music Archives - Page 49 of 264 - Ramblin' with Roger

1943 #1s: Helen Forrest

Harry James

I noticed that in 1943, Helen Forrest was the singer of three #1 songs with two big bands. Here’s a bit from Wikipedia: “Helen Forrest (born Helen Fogel, April 12, 1917 – July 11, 1999) was an American singer of traditional pop and swing music. She served as the ‘girl singer’ for three of the most popular big bands of the Swing Era… earning a reputation as ‘the voice of the name bands.'”

Here’s a 1982 quote from her: I live for today, but it is nice sometimes to look back to yesterday. We did not know that we were living through an era – the Big Band Era – that would last only 10 years or so and be remembered and revered forever…it’s hard to believe, but the best times were packed into a five-year period from the late 1930s through the early 1940s when I sang with the bands of Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, and Harry James… They seem to symbolize my life…that was when the music of the dance bands was the most popular music in the country, and I was the most popular female band singer in the country, and Harry had the most popular band in the country. It didn’t last long, but it sure was something while it lasted. Everyone should have something like it at least once in their lives. I’m grateful I did.”

The songs

I’ve Heard That Song Before – Harry James with Helen Forrest on vocals, thirteen weeks at #1, gold record. Written by Styne/Cahn for Youth On Parade.

Paper Doll – Mills Brothers, twelve weeks at #1, gold record. The biggest hit by a vocal group in the decade.

Sunday, Monday Or Always – Bing Crosby with the Ken Darby Singers, seven weeks at #1, gold record. From the film Dixie.

There Are Such Things – Tommy Dorsey with Frank Sinatra and The Pied Pipers on vocals, five weeks at #1, gold record

You’ll Never Know– Dick Haymes and The Song Spinners, four weeks at #1, gold record. A Cappella! From the movie Hello, Frisco, Hello.

In The Blue Of Evening – Tommy Dorsey with Frank Sinatra on vocals, three weeks at #1

Comin’ In On A Wing And A Prayer – The Song Spinners, three weeks at #1; A Cappella!

Taking A Chance On Love -Benny Goodman with Helen Forrest on vocals, three weeks at #1. From the film Cabin In The Sky.

I Had The Craziest Dream – Harry James with Helen Forrest on vocals, two weeks at #1, gold record, From the film Springtime In The Rockies.

That Old Black Magic – Glenn Miller with Skip Nelson and the Modernaires on vocals. From the film Star Spangled Rhythm

Pistol Packin’ Mama – Al Dexter and His Troopers, gold record. “It is said that the massive popularity of this ‘hillbilly’ tune… that was also covered successfully by Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters, was a major factor in Billboard’s decision to begin publishing a weekly record chart devoted to the country music genre.”

Folks turning 70 in May 2023

Oingo Boingo

Here’s a list of notable people turning 70 in May 2023. I’m SO much older than they are.

Tony Blair (6th). I had hope for him when he became the youngest Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in 1997. He worked for a minimum wage, and he supported LGBTQ rights. But in his second term, he supported W’s foolhardy invasion of Iraq.

Alex Van Halen (8th) – the only time I mentioned the drummer of Van Halen in this blog was as Eddie’s brother.

I have one CD by Mike Oldfield (15th), which has nothing to do with Tubular Bells; I have it on vinyl, considered a precursor to new-age music.

George Brett (15th) was a Hall of Fame third baseman, playing over 20 years for the Kansas City Royals. Yet, I still think of him regarding the pine tar incident on July 24, 1983.

Pierce Brosnan (16th) played in a detective series Remington Steele, which I viewed. Other folks watching thought he should play James Bond, and he did in five films, though I saw none of them. I did see him in Mrs. Doubtfire and Mamma Mia!

Oddly, I most remember him by how much he loved his first wife, Cassandra Harris, and her children. Cassie died in 1991, and her daughter Charlotte died in 2013, both of ovarian cancer.

“When your partner gets cancer, then life changes. Your timetable and reference for your normal routines and the way you view life, all this change. Because you’re dealing with death. You’re dealing with the possibility of death and dying… Cassie was very positive about life. I mean, she had the most amazing energy and outlook on life. It was and is a terrible loss, and I see it reflected, from time to time, in my children.”

Doc Ock

Before I knew who he was, Alfred Molina (24th) was in many movies, including Raiders of the Lost Ark. I saw him in Chocolat, Frida, An Education, and primarily as Doctor Octopus in Spider-Man movies. I didn’t know he was born in London.

Danny Elfman (29th) is such a prolific composer of film scores that I don’t know where to start. From the Wikipedia page: “Elfman has frequently worked with directors Tim Burton, Sam Raimi, and Gus Van Sant, contributing music to nearly 20 Burton projects, including Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure, Batman, Edward Scissorhands,… as well as scoring Raimi’s A Simple Plan, Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2, and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and Van Sant’s Academy Award–winning films Good Will Hunting and Milk. He wrote music for the Men in Black franchise films, the songs and score for Henry Selick’s animated musical The Nightmare Before Christmas, and the themes for the popular television series Desperate Housewives and The Simpsons.” I’ve seen every single film mentioned above.

