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A young farm lad from North Iowa goes off to college, but about 1/3 of the way through the semester,
he has foolishly squandered away all of the money his parents gave him.
Then he gets an idea. He calls his daddy. "Dad," he says, "you won't believe the wonders that modern
education is coming up with! Why, they actually have a program here at Iowa State that will teach our dog Ole Blue how to talk!"
"That's absolutely amazing," his father says. "How do I get him in that program?"
"Just send him down here with $1,000" the boy says. "I'll get him into the course.So, his father sends the dog
and the $1,000. About 2/3 way through the semester, the money runs out. The boy calls his father again.
"So how's Ole Blue doing, son," his father asks.
"Awesome, Dad, he's talking up a storm," he says, "but you just won't believe this - they've had such
good results with this program that they've implemented a new one to teach the animals how to READ!"
"READ," says his father, "No kidding! What do I have to do to get him in that program?"
Just send $2,500, I'll get him in the class.His father sends the money.
The boy now has a problem. At the end of the year, his father will find out that the dog can neither talk, nor read. So he shoots the dog.
When he gets home at the end of the semester, his father is all excited. "Where's Ole Blue? I just can't wait to see him talk and read something!"
"Dad," the boy says, "I have some grim news. Yesterday morning, just before we left to drive home,
Ole Blue was in the living room kicked back in the recliner, reading the Wall Street Journal, like he usually does.
Then he turned to me and asked, 'So, is your daddy still messin' around with that little redhead who lives in town?'
The father says, "I hope you SHOT that s.o.b. before he talks to your Mother!"
"I sure did, Dad!"
"That's my boy!"
(The kid went on to be a successful lawyer...... )

Well, hawkman, that little story proves that all dogs aren't man's best friend, nor are all college kids stupid. Loved the end of the story, Boston. Hmmm. Wonder if that lawyer is too expensive to retain.

Hey, turtle. go ahead and do your picture thing, honey. If our Raggedy is other wise preoccupied, she is marvelous at identifying movie info, and oh, boy does she know Boy.

Until then, folks. Here are two songs that have absolutely no rhyme nor reason nor theme. I was simply interested in the background and the colors.

HOUSE OF BLUE LIGHTS
Don Raye / Freddie Slack


House of Blue Lights (Raye/Slack)
Lace up your boots and we'll broom on down
To a knocked out shack on the edge of town
There's an eight beat combo that just won't quit
Keep walkin' 'til you see a blue light lit
Fall in there and we'll see some sights
At the house of blue lights
There's fryers and broilers and Detroit barbeque ribs
But the treat of the treats is when they serve you all those fine
eight beats
You'll want to spend the rest of your nights
Down at the house, The house of blue lights

We'll have a time and we'll cut some rug
While we dig those tunes like they should be dug
It's a real home comin' for all the cats
Just trilly down a path of welcome mats
Fall in there and we'll see some sights
At the house of blue lights

Green Door


Midnight, one more night without sleepin',
Watchin' till the mornin' comes creepin'.
Green door, what's that secret you're keepin'?

{Bridge 1:}
There's an old piano
And they play it hot behind the green door;
Don't know what they're doin'
But they laugh a lot behind the green door.
Wish they'd let me in
So I could find out what's behind the green door.

Knocked once, tried to tell them I'd been there;
Door slammed, hospitalty's thin there.
Wonder just what's goin' on in there.

{Bridge 2:}
Saw an eyeball peepin'
Through a smoky cloud behind the green door;
When I said "Joe sent me"
Someone laughed out loud behind the green door.
All I want to do
Is join the happy crowd behind the green door.

Midnight, one more night without sleepin',
Watchin' till the mornin' comes creepin'.
Green door, what's that secret you're keepin'?

{Coda:}
Green door what's that secret you're keepin'?

Green door!

You'd be surprised, listeners, at the meaning behind that green door.

BOY! Yippee!


and Bomba in a matching outfit.


and that guy from Cabaret:

Hooray for Rag-ge-dy. She shows the pictures that we like to see. (to the tune of Hooray for Hollywood)

Great, PA. There's that boy AKA Bomba, and Joel Grey who is the father of Jennifer. Certainly did not know that, folks. Didn't know that Cassini had a thing going with Grace Kelley, either. Don't recall Grace ever wearing a pillbox hat.

