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A teacher was reviewing her class's homework assignment. She
asked Susie to stand up and tell the class what part of the human
body enlarges to seven times its original size when stimulated.
Susie stood up, shuffled her feet and said, "Well, I think I
know, but I'm too embarrassed to tell you."
The teacher said, "Sit down, Susie. Johnny, tell the class what
part of the human body enlarges to seven times its size when stimulated."
Johnny said, "That's easy. The pupil of the eye enlarges to seven
times its original size when stimulated by light."
The teacher said, "That's right, Johnny."
Then she turned to Susie and said, "Susie, first of all, you
didn't do your homework. Second, you have a dirty mind. And
third, when you get married, you're in for a big disappointment."

Big laugh for our Bob. That is one great story, hawkman. "Wake up little Suzie" Thanks once again for the great bio's, Boston.

I read carefully through Peter O Toole's background, and was amazed at some of the little know facts. Lawrence of Arabia was one of my all time favorite movies, and O Toole was outstanding, I think.

More synchronicity, listeners, as we read a poem about Joan of Arc by Leonard Cohen. I had no idea that O Toole did an Emmy winning mini-series of that Maid of Orleans.

I would like to call attention to our navigator's original song. I am so hoping that he will come back with another.

Tapping on mike and sending out waves to navigator.

Good afternoon, the sun is still shinning but I felt a…

TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE HEART
(Bonnie Tyler )

Turnaround, every now and then I get a
little bit lonely and you're never coming around
Turnaround, Every now and then I get a
little bit tired of listening to the sound of my tears
Turnaround, Every now and then I get a
little bit nervous that the best of all the years have gone by
Turnaround, Every now and then I get a
little bit terrified and then I see the look in your eyes
Turnaround bright eyes, Every now and
then I fall apart
Turnaround bright eyes, Every now and
then I fall apart
Turnaround, Every now and then I get a
little bit restless and I dream of something wild
Turnaround, Every now and then I get a
little bit helpless and I'm lying like a child in your arms
Turnaround, Every now and then I get a
little bit angry and I know I've got to get out and cry
Turnaround, Every now and then I get a
little bit terrified but then I see the look in your eyes
Turnaround bright eyes, Every now and
then I fall apart
Turnaround bright eyes, Every now and
then I fall apart

And I need you now tonight
And I need you more than ever
And if you'll only hold me tight
We'll be holding on forever
And we'll only be making it right
Cause we'll never be wrong together
We can take it to the end of the line
Your love is like a shadow on me all of the time
I don't know what to do and I'm always in the dark
We're living in a powder keg and giving off sparks
I really need you tonight
Forever's gonna start tonight
Forever's gonna start tonight

Once upon a time I was falling in love
But now I'm only falling apart
There's nothing I can do
A total eclipse of the heart
Once upon a time there was light in my life
But now there's only love in the dark
Nothing I can say
A total eclipse of the heart

Turnaround bright eyes
Turnaround bright eyes
Turnaround, every now and then I know
you'll never be the boy you always you wanted to be
Turnaround, every now and then I know
you'll always be the only boy who wanted me the way that I am
Turnaround, every now and then I know
there's no one in the universe as magical and wonderous as you
Turnaround, every now and then I know
there's nothing any better and there's nothing I just wouldn't do
Turnaround bright eyes, Every now and
then I fall apart
Turnaround bright eyes, Every now and
then I fall apart

And I need you now tonight
And I need you more than ever
And if you'll only hold me tight
We'll be holding on forever
And we'll only be making it right
Cause we'll never be wrong together
We can take it to the end of the line
Your love is like a shadow on me all of the time
I don't know what to do and I'm always in the dark
We're living in a powder keg and giving off sparks
I really need you tonight
Forever's gonna start tonight
Forever's gonna start tonight

Once upon a time I was falling in love
But now I'm only falling apart
There's nothing I can do
A total eclipse of the heart
Once upon a time there was light in my life
But now there's only love in the dark
Nothing I can say
A total eclipse of the heart

Well, there's our Try, listeners. Ah, very neat entry, buddy. That does remind me somewhat of Carly Simon's " You're so Vain." You know, foks, "flew your lear jet up to Nova Scotia to see the total eclipse of the sun...." ; however, I think we'll do something a bit different from loom's fruit. <smile>

This begins so sadly and ends with such wit:


Daddy wears his tee shirt in the cold Kentucky rain
While a boy in pure white briefs looks out
The foggy window pane
And even though his hamster died
He finds comfort, this I swear

'Cause you can't over love your underwear
'Cause comfort ain't just found in teddy bears
There are no labels hanging anywhere
No you can never over love, over love your underwear.

The man who sings that, incidentally, has one fantastic voice.

Talking of a…

Small town
John Anderson Lyrics


You can talk about the weather
Or the mayor's sister
You can talk about small talk
You can walk the city limits
In a matter of minutes
Talk about taking a walk
You can count the stars in the clear night sky
Or sit back and listen while the train rolls by
Hey it's a small town
They roll the sidewalks up
Come around sundown
Hey it's a small town
The place where we grew up
And still hang around
That rich young widow
Keeps talkin' to the preacher
Lord help their souls be saved
And Mr. Johnson's daughter
Flew in from Nevada
When they put him in his grave
Tommy took a summer job in Pontiac
He's still writing letters but he's not coming back
Hey it's a small town
They roll the sidewalks up
Come around sundown
Hey it's a small town
The place where we grew up
And still hang around
Hey it's a small town
They roll the sidewalks up
Come around sundown
Hey it's a small town
The place where we grew up
And still hang around
I'm easy to be found
Hey it's a small town.

