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a birthday song for dys, or rather a song for dys on his birthday

(What's So Funny 'Bout)Peace, Love And Understanding
Elvis Costello

As I walk through
This wicked world
Searchin' for light in the darkness of insanity.

I ask myself
Is all hope lost?
Is there only pain and hatred, and misery?

And each time I feel like this inside,
There's one thing I wanna know:
What's so funny 'bout peace love & understanding? Ohhhh
What's so funny 'bout peace love & understanding?

And as I walked on
Through troubled times
My spirit gets so downhearted sometimes
So where are the strong
And who are the trusted?
And where is the harmony?
Sweet harmony.

'Cause each time I feel it slippin' away, just makes me wanna cry.
What's so funny 'bout peace love & understanding? Ohhhh
What's so funny 'bout peace love & understanding?


So where are the strong?
And who are the trusted?
And where is the harmony?
Sweet harmony.

'Cause each time I feel it slippin' away, just makes me wanna cry.
What's so funny 'bout peace love & understanding? Ohhhh
What's so funny 'bout peace love & understanding? Ohhhh
What's so funny 'bout peace love & understanding?

Here's another for Dys. Happy Birthday!

Happy Trails to You
Words & Music by Dale Evans, 1950
Recorded by Roy Rogers & Dale Evans, 1951

Intro:
Happy trails to you, 'til we meet again.
Some trails are happy ones, others are blue.
It's the way you ride the trail that counts,
Here's a happy one for you.

Happy trails to you until we meet again.
Happy trails to you, keep smiling until then.
Who cares about the clouds when we're together?
Just sing a song and bring the sunny weather.
Happy trails to you, 'til we meet again.

Another bday song for Dys:

The night was clear
And the moon was yellow
And the leaves came tumbling down

I was standing on the corner
When I heard my bulldog bark
He was barking at the two men
Who were gambling in the dark
It was Stagger Lee and Billy
Two men who gambled late
Stagger Lee threw a seven
Then this poor lad he threw eight

Stagger Lee told Billy
I can't let you go with that
You have won all my money
And my brand new stetson hat
Stagger Lee went home
And got his forty four
He said now I'm going to that bar room
Just to pay that debt I owe

Stagger Lee went to the bar room
And he stood across the bar room door
He said Nobody move
And he pulled his forty four
Stagger Lee cried Billy
Oh please don't take my life
I got three little children
And a very sickly wife

Stagger Lee shot Billy
Oh he shot that boy so bad
Til the bullet went through Billy
And it broke a bartender's glass
Go Stagger Lee
Go Stagger Lee

Rex Allen
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rex Allen (December 31, 1920 - December 17, 1999) was an American actor, singer, and songwriter.


Born Rex Elvie Allen to Horace Allen and Faye Clark on a ranch in Mud Springs Canyon, forty miles from Willcox, Arizona, Rex Allen would grow up to become a popular entertainer known as "The Arizona Cowboy." As a boy he played guitar and sang at local functions with his fiddle-playing father until high school graduation when he toured the southwest as a rodeo rider. He got his start in show business on the East Coast as a vaudeville singer then found work in Chicago as a performer on the WLS Radio program, National Barn Dance. In 1948 he signed with Mercury Records where he recorded a number of successful country music albums until 1952 when he switched to the Decca label where he would continue making records into the 1970s.

When singing cowboys such as Roy Rogers and Gene Autry were very much in vogue in American film, in 1949 Republic Pictures in Hollywood gave him a screen test and put him under contract. Beginning in 1950, Allen starred as himself in nineteen of Hollywood's western movies. One of the top-ten box office draws of the day, whose character was soon depicted in comic books, on screen Allen personified the clean cut, God-fearing American hero of the wild west who wore a white Stetson, loved his faithful horse named "Koko" and had a loyal buddy who shared his adventures. Allen's comic relief sidekick in first few pictures was Buddy Ebsen and then character actor, Slim Pickens.

Over his career, Rex Allen wrote and recorded many songs, a number of which were featured in his own films. Late in coming to the industry, his film career was relatively short as the popularity of westerns faded by the mid 1950s. He has the distinction of making the last singing western in 1954. As other cowboy stars made the transition to television, Allen tried too, cast as Dr. Bill Baxter for a half-hour weekly series called Frontier Doctor. Allen was gifted with a rich, pleasant voice, ideally suited for narration and was able to find considerable work as a narrator in a variety of films especially for Walt Disney Pictures wildlife films and TV shows.He also was the voice of the father on Disney's Carousel of Progress , which was presented at the 1964 World's Fair and is now at Walt Disney World . In addition to Disney, Allen provided the narration for the Hanna-Barbera animation of Charotte's Web. He was also the voice behind Purina Dog Chow commercials for many years. In his later years he also performed frequently with actor Pedro Gonzalez-Gonzalez.

For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Rex Allen was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6821 Hollywood Blvd. In 1983, he was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

In 1989 his life story was told in the book Rex Allen: "My Life" Sunrise to Sunset - The Arizona Cowboy written by Paula Simpson-Witt and Snuff Garrett.

Rex Allen died in 1999 in Tucson, Arizona from injuries received when his caretaker accidentally ran over him in the driveway of his home. Cremated, his ashes were scattered near the Rex Allen Museum and Willcox Cowboy Hall of Fame in Willcox, Arizona where most of his memorabilia is on display. A few months before his death, Allen gave an extensive interview on his days at WLS radio to announcer and producer Jeff Davis for the 75th Anniversary History of WLS Radio program, which was broadcast after Allen died. That segment of the program was dedicated to his memory.

His son, Rex Allen Jr. was also a successful singer, with several country hits in the 1970s.

Sarah Miles
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sarah Miles (born 31 December 1941) is an English theater and film actress. She was born in Ingatestone, Essex, England, the daughter of actor John Miles. She first attended Roedean but at the age of 15 she enrolled at RADA, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

Shortly after her drama studies, Miles had her film debut in 1962 as a precocious schoolgirl in Term of Trial (1962), opposite Laurence Olivier. The following years she became a popular actress of British New Wave with her roles in Joseph Losey's The Servant (1963) and in Michelangelo Antonioni's Blowup (1966). After having been out of sight for several years acting in a variety of theater plays, she made in 1970 an outstanding performance in the lead role of David Lean's Ryan's Daughter, which earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress.

Although she has sometimes denied it, Miles is known for her frequent use of profanity. A November 1971 Cosmopolitan profile was subtitled "She uses words that would make a construction worker blush, but from her they sound refined" while a Women's Wear profile was titled "The Lady with the Truckdriver's Mouth".[1]

In 1973, while filming The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing, her manager and associate David Whiting died under mysterious circumstances.[1]

Miles has been acting since then in movies and also in TV films. From time to time she retired for a few years, but was always available for roles on stage, where she is acclaimed for her performances.