Now a question for our movie specialist. Raggedy. Wasn't there a movie in which someone pretended to be Jackie waving to the crowd and part of the charade was to see Jack Kennedy assassinated? It was really weird, as I recall.

Until then, let's hear this one from Cabaret, definitely hedonistic.

Cabaret

What good is sitting alone in your room?
Come hear the music play.
Life is a Cabaret, old chum,
Come to the Cabaret.

Put down the knitting,
The book and the broom.
Time for a holiday.
Life is Cabaret, old chum,
Come to the Cabaret.

Come taste the wine,
Come hear the band.
Come blow your horn,
Start celebrating;
Right this way,
Your table's waiting

No use permitting
soem prophet of doom
To wipe every smile away.
Come hear the music play.
Life is a Cabaret, old chum,
Come to the Cabaret!

I used to have a girlfriend
known as Elsie
With whom I shared
Four sordid rooms in Chelsea

She wasn't what you'd call
A blushing flower...
As a matter of fact
She rented by the hour.

The day she died the neighbors
came to snicker:
"Well, thats what comes
from to much pills and liquor."

But when I saw her laid out like a Queen
She was the happiest...corpse...
I'd ever seen.

I think of Elsie to this very day.
I'd remember how'd she turn to me and say:
"What good is sitting alone in your room?
Come hear the music play.
Life is a Cabaret, old chum,
Come to the Cabaret."

And as for me,
I made up my mind back in Chelsea,
When I go, I'm going like Elsie.

Start by admitting
From cradle to tomb
Isn't that long a stay.
Life is a Cabaret, old chum,
Only a Cabaret, old chum,
And I love a Cabaret!

I don't remember seeing that movie, Letty. I think I'd remember that one.

Darn, Raggedy. Well, perhaps someone else will recall it or phone in the answer.

You know, folks, it's odd how certain things pop up in the news, and suddenly you find yourself wondering about celeb's you never heard of. One, for me anyway, was Anna Nicole Smith. Now a joyful young man claims he is the father of her child and he looks soooooo happy. Don't suppose it has to do with the money, do you? Nah. Another is Imus.(not to be confused with our Irish friend, Imur) Now suddenly there's a an explosion of the media because he made a serious racial slur. Ah, well. As I have often observed, there is no such thing as negative publicity.

Another question for our speckled pup. I bet you do recall some movie in which Michael York starred, that involved the idea of a society where no one was over thirty. Then he and his young female companion found an aging Peter Ustinov.

As we wait, we wonder about our edgar, dj, and others but let's listen to a nice and easy Eagle song.

I like the way your sparkling earrings lay,
against your skin, it's so brown
and I wanna sleep with you
in the desert tonight
with a billion stars all around
'cause I gotta peaceful easy feeling
and I know you won't let me down
'cause I'm already standing on the
ground
And I found out a long time ago
what a woman can do to your soul
Ah, but she can't take you anyway
You don't already know how to go
and I gotta peaceful, easy feeling
and I know you won't let me down
'cause I'm already standing on the ground
I get this feeling I may know you
as a lover and a friend
but this voice keeps whispering
in my other ear, tells me
I may never see you again
'cause I get a peaceful, easy feeling
and I know you won't let me down
'cause I'm already standing on the ground
'cause I'm already standing...
on the ground
oooo, oooo

Sylvia's Mother
Fr Hook

Sylvia's mother says, Sylvia's busy
Too busy to come to the phone
Sylvia's mother says, Sylvia's tryin'
To start a new life of her own
Sylvia's mother says, Sylvia's happy
So why don't you leave her alone

And the operator says, 40 cents more
For the next 3 minutes
Ple-ease Mrs Avery, I just gotta talk to her
I'll only keep her a while
Please Mrs Avery, I just wanna tell 'er goodbye

Sylvia's mother says, Sylvia's packin'
She's gonna be leavin' today
Sylvia's mother says, Sylvia's marryin'
A fella down Galveston way
Sylvia's mother says, please don't say nothin'
To make her start cryin' and stay