Well, Try, it's a small town with a
Small Hotel

There's a small hotel
With a wishing well
I wish that we were there together
There's a bridal suite
One room bright and neat
Complete for us to share together

Looking through the window
You can see that distant steeple
Not a sign of people -- who wants people?
When the steeple bell says,
"Good night, sleep well,"
We'll thank the small hotel together

And when the steeple bell says,
"Good night, sleep well,"
We'll thank the small hotel together

Last Year's Man
The rain falls down on last year's man,
that's a jew's harp on the table,
that's a crayon in his hand.
And the corners of the blueprint are ruined since they rolled
far past the stems of thumbtacks
that still throw shadows on the wood.
And the skylight is like skin for a drum I'll never mend
and all the rain falls down amen
on the works of last year's man.
I met a lady, she was playing with her soldiers in the dark
oh one by one she had to tell them
that her name was Joan of Arc.
I was in that army, yes I stayed a little while;
I want to thank you, Joan of Arc,
for treating me so well.
And though I wear a uniform I was not born to fight;
all these wounded boys you lie beside,
goodnight, my friends, goodnight.

I came upon a wedding that old families had contrived;
Bethlehem the bridegroom,
Babylon the bride.
Great Babylon was naked, oh she stood there trembling for me,
and Bethlehem inflamed us both
like the shy one at some orgy.
And when we fell together all our flesh was like a veil
that I had to draw aside to see
the serpent eat its tail.

Some women wait for Jesus, and some women wait for Cain
so I hang upon my altar
and I hoist my axe again.
And I take the one who finds me back to where it all began
when Jesus was the honeymoon
and Cain was just the man.
And we read from pleasant Bibles that are bound in blood and skin
that the wilderness is gathering
all its children back again.

The rain falls down on last year's man,
an hour has gone by
and he has not moved his hand.
But everything will happen if he only gives the word;
the lovers will rise up
and the mountains touch the ground.
But the skylight is like skin for a drum I'll never mend
and all the rain falls down amen
on the works of last year's man.


L Cohen

Wow! edgar. Leonard Cohen was really a mystic composer, no? "last year's man". What a great way to say....

Yesterday When I Was Young
(From the album "DUSTY IN LONDON")


Spoken : Somehow, it seems the love I knew was always the most destructive kind

Yesterday when I was young
The taste of life was sweet
As rain upon my tongue
I teased at life as if it were a foolish game
The way the evening breeze
May tease the candle flame

The thousand dreams I dreamed
The splendid things I planned
I always built to last on weak and shifting sand
I lived by night and shunned the naked light of day
And only now I see how the time ran away

Yesterday when I was young
So many lovely songs were waiting to be sung
So many wild pleasures lay in store for me
And so much pain my eyes refused to see
I ran so fast that time and youth at last ran out
I never stopped to think what life was all about
And every conversation that I can now recall
Concerned itself with me and nothing else at all

The game of love I played with arrogance and pride
And every flame I lit too quickly, quickly died
The friends I made all somehow seemed to slip away
And only now I'm left alone to end the play, yeah

Oh, yesterday when I was young
So many, many songs were waiting to be sung
So many wild pleasures lay in store for me
And so much pain my eyes refused to see
There are so many songs in me that won't be sung
I feel the bitter taste of tears upon my tongue
The time has come for me to pay for yesterday
When I was young

And I like bubbly simple music too.

I Like Your Kind Of Love
Andy Williams w/ Peggy Powers

[Words and Music by Melvin Endsley]

Oh, honey babe, oh, honey babe
Oh, honey babe, I like your kind of love
(That's good, baby, that's good)

Honey babe, I like the way that you walk by
I like the way you swing your eye
I like your kind of love
(That's good, baby, that's good)

Every night I like the way you beg for more
And linger there outside the door
I like your kind of love
(That's good, baby, that's good)

Well, well, well-ll-ll ain't it swell
Can't reveal-l-l how I feel
And no one else could ever thrill me like you do
You make my every dream come true
I like your kind of love
(That's good, baby, that's good)

Oh, honey babe, ooooh, honey babe
Mmmmm, honey babe
I like your kind of love
(That's good, baby, that's good)

Honey, baby, I like the way you wear your clothes
My love for you just grows and grows
I like your kind of love
Honey, you know I do

When you're near you don't know what you do to me
And that's the way it oughta be
I like your kind of love
Honey, you know I do

Don't you know-o-o that I love you so
Can't you see-e-e that you're for me
Honey babe, I like the way you hold my hand
To make me know you understand
I like your kind of love
Honey, you know I do
Oh, honey babe, ooooh, honey babe
Mmmmm, honey babe
I like your kind of love
(That's good, baby, that's good)
Honey babe, I like your kind of love

edgar, I think all of us here, like all kinds of music. I know that we have had a variety of music and bio's along with discussions that make our virtual radio very much a part of the world.


So, folks. edgar wants bubbles? Let's hear an effervescent song, then.



Hey look me over
Lend me an ear
Fresh out of clover
Mortgage up to here
But don't pass the plate folks
Don't pass the cup
I figure whenever you're down and out
The only way is up

And I'll be up like a rose bud
High on the vine
Don't thumb your nose
But take a tip from mine
I'm a little bit short of the elbow room
But let me get me some
And look out world
Here I come

Yes, hey look me over
Lend me an ear
Fresh out of clover
Mortgage up to here
But don't pass the plate folks
Don't pass the cup
I figure whenever you're down and out
The only way is up

And I'll be up like a rose bud
High on the vine
Don't thumb your nose
But take a tip from mine
I'm a little bit short of the elbow room
But let me get me some
And look out - world
Here - I - come..

.