Sarah Miles was twice married to the British playwright Robert Bolt, (1967-1975) and (1988-1995). He wrote the screenplay for the film Lady Caroline Lamb (1972), in which she starred.

Ben Kingsley
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



Birth name Krishna Bhanji
Born December 31, 1943
Scarborough, Yorkshire, England, UK

Academy Awards

1982 Academy Award for Best Actor for Gandhi
Sir Ben Kingsley, CBE (born Krishna Bhanji on December 31, 1943) is an Academy Award-winning British actor.



Biography

Early life

Kingsley was born in Scarborough, Yorkshire, and grew up in Pendlebury, Salford, then in Lancashire. His father, Harji Bhanji, was a Kenyan-born medical doctor of Indian (Gujarati Hindu) descent, and his mother, Anna Lyna Mary, was a fashion model and actress; one of his maternal grandparents was a Jewish immigrant from Russia.[1] He began his acting career on the stage at Manchester Grammar School alongside Robert Powell, but made a transition to film roles early on. Despite this focus on film, he continued to act on the stage, playing (for instance) Mosca in Peter Hall's 1977 production of Ben Jonson's Volpone for the Royal National Theatre. It was at this point that he changed his name, fearing a foreign name would hamper his career.


Film career

Kingsley's first film role was a supporting turn in Fear Is the Key (1972). Kingsley continued starring in bit roles in both film and television (including a bit part on the soap opera Coronation Street). He found fame only years later, starring as Mahatma Gandhi in the Academy Award-winning film Gandhi in 1982. Kingsley was critically acclaimed and won the Academy Award for Best Actor for the role.

Kingsley has avoided stereotyping and has been cast in a variety of roles. His credits include the films Turtle Diary, Maurice, Pascali's Island, Without a Clue (as Dr. Watson opposite Michael Caine's Sherlock Holmes), Bugsy (Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor), Sneakers, Dave, Searching for Bobby Fischer, Schindler's List, Silas Marner, Death and the Maiden, Murderers Among Us: The Simon Wiesenthal Story, Sexy Beast (for which he received another Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor) and House of Sand and Fog (Oscar nomination for Best Actor). He has won a Crystal Globe award for outstanding artistic contribution to world cinema at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in 2001.

In 1997, he provided voice acting for the video game Ceremony of Innocence.

In July 2006, he received an Emmy nomination for his performance in the TV movie Mrs. Harris (film), in which he played famed cardiologist Herman Tarnower who was murdered by his jilted lover, Jean Harris.

Sometime in 2007, Ben Kingsley will appear as an American mobster in his next film, the Mafia Comedy You Kill Me.


Knighthood

Kingsley was awarded a knighthood in the 2001 New Years Honours list. On promotional material for the 2006 film Lucky Number Slevin, Ben Kingsley's credit included his honorary title. At first, the actor was singled out for some criticism as such things are usually omitted from professional credits. It transpired that this was a mistake by a studio executive, who was unfamiliar with the British honours system.


Trivia

Kingsley is the only performer of Indian descent to be nominated for, or win, an Academy Award in the category of Best Actor.


Private life

Kingsley has four children: Thomas and Jasmine Bhanji (with actress Angela Morant) and Edmund and Ferdinand Kingsley, both of whom are actors (with theatrical director Alison Sutcliffe). He recently divorced German-born Alexandra Christmann and lives in Spelsbury, England

Donna Summer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



Birth name LaDonna Adrian Gaines
Born December 31, 1948 (age 58)
Origin Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Donna Summer (born LaDonna Adrian Gaines on December 31, 1948) is a Grammy Award-winning American singer, songwriter, and occasional actress, best known for a string of dance hits in the 1970s that earned her the title "Queen of Disco" and also as one of the few disco-based artists to have longevity on the charts into the late-1980s. Even though she is one of the best-known artists of the disco era, Summer has covered different genres including R&B, rock, and gospel music, earning her Grammy Awards in those categories. It has been estimated that Summer's album and single sales total more than 120 million, easily making her part of the list of best-selling music artists.



Biography

Early life and career

Born in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, Gaines was one of seven children raised by devout Christian parents. Donna sang in church and later joined a rock group as a teenager influenced by the sounds of Janis Joplin. At eighteen, Donna left home and school to join the cast of the Broadway music, "Hair". The show eventually moved to Germany and Donna eventually became a German resident and performed in the German versions of "Godspell" and "Show Boat". Settling in Munich, she participated in the Viennese Folk Opera and other musicals.

In 1971, Gaines released a single in Europe titled "Sally Go 'Round the Roses", her first solo recording. The single was unsuccessful, however, and Summer had to wait until 1974 to launch a solo career. After resettling in Munich, Germany, Gaines married Austrian actor Helmuth Sommer ("Summer" is an anglicization of his last name) and did various musical jobs in studios and theaters for several years, including the pop group FamilyTree from 1974-75.


Donna Summer

Early success and notoriety

While singing back-up for groups such as Three Dog Night, she met producers Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte. With these producers, Summer signed a contract in the Netherlands and issued her first album, Lady of the Night, which included the European hit, "The Hostage", which made #1 in France, Belgium, and Holland and #2 in Germany. It's follow-up, the title track of the album, also gained some degree of European success.

In the late summer of 1975, Summer approached Moroder and Bellotte with an idea for a song. She came up with the lyric "Love To Love You Baby" as the possible title for the song. Moroder in particular was interested in developing the new disco sound that was becoming more and more popular and used Summer's idea to develop the song into a disco track. He had the idea that she should moan and groan in an orgasmic way, but Summer was unsure of the idea. Eventually she agreed to record the song as a demo to give to someone else (possibly singer Penny McLean). A silly rumour for marketing was that in recording the song, Summer laid on the floor of a pitch black studio and imagined she was Marilyn Monroe playing the part of someone indulging in sexual activity. She has stated that she was not completely sure of some of the lyrics, and parts of the song were improvised during the recording. Moroder was astounded with Summer's orgasmic vocals and her imaginative moans and groans that he insisted she should release the single herself. Summer reluctanly agreed and the song, titled "Love To Love You", was released. While originally a modest success in Europe, it reached America and the hands of Casablanca president Neil Bogart, who was so ecstatic over the demo that he requested Moroder to produce a twenty-minute version of the song. Summer, Moroder and producer Pete Bellotte cut a seventeen-minute version and with that, renamed it "Love To Love You Baby", and Casablanca signed Summer and issued the single in November 1975. Casablanca distributed Summer's work in the U.S., while other labels distributed it in different nations during this period.

