WA2K Radio is now on the air

Love it, dj. Well, Canada, I don't think that Tennessee Williams did many songs, but I know a litre (er, make that leader) when I see one, so this is for all musicians out there:

Dan Fogelberg

An only child alone and wild
A cabinet maker's son
His hands were meant for different work
And his heart was known to none
He left his home and went his lone and solitary way
And he gave to me a gift
I know I never can repay

A quiet man of music
Denied a simpler fate
He tried to be a soldier once
But his music wouldn't wait
He earned his love thru' discipline
A thundering velvet hand
His gentle means of sculpting souls
Took me years to understand

The leader of the band
Is tired and his eyes are growing old
But his blood runs thru' my instrument
And his song is in my soul
My life has been a poor attempt to imitate the man
I'm just a living legacy
To the leader of the band

My brother's lives were different
For they heard another call
One went to Chicago and the other to St. Paul
And I'm in Colorado
When I'm not in some hotel
Living out this life I've chose
And come to know so well

I thank you for the music
And your stories of the road
I thank you for the freedom
When it came my time to go
I thank you for the kindness
And the times when you got tough
And papa I don't think I said
"I love you" near enough

The leader of the band
Is tired and his eyes are growing old
But his blood runs thru' my instrument
And his song is in my soul
My life has been a poor attempt to imitate the man
I'm just a living legacy
To the leader of the band
I am the living legacy
To the leader of the band

love that tune

here's a tune from scottish pop group belle and sebastian

This Is Just A Modern Rock Song
Belle & Sebastian

Emma tried to run away,
I followed her across the city,
She went out to the Easterhouse,
Because she liked the sound of it.

She didn't have a single penny,
She stuck a finger in the air,
She tried to flag down an aeroplane,
I suppose she needs a holiday.

I put my arm around her waist,
She put me on the ground with Judo,
She didn't recognise my face,
She wasn't even looking.

Laura's feeling just ideal,
Her horoscope was nearly perfect,
She's thinking of something to do,
Because she is The Birthday Girl.

She walked out to the edge of town,
She saw me lying in the park,
She took Emma by the hand,
They've got a lot in common.

I'll leave them to do what they want,
I'll leave them to do what they need to,
I'll go and play with words and pictures,
I'll admit I'm feeling strange.

[instrumental]

I'm not as sad as Doestoevsky,
I'm not as clever as Mark Twain,
I'll only buy a book for the way it looks,
And then I stick it on the shelf again.

Now I could tell you what I'm thinking,
But it never seems to do you good,
It's beyond me what a girl can see,
I'm only lucid when I'm writing songs.

This is just a modern rock song,
This is just a sorry lament,
We're four boys in corduroys,
We're not terrific but we're competent.

Stevie's full of good intentions,
Richards into rock 'n' roll,
Stuart's staying in and he thinks it's a sin,
That he has to leave the house at all.

[instrumental]

This is just a modern rock song,
This is just a tender affair,
I count "three, four" and then we start to slow,
Because a song has got to stop somewhere.

dj, I love those lyrics, Canada, especially this verse:

"This is just a modern rock song,
This is just a tender affair,
I count "three, four" and then we start to slow,
Because a song has got to stop somewhere."

Well, folks, next month will signal Bike Week in Florida, but those hawgs are all over A1A even today. They make me a bit nervous, however.

Here's a song about the pack.


Leader Of The Pack
by Bette Midler

"Hey, Betty? Is that Jimmy's ring you're wearing?"
"Uh huh."
"Oh! Must be nice riding on that motorcycle after school, huh?"
"Uh huh."
"Is he picking you up after school today?"
"Unh uh!"
"Well, where'd ya meet him?"

I met him at the candy store.
He turned around and smiled at me.
Ya get the picture? (Yes, we see)
That's when I fell for the leader of the pack.

My folks were always puttin' him down.
Down! Down!
They said he came from the wrong side of town.
They told me that he was bad,
but I knew that he was sad.
And thats why I fell for the leader of the pack.

One day my dad said, "Find someone new."
New! New!
I had to tell my Jimmy that,
whoa, we were through.
He stood up and then he asked me why.
But all I could do was cry.
I'm sorry I hurt you,
the leader of the pack.

He sort of smiled and he kissed me goodbye.
The tears were beginning to show.
And as he drove away from me
on that rainy, rainy night,
I begged him to go slow.
But whether he heard me
I'll never, never, never, never know!
Look out now, now, look out!
Whoa oh no no no! Whoa no no no! No! No!