Paul Brandt Lyrics -
Small Towns And Big Dreams

I grew up in a small town
Wheat fields for a downtown kind of place
There was really not much around
You blink and you miss it

I never knew what life would bring
But I always had big dreams
I love to play my guitar and sing
And every night I'd wish that

I'd get a shot on the Opry stage
Have people come and see me play
Blastin' out on the radio waves
Enough to make my mama cry

Cause that's where I come from
That's who I am
Hard workin' and God Blessed
Yes sir thank-you ma'am
The best things around that I have ever seen
Came from small towns and big dreams

Small town went and grew up
But I never changed much by God's grace
Friends and family kept in touch
When I moved to Tennessee

I sing my songs and travel 'round
I met a girl and we're settlin' down
We want to find a small town
Where we can raise a family

Cause that's where I come from
That's who I am
Hard workin' and God Blessed
Yes sir thank-you ma'am
The best things around that I have ever seen
Came from small towns and big dreams

Been around the world don't matter anywhere I go
Small town stars to city lights
I find my kind of folks
It's about you and who you are
It's all a state of mind
And as I'm giving you my heart
I hope you find

That's where I come from
That's who I am
Hard workin' and God Blessed
Yes sir thank-you ma'am
The best things around that I have ever seen
Just look around you'll see what I mean
The best things around that I have ever seen
Came from small towns and big dreams
That's where I come from
Small towns
That's who I am
And big dreams
That's where I come from
Small towns
That's who I am
And big Dreams

Try, your "small and big" leads perfectly into this little female item.

You know what women of today want more than a diamond? Ready for this, folks?

A plasma TV!

Down in the meadow in a little bitty pool
Swam three little fishies and a mama fishie too
"Swim" said the mama fishie, "Swim if you can"
And they swam and they swam all over the dam
Boop boop dit-tem dat-tem what-tem Chu!
Boop boop dit-tem dat-tem what-tem Chu!
Boop boop dit-tem dat-tem what-tem Chu!
And they swam and they swam all over the dam

"Stop" said the mama fishie, "or you will get lost"
The three little fishies didn't wanna be bossed
The three little fishies went off on a spree
And they swam and they swam right out to the sea
Boop boop dit-tem dat-tem what-tem Chu!
Boop boop dit-tem dat-tem what-tem Chu!
Boop boop dit-tem dat-tem what-tem Chu!
And they swam and they swam right out to the sea

"Whee!" yelled the little fishies, "Here's a lot of fun
We'll swim in the sea till the day is done"
They swam and they swam, and it was a lark
Till all of a sudden they saw a shark!
Boop boop dit-tem dat-tem what-tem Chu!
Boop boop dit-tem dat-tem what-tem Chu!
Boop boop dit-tem dat-tem what-tem Chu!
Till all of a sudden they saw a shark!

"Help!" cried the little fishies, "Gee! look at all the whales!"
And quick as they could, they turned on their tails
And back to the pool in the meadow they swam
And they swam and they swam back over the dam
Boop boop dit-tem dat-tem what-tem Chu!
Boop boop dit-tem dat-tem what-tem Chu!
Boop boop dit-tem dat-tem what-tem Chu!
And they swam and they swam back over the dam.

Good morning, WA2K radio listeners and contributors. Still dark and dusky here in my little studio.

Hey, dys. Thanks for the fish song. Use to sing that to my daughter and she could hum it before she could talk. Nice memory, cowboy.

In memory of Dudley:

Artist: Lyrics
Song: Little Fish In A Big Pond Lyrics


A little fish in a big pond has plenty of room to swim
But swimming around are big fish all ready to pounce on him

Back to his little pond he starts to roam
The little fish spreads his fins and begins to swim back home

That's me, a little fish in a big pond, all wrong
That's me, a little fish where a little fish don't belong

A little man in a big town gets butterflies in his dome
I'm ready to spread my fin and begin to swim back home
To the little pond where a little fish and a little man belong


A little fish in a big pond has gotta have lots of heart
For swimming around are big fish, but if he's the least bit smart

Back to his little pond he doesn't go
The little fish spreads his fins and begins to grow, grow, grow

That's you, a little fish in a big pond, all right
Me too, a little fish, but we gotta stand up and fight

A little man in a big town don't have to get out and roam
Stop taking it on the chin and begin to feel at home
In the bigger pond where the bigger fish and the bigger men belong

Ernie Pyle
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ernest Taylor Pyle, better known as Ernie Pyle (August 3, 1900 - April 18, 1945) was an American journalist, who wrote as a roving correspondent for the Scripps Howard newspaper chain from 1935 until his death in 1945. His articles, about the out-of-the-way places he visited and the people who lived there, were told in a folksy style much like a personal letter to a friend, which won him a loyal following in as many as 200 newspapers.

He was born on a tenant farm near Dana, Indiana and wrote briefly for local newspapers before moving to Washington, D.C.. He became the country's first aviation columnist and later was managing editor of the Washington Daily News before taking on the national column.

In the mid- to late-1930s, Pyle wandered around the country in his car, writing columns about the unusual places and people he met in his ramblings. Select columns were later compiled and published in Home Country.

With the entry of the U.S. into World War II, Pyle became a war correspondent, applying his intimate style to the war. Instead of the movements of armies or the activities of generals, Pyle generally wrote from the perspective of the common soldier, an approach that won him not only further popularity but also the Pulitzer Prize in 1944. His wartime writings are preserved in three books, Brave Men, Here is Your War, and Ernie Pyle in England.

While Ernie Pyle was in Africa, he became a cabin-mate with Life reporter, Will Lang Jr.

In that year, he wrote a column urging that soldiers in combat get "fight pay" just as airmen were paid "flight pay". Congress passed a law giving soldiers 50 percent extra pay for combat service. The legislation was called "the Ernie Pyle bill."