And the operator says, 40 cents more
For the next 3 minutes
Ple-ease Mrs Avery, I just gotta talk to her
I'll only keep her a while
Please Mrs Avery, I just wanna tell 'er goodbye

Sylvia's mother says, Sylvia's hurryin'
She's catchin' the nine o'clock train
Sylvia's mother says, take your umbrella
'Cause Sylvia, it's startin' to rain
And Sylvia's mother says, thank you for callin'
And, sir, won't you call back again

And the operator says, 40 cents more
For the next 3 minutes
Ple-ease Mrs Avery, I just gotta talk to her
I'll only keep her a while
Please Mrs Avery, I just wanna tell 'er goodbye

Tell her goodbye
Please
Tell her goodbye


Note from edgarblythe: My internet service was spotty yesterday. I was offline, mostly.

Clyde Mcphatter & Drifters - Thirty Days

I'm gonna give you thirty days to get back home
I done talked to the gypsey woman on the telephone
She gonna send out a world wide hoodoo
that'll be the very thing that'll suit ya
I'm gonna see that you be back home in thirty days
Oh thirty days (thirty days!)
Oh thirty days (thirty days!)
I'm gonna see that you be back home in thirty days
Gonna send out a world wide hoodoo
that'll be the very thing that'll suit ya
I'm gonna see that you be back home in thirty days.

I done talked to the judge in private early this morning
And he took me to the sheriff's office to sign a warning(warrant?)
Gonna put a false charge again ya (against ya)
That'll be the very thing that'll send ya
I'm gonna see that you be back home in thirty days
Oh thirty days (thirty days)
Oh thirty days (thirty days)
Baby I'm gonna see that you be back home in thirty days
Gonna put a false charge again ya
that'll be the very thing that'll send ya
I'm gonna see that you be back home in thirty days

If I don't get no satisfaction from the judge
I'm gonna take it to the FBI and voice my grudge
If they don't give me no consolation
I'm gonna take it to the United Nations
I'm gonna see that you be back home in thirty days
Oh Thirty Days! (thirty days)
Oh Thirty Days! (thirty days)
Babe I'm gonna see that you be back home in thirty days
You don't give me no consolation
I'm gonna take it to the United Nations
I'm gonna see that you be back home in Thirty Days!

Hey, Texas. Glad your ISP is unspotty this evening. Nice to see you back in our wee studio, edgar.

Note to Raggedy. The name of that movie with Michael York was "Logan's Run." Have an sos to Lightwizard to help with the other.

Okay, Here's another from Dr. Hook, folks.

THE COVER OF THE ROLLING STONE
Dr Hook & the Medicine Show

(talking...) Ha ha ha I don't believe it
Da, da, ah, ah don't touch it
Hey, Ray, Hey Sugar tell them who we are.....

Well, we're big rock singers
We got golden fingers
And we're loved everywhere we go..... (that sounds like us)
We sing about beauty and we sing about truth
At ten-thousand dollars a show..... (right)
We take all kinds of pills that give us all kind of thrills
But the thrill we've never known
Is the thrill that'll gitcha when you get your picture
On the cover of the rollin stone

(Rollin stone.....) Wanna see my picture on the cover
(Stone.....)Wanna buy five copies for my mother..... (yes)
(Stone.....)Wanna see my smilin face
On the cover of the rollin stone.... (that's a very very good idea)

I got a freaky ole lady name a cocaine Katy
Who embroideries on my jeans
I got my poor ole grey haired daddy
Drivin my limosine
Now it's all decided to blow our minds
But our minds won't really be blown
Like the blow that'll gitcha when you get your picture
On the cover of the rollin stone

(Rollin stone.....) Wanna see our pictures on the cover
(Stone.....) Wanna buy five copies for our mothers..... (yeah)
(Stone.....) Wanna see my smilin face
On the cover of the rollin stone
(talking) Hey, I know how
Rock and roll.....