I felt so helpless! What could I do-wo-wo-wo-wo?
The only, only love that we had was through.
At school they all stop and stare.
I can't hide the tears.
I just don't care!
I will never forget you,
the leader of the pack!
Whoa-oo-woh! Gone gone gone!
Gone gone gone!
The leader of the pack is,
now he's gone!
The leader of the pack is,
now he's gone!
The leader of the pack is, whoa gone!
Gone gone gone!
Gone gone gone!
Gone gone gone!

Opening up our cyber station this morning with a song from Bobby D.


Softly as in a mornin' sunrise

The light of love comes stealing

Into a newborn day.



Flamin' with all the glow of sunrise

A burning kiss is sealing

The vow that all betray.



For the passions that thrill love

Lift you high to heaven

Are the passions that kill love

And lead ya down to hell

Same old story …



Softly as in an evenin' sunset

The light that gave you glory

Will take it all away.



For the passions that thrill love

And lift you high to heaven

Are the passions that kill love

And lead ya into hell

Same old story …



Softly, softly as in an evenin' sunset, sunset

The light that gave you glory

Will take it all away.



Good morning, WA2K.

Ray Bolger
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



Born January 10, 1904
Dorchester, Massachusetts
Died January 15, 1987
Los Angeles, California

Ray Bolger (January 10, 1904 - January 15, 1987) was an American entertainer of stage and screen, best known for his portrayal of the Scarecrow (and the farmworker "Huck") in the 1939 film classic, The Wizard of Oz.

Ray Bolger was born Raymond Wallace Bulcão to a Roman Catholic family of Portuguese and Irish extraction (see [1]) in Dorchester, Massachusetts, a heavily Irish neighborhood at the time.

His father was a house-painter, his mother a homemaker. He was inspired by the vaudeville shows he attended when he was young to become an entertainer himself. He began his career as a dancer. His limber body and ability to ad lib movement won him many starring roles on Broadway in the 1930s.

His film career began when he signed a $10,000 a week contract with Lionsgate Films in 1936. His best-known film prior to The Wizard of Oz was The Great Ziegfeld (1936), in which he portrayed himself.


Bolger's studio contract stipulated that he would play any part the studio chose; however, he was unhappy when he was cast as the Tin Man. The Scarecrow part had already been assigned to another lean and limber dancing studio contract player, Buddy Ebsen.

In time, the roles were switched. While Bolger was pleased with his role as the Scarecrow, Ebsen was struck ill by the powdered aluminum make-up used to complete the Tin Man costume. (The powdered aluminum had been inhaled and coated Ebsen's lungs, leaving him near death. Ironically, Ebsen would outlive all the principal players of Oz.) Ebsen's illness paved the way for the role to be filled by Jack Haley.

Bolger's performance in Oz was a tour de force. He displayed the full range of his physical, comedic, and dramatic talents playing the character searching for the brain that he's always had. The Scarecrow's sympathy for Dorothy Gale's plight, his cleverness and bravery in rescuing her from the Wicked Witch of the West (played by Margaret Hamilton) and his deep affection for her shone through, endearing the character -- and Bolger -- in the public mind forever. Whenever queried as to whether he received any residuals from broadcasts of the 1939 classic, Bolger would reply: "No, just immortality. I'll settle for that."[2]

Following Oz, Bolger moved to RKO. He starred in several more films and had a sitcom called Where's Raymond? from 1953 - 1955 (also known as "The Ray Bolger Show"). He also made frequent guest appearances on television. In 1985 he and Liza Minnelli, the daughter of his Oz co-star Judy Garland, starred in "That's Dancing" -- a film also written by Jack Haley, Jr., the son of late Tin Man actor Jack Haley. Liza Minnelli and Jack Haley, Jr. would have a brief marriage some years later.

Ray Bolger died in Los Angeles, California of cancer just five days after his 83rd birthday, and is interred at Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, California, in the Mausoleum, Crypt F2, Block 35.

He was survived by his wife of 57 1/2 years, Gwendolyn Rickard. [3]

At the time of his death, he was the last surviving member of the main Oz cast. An editorial cartoon the day after his death featured the Oz cast dancing off into the setting sun, with the Scarecrow running to catch up.

Paul Henreid
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



Birth name Paul Georg Julius Hernreid Ritter Von Wassel-Waldingau
Born January 10, 1908
Trieste, Austria-Hungary (now Italy)
Died March 29, 1992, age 84
Santa Monica, California

Paul Georg Julius Hernreid Freiherr von Wassel-Waldingau, (January 10, 1908 - March 29, 1992), known professionally as Paul Henreid, was an actor and film director probably best known for his roles in Casablanca and Now, Voyager.

Born in Trieste which was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and now part of Italy, Henreid was the son of an aristocratic Viennese banker. He studied theatre in Vienna and debuted on the stage under the direction of Max Reinhardt. He began his acting career in German films in the 1930s, but left Austria in 1935 for Britain. A small featured role in Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939) led him to Hollywood.