He reported from the United States, Europe, Africa, and the Pacific. On April 18, 1945 Pyle died on Ie Shima, an island off Okinawa Honto, as the result of machine gun fire from an enemy sniper position.[1]

Pyle's legacy is preserved at Indiana University, where he began his journalism training. The School of Journalism is housed in "Ernie Pyle Hall," and scholarships, established soon after his death, are still given to students who have ability in journalism, the promise of future success in the profession, and a military service record. A major initial contribution to the scholarships came from the proceeds of the world premiere of the film, The Story of G.I. Joe, which starred Burgess Meredith as Pyle.

His last home in Albuquerque, New Mexico was made into a branch of the Albuquerque/Bernalillo County Library System, named in honor of its famous occupant.

Pyle is buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl on the island of Oahu, Hawaii.

John T. Scopes
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

John Thomas Scopes (August 3, 1900 - October 21, 1970), a teacher in Dayton, Tennessee at the age of 24, was charged on May 25, 1925 with violating Tennessee's Butler Act, which prohibited the teaching of evolution in Tennessee schools. He was in court in a case known as the Scopes Trial.[[1]]

Scopes was born and raised in Paducah, Kentucky, but as a teenager attended Danville High School in Danville, Illinois (Danville High was also the first school he taught at shortly before he moved to Dayton). Scopes was a member of the class of 1919 in Salem, Illinois, which is also William Jennings Bryan's home town. After he had gained a law degree at the University of Kentucky in 1924, Scopes moved to Dayton where he took a job as the Rhea County High School's football coach, and occasionally filled in as substitute teacher when regular members of staff were off work.

Scopes' involvement in the so-called Monkey Trial came about after the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) announced that it would finance a test case challenging the constitutionality of the Butler Act if they could find a Tennessee teacher willing to be put on trial for violating the statute.

A group of businessmen in Dayton, Tennessee, led by mine manager George Rappleyea, saw this as an opportunity to get publicity for their town and approached Scopes. Rappleyea pointed out that while the Butler Act prohibited the teaching of evolution, the state required teachers to use the assigned textbook - Hunter's Civic Biology - which included a chapter on evolution. Rappleyea argued that teachers were essentially required to break the law. When asked about the test case Scopes was initially reluctant to get involved, but after some discussion he told the group gathered in Robinson's Drugstore, "If you can prove that I've taught evolution and that I can qualify as a defendant, then I'll be willing to stand trial."

By the time the trial had begun, the defense team included Clarence Darrow, Dudley Field Malone, John Neal, Arthur Garfield Hays and Frank McElwee, whilst the prosecution team, led by Tom Stewart, included brothers Herbert and Sue Hicks, Wallace Haggard, and father and son pairings Ben and J. Gordon McKenzie and William Jennings Bryan and William Jennings Bryan Jr. Bryan had spoken at Scopes' high school commencement and remembered the defendant laughing while he was giving the address to the graduating class six years earlier.

The case ended with a guilty verdict, and Scopes was fined $100, which Bryan and the ACLU offered to pay. The case was appealed to the Tennessee Supreme Court which found the Butler Act constitutional, but overturned Scopes conviction on a technicality; the judge had set the fine instead of the jury. The Butler Act remained until 1967 when it was repealed by the Tennessee legislature.

Scopes may have actually been innocent of the crime to which his name is inexorably linked. After the trial Scopes admitted to reporter William Kinsey Hutchinson "I didn't violate the law," explaining he had skipped the evolution lesson and his lawyers had coached his students to go on the stand; the Dayton businessmen had assumed he had violated the law. Hutchinson did not file his story until after the Scopes appeal was decided in 1927. Scopes also admitted the truth to the wife of the Modernist minister Charles Francis Potter. Scopes was not allowed to take the stand at his trial for fear he would reveal his ignorance and turned down a $50,000 offer to lecture on evolution on the vaudeville stage because he did not know enough about the subject.

After the trial, Scopes went to the University of Chicago, where he received a master's degree in geology. After that he was mainly employed by the oil industry, in both the United States and Venezuela. He died at the age of 70, probably from a stroke. He is buried in Oak Grove Cemetery in Paducah, Kentucky.

John Scopes wrote an autobiography entitled Center of the Storm: Memoirs of John T. Scopes. (Henry Holt & Company, Inc.?-June 1967), ISBN 0030603404

Leon Uris
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Leon Uris (August 3, 1924 - June 21, 2003) was an American novelist, known for the amount of research that went into his novels.

Life

Leon Uris was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Jewish-American parents Wolf William and Anna (Blumberg) Uris. His father, a Polish-born immigrant, was a paperhanger and then later a storekeeper. William spent a year in Palestine after World War I before entering the United States. He derived his surname from Yerushalmi, meaning man of Jerusalem. "He was basically a failure", Uris said later of his father. "He went from failure to failure."

Uris attended schools in Norfolk, Virginia, and Baltimore but never graduated from high school, having failed English three times. At the age of seventeen Uris joined the United States Marine Corps. He served in the South Pacific as a radioman at Guadalcanal, Tarawa, and New Zealand from 1942 to 1945. While recuperating from malaria in San Francisco, he met Betty Beck, a Marine sergeant. They married in 1945.

In 1950, Esquire magazine bought an article from him and this encouraged him to work on a novel. The result was the best seller Battle Cry, graphically showing the toughness and courage of U.S. Marines in the Pacific and The Angry Hills, a novel set in war-time Greece. As a screen writer and a newspaper correspondent, he became intensely interested in Israel which led to his best-known work, Exodus, which is about the founding of the state of Israel.