“Among his honors are four Oscar nominations, two Emmy Awards, a Grammy,… the 2015 Disney Legend Award… and the Society of Composers & Lyricists Lifetime Achievement Award in 2022.

Yet I will link to the video for Weird Science by his band Oingo Boingo, which he is now mortified by.

April rambling: Carol Burnett turns 90

Finnish happiness

The Doomsday Clock at 90 Seconds to Midnight

Why fascism? Why now?

“U.S.A. Number One!” in Mass Shooting Murders

The Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA), a Florida-based “think tank,” is a driving force behind the campaign to roll back child labor protections in state legislatures.

Banned in the USA: State Laws Supercharge Book Suppression in Schools and Book bans in US public schools increase by 28% in six months, Pen report finds

Oklahoma’s Top Prosecutor Doesn’t Want to Execute a Likely Innocent Man, but a court is forcing him to do it anyway.

‘Kids Can’t Read,’ and the Education Establishment Faces a Revolt

“School choice” is the latest front in Christian nationalists’ battle to undermine the separation of church and state.

Impact of Weather Emergencies on Child Development

Missing Medicaid Data on Race/Ethnicity May Bias Health Research

Farmworkers: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

The Discord Leaker Was a Narcissist, Not an Ideologue. Comparisons between Jack Teixeira and self-declared whistleblowers are misplaced.

Retirement and Its Impact on Labor Supply

Reflections on driving across America

India’s population will pass China’s soon if it hasn’t already

What’s the Finnish secret to happiness?

The DeSantis Endorsement-ghazi Blame Game

Blame Rupert Murdock and Fox for Iraq, Brexit, Trump, and The Big Lie

Tucker Carlson is Out at Fox News; Don Lemon Terminated by CNN

Jordan Klepper and the most memorable moment from his “Man on the Street” interviews of MAGA types

djt Quit SAG-AFTRA Two Years Ago — But Still Collects 6-Figure Pension

How Technology Is Making it Possible to Build the Largest Dataset in History About the United States and the People Who Live There

Not to mention…

How to Research Charities 101

An April anniversary

Small Change: Let’s Put Pennies and Nickels to Rest

Sugar Pill Nation: Even when we know they’re “fake,” placebos can tame our emotional distress.

How to Get Energy Without Caffeine

Harry Belafonte, Singer, Actor, Producer, and Activist, Dies at 96. I wrote about him just before he turned 90 and linked it to what I wrote when he turned 85.

Edward Koren, the cartoonist who drew his shaggier alter-ego, dies at 87. His cartoons were an unmistakable fixture in the New Yorker and other magazines for more than 60 years

Len Goodman, Former Dancing With the Stars Judge, Dies at 78. I used to watch DWTS with my wife begrudgingly.

Barry Humphries, aka Dame Edna, Dies at 89. Goodbye, Possums.

“My Imperative Was To Get My Family Through This”: Catching up with Stephen R. Bissette

The Comics Journal interview of Chuck Rozanski/Bettie Pages, President – Mile High Comics, Inc.

James Gunn’s Guardians: How Chris Pratt and His Marvel Castmates Rescued Their Director’s Career

Mary Calvi on young Theodore Roosevelt’s love

Carol Burnett at 90, Like Her Comedy, Is Still Timeless

Nielsen Regains Accreditation for National TV Ratings. I didn’t know they had lost it.

Netflix to Shutter Legacy DVD Business

Abbott Elementary’s Long-suffering Servants

Oscars: Film Academy and ABC Announce Date for 2024 Ceremony, related events

The Honest Government Ads– as profane as they are informative

Now I Know: Why “It’s Time to Change Your Password” May Be a Bad Idea and All Your BS is… Vegan and Why Soda Cans in Hawaii Look So Weird and The Birds Who Fly First Class and This Restaurant Doesn’t Exist

MUSIC

Sonata for Cello and Piano in G minor by Sergei Rachmaninoff, played by Sheku Kanneh-Mason (cello) and his sister Isati (piano)

A tribute to composer Henry Mancini. Former colleagues, including John Williams and Quincy Jones, recreate the Peter Gunn theme.

Isle of the Dead by Rachmaninoff

Coverville 1437: The 60th Anniversary of Please Please Me and 1438: Cover Stories for Pharrell Williams, The Eels and Vangelis and 1439: Midnight Oil Cover Story and 40th Anniversary of Bowie’s Let’s Dance, and 1440: Fun on Two Wheels

Rachmaninoff’s First Symphony

Poet and Peasant by Franz von Suppe!

Rachamaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in F-sharp minor.

Bridge Over Troubled Water -Julien Neel

Opus 9, No. 2 in E-flat Major by Chopin, played by Sergei Rachmaninoff

The Ed Sullivan Show…March 30, 1969: the cast of Hair performs “The Age of Aquarius” and “Let the Sunshine In.”

Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini by Sergei Rachmaninoff.

Six Romances, op. 38 by Sergei Rachmaninoff

In my mind, music linked together

Town Without Pity

Quite often, not to your surprise, music gets linked together in my mind.

American classical composer Aaron Copeland finished Appalachian Spring in 1944, for which he won the Pulitzer Prize. The ballet was written for dancer Martha Graham.

Copland uses Simple Gifts, a “Shaker song written and composed in 1848, generally attributed to Elder Joseph Brackett from Alfred Shaker Village.”

Here is the song Simple Gifts, performed by Yo-Yo Ma and Alison Krauss.

The Aaron Copland version of the Simple Gifts section is isolated here. The part starting at 2:24 was used as the theme for CBS Reports, which may be the first place I heard it.

Simple Gifts was also the template for Lord of the Dance, a hymn written by English songwriter Sydney Carter in 1963. It has been included in at least one hymnal I’ve sung from in the last quarter century.

Come to where the flavor is

As a kid, I thought the theme that accompanied the Marlboro cigarette commercials was magnificent. I later discovered the tune from the movie The Magnificant Seven by Elmer Bernstein, which I have never seen.

Town Without Pity is a song performed by Gene Pitney and written by composer Dimitri Tiomkin and lyricist Ned Washington. I didn’t learn much about Pitney until after his commercial peak from 1961 to 1964. The a cappella group, The Nylons, does an excellent cover version. The intro sounds to my ear very much like the theme to the television program Perry Mason, which I think is one of the finest pieces of pure music in that genre, especially the closing.

Of course, the William Tell Overture from Gioachino Rossini’s last opera is quite familiar. The third movement is often used in many animated features to represent a new day. Then the fourth movement was used as the theme for the television program The Lone Ranger. That final movement speeded up appears in the movie A Clockwork Orange.

Earth Day

Since it’s Earth Day, I thought of picking some appropriate songs for the occasion. Instead, there are links here and here and here. Inevitably, there is some overlap, but other tracks are unique to a list.

Wordle songs

Usual is not unusual

Sometimes I consider a word because of a song when I do Wordle. So I call them Wordle songs. Not all of them work. The ones below with the > means the first word is what I thought of, but the word to the right is the answer.

POLKA (3):- My Melody Of Love – Bobby Vinton. My hometown of Binghamton, NY, has a large eastern European population.

WORSE (2): The Trouble With Normal – Bruce Cockburn. “The trouble with normal is it always gets worse.”

SYRUP (3): Dang Me – Roger Miller. “Sugar’s sweet, and so is maple syruple.” (Rhymes with purple.)

ARROW > ARBOR (4) – Poison Arrow – ABC

STAGE (3): Are You Lonesome Tonight – Elvis Presley. “You know someone said that the world’s a stage, and each of us must play a part.” Someone?

SLOOP> SCOLD (5): Sloop Kohn B – Beach Boys

APPLE (3): Don’t Sit Under The Apple Tree – the Andrews Sisters

NINTH (4): If Six Was Nine – Jimi Hendrix (this was on Feb 6, 2023)

STEAM> SWEAT: Steam– Peter Gabriel

SWEAT (4): Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now) – C&C Music Factory

MAGIC (3): It’s Magic – Pilot. By the way, I’m sad that I hear the damn Ozempic ad song every time the tune runs in my head.

Hinting without hinting

USUAL (3): It’s Not Unusual -Tom Jones. My wife, who was doing the Wordle after I had, was having difficulty. So she asked, “Is it a usual word?” I replied, “It’s not unusual,” which was fun for me.

ENVOY > ENJOY: The Envoy – Warren Zevon

DANCE (5): Do You Wanna Dance – Bobby Freeman

SWING > FISHY (5) – Swing To The Right – Utopia

WORRY (4): Three Little Birds – Bob Marley. “Don’t worry about a thing, ‘Cause every little thing gonna be all right.”

CONDO (5): Buy Me A Condo – Weird Al Yankovic

HAPPY (6): Happy – Rolling Stones

DRIVE (3): Drive – The Cars and Drive – REM

SPELL (3): I Put A Spell On You – Creedence Clearwater Revival, which I heard before the Screamin’ Jay Hawkins version

DREAM (4) – Dream A Little Dream Of Me – Mass Cass, although it appeared on a Mamas and Papas album

CARRY (4): Carry On – Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young

GROVE (4) – China Grove – Doobie Brothers

DANDY (6) Dandy -Herman’s Hermits. I know it’s a Kinks song, but I heard this first.

BTW, I’ve now played 407 games. I’ve won 405 and lost 2, which shows up as 100%. I’ve got zero ones, 4 twos, 110 threes, 111 fours, 96 fives, and 84 sixes.

There is a dark tune called Wordle by Ahniwa Ferrari. Tom Rosenthal did Drift Along Small World, a song with only five-letter words. Undoubtedly there are others.