In 1942 he appeared in two films that would become the most recognisable of his career. In Now, Voyager, he played the married man that Bette Davis loved, and with Davis created one of the screen's most imitated scenes when he lit two cigarettes and handed one to her. He next appeared in Casablanca as Victor Laszlo, the husband of the Ingrid Bergman character.

He made regular film appearances throughout the 1940s, and in the early 1950s began directing for both film and television. His important film credits include The Spanish Main (1945), Of Human Bondage (1946), Song of Love (1947), Siren of Bagdad (1953), and Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1961). His television directorial credits include Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Maverick, Bonanza and The Big Valley. In 1964 Bette Davis, who had expressed both trust and admiration for Henreid since their first collaboration, was directed by Henreid in Dead Ringer. Henreid also directed his own daughter, Monica Henreid (an aspiring actress at the time) in the same film wherein she plays Davis's maid.

Henreid died from pneumonia at Santa Monica, California and was interred in the Woodlawn Cemetery.

He has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame - for Motion Pictures at 6366 Hollywood Boulevard, and for Television at 1722 Vine Street.

Bernard Lee
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



Birth name Bernard Lee
Born 10 January 1908
London, England
Died 16 January 1981
London, England

Height 6' (1.83m)
Spouse(s) Gladys Merredew
Notable roles M in various James Bond movies.
Bernard Lee (10 January 1908 - 16 January 1981) was an English actor, best known for his role as M in the first eleven James Bond films.




Biography

Born in London, he attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. During the 1930s he acted mostly on stage, but after World War II developed a successful film career, including The Third Man (1949), Beat the Devil (1953), The Battle of the River Plate (1956), Dunkirk (1958) and Whistle Down the Wind (1961).

Lee also starred in the 1976 television show Beauty and the Beast with George C. Scott. A year later he starred in the television show A Christmas Carol as the Ghost of Christmas Present.


James Bond films

In the Bond films, Lee's character, M, is Admiral Sir Miles Messervy (only ever named, besides as 'M', as 'Admiral' and 'Miles' on screen in his appearances), Bond's irascible boss who sends him out on assignments. Lee was succeeded by Robert Brown, though not necessarily playing the same character (Brown had played another admiral in the series previously). Judi Dench, a friend of Lee's, would later take over the role of a brand-new M, starting in 1995 with some references to her predecessor, including an oil painting of Lee in the role seen in MI6's secondary HQ (a Scottish castle).

Bernard Lee starred in eleven James Bond films.

Dr. No (1962)
From Russia with Love (1963)
Goldfinger (1964)
Thunderball (1965)
You Only Live Twice (1967)
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)
Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
Live and Let Die (1973)
The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
Moonraker (1979)

Death

In January 1981, Lee died after a battle with stomach cancer, while preparing his role for For Your Eyes Only. Out of respect, no new actor was hired to take over the role of M in the 1981 James Bond film For Your Eyes Only. In the film, M's lines were transferred to the Minister of Defence and Bill Tanner, M's Chief of Staff. He also happens to be the grandfather of British actor Jonny Lee Miller

Gisele MacKenzie
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Gisèle MacKenzie (January 10, 1927 - September 5, 2003) was a Canadian singer, most famous for her performances on the popular television program Your Hit Parade.

She was born Gisèle Marie-Louise Marguerite LaFlèche in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and studied violin and voice at the Royal Conservatory in Toronto, Ontario. She had her own Canadian Broadcasting Corporation radio program, Meet Gisele, before moving to the Los Angeles, California area in 1951. She became a naturalized US citizen in 1955.

MacKenzie possessed a crystalline, resonant singing voice. It has been said that she was the greatest female vocalist of her generation. She recorded albums and 45rpm singles on various record labels, most notably Capitol and RCA. Her biggest selling song was "Hard To Get" in 1955.

MacKenzie was also an accomplished violinist and performed many comedic musical duets with mentor Jack Benny. She sang frequently on early television shows such as The Jack Benny Program, and The Ed Sullivan Show. She appeared often at Las Vegas venues in her burgeoning career and in numerous concerts throughout her life.

In the United States, she appeared on radio on such stars' programs as Bob Crosby and Mario Lanza. She also hosted a radio show entitled Airtime. In 1952 and 1953 she toured with Jack Benny, who recommended her for Your Hit Parade. During her tenure on Your Hit Parade the song "Hard to Get" became one of the chart hits. MacKenzie appeared on the show for several years, finally leaving in 1957 to head her own short-lived variety program, The Gisele MacKenzie Show. She returned to television in 1963, appearing as a regular on The Sid Caesar Show.

In later years MacKenzie performed widely in musical theater in such shows as Mame, Gypsy, The Sound of Music, and Hello, Dolly!. She turned to acting in the 1990s, making guest appearances on episodic television.