The "Love To Love You Baby" single was Summer's first big hit in America reaching number-two on the pop singles chart in February 1976 and becoming her first number-one dance single. The seventeen-minute version became one of a recurring trend of single song, side-long disco versions, with French disco acts Cerrone, the Alec. R. Costandinos helmed Love And Kisses and many others following suit. The album (side one of which was completely taken up with the full-length version of the title track) was also released in 1975 and was soon certified gold. The song was branded "raunchy" by some rock critics and was even banned by some radio stations for its graphic content. In some areas of the music press, Summer was dubbed "the first lady of love." The two albums that followed - A Love Trilogy and Four Seasons of Love both had a reasonably high sexual/fantasy content though Summer felt uneasy by her image.

The 1977 album I Remember Yesterday, another concept album, showed the Summer/Moroder/Bellotte team combining the disco sound with sounds of the past, present and future. The song representing the future, "I Feel Love" , originally released as a "B" side to the R&B ballad "Can't We Just Sit Down (And Talk It Over)", became a landmark recording, reaching number-six on the US pop chart and number-one in the UK and various other European countries. The song was arguably the first song to use techno and electronic sounds in dance music. A version of I Feel Love released in 1982, with additional overdubs by disco lightman turned synthesist and producer Patrick Cowley, took the eight minute and fifteen second extended version and overlayed new elements, causing an underground sensation. Summer released another album in 1977 called Once Upon a Time, a concept album telling a modern-day "rags to riches" story through the means of electronic disco and was regarded by many fans as some of her best work.


Continued success in music

In 1978, Summer acted the film Thank God It's Friday, and released the hit single, "Last Dance". Written by Paul Jabara who also co-wrote "It's Raining Men", "Last Dance", "The Main Event (Fight)" and "No More Tears (Enough is Enough)", the song became another monumental hit for Summer reaching number-three on the Billboard Hot 100 and resulted in her first Grammy win while Jabara took home the Oscar after the song was nominated for Song of the Year. Summer also recorded a side-long version of Serge Gainsbourg's "Je T'Aime (Moi Non Plus)" which was very similar in style to "Love To Love You Baby", initially shelved and later released as a part of the Thank God It's Friday soundtrack.

That same year, she released her first live album, Live and More. A double-album, it was also Summer's first number-one album and included her first number-one American pop single, a cover of the Jimmy Webb-penned "MacArthur Park", originally made famous by Irish singer/actor Richard Harris. The version found on the Live and More album was a longer version and incorporated two other tracks, including "Heaven Knows" which also featured vocals by the Brooklyn Dreams. Group member Bruce Sudano would become romantically involved with Summer, and "Heaven Knows" became another top five hit in the U.S.


Bad Girls and the break from disco

In 1979, she released the landmark double album, Bad Girls. Unlike other disco albums, it mixed rock, blues, and soul into electronic disco beats. It yielded three top ten singles: the back-to-back number-one hits, "Hot Stuff" and "Bad Girls", plus the number-two hit "Dim All the Lights". "Hot Stuff" won Summer a Grammy for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance. Bad Girls became Summer's second #1 album and her most successful one, selling over seven million copies worldwide. Once again, Summer's music was years ahead of its time, and elements of Bad Girls would surface in the 1980's from such artists as the Eurythmics, New Order, Depeche Mode, Pet Shop Boys, Madonna, Bronski Beat, and a slew of other New Wave and techno bands. Several different artists were involved in the writing of Bad Girls including Bruce Sudano, who Summer had worked with the previous year on her "Heaven Knows" single. The two grew closer during the making of this album and became engaged. During this period, Donna Summer became the first woman ever to have two songs on Billboard's top three of the Hot 100 during the same week with "Bad Girls" and "Hot Stuff". Just a few months later, she accomplished the same feat again with "No More Tears" and "Dim All the Lights" both in the top three slots of the Billboard Hot 100 during the same week.

Summer's first main international compilation album, On the Radio: Greatest Hits Volumes 1 & 2, was her third number-one U.S. album. With this, Summer became the first artist to have three consecutive number-one double-albums. The album also contained two new tracks - "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)", a duet with Barbra Streisand, and "On the Radio", a song written for the film Foxes. Both were big hits when released as singles, the former becoming Summer's fourth and final number-one pop hit in the U.S. Afterwards, disagreements and fractions between Summer and Casbalanca Records led to her exit from the label in 1980. Despite early feelings of retirement, Summer was given a lucrative offer by David Geffen and became the first ever artist to be signed to his new Geffen label in 1980.


The Wanderer and She Works Hard for the Money

Summer's first Geffen release, 1980's The Wanderer, was a full-fledged rock/New Wave affair. Though two of the songs were hits on the dance charts, songs like the title track, and the accompanying singles ("Cold Love" and "Who Do You Think You're Foolin'") saw Summer reaching the same audience that contemporaries like Blondie and Pat Benatar were dominating. The album sold relatively well, and the title track became Summer's eleventh top ten single in the U.S.

A second release, I'm a Rainbow, a dance-oriented double album which also featured elements of soul, [[R&B], period British techno-pop and even synth-based disco, was shelved by Geffen (although two of the tracks would surface during the 1980s on the Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Flashdance film soundtracks) because he believed Summer needed fresh production. Reluctantly, Summer left Moroder after seven years of collaboration together, and released her self-titled 1982 album with production from Quincy Jones, who got her back in the top ten of the pop, R&B, and dance charts with "Love Is In Control (Finger on the Trigger)". A second single, "State of Independence," on which Michael Jackson sang background and Eric Clapton played guitar, and of the main inspirations for "We Are the World", became a sizable international hit (#1 in The Netherlands), followed by another Top 40 Pop & Top 30 R&B hit The Woman In Me. "State of Independence" had been originally written and performed by Jon Anderson and Vangelis Papathanassiou, which formed the duo Jon & Vangelis, in their second collaboration "The Friends of Mr. Cairo", released in 1981, and later performed by Jon Anderson in his solo work "Change We Must", released in 1994.