Later works include Mila 18, a story of the Warsaw ghetto uprising, Armageddon: A Novel of Berlin, which reveals the detailed work by British and American intelligence services in planning for the occupation and pacification of post WWII Germany, Trinity, an epic novel about Ireland's struggle for independence, QB VII, a chilling novel about the role of a Polish doctor in a German concentration camp, and The Haj, with insights into the history of the Middle East and the secret machinations of foreigners which have led to today's turmoil.

He also wrote the screenplays for Battle Cry and Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.

Trivia

Curiously in some of his books a likeable character is associated with the number 359195: for example, Danny Forrester's (Battle Cry) and Clinton Loveless's (Armageddon) service numbers and Dov Landau's (Exodus) registration number in Auschwitz.

Tony Bennett
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tony Bennett, 2000

Tony Bennett (born August 3, 1926) is an American popular music, standards, and jazz singer who is widely considered to be one of the best interpretative singers in these genres.

After having achieved artistic and commercial success in the 1950s and early 1960s, his career suffered an extended downturn during the height of the rock music era. However, Bennett staged a remarkable comeback in the late 1980s and 1990s, expanding his audience to a younger generation while keeping his musical style intact. He remains a popular and critically praised recording artist and concert performer in the 2000s.

Tony Bennett is also a serious and accomplished painter.

Early life

Anthony Dominick Benedetto was born in Astoria, Queens in New York City. (Though some records show that the first name on his birth certificate is Antonio.) His father was a grocer and his mother a seamstress.

He grew up listening to Al Jolson, Eddie Cantor, Judy Garland, Bing Crosby, and jazz artists such as Louis Armstrong, Jack Teagarden, and Joe Venuti. An uncle was a tap dancer in vaudeville, giving him an early window into show business.

By age 10 the young Benedetto was already singing, performing at the opening of the Triborough Bridge. He attended New York's High School of Industrial Art where he studied music and painting (an interest he would always return to as an adult), but dropped out at age 16 to help support his family. He then set his sights on a professional singing career, performing as a singing waiter in several Queens Italian restaurants.

World War II and after

Astoria: Portrait of the ArtistThis was interrupted when Benedetto was drafted into the United States Army in 1944 during World War II. He served as a replacement infantryman in the U.S. 63rd Infantry Division in France and Germany, moving across France during the winter, then fighting on the front lines in March and April 1945 as the Germans were pushed back across the Rhine. Benedetto narrowly escaped death several times. He would later write, "Anybody who thinks that war is romantic obviously hasn't gone through one." At the war's conclusion he was involved in the liberation of a Nazi concentration camp near Landsberg.

Benedetto stayed in Germany as part of the occupying force, but was assigned to an informal Special Services band unit that would entertain nearby American forces. Later, some remarks he made against the Army's racial segregation policies led to his being demoted and reassigned to Graves Registration duties, leading to a further dislike of the military. [1] Subsequently, he sang with the Army military band under the stage name Joe Bari, and played with many musicians who would have post-war careers.

Upon his discharge from the Army and return to the States in 1946, he studied at the American Theater Wing on the GI Bill. He was taught the bel canto singing discipline, which would keep his voice in good shape for his entire career. He continued to perform wherever he could, including while waiting tables. He developed an unusual style of phrasing that involved imitating other musicians?-such as Stan Getz's saxophone or Art Tatum's piano?-as he sang, thus allowing him to improvise as he interpreted a song.

In 1949 Pearl Bailey spotted his talent and asked him to open for her in Greenwich Village. She had invited Bob Hope to the show. Hope decided to bring Bari on the road with him, but suggested he use his real name simplified to Tony Bennett. In 1950 Bennett cut a demo and was signed to Columbia Records by Mitch Miller.

First successes

Warned by Miller not to imitate Frank Sinatra (who was just then leaving Columbia), Bennett began his career as a crooner singing commercial pop tunes. His first big hit was "Because of You", a ballad produced by Miller with a lush orchestral arrangement from Percy Faith. It started out gaining popularity on jukeboxes, then reached #1 on the pop charts in 1951 and stayed there for 10 weeks, selling over a million copies. This was followed to the top later that year by a similarly-styled rendition of Hank Williams' "Cold, Cold Heart", which helped introduce Williams and country music in general to a wider, more national audience. The Miller and Faith tandem continued to work on all of Bennett's early hits. Bennett's recording of "Blue Velvet" was also very popular and attracted screaming teenage fans at concerts in the famed Paramount Theatre in New York (Bennett did 7 shows a day, starting at 10:30 a.m.) and elsewhere.


The Young Tony BennettIn 1952 Bennett married Ohio art student and jazz fan Patricia Beech, whom he had met the previous year after a nightclub performance in Cleveland. Two thousand female fans dressed in black gathered outside the ceremony at New York's St. Patrick's Cathedral in mock mourning. Bennett and Beech would have two sons, D'Andrea (Danny) and Daegal (Dae).

A third #1 came in 1953 with "Rags to Riches". Unlike Bennett's other early hits, this was an up-tempo big band number with a bold, brassy sound and a double tango in the instrumental break; it topped the charts for eight weeks. Later that year Bennett began singing show tunes to make up for a New York newspaper strike; "Stranger in Paradise" from the Broadway show Kismet reached the top, as well as being a #1 hit in the United Kingdom and starting Bennett's career as an international artist.

Once the rock and roll era began in 1955, the dynamic of the music industry changed and it became harder for existing pop singers to do as well commercially. Nevertheless Bennett continued to enjoy success, placing 8 songs in the Billboard Top 40 during the latter part of the 1950s, with "In the Middle of an Island" reaching the highest at #9 in 1957.

