogul, hotel and resort tycoon–was my first late-night talk show host. That’s because he wasn’t on late-night. He was on KTTV Channel 11 in Los Angeles at 9PM. So as a ten year old obsessed with show-biz I was able to stay
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7SsYtLP9fg NOTE: FOR SOME REASON THE ABOVE VIDEO HAS BEEN BLOCKED FOR VIEWING ON OTHER WEBSITES SO SIMPLY GO TO YOUTUBE (CLICK ABOVE LINK) AND WATCH IT DIRECTLY. *********** Shortly after I met Peter Bogdanovich at a party I gave in 2002 (actually about 20 minutes after we met) we discovered that
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jqWC6ENShc Who’d a thunk? He’s good too! Let’s consider this a week of videos featuring people singing skillfully who really ought not to be singing at all (see previous post). Next up is Earl Holliman…
In 2002, my new friend Peter Bogdanovich and I decided to make a CD of songs from the American popular songbook. We both loved the standards from the 30s/40s/50s and Peter was, believe it or not, a pretty good singer. We’d been getting together at my apartment for the past
Even though I’ve loved Ray Charles forever it somehow eluded me that he played clean, swinging and funk-infused bop piano and did so in depth on a 1957 album called ‘The Great Ray Charles’ (Atlantic, 1957). Here’s ‘The Ray’, by Quincy Jones, the opening track and the one that sets
I find every second of this thirteen minute clip of Ray Charles rehearsing ‘They Can’t Take That Away From Me’ with an orchestra that he’s clearly never worked with before absolutely mesmerizing. Charles’ clarity and precision with what he wants (needs, really) from the band and his direct and not