In 1983, Summer scored her biggest triumph since Bad Girls with the release of the She Works Hard for the Money single and album. The song became a pro-feminist anthem and was a staple on BET and MTV, making her the first black female artist to have a video air in heavy rotation by the latter channel. That album was rejected by Geffen and Summer gave the album to PolyGram to settle her legal dispute with them, which was due from her early years with the Casablanca Records label. Released on PolyGram's Mercury Records, the success of the She Works Hard for the Money album permanently poisoned Summer's relationship with Geffen (in fact, album notes on the "Cats..." album pointedly allude to "David staying out of the kitchen this time and hopefully enjoying this meal that Donna'd prepared for him". PolyGram would also be responsible for releasing The Summer Collection in 1985, which contained some of her disco classics as well as tracks from the She Works Hard for the Money album, and later The Dance Collection in 1987, which showcased Summer's disco songs in the form of their extended remixes. A second single from the She Works Hard for the Money album, the reggae-flavored "Unconditional Love" (which also featured vocals by black British group Musical Youth), was also an early MTV favorite. The further single and 12" release "Stop, Look and Listen" unfortunately did not have much impact.

Her subsequent Geffen releases also did not fare as well. 1984's Cats Without Claws and 1987's All Systems Go stalled with only minor hit singles ("Supernatural Love" 12" Single, radio and video, "There Goes My Baby" radio and video, "Dinner With Gershwin" radio, video and 12" single, "Bad Reputation" radio, "Only the Fool Survives" radio duet with Mickey Thomas from Starship). Summer left Geffen in 1988 to sign with Atlantic Records. Rumours have circulated among fans that as well as the I'm a Rainbow album, Summer had more unreleased material turned down by Geffen during her time with them. Her disco style was emulated by such later singers as Miquel Brown and Earlene Bentley, singing in the keyboard based dance and Hi-energy house music hits (as opposed to the 70's symphonic based tracks) of the 80's era. These few-hit "studio singers" replaced Donna as "disco queens", especially in the gay audiences.


Later career

Summer regained her hit luster again in 1989 with her Another Place and Time album. This was a collaboration with England's Top Dance-pop Production Team Stock Aitken Waterman. The album went platinum based on the success of the single, "This Time I Know It's For Real", which became her fourteenth top ten U.S. pop hit. A second single, "I Don't Wanna Get Hurt" was a Top Ten UK hit. In 1991, she released Mistaken Identity, which was an attempt at incorporating new jack swing and urban adult contemporary R&B into her music. The album failed to chart. In 1992, Summer received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. This year also saw her collaborate with Giorgio Moroder for the first time in over a decade with the song "Carry On." This was featured on his Forever Dancing album and the following year would be featured on the double compilation album The Donna Summer Anthology. This anthology also featured two exclusive remixes from the unreleased I'm a Rainbow album recorded back in 1981. It would be a while before her next release as she decided to take some time out to spend with her family. 1994 saw Summer release a gospel-influenced Christmas album entitled Christmas Spirit (her first full-length album for over three years) and a new compilation entitled Endless Summer (both albums were released by PolyGram) which also contained a couple of new tracks including "Melody of Love (Wanna Be Loved)", which became a dance hit.

In 1995, a re-release of "I Feel Love" (with newly recorded vocals) as a dance remix, became a hit again in the UK reaching #8 there. The following year she would score a Top 20 there with a new remix of "State of Independence". In 1996, Summer's album I'm a Rainbow was finally released by Polygram's Mercury Records. In 1998, Summer was the first artist to receive a Grammy award for Best Dance Recording for her 1992 collaboration with Giorgio Moroder, "Carry On", after the song was remixed and released as a single. In 1999, Summer starred in a televised live concert on the VH1 network entitled 'Donna Summer - Live and More Encore. The special earned the network their highest ratings of the year, second only to their annual Divas concert. Performing a string of her classics and new singles, she also sung "Dim All the Lights" as a tribute to Rod Stewart. Summer acknowledges that she wrote the song for Stewart but recorded it herself. A CD (on the Epic label) and DVD of the special were released, returning the singer back to the U.S. albums chart. Summer scored two #1 dance hits that year with "I Will Go With You" and "Love Is the Healer" (both found as new studio tracks on the album). During that year, Summer recorded the title track for Pokémon: The Movie 2000 entitled The Power Of One.

In 2003, Donna Summer released a greatest-hits compilation called The Journey, which rocketed into the UK Top 10 in the following year, thanks to her appearance on ITV1 show Discomania - in which she co-presented & sang a number of her hits: a medley of "Hot Stuff" & "Bad Girls", "MacArthur Park", "Last Dance" & a duet with Westlife on "No More Tears (Enough is Enough)" - which appeared on the Discomania soundtrack album.


Current work

On September 20, 2004, Summer was among the first artists to be inducted into the newly formed Dance Music Hall of Fame in New York City. She was inducted in two categories, Artist Inductees, along with fellow disco legends The Bee Gees and Barry White and Record Inductees for her classic hit "I Feel Love". Summer added to her credits in October 2004, when she performed "God Bless America" during the seventh-inning stretch at Game 2 of the 2004 World Series at Boston's Fenway Park. Two of her most recent singles, "I Got Your Love" and "You're So Beautiful" reached the Top Ten on Billboard's dance chart.

Today, Summer and her family make their home in Nashville, Tennessee. In July 2006, Summer joined forces with Pure Tone Music, an A&R consulting and full service independent music company, located just outside of New York City, and Summer's official web site has announced an upcoming CD on the Burgundy label to be released in Spring, 2007. She is touring extensively in mid-2006, and is to be featured in Sade's upcoming album "Pearls." Summer has hinted that her upcoming album will be more political, and is currently fundraising for the incumbent Democratic governor of Tennessee.


Personal life

In 1972, Summer married her first husband, Helmuth Sommer, and permanently moved to Germany to star in musicals, which resulted in her learning to speak fluent German. With Sommer, she gave birth to her first child, Mimi. The couple divorced in 1976 but before then, Donna anglicized Sommer into Summer and began her professional singing career in 1974 as Donna Summer. In 1978, she collaborated with the disco group Brooklyn Dreams for the hit, "Heaven Knows". While at the session recording the single, she met their frontman Bruce Sudano. The duo began a romance that culminated in their July 16, 1980 marriage and later the birth of daughters Brooklyn and Amanda. Today, Mimi and Amanda sing alongside their mother while Brooklyn has been seen acting in TV shows, including the since-canceled My Wife and Kids. Summer is still married to Sudano, and she is a grandmother of three.


Summer is still a popular performer in the 2000s.

Controversy

During her lengthy career, Summer has dealt with controversy both professionally and personally. Her first hit, "The Hostage" was banned in Germany, and other radio stations banned her music for being sexually suggestive, with "Love to Love You Baby" being an example.

In 1991, during the height of the Gulf War, Summer's song "State Of Independence" was banned from US radio play alongside many other songs that were deemed to have an imflammatory effect on the population.