In 1956 Bennett hosted the television variety show The Tony Bennett Show as a summer replacement for The Perry Como Show.

A growing artistry

Basie Swings, Bennett Sings 1958In 1955 Bennett released his first long-playing album, Cloud 7, which showed Bennett's jazz leanings. In 1957 Ralph Sharon became Bennett's pianist and musical director. Sharon told Bennett that a career singing "sweet saccharine songs like 'Blue Velvet'" wouldn't last long, and encouraged Bennett to focus even more on his jazz inclinations.

The result was the 1957 album Beat of My Heart. It used well-known jazz musicians such as Herbie Mann and Nat Adderley, with a strong emphasis on percussion from the likes of Art Blakey, Jo Jones, Latin star Candido, and Chico Hamilton. The album was both popular and critically praised.

Bennett followed this by working with the Count Basie Orchestra, becoming the first male pop vocalist to sing with Basie's band. The albums Basie Swings, Bennett Sings (1958) and In Person! Tony Bennett/Count Basie and his Orchestra (1959) were the well-regarded fruits of this collaboration, with "Chicago" being one of the standout songs.

Bennett also built up the quality and reputation of his nightclub act; in this he was following the path of Sinatra and other top jazz and standards singers of this era. Bennett also appeared on television; he sang on the first night of both the Johnny Carson The Tonight Show and The Merv Griffin Show. In June 1962 Bennett staged a highly-promoted concert performance at Carnegie Hall, using a stellar lineup of musicians including Al Cohn, Kenny Burrell, and Candido, as well as the Ralph Sharon Trio. The concert featured 44 songs, including favorites like "I've Got the World on a String" and "The Best Is Yet To Come". It was a big success, and further cemented Bennett's reputation as a star both at home and abroad.


Also in 1962 Bennett released the song "I Left My Heart in San Francisco". Although this only reached #19 on the Billboard Hot 100, it spent close to a year on various other charts and increased Bennett's exposure. The album of the same title was a top 5 hit and both the single and album achieved gold record status. The song won Grammy Awards for Record of the Year and Best Male Solo Vocal Performance, and over the years would become known as Bennett's signature song. In 2001 it was ranked 23rd on an RIAA/NEA list of the most historically significant Songs of the 20th Century.

Bennett's following album, I Wanna Be Around (1963) was also a top 5 success, with the title track and "The Good Life" each reaching the top 20 of the pop singles chart and the top 10 of the Adult Contemporary chart.

The next year brought The Beatles and the British Invasion, and with them still more musical and cultural attention to rock and less to pop, standards, and jazz. Over the next couple of years Bennett had minor hits with several albums and singles based on show tunes - his last top 40 single was the #34 "If I Ruled the World" from Pickwick in 1965 - but his commercial fortunes were clearly starting to decline. An attempt to break into acting with a role in the 1966 film The Oscar was not well received.

A firm believer in the American Civil Rights movement, Bennett participated in the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches. [2] Years later he would continue this commitment by refusing to perform in apartheid South Africa.

Years of struggle

Sharon and Bennett parted ways in 1965. There was great pressure on singers such as Lena Horne and Barbra Streisand to record "contemporary" rock songs, and in this vein Columbia Records' Clive Davis suggested that Bennett do the same. Bennett was very reluctant, and when he tried, the results pleased no one. This was exemplified by Tony Sings the Great Hits of Today! (1969), which featured misguided attempts at Beatles and other current songs and a ludicrous psychedelic cover. [3]

Years later Bennett would recall his dismay at being asked to do contemporary material, comparing it to when his mother was forced to produce a cheap dress. By 1972 he had departed Columbia for MGM Records, but found no more success there, and in a couple more years he was without a recording contract.

Bennett and his wife Patricia had been separated since 1965, their marriage a victim of too much time on the road, among other factors. In 1971 their divorce became official. Bennett had been involved with aspiring actress Sandra Grant since filming The Oscar, and in 1972 they married. They would have two daughters, Joanna and Antonia.

Hoping to take matters into his own hand, Bennett started his own record company, Improv. He cut some songs that would later become favorites, such as "What is This Thing Called Love?", and made two well-regarded albums with jazz pianist Bill Evans, The Tony Bennett/Bill Evans Album (1975) and Together Again (1976), but by 1977 Improv was out of business. A stint of living in England, like other American jazz expatriates, did not change his fortunes.

As the decade neared its end, Bennett had no recording contract, no manager, and was not performing any concerts outside of Las Vegas. His second marriage was failing (they would divorce in 1980). He had (like many musicians) developed a drug addiction, was living beyond his means, and had the Internal Revenue Service trying to seize his Los Angeles home. He had hit bottom.

Turnaround

After a near-death cocaine overdose in 1979, Bennett called his sons Danny and Dae for help. "Look, I'm lost here," he told them. "It seems like people don't want to hear the music I make."

Danny Bennett, an aspiring musician himself, also came to a realization. The band Danny and his brother had started, Quacky Duck and His Barnyard Friends, had foundered and Danny's musical abilities were limited. However he had discovered during this time, that he did have a head for business. His father, on the other hand, had tremendous musical talent but was having trouble sustaining a career from it. Danny signed on as his father's manager.

Danny got his father's expenses under control, moved him back to New York, and began booking him in colleges and small theatres to get him away from a "Vegas" image. Tony Bennett had also reunited with Ralph Sharon as his pianist and musical director. By 1986, Tony Bennett was re-signed to Columbia Records, this time with creative control, and released The Art of Excellence. This became his first album to reach the charts since 1972.