Ah, that's beautiful

We got a lot of little teenage blue eyed groupies
Who do anything we say
We got a genu wine Indian Guru
Who's teaching us a better way
We got all the friends that money can buy
So we never have to be alone
And we keep getting richer but we can't get our picture
On the cover of the rollin stone

(Rollin stone.....)Wanna see my picture on the cover
(Stone.....) Wanna buy five copies for my mother..... (wa wa)
(Stone.....) Wanna see my smilin face
On the cover of the rollin stone
On the cover of the rollin.......
Stone.....) Wanna see my picture on the cover
(talking) I don't know why we ain't on the cover, Baby....
(Stone.....) Wanna buy five copies for my mother
(talking) We're beautiful subjects....
(Stone.....) Wanna see my smilin face
(talking) I ain't kiddin, we would make a beautiful cover....
On the cover of the rollin stone......
(talking) fresh shot, right up front, Man.....
I can see it now, we'll be up in the front....
Smilin, Man......
Ahh, beautiful.......

Ade Olay E-E
Ade Olay E-E
E-E-E-E-E

A friend of mine bought an automobile
At a dollar down and a dollar a week.
Every time he turned the wheel,
It was a dollar down and a dollar a week.

He went riding down the road,
Pinched this girl upon her cheek.
Speed cop took him to the judge,
He got a dollar down and a dollar a week.

Sixty days he laid in jail,
At a dollar down and a dollar a week,
Another man was a lovin' his gal,
At a dollar down and a dollar a week.

When he got out he shot the man,
And laid him in the graveyard six feet deep.
And when he bought the graveyard spot,
it was a dollar down and a dollar a week.

Ade olay E-E
Ade olay E-E
Ade olay E-E
E-E-E-E-E (repeat)

Woody Guthrie

ah, edgar, Woody and Arlo left us quite a legacy. Thanks for the reminder, Texas.

Good news from my kids tonight so I'm in a parody mood, folks.

Homer and Jethro do Hank Snow.

MOVING ON 2

The old hound dog was feelin' fine
Till he fell in a barrel of turpentine
He's A-Movin' On, He's A-Movin' On
He passed the gate, like an eight-eight, He's A-Movin' On.

There was a smart guy from the city
And he picked up a stripe'd kitty
He's A-Movin' On, He's A-Movin' On
We held our nose, as we burried his clothes, We're A-Movin' On.

I let a man work on my car
Then he grabbed a-hold of a spark plug wire
He's A-Movin' On, He's A-Movin' On
He turned it loose, when he felt the juice, He's A-Movin' On.

The old Tom cat was a-feelin' mean
When he caught his tail in the sewin' machine
He's A-Movin' On, He's A-Movin' On
He ripped a stitch, when he hit the ditch, He's A-Movin' On.

The old man's face got white as a sheet
When he slipped and fell in his cream of wheat
He's A-Movin' On, He's A-Movin' On
He flapped his ears, as he shifted gears, He's A-Movin' On.

Uncle John got awful clean
When he fell into the washing machine
He's A-Movin' On,He's A-Movin' On
He couldn't straddle, that doggone paddle, He's A-Movin' On.

We travel a lot to make our showin'
The way we sing we have to keep goin'
We're A-Movin' On, We're A-Movin' On
We've gotta go, here comes Hank Snow, We're A-Movin' On.

Love it!

good evening and greetings from canada !
listen to our own "stopin' tom" - if there ever was a true canadian , it's "stompin' tom" !
listen to his "ketchup song" - you need to know that "leamington" is in southern ontario and has many tomatoe farms and is known as "ketchup country" .
hbg

tom is the one in black

Welcome back, hbg. Love that song. It seems that Tom in black has a penchant for parodies, too.

First, let me assure all our listeners that I love K.D.Lang's voice, but you gotta love this as well.