Rumors persisted that Summer was in fact a man in drag and not a woman, a rumour Summer addressed in 1989 on The Arsenio Hall Show. A far more painful incident came in the early 1980s with reports that she had made anti-gay remarks associated with the AIDS epidemic. Her songs were banned for a number of years in some gay establishments over these rumours.

Summer has long denied such allegations, and finally taking legal action against a newspaper who had printed the rumors during a review of a concert. Summer tearfully stated, "I never said anything that was written about me in that article". To make amends, Summer has since played for AIDS benefits and has donated proceeds to AIDS research. Even in 2006, she is still asked about the rumors, recently by a Canadian newspaper. Summer responded, "So many people in my audiences are gay. I can't live my life trying to assure people of anything. You have to live knowing who you are. I think that my actions and the person that I am speak louder than somebody else's misgivings or lies about me," says Summer now. "They print all kinds of things about people all the time but you can't run after every single lie. You tell people the truth and if they choose to believe you, they do."


Awards and recognition

Summer is the recipient of six Grammy Awards including a rare berth as being the first African-American act ever to win an award for rock in the Best Female Rock Vocal Performance category for her single, "Hot Stuff". She has also won Grammys in the R&B and gospel categories. Her recent Grammy win was for 1997's "Carry On", which was the first to be given to an artist in the dance music category.
Summer placed a top forty pop hit in every year of her recording career from 1975's "Love to Love You Baby" to 1984's "There Goes My Baby".
Summer has fourteen top ten pop singles with four of the singles reaching number-one on the pop singles chart and overall has netted 16 number-one singles in various Billboard charts.
Summer became the first female artist to score three consecutive number-one albums and have three number-one pop singles in the same year. She's also the first to have two singles in a row placed at the top three slots of the Billboard Hot 100.
Summer has been eligible for induction to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame since 2000 but has not been nominated to be inducted.
Summer received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1994.
Summer was one of the first to be inducted to the Dance Music Hall of Fame and was inducted twice; one as a recording artist and another for her influential single, "I Feel Love".
Summer's successful music career has landed her as the eighth most successful recording artist in the history of Billboard behind contemporary female acts as Whitney Houston and Madonna among others.

Cover versions by other artists

Summer's "Love To Love You Baby" has been an oft-repeated line in R&B and hip-hop songs most notably in Beyoncé's "Naughty Girl" single, Timbaland & Magoo's 1997 track, "Love to Love You", and TLC's 1999 album track, "I'm Good At Being Bad".
Summer's "I Feel Love" has been covered onstage by the Red Hot Chili Peppers' John Frusciante, Kylie Minogue, and Madonna and was performed by the Blue Man Group and Venus Hum for her album The Complex.
Summer's self-penned "Starting Over" was covered by country singer Dolly Parton, whose version reached number-one on the country singles chart.
Summer's "Last Dance" and "On the Radio" was covered by Tejano/pop singer Selena, most famously at one of her last shows at the Houston Astrodome in February 26, 1995 1 month later she was killed in March 31, 1995 by Yolanda Saldivar.

Trivia

Summer wrote the song, "Mimi's Song", for her eldest daughter and later donated proceeds to UNICEF.
Summer was the only black member of her first band The Crow.
Summer guest-starred in several episodes of Family Matters playing the role of Steve Urkel's (Jaleel White) relative, Aunt Oona.
While recording for the hit, "No More Tears" with Barbra Streisand, Summer fell out of her stool after hitting a high note along Streisand who continued singing until stopping in time to ask a conscious Summer if she was alright. Summer stated she had partied the night before.

The longest note held by a woman, is found in "Dim All The Lights," Donna Summer's 1979 hit (16 seconds).
She's known in Boston as the "Duchess of Dorchester".
Summer's devout Christian parents criticized her for recording "Love to Love You Baby" with Summer's mother in disbelief that her daughter recorded the sensous track.
Time magazine reports that "Love to Love You Baby" had 22 reported orgasms committed by Summer.
Summer became a born-again Christian in 1979 after suffering a nervous breakdown.

Val Kilmer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Born December 31, 1959
Los Angeles, California, USA

Val Edward Kilmer[1] (born December 31, 1959) is an American actor.

A trained stage actor, Kilmer became well-known in the mid 1980s, after a string of appearances in comedy films, starting with Top Secret! (1984), then the cult classic Real Genius (1985), as well as blockbuster action films, including a role in Top Gun and a lead role in Willow. During the 1990s, Kilmer gained critical respect after a string of commercially successful and well reviewed films, including his roles as Jim Morrison in The Doors, Doc Holiday in 1993's Tombstone, and Batman in 1995's Batman Forever.

During the early 2000s, Kilmer appeared in several well-received roles, including The Salton Sea, Spartan, and an acclaimed supporting performance in Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang.



Early life

Kilmer was born in Los Angeles, California to Eugene Kilmer and Gladys KIlmer, the second of three sons; the family has Scottish, Irish, Sephardic Jewish, Cherokee Native American (from a paternal great-grandmother), Swedish, German and distant Mongolian ancestry.[2] Kilmer's paternal grandfather was a gold miner in New Mexico;[3] the poet Joyce Kilmer is a second cousin of Kilmer's.[4] Kilmer grew up in the San Fernando Valley with his two siblings, older brother Mark and younger brother Wesley. [5]

Kilmer, who was raised a Christian Scientist,[6] attended Chatsworth High School, where he attended with Kevin Spacey, and Mare Winningham as well as Hollywood's Professional's School. At the age of seventeen, he was at the time the youngest person to be accepted into Juilliard's drama program,[7].


Career

1980s

In 1981, the 6-foot tall Kilmer co-authored and starred in the play How It All Began,[8] which was performed at the Public Theatre at the New York Shakespeare Festival. Kilmer turned down a role in Francis Ford Coppola's 1983 film, The Outsiders, as he had prior theatre commitments.[9] That same year, his first off-stage acting role (excluding television commercials) came in the form of a television short titled One Too Many, which was an educational drama on drinking and driving;[10] it also starred a young Michelle Pfeiffer. His big break came when he received top billing in the spoof comedy Top Secret!, where he played an American rock and roll star. Kilmer sang all the songs in the film and actually released an album under the film character's name, "Nick Rivers".[11]

During a brief hiatus, he backpacked throughout Europe, before going on to play the lead character in the 1985 comedy Real Genius. He turned down roles in Dune and Blue Velvet,[12] before being cast as "Iceman" in the big budget action film Top Gun, alongside Tom Cruise. Top Gun grossed a total of $344,700,000 worldwide.[13] Following roles in the television films The Murders in the Rue Morgue and The Man Who Broke 1,000 Chains, Kilmer played "Madmartigan" in the fantasy Willow; he met his future wife, co-star Joanne Whalley, on the film's set. In 1989, Kilmer played the lead in both Kill Me Again, again opposite Whalley, and the first for Ted Turner's TNT Billy the Kid.