An unexpected audience

By the mid-1980s, the excesses of the disco, punk rock, and new wave eras had given many artists and listeners a greater appreciation for the classic American song. Rock stars such as Linda Ronstadt began recording albums of standards, and such songs began showing up more frequently in movie soundtracks and on television commercials.

Danny Bennett felt strongly that younger audiences, although completely unfamiliar with Tony Bennett, would respond to his music if only given a chance to see and hear it. More crucially, no changes to Tony's appearance (tuxedo), singing style (his own), musical accompaniment (The Ralph Sharon Trio or an orchestra), or song choice (generally the Great American Songbook) were necessary or desirable.

Accordingly, Danny began to book his father on shows with younger audiences, such as David Letterman's talk shows, The Simpsons, and various MTV programs. The plan worked; as Tony later remembered, "I realized that young people had never heard those songs. Cole Porter, Gershwin - they were like, 'Who wrote that?' To them, it was different. If you're different, you stand out."

During this time, Bennett continued to record, first putting out the acclaimed look back Astoria: Portrait of the Artist (1990), then emphasizing themed albums such as the Sinatra homage Perfectly Frank (1992) and the Fred Astaire tribute Steppin' Out (1993). The latter two both achieved gold status and won Grammies for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance (Bennett's first Grammies since 1962) and further established Bennett as the inheritor of the mantle of a classic American great.


Unplugged was the 1995 Grammy Album of the YearAs Bennett was seen at MTV Video Music Awards shows side by side with the likes of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Flavor Flav, and as his "Steppin' Out With My Baby" video received MTV airplay, it was clear that, as The New York Times said, "Tony Bennett has not just bridged the generation gap, he has demolished it. He has solidly connected with a younger crowd weaned on rock. And there have been no compromises."

The new audience reached its height with Bennett's appearance in 1994 on MTV Unplugged. Featuring guest appearances by rock and country stars Elvis Costello and k.d. lang (both of whom had a profound respect for the standards genre), the show attracted a considerable audience and much media attention. The resulting album went platinum and, besides taking the Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance Grammy award for the third straight year, also won the top Grammy prize of Album of the Year. At age 68, Tony Bennett had come all the way back.

No retirement

Hot and Cool - Bennett Sings Ellington 1999Since then Bennett has continued to record and tour steadily. In concert Bennett often makes a point of singing one song (usually "Fly Me to the Moon") without any microphone or amplification, demonstrating to younger audience members the lost art of vocal projection. One show, Tony Bennett's Wonderful World: Live From San Francisco, was made into a PBS special. Bennett also created the idea behind, and starred in the first, of the A&E Network's Live By Request series, for which he won an Emmy Award.

A series of albums, often based on themes (Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, blues, duets) have met with good acceptance; Bennett has won six more Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance or Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album Grammies in the subsequent years, most recently for the year 2005. According to his official biography, Bennett has now sold over 50 million records worldwide during his career.

In addition to numerous television guest performances, Bennett has had cameo appearances as himself in films such as The Scout, Analyze This, and Bruce Almighty.


Benedetto Gondola, VeniceTony Bennett's career as a painter has also flourished. He followed up his childhood interest with serious training, work, and museum visits throughout his life. He sketches or paints every day, even of views out of hotel windows when he is on tour. Painting under his real name of Benedetto, he has exhibited his work in numerous galleries and has been commissioned by the Kentucky Derby and the United Nations. His painting "Homage to Hockney" (for his friend David Hockney) is on permanent display at the highly regarded Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, Ohio as is his "Boy on Sailboat, Sydney Bay" at the National Arts Club in Gramercy Park in New York. His paintings have been featured in ARTNews and other magazines. Many of his works were published in the art book Tony Bennett: What My Heart Has Seen in 1996.

Bennett also published The Good Life: The Autobiography of Tony Bennett in 1998.

For his contribution to the recording industry, Tony Bennett has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1560 Vine Street.

Bennett was inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame in 1997.

Bennett received a lifetime achievement award from the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) in 2002.

In 2002 Q magazine named Tony Bennett in their list of the "50 Bands To See Before You Die".

Bennett frequently donates his time to charitable causes, to the extent that he is sometimes nicknamed "Tony Benefit". In April 2002 he joined Michael Jackson, Chris Tucker and former President Bill Clinton in a fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee at New York's Apollo Theater.[4]


Tony Bennett performing at the Kimmel Center, Philadelphia, September 2005.Bennett has not remarried, but has a long-term relationship with Susan Crow (born 1966), a former New York City educator. Together they founded (and named after Bennett's friend) the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts in Queens, a public high school dedicated to teaching the performing arts which opened in 2001. It was a tribute in return, for in a 1965 Life magazine interview Sinatra had said that:

"For my money, Tony Bennett is the best singer in the business. He excites me when I watch him. He moves me. He's the singer who gets across what the composer has in mind, and probably a little more."
Danny Bennett continues to be Tony's manager while Dae Bennett is a recording engineer who has worked on a number of Tony's projects and who has opened Bennett Studios in Englewood, New Jersey. Tony's younger daughter Antonia is an aspiring jazz singer.

On December 4, 2005, Bennett was the recipient of a Kennedy Center Honor.

Tony Bennett now has a Theatrical Musical Revue of his songs. It is called "I Left My Heart: A Salute to the Music of Tony Bennett" and features some of his best known songs such as "I Left My Heart in San Fransisco", "Because of You", and "Wonderful".

Gordon Scott
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Gordon Scott was an American actor best known for his portrayal of Tarzan in five films (and one compilation of three made-as-a-pilot television episodes) from 1955 to 1960.