Artist: Stompin Tom
Song: K D Lang
]

Where the wild roses grow in Alberta-
On the banks of the Gooseberry lake
There's a rose I suppose that you hearda-
She's as mild as a wild Irish wake
Like a thorn she was born to be contrary
Like a boy's was her joy raising cain.
The wildest rose that ever drove on the prairie
behind the wheel of a big truckload of grain.
Chorus
Little k little d little l-a-n-g-Her name was just plain kd lang
But her main claim to fame was how she sang with a twang
And jumped around like a 'rangytang-lady k.d. lang
k.d. lang, k.d. lang, she jumped around like a 'rangytang-
lady k.d.lang.
>From her home down in consort Alberta
near the tracks of that old railroad line
With her hair she could scare old Medusa,
While she sang like a young Patsy Cline.
It wasn't long till her songs got her landed
On the stage with those outrageous clothes-
There were skirts over shirts, boots, and trousers,
Hangin down from this wild Alberta Rose.
Chorus:
Now she toured north and south of the border-
And recorded with many famous names...
Though her style it was wild and outrageous,
Her star just kept rising to fame-
With her voice that was new and exciting,
She was called to those Juno awards
She made a leap on the stage and she got one
And took it home to Alberta, Boy George!
Chorus:

Good morning, WA2K folks. I just read that Kurt Vonnegut has died. I don't recall having read the following, but it most certainly is intriguing.

Thematic Overview

Slaughterhouse-Five describes man's inhumanity to man, and the mass destruction of Dresden by Allied forces serves as Vonnegut's primary example.


Although a humanist at heart, Vonnegut repeatedly demonstrates the human aptitude for cruelty, and he shows how technology magnifies this cruelty beyond human control.

At a deeper level the novel explores the moral vacuum in which contemporary human life exists. Vonnegut's outrage over Dresden was as much a result of the lack of attention given to this event as it was to the bloodshed, but there are no villains in Vonnegut's novels, and he fully recognizes the ambiguous connection between agent and victim. Thus, in one of the novel's many Biblical allusions he sympathizes with Lot's wife who looks back at the destruction she is escaping before being turned to stone.

Slaughterhouse-Five, which is about Vonnegut's effort to tell his story as much as it is about Billy Pilgrim, explores the ambiguous nature of communication.

The rest of the story, folks.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070412/ap_on_re_us/obit_vonnegut

Suddenly There's A Valley
Gogi Grant

[Words and Music by Chuck Meyer and Biff Jones]

When you've climbed the highest mountain
When a cloud holds the sunshine in
Suddenly there's a valley
Where the earth knows peace with man

When a storm hides the distant rainbow
And you think you can't find a friend
Suddenly there's a valley
Where friendships never end

Touched only by the seasons
Swept clean by the waving grain
Surveyed by a happy bluebird
And kissed by the falling rain

When you think there's no bright tomorrow
And you feel you can't try again
Suddenly there's a valley
Where hope and love begin

Suddenly there's a valley
Where hope and love begin

Good morning, edgar. You know, Texas, the only song that I recall from Gogi is "The Wayward Wind." Thanks for another one.

I noticed via google that this is the anniversary of the first man in space, Yuri Gagarin. Odd, folks, that I found a group that did a song about him and their name is Ozma. I found a strange little Russian to English version, but it's not very good.

Translation of russian spoken word

Astronaut, send us up
Once i'm out i'll beam you shots
As long as you return me back to you

Cosmonaut, best you've got,
Way too far from the stars
Promise to return me back to you

Return me back to you

and here he is, that Cosmonaut

Helen Forrest
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Helen Forrest (April 12, 1917 - July 11, 1999) was one of the most popular female vocalists during America's Big Band era. She was born Helen Fogel to a Jewish family in Atlantic City, New Jersey on April 12, 1917. She first sang with her brother's band at the age of 10, and later began her career singing on CBS radio under the name Bonnie Blue.

Forrest achieved fame when bandleader Artie Shaw hired her in 1939. Shaw was looking for new talent since vocalist Billie Holiday had left the band the previous year. Forrest recorded 38 singles with Shaw's band. Two of her biggest hits with Shaw were the songs "They Say" and "All the Things You Are."

In late 1939 Forrest left Shaw and joined Benny Goodman, with whom she recorded a number of celebrated songs, including the hit song "The Man I Love." She recorded with Nat King Cole and Lionel Hampton in 1940. In 1941, Forrest was hired by Harry James. It was with the Harry James Orchestra that she recorded what are arguably her most popular numbers, including "I Had the Craziest Dream" and "I Don't Want to Walk Without You." Forrest also dated James until he met the woman he would later marry, Betty Grable.

Because of her involvement with most of the popular bands of the big band era, Forrest was known as "the voice of the name bands."