1990s

After several delays, director Oliver Stone finally started production on the film, The Doors, based on the popular band of the same name. Kilmer allegedly memorised the lyrics to all of lead singer Jim Morrison's songs prior to his audition, and sent a video of himself performing some Doors songs to director Stone. After Kilmer was cast as Morrison, he prepared for the role by attending Doors tribute concerts and reading Morrison's poetry.[14] He spent close to a year before production dressing in Morrison-like clothes, and spent time at Morrison's old hangouts along the Sunset Strip. His portrayal of Morrison was praised and real members of The Doors noted that Kilmer did such a convincing job that they had trouble distinguishing his voice from Morrison's. Throughout the early 1990s, Kilmer starred in the mystery thriller Thunderheart, action comedy The Real McCoy and again teamed with Top Gun director Tony Scott to play Elvis in True Romance, which was written by Quentin Tarantino.


In 1993, Kilmer played Doc Holliday in the western Tombstone alongside Kurt Russell, in what some say is one of Kilmer's finest performances. 1995 saw Kilmer star in Wings of Courage, a 3D IMAX film, and in one of his biggest roles, playing Batman in the big budget Batman Forever, which also starred Tommy Lee Jones, Jim Carrey and Nicole Kidman. The film was a success at the box office,[15] despite receiving mixed reviews.[16] That same year, starred opposite Al Pacino and Robert De Niro in Heat, which is now considered one of the best crime/drama films of the 1990s.[17] In 1996, he appeared in a largely unknown film, Dead Girl, and starred alongside Marlon Brando in the poorly received[18] The Island of Dr Moreau. After its release, director John Frankenheimer allegedly vowed never to work with Kilmer again, complaining of how hard he was to work with.[19] That year, Kilmer starred alongside Michael Douglas in the thriller, The Ghost & the Darkness. The next year he played Simon Templar in the popular action film, The Saint. In 1998, he lent his voice to the animated film The Prince of Egypt, before starring in the independent film Joe the King (1999) and playing a blind man in the drama/romance At First Sight, of which he described as then, the hardest role he had ever had.[20]


2000s

Kilmer's first role in 2000 was in the big budget Warner Bros. box office failure[21] Red Planet. That same year, he had a supporting role in the film Pollock and hosted Saturday Night Live for the first time. In 2002, he starred in the thriller The Salton Sea, which was generally well-reviewed,[22] but received only a limited release.[23] The same year, he teamed with his True Romance co-star, Christian Slater, and the two starred in the low budget film, Hard Cash, also known as Run for the Money.


In 2003, Kilmer starred alongside Kate Bosworth in the drama/thriller Wonderland, as well as appearing in The Missing, where he again worked with Willow director Ron Howard. The next year, he starred in the thriller Spartan, where he played a United States government secret agent who is assigned the task of rescuing the kidnapped daughter of the President. He received Delta Force-like training in preparation for the role.[24] Subsequently, he had a role in the drama, Stateside, and starred in the thriller Mindhunters, which was filmed in 2003 but not released until 2005. He also appeared in the big budget Oliver Stone production, Alexander, which received mixed reviews.[25] Also in 2004, Kilmer returned to the theatre to play Moses in a Los Angeles musical production of The Ten Commandments, produced by BCBG founder Max Azria.[26] The production played at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood. Kilmer had previously played Moses in the animated film The Prince of Egypt.

Kilmer was in negotiations with Richard Dutcher (a leading director of Mormon-related films) to play the lead role in a film entitled Prophet: The Story of Joseph Smith, although the project never materialized.[27] Kilmer performed in The Postman Always Rings Twice on the London stage from June to September of 2005.[28] In 2005, he starred in the action-comedy film Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang. His performance was praised and the film was well reviewed,[29] but the film received only a limited release.[30] It later won the award as "Overlooked Film of the Year" from the Phoenix Film Critics Society. In 2006 he reunited with director Tony Scott a third time for a supporting role opposite Denzel Washington in the box-office hit Deja Vu.


Personal life

Kilmer was married to Joanne Whalley, an actress and former lead singer of Cindy & the Saffrons, from March 1988 to February 1996. The two met while working together on the film Willow. They share two children, daughter Mercedes, born in 1991, and son Jack, born in 1995.

Following their appearance together in Top Gun, Kilmer and co-star Tom Cruise reportedly have taken their on-screen conflict off-screen. Reports[31] have classified the two as holding a vitriolic hatred of one another, with Kilmer even refusing to participate in a charity beach volleyball game starring the movie's cast with Cruise on the foundation that he was "dangerous", after which Tom Cruise and he physically assaulted each other for almost five minutes before it was broken up. Reports have also surfaced regarding incidents of continual harassment and further fighting, including Tom Cruise mocking Val Kilmer on the set of Batman Forever and Val Kilmer vandalizing Tom Cruise's motorcycle around the release time of Eyes Wide Shut. Apparently contradictory reports suggest that while in Australia in late 1999 filming Red Planet, Kilmer spent much time with Tom Cruise and (then-wife) Nicole Kidman at the couple's home. He enjoyed their company so much, he even scouted nearby real estate.

Warwick Davis, Kilmer's co-star from the 1988 fantasy Willow, defended Kilmer in his audio commentary for the film, describing Kilmer as a very funny man who was also a hard working and dedicated actor.