MacKenzie has a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame.

Johnnie Ray
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


John Alvin Ray (January 10, 1927-February 24, 1990) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist.

He was one of the most popular American singers of his day, and is considered by many people to be the forerunner of what would become rock 'n' roll.



Life and career

Ray was born in Hopewell (near Dallas), Oregon, and spent part of his childhood on a farm, eventually moving to Portland, Oregon. He is often correctly said to be of American Indian origin, due to the claims of a publicity agent. His great-grandmother was full blooded Indian & his great-grandfather was George Kirby Gay of Berkley, Gloucestershire, England. He became deaf in his right ear at age 12 due to an accident as a Boy Scout involving a blanket toss, when he fell on the ground hitting his ear, and would often perform wearing a mauve hearing aid. A later operation left him almost completely deaf in both ears.

Ray first attracted attention while performing at the Flame Showbar in Detroit, an R&B nightclub where he was the only white performer. Inspired by rhythm singers like Kay Starr, LaVern Baker and Ivory Joe Hunter, Ray developed a unique rhythm-based style that was far closer to what would become known as "rock and roll" than any other music of the time. Much like Frankie Laine before him, he was often mistaken for a black artist when his records first started hitting the airwaves.

His first record, the self-penned R&B number for OKeh Records, "Whiskey and Gin," was a minor hit in 1951, but by the end of the year he would be dominating the charts with the double-sided monster hit single of "Cry" backed by "The Little White Cloud That Cried" (the latter also a Ray composition). His emotional delivery struck a chord with teenagers, and he quickly became the biggest teen idol since Frank Sinatra almost ten years earlier. Ray has been cited as the historical link between Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley in the development of popular music.

Ray's unorthodox performing style included many theatrics later associated with rock 'n' roll, including beating up his piano, writhing on the floor and, most famously, crying. Also like Laine, his shows were often compared to religious revival meetings with the singer and audience both reaching an emotional frenzy. Ray quickly earned a plethora of nicknames including "The Atomic Ray," "Mr. Emotion," "The Nabob of Sob," "The Cry Guy" and "The Prince of Wails." In the documentary film No Direction Home, Bob Dylan cites Ray as an early influence, stating that Ray's singing and performance style seemed "voodooed".

More hits followed, including "Please Mr. Sun," "Such A Night," "Walkin' My Baby Back Home," "A Sinner Am I" and "Yes Tonight Josephine." His last hit was "Just Walkin' in the Rain," in 1956. He was even more popular in the UK than in the U.S., breaking the record at the London Palladium formerly set by Frankie Laine. Although his star rapidly diminished in the US, he retained a loyal fan base overseas, particularly in Australia.

As wild off the stage as on, Ray soon became fodder for tabloids like Confidential and Hush-Hush which conspired to destroy his phenomenal popularity (at one point he had four of the top songs on the charts in one week out of the Top Ten). But, ironically, he was ultimately a victim of the rock 'n' roll genre he did so much to establish. As younger and younger artists came to dominate the charts, the thirty-something Johnnie Ray was soon left by the wayside.

Though Ray married Marilyn Morrison in 1952, his wife was well aware of the singer's homosexuality. She believed she would be able to "straighten it out." But some years later, his manager Bill Franklin became Ray's lover. Rumored to be bisexual, the singer was prosecuted for indecency in a public toilet. When he was arrested in 1959, there was much gossip about his homosexual leanings. This took a toll on Ray's popularity and contributed to the decline of his career.

Ray also had a close relationship with journalist and television game show panelist Dorothy Kilgallen with whom he is widely thought to have had an affair.

His career revived in the 1970s, but it is only since the late 1990s that he has gained a great deal of recognition. A chronic and lifelong alcoholic, he died of liver failure in Los Angeles at the age of 63.

Sal Mineo
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



Birth name Salvatore Mineo, Jr.
Born January 10, 1939
The Bronx, New York City, NY
Died February 12, 1976
West Hollywood, CA

Height 5'6"
Other name(s) The Switchblade Kid, Jr.
Official site Sal Mineo Website
Notable roles Rebel Without a Cause
John "Plato" Crawford

Salvatore "Sal" Mineo, Jr. (January 10, 1939 - February 12, 1976) was an American movie and stage actor, famous for his Academy Award-nominated performance opposite James Dean in the film Rebel Without a Cause.

Mineo, born in The Bronx, New York City as the son of a Sicilian coffin maker, was enrolled by his mother in dancing and acting school at an early age.




Acting career

Mineo had his first stage appearance in The Rose Tattoo (1950), a play by Tennessee Williams. He also played the young prince opposite Yul Brynner in the stage musical The King and I.