Born Gordon M. Werschkul on August 3, 1927 in Portland, Oregon, Gordon Scott was raised in Oregon and attended the University of Oregon for one year. Upon leaving school he went into the United States Army and was honorably discharged in 1947. He then worked at a variety of jobs until 1953, when he was spotted by a talent agent while working as a lifeguard at the Las Vegas Sahara Hotel. Due in part to his muscular frame and 6'3" height, he was quickly signed to replace Lex Barker as Tarzan. Source, Brian's Drive-In Theater He was also a friend of Hercules star Steve Reeves, and collaborated with him as Remus to Steve's Romulus in Duel of the Titans.

Scott also played Hercules in a couple low-budget productions during the mid-1960s. His final film appearance was in The Tramplers, filmed in 1966, released in the U. S. in 1968. For the past decade and a half he has been a popular guest at film conventions and autograph shows.

Martin Sheen
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ramón Gerardo Antonio Estévez (born August 3, 1940), better known as Martin Sheen, is an American actor, best known for his roles in the film Apocalypse Now, and most recently as President Josiah Bartlet on the television drama The West Wing.

Early life

Sheen was born in Dayton, Ohio. He lived on Brown Street in the South Park neighborhood, and was one of 10 siblings (9 boys and one girl). He attended Chaminade High School. He is a devout Roman Catholic, born to a Spanish-born father, Francisco Estévez (who was born in Parderrubias, Galiza, Spain near the border of Portugal), and an Irish mother, Mary Anne Phelan. Phelan, from County Tipperary, fled Ireland during the Irish War of Independence due to her family's Old IRA connections. Sheen adopted his stage name in honor of Catholic archbishop and theologian Fulton J. Sheen.

Sheen had wanted to act since he was very young, but his father disapproved. He claims he deliberately flunked the entrance exam for the University of Dayton so that he could pursue his goal. (He has, however, credited the Marianists at that university as a major influence on his public activism.) Sheen borrowed money from a priest and headed to New York City while enduring the struggling actor route. He developed a theater company with other actors in hopes that a production would earn him notice. His first major role was on Broadway, in The Subject Was Roses, which he recreated in the 1968 film of the same name. He did not receive another important part until 1973, when he starred with Sissy Spacek in the crime drama Badlands.

Career

Martin Sheen as President Josiah 'Jed' BartletIn 1974, Sheen received an Emmy Award nomination for Best Actor in a television drama for his portrayal of Pvt. Eddie Slovik in the made-for-television film, The Execution of Private Slovik. The film told the World War II story of the only American soldier to be executed for desertion since the American civil war. It was his performance in this film that ultimately led to Francis Ford Coppola choosing him for a starring role in 1979's Apocalypse Now which gained him wide recognition. On the set of Apocalypse Now, Sheen admitted that he wasn't in the greatest shape and was drinking heavily. On location Sheen had a heart attack and crawled out to a road for help.

Sheen married art student Janet Templeton in 1961, and they have four children, 3 boys and a girl, all of whom act:

Charlie Sheen
Emilio Estevez
Ramón Luis Estevez
Renée Estevez
Sheen has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, at 1500 Vine Street.

He has said that he was greatly influenced by the actor James Dean.

Sheen recently announced his plans to return to education. "My plan is to read English literature, philosophy and theology in Galway, Ireland, where my late mother came from and where I'm also a citizen", he said. [1] Speaking after an honorary arts doctorate was conferred on him by the National University of Ireland, Sheen joked that he will be the "oldest undergraduate" at the National University of Ireland (NUI), Galway when he starts his full time studies there in the Autumn of 2006. Despite expressing the concern that he might be a "distraction" to other students at NUIG, he will be attending lectures like everyone else. Speaking the week after filming his last episode of the West Wing he said "I'm very serious about it." He once said "I never went to college when I was young and am looking forward to giving it a try." and went on to say "at age 65!".[2]

Martin Sheen has also said in many interviews that his best film is Badlands.

Sheen received six Emmy nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his performance on "The West Wing," for which he won a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in TV-Drama, as well as two SAG Awards for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series, and was part of the cast that received two SAG Awards for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series.

Sheen has also done voice overs as the narrator for the Eyewitness Movie series.

Political activism

Sheen with Helen Chavez, widow of Cesar Chavez.Martin Sheen is no stranger to politics, both professionally and in real life. He has played U.S. President John F. Kennedy (in the miniseries Kennedy ?- The Presidential Years), White House Chief of Staff A.J. McInnerney in The American President, and fictional Democratic president Josiah Bartlet in the acclaimed television drama The West Wing. Sheen is known for his robust support of liberal political causes, and has been arrested 63 times for protesting against issues such as United States military actions. Sheen has resisted calls to stand for office, saying "There's no way that I could be the president. You can't have a pacifist in the White House … I'm an actor. This is what I do for a living." [3]

He has also supported causes for PETA. He is also a proponent of the Consistent Life ethic, which advocates against abortion, capital punishment and war.[4]

In 2004, along with fellow actor Rob Reiner, Sheen campaigned for Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean. He later campaigned for John Kerry.

On August 28, 2005, he visited anti-Iraq War activist Cindy Sheehan at Camp Casey. He prayed with her and spoke to her supporters. He began his remarks by stating, "At least you've got the acting President of the United States", referring to his role as fictional President Josiah Bartlet on The West Wing. [5] Cindy Sheehan had been demanding to speak with the actual President, George W. Bush.

Mr. Sheen is also an honorary trustee of the Dayton International Peace Museum

On April 10, 2006, the New York Times reported that members of the Democratic Party in Ohio had contacted Sheen, attempting to persuade him to run for the US Senate in Ohio. Sheen declined the offer, stating that "I'm just not qualified," he said. "You're mistaking celebrity for credibility."

Because of his activism, he was one of many political celebrities spoofed in Team America: World Police.