Forrest left Harry James in late 1943 in pursuit of a solo career. In the late 1940s she sang on Dick Haymes' radio show. It was with Haymes that she recorded the song "Some Sunday Morning." After a dip in recording in the 1950s, Forrest sang with Tommy Dorsey's Orchestra led by Sam Donahue in the early 1960s. She continued to sing in supper clubs in the 1970s and 1980s. Her final album was released in 1983.

She kept singing until the early 1990s, when arthritis forced her into retirement. Over the course of her career, she recorded more than 500 songs. Forrest also acted in several musical films including Bathing Beauty (1944) and Two Girls and a Sailor (1944). She was a civil rights activist as well.

Forrest married and divorced three times, and had one son, Michael Forrest Feinman, who currently resides in Lancaster, California.

Helen Forrest died from congestive heart failure on July 11, 1999 in Woodland Hills, California at the age of 82. Her final resting place is in Mount Sinai Memorial Park in Los Angeles, California.

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Forrest"

Ann Miller
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



Birth name Johnnie Lucille Collier
Born April 12, 1923 1
Chireno, Texas, USA
Died January 22, 2004
Los Angeles, California, USA

Ann Miller (April 12, 1923 1 - January 22, 2004) was an American dancer, singer and actress, who was christened Johnnie Lucille Collier.

Born in Chireno, Texas (some sources cite Houston, where she was raised), her father insisted on the name Johnnie because he had wanted a boy, but she was often called Annie. She took up dancing to exercise her legs to help her rickets.

She was considered a child dance prodigy. In an interview featured in a "behind the scenes" documentary on the making of the compilation That's Entertainment III, she said that Eleanor Powell was an early inspiration. Miller was given a contract with RKO at the age of thirteen (she had told them she was eighteen), and remained there until 1940.

The following year, Miller was offered a contract at Columbia Pictures, where she bumped friend Lucille Ball from the throne as "Queen of the B-Movies". She finally hit her mark (starting in the late 1940s) in her roles in MGM musicals such as Kiss Me, Kate, Easter Parade, and On the Town.

Miller was famed for her speed in tap dancing; she claimed to be able to tap 500 times per minute. She was known as well, especially later in her career, for her distinctive appearance, which reflected a studio-era ideal of glamor: massive black bouffant hair, heavy makeup with a slash of crimson lipstick, and fashions that emphasized her lithe figure and long dancer's legs.

Her film career effectively ended in 1956 as the studio system lost steam to television, but she remained active in the theatre and on television. In 1979 she astounded audiences in the Broadway show Sugar Babies with fellow MGM veteran Mickey Rooney, which toured the United States extensively after its Broadway run. In 1983 she won the Sarah Siddons Award for her work in Chicago theatre.

She appeared in a special 1982 episode of The Love Boat, joined by fellow showbiz legends Ethel Merman, Carol Channing, Della Reese, Van Johnson, and Cab Calloway in a storyline that cast them as older relatives of the show's regular characters.

In 2001 she took her last role, playing Coco in auteur director David Lynch's critically acclaimed Mulholland Drive. Her last stage performance was a 1998 production of Stephen Sondheim's Follies, in which she played the hardboiled survivor Carlotta Campion and received rave reviews for her rendition of the anthemic "I'm Still Here".

For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Ann Miller has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6914 Hollywood Blvd.

She died at the age of 80 from cancer which had metastasized to her lungs, and was interred in the Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.

Tiny Tim
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Herbert Butros Khaury (12 April 1932 - 30 November 1996), better known by the stage name Tiny Tim, was an American singer, ukulele player, and musical archivist. He was most famous for his rendition of "Tiptoe Through The Tulips" sung in his distinctive high falsetto / vibrato voice. He was generally thought of as a novelty act, though his records display a wide knowledge of American songs. As an alternate alias, Tiny substituted the British "Buckingham" for his Lebanese middle name (which, as per convention, was his father's first name).