After a few more film and television appearances his breakthrough was Rebel Without A Cause (1955) in which he gave an impressive performance as John "Plato" Crawford, the sensitive teenager smitten with James Dean's Jim Stark. His biographer Paul Jeffers recounted that Mineo received thousands of fan letters from young female admirers, was mobbed by them at public appearances and further wrote, "He dated the most beautiful women in Hollywood and New York." On the other hand, in An Introduction to Film Studies (2003), Jill Nelmes discusses "how gay men derived particular sub-cultural messages from such films as Rebel Without a Cause when empathising with the relationship between Jim (James Dean) and Plato (Sal Mineo)." According to Robert Aldrich and Garry Wotherspoon's Who's Who in Contemporary Gay and Lesbian History: From World War II to the Present Day, Dean's "loving tenderness towards the besotted Sal Mineo in Rebel Without a Cause" touches and excites "gay audiences by its honesty." Mineo was later reunited with Dean in Giant (1956), although only in a few scenes.

Many of his subsequent roles were variations of his role in Rebel Without a Cause and he often played juvenile delinquents. In the Disney adventure Tonka, for instance, Mineo starred as a young Sioux named White Bull who traps and domesticates a clear-eyed, spirited wild horse named "Tonka" who becomes the famous horse Comanche. In his book, Multiculturalism And The Mouse: Race and Sex in Disney Entertainment (2006), Douglas Brode states that the very casting of Mineo as White Bull again "ensured a homosexual subtext." By the late 1950s the actor was a major celebrity, sometimes referred to as the "Switchblade Kid."

In 1957, Mineo made a brief foray into music by recording a handful of songs and an album. Two of his singles reached the Top 40 pop charts. He starred as drummer Gene Krupa in the movie The Gene Krupa Story (1959), co-starring Susan Kohner, James Darren, and Susan Oliver, and directed by Don Weis.

Meanwhile, Mineo made an effort to break his typecasting. His acting ability and exotic good looks earned him not only roles as a Native American boy in Tonka, but also as a Jewish emigrant in Otto Preminger's Exodus (1960) for which he received another Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor (and reportedly was bitterly disappointed when he didn't win.)

By the early 1960s he was getting too old to play the types that had made him famous and for a variety of reasons wasn't considered appropriate for leading roles. He auditioned for David Lean's film Lawrence of Arabia but wasn't hired. Mineo was baffled by his sudden loss of popularity, later saying "One minute it seemed I had more movie offers than I could handle, the next, no one wanted me."

His role as a stalker in Who Killed Teddy Bear? (1965), co-starring Juliet Prowse, didn't seem to help. Although his performance was praised by critics, he found himself typecast anew, now as a deranged criminal. He returned to the stage to produce the gay-themed Fortune and Men's Eyes (1971), starring Don Johnson of later Miami Vice fame. Although the play got positive reviews in Los Angeles, it was panned during a run in New York and its expanded prison rape scene was criticized as excessive and prurient. A string of failed projects and flops followed. A small role in Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971) as chimpanzee Dr. Milo turned out to be Mineo's last movie appearance.


Murder

By 1976 Mineo's career seemed to be turning around again. Playing the role of a gay burglar in a San Francisco run of the stage comedy P.S. Your Cat Is Dead, he received substantial publicity from many positive reviews and moved on to Los Angeles with the play. Arriving home after a rehearsal on February 12, 1976, Mineo was stabbed to death in the alley behind a West Hollywood apartment building. He was 37 years old.

According to Warren Johansson and William A. Percy's Outing: Shattering the Conspiracy of Silence, he was murdered under circumstances that suggested "a homosexual motive." Investigators reportedly found gay pornography in his home and assumed that such men would only have their sexuality as a defining mark in every aspect of their life.

A career criminal named Lionel Ray Williams was later sentenced to life in prison for killing Mineo. Although there was considerable confusion relating to what witnesses had seen in the darkness the night Mineo was murdered, Williams was reported to have boasted of the crime, which turned out to be a botched mugging. At the time of the murder, Williams had no idea who Sal Mineo was. Williams was paroled in 1990, after serving 12 years, but was jailed numerous times afterwards for parole violations.

Mineo is interred in the Cemetery of the Gate of Heaven in Hawthorne, New York.


At the Opera

A little-known facet of Mineo's career was his involvement with opera. On May 8, 1954, he portrayed the Page (miming to the voice of mezzo-soprano Carol Jones) in the NBC Opera Theatre's production of Richard Strauss' Salome (in English translation), set to the play of Oscar Wilde. Elaine Malbin performed the title role, and Peter Herman Adler conducted Kirk Browning's production.

In December of 1972, Mineo stage directed Gian Carlo Menotti's The Medium, in Detroit. Muriel Costa-Greenspon portrayed the medium, Madame Flora, and Mineo himself played the mute Toby.