Trivia

> In the 1400's a law was set forth in England that a man was allowed
>to beat his wife with a stick no thicker than his thumb. Hence we have
>"the rule of thumb"
> >-------------------------------------------
> >Many years ago in Scotland , a new game was invented. It was ruled
>"Gentlemen Only...Ladies Forbidden"...and thus the word GOLF entered into
>the English language.
> >-------------------------------------------
> >The first couple to be shown in bed together on prime time TV were Fred
>and Wilma Flintstone.
> >-------------------------------------------
> >Every day more money is printed for Monopoly than the U.S.Treasury.
> >-------------------------------------------
> >Men can read smaller print than women can; women can hear better.
> >-------------------------------------------
> >Coca-Cola was originally green.
> >-------------------------------------------
> >It is impossible to lick your elbow.
> >-------------------------------------------
> >The State with the highest percentage of people who walk to work:
>Alaska
> >-------------------------------------------
> >The percentage of Africa that is wilderness: 28% (now get this...)
> >-------------------------------------------
> >The percentage of North America that is wilderness: 38%
> >------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >The cost of raising a medium-size dog to the age of eleven: $6,400
> >------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >The average number of people airborne over the U.S. In any given hour:
> 61,000
> >------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.
> >------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >The first novel ever written on a typewriter: Tom Sawyer.
> >------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >The San Francisco Cable cars are the only mobile National Monuments.
> >------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from
>history:
> >Spades - King David
> >Hearts - Charlemagne
> >Clubs -Alexander, the Great
> >Diamonds - Julius Caesar
> >------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321
> >------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in
>the air, the person died in battle. If the horse has one front leg in the
>air the person died as a result of wounds received in battle. If the
>horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural
>causes.
> >------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >Only two people signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4th,
>John Hancock and Charles Thomson. Most of the rest signed on August 2,
>but the last signature wasn't added until 5 years later.
> >------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >Q. Half of all Americans live within 50 miles of what?
> >A. Their birthplace
> >------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >Q. Most boat owners name their boats. What is the most popular boat
>name requested?
> >A. Obsession
> >------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >Q. If you were to spell out numbers, how far would you have to go until
>you would find the letter "A"?
> >A. One thousand
> >------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >Q. What do bulletproof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers, and
>laser printers all have in common?
> >A. All were invented by women.
> >------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >Q. What is the only food that doesn't spoil?
> >A. Honey
> >--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >Q. Which day are there more collect calls than any other day of the
>year?
> >A. Father's Day
> >------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >In Shakespeare's time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes.
>When you pulled on the ropes the mattress tightened, making the bed
>firmer to sleep on. Hence the phrase......... "goodnight, sleep tight."
> >------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a
>month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law
>with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer and because their
>calendar was lunar based, this period was called the honey month, which
>we know today as the honeymoon.
> >------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts... So in old
>England , when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them
>"Mind your pints and quarts, and settle down."
It's where we get the
>phrase "mind your P's and Q's"
> >-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >Many years ago in England , pub frequenters had a whistle baked into
>the rim, or handle, of their ceramic cups. When they needed a refill,
>they used the whistle to get some service. "Wet your whistle" is the
>phrase inspired by this practice.
> >------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >~~~~~~~~~~~AND FINALLY~~~~~~~~~~~~
> >------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >At least 75% of people who read this will try to lick their elbow!
> >------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >Don't delete this just because it looks weird. Believe it or not, you
>can read it.
> >I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty
> >uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The
> >phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde
> >Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the
> >ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and
>lsat ltteer be in the rghit
> >pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a
>porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by
>istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh?
> >------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >YOU KNOW YOU ARE LIVING IN 2006 when...
> >1. You accidentally enter your PIN on the microwave.
> >2. You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years.
> >3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of three.
> >4. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you.
> >5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is
>that they don't have e-mail addresses.
> >6. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if
>anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries.
> >7. Every commercial on television has a web site at the bottom of the
>screen.
> >8. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn't even
>have the first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a cause for
>panic and you turn around to go and get it.
> >10. You get up in the morning and go on line before getting your
>coffee.
> >11. You start tilting your head sideways to smile. : )
> >12. You're reading this and nodding and laughing.
> >13. Even worse, you know exactly to whom you are going to forward this
>message.
> >14. You are too busy to notice there was no #9 on this list.
> >15. You actually scrolled back up to check that there wasn't a #9 on
>this list.
> >AND NOW U R LAUGHING at yourself.

Good morning, WA2K listeners and contributors. Hey, hawkman, what a great list of trivia. When we were kids, we believed that if you could kiss your elbow, you would become a boy.

Fantastic bio's today, Boston, and I read every one of them. Of course, folks, I can hear better than I can read.

Well, for goodness sake. Yesterday was dys' birthday. I had forgotten that, and I am so glad that our dj and edgar remembered.

Happy belated birthday, cowboy

Guess we will have to dedicate this song to dys from Diane:

Paul Williams:

I'm feelin' fine
Filled with emotion
Stronger than wine
They give me the notion
that this strange new feelin' is something that
you're feelin' too
Matter of fact
I'm forced to admit it
caught in the act
and maybe we've hit it
Is this strange new feelin'
something that you're feelin' too?
If this is love, it's a rhapsody.
I'm gunna sing it like a song,
and if you're singin' it back to me:
Forget about sophistication,
keep it simple,
That's my style.
Love at its best
a pleasure to make it
a chance and a test.
I'm willing to take it
if this strange new feelin'
is somethin' that you're feelin' too.
aaah oooh
oooh oooh
ooooooooh
ooooooooh
If this is love, it's a rhapsody.
I'm gunna sing it like a song,
and if you're singin' it back to me:
Forget about sophistication,
keep it simple,
That's my style.
Love at its best
a pleasure to make it
a chance and a test.
I'm willing to take it
if this strange new feelin'
is somethin' that you're feelin' too.
aaaaahhmm
aaaaahhmm
aaaah ah ah
aaaaahhmm
aaaaahhmm
aaaah ah ah ooh
aaaah ooh
aaaah ooh
aaaah ah ah ooh
oom bop diddy
oom bop diddy
oom bop diddy
oom bop diddy
oom bop diddy
(repeat until fade out)

Well, listeners, one resolution I will make today and that is never, NEVER challenge our Raggedy on who wrote or sang what. Couldn't sleep last evening so I spent a lot of time trying to find if Peter, Paul, and Mary sang "Norwegian Wood"; they did NOT.

Today is my friend Phil's birthday, and since he and I both love James Taylor, this is for him:

Artist: James Taylor Lyrics
Song: Shower The People

You can play the game and you can act out the part
Though you know it wasn't written for you
But tell me, how can you stand there with your broken heart
Ashamed of playing the fool
One thing can lead to another; it doesn't take any sacrifice
Oh, father and mother, sister and brother
if it feels nice, don't think twice

Just shower the people you love with love
Show them the way that you feel
Things are gonna work out fine if you only will
Shower the people you love with love
Show them the way you feel
Things are gonna be much better if you only will

You can run but you cannot hide
This is widely known
And what you plan to do with your foolish pride
When you're all by yourself alone
Once you tell somebody the way that you feel
You can feel it beginning to ease
I think it's true what they say about the squeaky wheel
Always getting the grease.