Early years

Shortly before his death Tiny Tim said he was 64 years old, which would put his year of birth at 1932. According to TinyTim.org, and photos taken of his passport and birth certificate, and his death certificate, Herbert Khaury was born on 12 April 1932.[1]

He was born in New York City, the son of immigrants Butros Hanna Khaury (né Khoury; d. 2 April 1971), who was Lebanese, and Tillie Staff (15 January 1893 - 9 July 1986), a Jewish Pole. According to legend, Tiny Tim first sang in a lesbian cabaret bar. He went on to sing in a wide variety of clubs and bars, as well as entering many talent competitions in an attempt to get discovered. He used a number of pseudonyms, but eventually settled on "Tiny Tim", after the character from Dickens's A Christmas Carol. Tiny Tim recorded many records for the girls that he liked. These were 78 RPM 10-inch records made in private pressings of one or two copies, with hand-written labels. He gave one of the records to actress Tuesday Weld in 1964. One of the names used on these early records was "Darry Dover", but most of these records used the name "Tiny Tim".


Rise to International Superstardom in the 1960s

Tiny Tim already had something of a cult following around New York when he appeared in the film You Are What You Eat. This led to a booking on Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, an American television comedy and variety show, which turned out to be his big break. Other appearances on the shows of Johnny Carson, Ed Sullivan, and Jackie Gleason followed, and he made a name for himself as a novelty performer. Apart from his extraordinarily high falsetto voice, his appearance ?- long curly hair, large nose, tall stature (he was six feet and one inch), and his relatively tiny ukulele ?- helped him stand out from the crowd.

In 1968, his first album, God Bless Tiny Tim, was released. It contained a version of his signature song, "Tiptoe Through The Tulips", which was a hit when released as a single. The other songs displayed his wide-ranging knowledge of the American songbook, and also allowed him to demonstrate his baritone voice, which was less often heard than his falsetto. On one track, a version of "I Got You Babe", he sang a duet with himself, taking one part in falsetto, and the other in the baritone range. "On the Old Front Porch" extends this to a trio, including a boy (Billy Murray), the girl he is courting (Ada Jones), and her father (probably Murray again).

Another notable song was a cover of "Stay Down Here Where You Belong", written by Irving Berlin in 1914 to protest the Great War. It is written from the standpoint of Satan talking to his son, and is a powerful condemnation of those who foment war: "To please their kings, they've all gone out to war, and not a one of them knows what they're fighting for… Kings up there are bigger devils than your dad." (The comedian Groucho Marx also used this song as part of his own act, at least in part to irk the patriotic Berlin, who in later years tried in vain to disown the song.)

At the end of the year, he appeared on the Beatles 1968 Christmas record exclusively issued to their fan club, singing "Nowhere Man".

Tiny Tim recorded and released two more albums for Reprise, Tiny Tim's Second Album 1968, and For All My Little Friends, 1969, a collection of children's songs. In order to cash in on Tiny Tim's popularity, the album Concert in Fairyland was released by a small record label. It consisted of some of his pre-fame songs with faux crowd reactions dubbed over them to create a fictional "live concert" recording.

On 17 December 1969, he married Victoria Mae Budinger ("Miss Vicki") on The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson, a publicity stunt which attracted 40 million viewers. Tiny wrote his own marriage vows, including the promise to be "not puffed up". Tiny Tim and Miss Vicki made more news a month later with the announcement that they were expecting a baby. Comedians at the time suggested the name VicTim. Miss Vickie miscarried; however a later attempt at childbirth succeeded.

In contrast to the romance oriented publicity of their wedding, Tiny Tim and Miss Vicki mostly lived apart, and divorced eight years later. Their daughter, Victoria Tulip, is now married and living in Pennsylvania with four children.

In August 1970 Tiny Tim performed at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970 in front of a crowd of 600,000 people. His performance, which included English folk songs and rock and roll classics, was a huge hit with the multinational throng of hippies. At the climax of his set, he sang "There'll Always Be an England" through a megaphone which brought the huge crowd to its feet. This can be seen in the 1995 movie of the event, Message to Love.


Later career

After this career highlight, however, Tiny Tim's television appearances reduced, and his popularity began to wane. He continued to play around the United States and made several lucrative appearances in Las Vegas. By 1985, he resorted to joining the Alan C Hill circus.