Quote

"No one ever said movies are for developing your range. Hardly anyone gets that opportunity. Which is why I think the stage is so good. It's less bread, but you can play different types, and you can initiate your own projects."

Jim Croce
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

James Joseph Croce (January 10, 1943 - September 20, 1973), popularly known as Jim Croce (pronounced CROW-chee), was an American singer-songwriter.





Early life

Croce was born in South Philadelphia. He graduated from Upper Darby High School in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania in 1961 where in 1976, he was the first former student to be added to the high school's Wall of Fame. While attending Villanova University (1965 graduate), Croce became interested in becoming a professional musician and met his future wife, Ingrid, at a hootenanny at Convention Hall in Philadelphia, where he was a judge for the contest.


Early career

During the early 1960s, Croce formed a number of college bands and performed at coffee houses and universities, and later with his wife Ingrid as a duo in the mid-1960s to early 1970s. At first their performances included songs by Ian and Sylvia, Gordon Lightfoot, Joan Baez, and Woody Guthrie, but in time they began writing their own music, such as "Age", "Hey Tomorrow", and "Spin, Spin Spin" which later led to Croce's hit songs in the early seventies.

At the same time, Croce got his first long-term gig at a rural bar and steak house in Lima, Pennsylvania, called the Riddle Paddock. There, over the next few years, Croce developed a very engaging rapport with tough audiences and built his musical repertoire to over 3,000 songs. His set list included every genre from blues to country, rock 'n roll to folk, with tender love songs and traditional Bawdy Ballads, always introduced with a story and an impish grin.

In 1968, Jim and Ingrid Croce were encouraged to move to New York City to record their first album with Capitol Records. For the next two years, they drove over 300,000 miles playing small clubs and concerts on the college concert circuit promoting their album Jim & Ingrid Croce.

Then, disillusioned by the music business and New York City, Croce sold all but one guitar to pay the rent, and they returned to the Pennsylvania countryside where Croce got a job driving trucks and doing construction to pay the bills. He called this his "Character Development Period" and spent a lot of his time sitting in the cab of a truck, composing songs about his buddies and the folks he enjoyed meeting at the local bars and truck stops.


Success

In 1970, Croce met classically trained pianist/guitarist, singer-songwriter Maury Muehleisen from Trenton, New Jersey. Initially, Croce backed Muehleisen on guitar at his gigs. But in time, their musical strengths led them each to new heights. Muehleisen's ethereal and inspired guitar leads became the perfect accompaniment to Croce's down-to-earth music.

In 1972, Croce signed to a three record deal with ABC Records releasing You Don't Mess Around with Jim and Life & Times in the same year. The singles "You Don't Mess Around with Jim", "Operator (That's Not The Way It Feels)" and "Time In A Bottle" (written for his newborn son, A. J. Croce) helped the former album reach #1 on the charts in 1974. Croce's biggest single "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown", hit number 1 on the US charts in the summer of 1973, selling two million copies.


Sudden death

Croce, 30, and Muehleisen, 24, died in a small commercial plane crash on September 20, 1973 in Natchitoches, Louisiana one day before releasing his third ABC album, I Got a Name. The posthumous release included three hits, "I Got A Name", "Workin' At The Car Wash Blues" and "I'll Have To Say I Love You In A Song."


Musical legacy

In 1990, Croce was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

In the late 1990s, Ingrid Croce, Croce's widow, and their son, A.J. Croce obtained the publishing rights for Croce's entire catalog of songs. Since then they have released Jim Croce Home Recordings, Facets, Jim Croce: Classic Hits, and the first ever DVD of Jim's television performances on "Have You Heard - Jim Croce Live", with their most recent release in January 2006 of a CD of the same title. They also co-produced a PBS special, with archive footage from the Croce family collection, along with excerpts of their DVD Have You Heard - Jim Croce Live.

In 1985, Ingrid Croce opened "Croce's Restaurant & Jazz Bar", located in the historic Gaslamp District in San Diego, California, partially as a tribute to her late husband.


Quotes

His personal motto: "If you dig it, do it. If you really dig it, do it twice."

On his roots: "I never really thought of my neighborhood in South Philly as being a neighborhood, it was more a state of mind. For people who aren't familiar with those kind of places, it's a whole different thing. Like 42nd Street in New York City is a state of mind."

Pat Benatar
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



Background information

Birth name Patricia Mae Andrzejewski
Born January 10, 1953 (age 53)
Origin New York City, New York, USA

Pat Benatar (born Patricia Mae Andrzejewski on January 10, 1953) is a Grammy Award-winning American rock singer.