Better to shower the people you love with love
Show them the way that you feel
Things are gonna be just fine if you only will
Shower the people you love with love
Show them the way that you feel
Things are gonna be much better if you only will

Shower the people you love with love
Show them the way that you feel

You'll feel better right away
Don't take much to do
Sell your pride
They say in every life
They say the rain must fall
Just like pouring rain
Make it rain
Make it rain
Love, love, love is sunshine.
Oh yes
Make it rain
Love, love, love is sunshine
Yeah, all right
Everybody, everybody
Shower the people you love with love

Good morning WA2K.

Great trivia, Bob. I like "goodnight, sleep tight" the best, and "rule of thumb", next. The "golf" one is hard to believe. Thanks for posting them.

A little late, but never too late - Happy Birthday, Dys.

And today's gallery:


I loved Denver's voice:




Oh, I just saw Letty's comment. No, no, Letty. I consider myself lucky if I can remember the name of a movie I saw three weeks ago, or a song I heard the other day.

Well, there she is, listeners. Our Raggedy is much too modest, right?

Hmmm. Today we are looking at great photo's of Rex, Sarah, Donna, John, Ben and Val.

I had no idea that Val actually did the songs in The Jim Morrison movie, and I had Donna mixed up with Suzanne. Pictures do help, PA and thanks again.

Okay then, a song by DONNA:

Is there a remedy for the passions of the soul
Brother if there is one I don't really know
Have I let my imagination run out of control
I'm a rainbow
Just a rainbow
Am I living here in this nameless state
Flight on darkness sound of silence
I just can't get it straight
See I don't wanna be no one that I ain't
I'm a rainbow
just a rainbow
And all the colors that you see
are all a part of me
In this crazy world of mine
Like the wind that blows
The trees are sailing for the breeze
Ever changing all the time
I'm a rainbow just a rainbow
ever changing all the time
I'm a rainbow colorful rainbow
Sometimes I shine
And all the colors that you see
are all a part of me
In this crazy world of mine
Like the wind that blows
The trees are sailing for the breeze
Ever changing all the time
da da da da da....
Like the wind that blows
The trees are sailing for the breeze
Ever changing all the time
I'm a rainbow just a rainbow
And sometimes I can shine
I'm a rainbow just a rainbow....

You're So Beautiful Lyrics
Artist: John Denver
Album: Country Roads Collection

This song appears on three albums, and was first released on the John Denver Album, and has also been released on the Reflections and The Country Roads Collection Albums.

Born on a quiet morning
Just a dream in someone's eyes
A dream that's like a promise meant to be
Giving rise to speculation
On a place called paradise
If I've ever been there
It's when you were with me

You're so beautiful
I can't believe your eyes
Each time I see you again
You're so beautiful
That I'm in paradise
Each time I see you again

I remember some hidden valley
Where the skies are never still
And alpine meadows burn in the evening light
I remember the path to glory
And the way around the hill
I remember true loves eyes
Shining in the night

You're so beautiful
I can't believe your eyes
Each time I see you again
You're so beautiful
That I'm in paradise
Each time I see you again

And if paradise is everything you see
Then the place you must be coming from
Is ecstasy

You're so beautiful
I can't believe your eyes
Each time I see you again
You're so beautiful
That I'm in paradise
Each time I see you again

Just want to see you again
I want to be with you again
I just need to love you again
Just wanna touch you again
I just need to love you again
I want to be with you again

Words and music by John Denver

You know, Bob, I thought I knew most of John Denver's songs, but I see that I don't. Great lyrics, Boston.

Odd, I just heard "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" as a theme to some movie. A guy was playing it on a toy uke and singing it a capella. Believe it or not, it was nice.

Here's another "beautiful" song. (there are a million of them)

Artist: Joe Cocker Lyrics
Song: You Are So Beautiful To Me Lyrics

You are so beautiful
To me
You are so beautiful
To me
Can't you see
You're everything I hoped for
You're everything I need
You are so beautiful
To me


You are so wonderful
To me
You are so wonderful
To me
Can't you see
You're everything I hoped for
You're everything I need
You are so wonderful
To me


You are so beautiful
To me
You are so beautiful
To me
Can't you see
You're everything I hoped for
You're everything I need
You are so beautiful
To me

And that guy had to be Israel "IZ" Kamakawiwo'ole who made a recording of "Over the Rainbow" with "What a Wonderful World". I first heard it during the closing credits of "Finding Forrester" with Sean Connery. But, I remember IZ also sang the song in another movie, the title of which eludes me.



IZ died of respiratory failure in 1997 at the age of 38. His brother, also a musician, died of a heart attack at age 28.

Raggedy, "Meet Joe Black" would be the other soundtrack with IZ on it.

Thank you, Yitwail. I saw that movie, but I never would have remembered it without your help.

Well, my goodness, Raggedy and Yit. Iz certainly ain't "tiny bubbles", iz he.

I saw both of those movies, and I loved Sean Connery in "Finding Forrester". Can't exactly remember, "Meet Joe Black", but I can search that out later.

I was looking through some albums today, and ran across a picture of Bud with little Dave on his shoulders. Loved it, and Dave had mumps.

So, folks, this is the John Denver song that co-incided with that very memory:

John Denver - Matthew Lyrics

I had an uncle, name of Matthew, he was his father's only boy.
Born just south of Colby, Kansas, he was his mother's pride and
joy.
Yes, and joy was just a thing that he was raised on,
love was just a way to live and die.
Gold was just a windy Kansas wheat field,
blue was just the Kansas summer sky.

And all the stories that he told me back when I was just a
lad.
All the memories that he gave me, all the good times that he
had.
Growing up a Kansas farm boy, life was mostly having fun.
Riding on his daddy's shoulders behind the mule, beneath the
sun.
Yes, and joy was just a thing that he was raised on,
love was just a way to live and die.
Gold was just a windy Kansas wheat field,
blue was just the Kansas summer sky.

Well, I guess there were some hard times, and I'm told some
years were lean.
They had a storm in '47, twister came and stripped 'em clean.
He lost the farm, he lost his family, he lost the wheat, he lost
his home.
But he found the family bible, his faith as solid as a stone.
Yes, and joy was just a thing that he was raised on,
love was just a way to live and die.
Gold was just a windy Kansas wheat field,
blue was just the Kansas summer sky.

So he came to live at our house, and he came to work the
land.
He came to ease my daddy's burden, and he came to be my
friend.
So I wrote this down for Matthew, and it's for him this song is
sung.
Riding on his daddy's shoulders, behind the mule, beneath the
sun
Yes, and joy was just a thing that he was raised on,
love was just a way to live and die.
Gold was just a windy Kansas wheat field,
blue was just the Kansas summer sky.
Yes, and joy was just a thing that he was raised on,
love was just a way to live and die.
Gold was just a windy Kansas wheat field,
blue was just the Kansas summer sky.