In the 1990s, interest in Tiny Tim seemed to pick up a little. He began to release records again, including I Love Me (1995) and Girl (1996). He also recorded his last music video with NYC's punk rock band Ism.(1996) It was a punk remake of "Tiptoe Through The Tulips" and was never officially released. He frequently appeared on The Howard Stern Radio Show and in Stern's movie, Private Parts (1997), as well as occasional appearances on other television programs. Tiny Tim also worked with a number of other artists, including Brave Combo (his backing band on Girl) as well as Sydney based rock band His Majesty with whom he recorded the albums Tiny Tim Rock and Tiny Tim's Christmas Album, both of which were produced by Sydney Artist and writer Martin Sharp. He was also championed by, and collaborated with, Current 93 and Nurse With Wound.


Death

In September 1996, he suffered a heart attack just as he began singing at a Ukulele Festival at the Montague Bookmill in Montague, Massachusetts. He was hospitalized at the Franklin County Medical Center in Greenfield, Massachusetts for approximately three weeks before being discharged with strong admonitions to no longer perform due to his state of health and the difficulty of proper dietary needs for his medical conditions i.e. diabetes and congestive heart failure. He continued to play concerts despite warnings from his doctors that, due to the fragile state of his heart, he could die any moment. While playing "Tiptoe Through The Tulips" at a Gala Benefit at The Woman's Club of Minneapolis on 30 November of that year, he suffered another heart attack on stage. He was led out by his third wife, Susan Marie Gardner (whom he had married on 18 August 1995), who asked him if he was okay. Tim responded, "No, I'm not!" Those were to be his final words. He collapsed shortly thereafter and was rushed to Hennepin County Medical Center where he died after doctors tried to resuscitate him for an hour and fifteen minutes. He is buried in the mausoleum of Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis.

In 2000, the Rhino Handmade label released the posthumous Tiny Tim Live at the Royal Albert Hall. This recording had been made in 1968 at the height of Tiny Tim's fame, but Reprise Records saw fit to never release it. It sat on the shelf until its limited internet-only release some 32 years later.


Traditionalism

The markèd distinctiveness of the "Tiny Tim" act notwithstanding, much of his work was simply reviving songs and artists of past generations, including early recording artists such as Billy Murray, Ada Jones, and Henry Burr. He had a comprehensive and deep love for, and knowledge of, pre-rock popular music, an aspect of his performance that was little understood when he was at the height of his popularity. In many ways, Tiny Tim was a classic vaudeville performer and entertainer very much in the style of Rudy Vallee, Ukulele Ike and George Formby.

Also, his seemingly "hippie" hairstyle and clothing belied a conservative, traditional belief system about religion and marriage. His first marriage (to Miss Vicki) ended in part due to problems arising from his conservative views on a women's role in relationships. As she explained in interviews, their disparity in age and world view left her feeling stifled. In fact, in the mid-1980s, Tim was converted to Catholicism and became a devout Christian; on several of his records and interviews, he often proclaimed his devotion to Jesus, and his second marriage (on 26 June 1984, to Jan Alweiss, from whom he was divorced in 1995) took place in a Catholic Church.

Along those traditional lines, he was publicly respectful of his parents' generation of performers. In an appearance with Bing Crosby on The Hollywood Palace, he referred to the program's host several times as "Mr. Crosby". When Crosby asked him to call him "Bing", he partially relented and called him "Mr. Bing".

When discussing old-time stars, in short commentaries between songs on his albums, he would mention their names formally: "Mr. Billy Murray" or "Miss Ada Jones", for example. When he appeared on the Howard Stern show, he addressed everyone as "Mr." or "Miss", including production staff, interns and others who were not entertainers.

His honoring of his elders extended to one of his album covers, which featured him along with his parents, unusual for a recording artist to do when the parents are not performers themselves.

In an interview on Fresh Air with Terry Gross he said he wore white makeup to feel pure in contrast to his feeling that he was unattractive.


In Popular Culture

The song "Livin' in the Sunlight, Lovin' in the Moonlight" was used in the first episode ("Help Wanted") of SpongeBob SquarePants. The song is also used in a fad on the site YTMND involving the modification Garry's Mod for Half-Life 2.