Biography

Pat Benatar was born in Brooklyn to a Polish family and grew up in Lindenhurst, New York. Most of her songs are, as you could say, "off the chain".She initially studied voice and opera, following in the footsteps of her mother. [1] She graduated from Lindenhurst High School in 1971, and in 1972 she married her high school sweetheart, Dennis T. Benatar, providing her the surname with which she became famous. She immediately moved to Richmond, Virginia with her husband, where she worked as a bank clerk and sang gigs at night.[2]. She and her husband moved to New York in 1975 where they were soon divorced.

Benatar then began to pursue her singing career in earnest. She was discovered at an amateur-night contest in the New York City comedy club Catch a Rising Star in 1977. After performing successfully several times at the club, Benatar finally found her onstage persona in the form of a wild Halloween costume which she had worn as a joke. In several interviews, Benatar recounted her realization for the new audience reaction: "The crowd was always polite, but this time they went out of their minds," Benatar would later report. "It was the same songs, sung the same way, and I thought, 'Oh my god...it's these clothes and this dog!'" Because of that performance, she was signed to Chrysalis Records by its founder Terry Ellis.[3]

Benatar married her lead guitarist Neil Giraldo in 1982, and they have two daughters, Haley and Hana.

She amassed a sizeable run of hit albums and singles in the 1980s, including "Heartbreaker", "Hit Me With Your Best Shot", "You Better Run", "Hell is For Children", and a cover of John Mellencamp's "I Need A Lover". Benatar had a reputation for writing about 'tough' subject matter, having recorded a significant amount of songs with a "battle" metaphor (such as "Invincible", "Hit Me With Your Best Shot", "Sex as a Weapon", "Fight it Out", and "Love is a Battlefield") and harsh subjects such as child abuse ("Hell is for Children", "Suffer the Little Children"). As her career progressed, her sound mellowed a bit from hard rock to more atmospheric pop songs ("Love is a Battlefield" and "We Belong".)

She won four consecutive Grammy Awards for "Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female" from 1980 to 1983, and was nominated four additional times in 1985, 1986, 1988, and 1989.

She will be inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame in 2007.


The band

Although billed as a solo artist, Benatar recorded and toured with a consistent set of band members over most of her career, who contributed greatly to the writing and producing of songs and are recognizable characters on album photos and in many of her music videos.

Neil "Spyder" Giraldo (incorrectly spelled as "Geraldo" in early liner notes/credits) is the distinctive lead guitar of the band and has performed on all of Benatar's albums. Neil also plays keyboards and harmonica, and has many writing and producing credits on the Benatar albums.
Myron Grombacher performed drums on nine of Benatar's albums and has numerous writing credits. Myron is easily recognizable in the music videos, particularly as the mad dentist in "Get Nervous."
Charlie Giordano performed keyboard duties on five albums, and is identifiable by his glasses and distinctive array of berets, blazers and 80's-style ties.
The original bass player was Roger Capps, replaced on Tropico by Donnie Nossov, and then later by Frank Linx.
Scott Sheets is also credited on guitar on the first three albums, originally as lead.

Other achievements

Benatar still writes and tours with her husband.

In the summer of 2005, the couple's older daughter, Haley Giraldo, starred in E!'s reality TV series, Filthy Rich: Cattle Drive.


Stage and screen

In 1975, Benatar performed as the character "Zephyr" in Harry Chapin's off-Broadway sci-fi rock musical "Zinger." A rendition of Zephyr's solo piece "Shooting Star" is on the Synchronistic Wanderings collection.

In 1980, she portrayed the character "Jeanette Florescu" in Marcus Reichert's film noir Union City.

Benatar has made numerous TV appearances, mostly as herself.

Appeared with her husband in the Charmed episode "Lucky Charmed".

Also appeared in an episode of Dharma & Greg as herself (singing "We've Only Just Begun" at an impromptu wedding in an airport).


Advertising

In 2006, her song "We Belong" was part of a $20 million dollar ad campaign for Sheraton hotels.[4] The same song is featured in the 2006 comedy Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, starring Will Ferrell and directed by Adam McKay.

Though she had earlier expressed dismay for rock stars endorsing products (including onetime cohort Debbie Harry, who had developed her modeling career simultaneously to her rock career), Benatar herself has now become a commercial spokeswoman for the Energizer company, and is currently being featured in an ad for Candies Vintage shoes for Kohl's department store.


Trivia

"You Better Run" was the second music video ever played on MTV, after the Buggles' "Video Killed the Radio Star". [5]
Then-unknown actors Judge Reinhold and Bill Paxton appeared in Benatar's WWII-themed music video for "Shadows of the Night" (as an American fighter copilot and a German radio operator, respectively).
Pat's songs, "We Belong" and "Love is a Battlefield" are featured on Emotion 98.3 and Flash FM which are radio stations in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories
Pat loves dog hunting.

Top 10 Blonde Inventions

1. Water-proof towel

2. Solar powered flashlight

3. Submarine screen door

4. A book on how to read

5. Inflatable dart board

6. A dictionary index

7. Ejector seat on a helicopter

8. Powdered water

9. Pedal-powered wheel chair

10. Water-proof tea bag

JIM CROCE - "I'll Have To Say I Love You In A Song"


www.OldieLyrics.com






Well, I know it's kind of late
I hope I didn't wake you
But what I got to say can't wait
I know you'd understand
Ev'ry time I tried to tell you
The words just came out wrong
So I'll have to say I love you in a song
Yeah, I know it's kind of strange
But ev'ry time I'm near you
I just run out of things to say
I know you'd understand
Ev'ry time I tried to tell you
The words just came out wrong
So I'll have to say I love you in a song

[Instrumental Interlude]

Ev'ry time the time was right
All the words just came out wrong
So I'll have to say I love you in a song

Yeah, I know it's kind of late
I hope I didn't wake you
But there's something that I just got to say
I know you'd understand
Ev'ry time I tried to tell you
The words just came out wrong
So I'll have to say I love you in a song

Ah, folks, there's our hawkman with "Is it true blondes have more fun" one liners. Love 'em, BioBob!

I think we know most of your celebs, honey, but will await, as usual, our Raggedy with her famous photos.

Hey, Boston. Love that song by Croce. Yes, Jim, often the words do come out wrong.

and, listeners, another James Bond theme song:

You only live twice,
Or so it seems.
One life for yourself,
And one for your dreams.
You drift through the years
And life seems tame,
Till one dream appears,
And love is its name.

And love is a stranger
Who'll beckon you on.
Don't think of the danger,
For the stranger is gone.
This dream is for you,
So pay the price.
Make one dream come true,
You only live twice.

Good Day to all.

Celebrity gallery:

Well, folks, there she is. Count 'em--NINE famous people.

We're looking at Ray, Paul, Bernard, Gisele, Sal, Rod, Jim, Johnnie, and Pat. What a line up, Raggedy.

Well, my, my. We have some look-alikes there.

Sal Mineo and Craven are quite similar.
Walter's dad and Paul Henreid bear a striking resemblance.
Of course, Jim Croce and my friend Dan (santa tomas e lucas)

All sorts of songs we could play for each one, but I think it would be good to hear one from Gisele MacKenzie, since I can't quite recall her, and especially since she is a Toronto gal.

HARD TO GET
Gisele MacKenzie

When they were hard to get
You wanted my kisses
When first we met
How you wanted my kisses
They were hard to get
Till I was sure your love was true
Then I gave you all my heart
And all my kisses too

I wish that I'd been smart
And never adored you
You broke my heart
Easy kisses just bored you
But the day will come
When you will find to your regret
A love as true as mine
Is hard to get

And here's one from Johnny:

Words and Music by Johnnie Ray

I went walkin' down by the river
Feeling very sad inside
When all at once I saw in the sky
The little white cloud that cried

He told me he was very lonesome
And no one cared if he lived or died
And said sometimes the thunder and lightning
Make all little clouds hide

He said "Have faith in all kinds of weather"
"For the sun will always shine"
"Do your best and always remember"
"The dark clouds pass with time"

He asked if I'd tell all my world
Just how hard those little clouds try
That's how I know I'll always remember
The little white cloud that sat right down and cried

And here's one from Rod, Raggedy. I alluded to it earlier, but had no idea he had done a song about it:

Blondes (Have More Fun)

Rod Stewart/Jim Cregan

Is it a matter of opinion
or just a contradiction
but from where I come from
all the blondes have more fun
Well just awatch them sisters on a Saturday night
Peroxide causin' all the fights

I took a rose in Texas
she gimme plenty of practice
But I couldn't touch the surface
'cos of recent facelift
She had no idea what love's about
'cept the one o'clock call on the casting couch

Sissy from New York
was on the cover of New Vogue
I ain't supposed to be available
So completely untouchable
I got a limousine 'n' bodyguard and chaperone
But God knows Rodder just needs to ball

You can keep your black and your red heads
You can keep your brunettes too
I wanna girl that's semi intelligent
Gimme a blonde that's six feet two boy
and that ain't all

I had a crush on Bardot
Fell in love with Monroe
Read about 'em in the nationals
All the juicy little scandals
But I never saw 'em dancin' at the county hall
with the short fat guy's prematurely bald

Dig this

You can keep your black and your red heads
you can keep your brunettes too
Don't wanna subservient woman
Gimme a blonde that's six feet two boy
and that ain't all


Performed by
Rod Stewart