WA2K Radio is now on the air

Oops! Missed our Raggedy with her trio. Great photo's as usual, PA!

Know them all, puppy. Before we play The Morning After, here's a bit of unfortunate news from NASA:

NASA shaken by sabotage, drinking claims By MARCIA DUNN, AP Aerospace Writer
1 hour, 50 minutes ago

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - America's space agency was shaken Thursday by two startling and unrelated reports: One involved claims that astronauts were drunk before flying. The other was news from NASA itself that a worker had sabotaged a computer set for delivery to the international space station.

It was just another jolt for an operation that has had a rocky year from the start, beginning with the arrest of an astronaut accused of attacking a rival in a love triangle.

"It's going to shake up the world, I'll tell you that," retired NASA executive Seymour Himmel said of the latest news. "There will be congressional hearings that you will not be able to avoid."

News of the two latest bombshells broke within just a few hours of each other Thursday afternoon.

The rest of the story, folks

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070727/ap_on_re_us/nasa_woes

Back later with more music here on WA2K radio

The Band Played 'Waltzing Matilda'
original by The Pogues
This version Eric Bogel

listen on you tube

When I was a young man I carried my pack
I lived the free life of a rover
From the Murray's green basin to the dusty outback
I waltzed my Matilda all over
But in nineteen fifteen my country said 'son
it's time to stop rambling for there's work to be done'
So they gave me a tin hat and they agve me a gun
And they sent me to the war

And the band played 'Waltzing Matilda'
And we sailed away from the quay
And amid all the tears, flag weaving and cheers
We sailed all for Galipoli

Now, those who were living just tried to survive
In a mad world of blood, death and fire
And for ten weary weeks I kept myself alive
Though around me the corpses plied higher
Then a big Turkish shell knocked me arse over head
And when I awoke in my hospital bed
And saw what it had done how I wished I was dead
Never knew there were worse things than dying
For no more I'll go 'Waltzing Matilda'
All around the green bush far and near
For to hump tent and pegs, a man needs both legs
No more 'Waltzing Matilda' for me

And the band played 'Waltzing Matilda'
And we sailed away from the quay
And amid all the tears, flag weaving and cheers
We sailed all for Galipoli

So now every April I sit on my porch
And I watch the parade pass before me
I see my old comrades, how proudly they march
Renewing the dreams of past glory
I see the old men all tired, stiff and sore
Those poor lonely heroes from a forgotten war
And the young people ask 'What are they marching for?'
And I ask myself the same question
And the band played 'Waltzing Matilda'
And the old men still answer the call
But year after year our number get fewer
Some day no one will march there at all

'Waltzing Matilda' 'Waltzing Matilda'
Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me
And their ghosts can be heard as they pass by the Billabong
Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me


Dedicated to all those who fight under orders

dadpad, Welcome back to our wee studio, Aussie. Great to see you and hear you play that song. Yes, there are those that die under orders, buddy, and for so many, there is no morning after.

The Morning After

There's got to be a morning after
If we can hold on through the night
We have the chance to find the sunshine
Let's keep on looking for the light

Oh, can you see the morning after
It's waiting right outside the storm
Why don't we cross the bridge together
And find a place that's safe and warm

It's not too late, we should be giving
Only with love can we climb
It's not too late, not while we're living
Let's put our hands out in time

There's got to be a morning after
We're moving closer to the shore
I know we'll be there by tomorrow
And we'll escape the darkness
We won't be searching anymore

But the morning has broken

MORNING HAS BROKEN
As Sung by Cat Stevens

lyrics by Eleanor Farjeon

Morning has broken, like the first morning
Blackbird has spoken, like the first bird
Praise for the singing, praise for the morning
Praise for the springing fresh from the word

Sweet the rain's new fall, sunlit from heaven
Like the first dewfall, on the first grass
Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden
Sprung in completeness where his feet pass

Mine is the sunlight, mine is the morning
Born of the one light, Eden saw play
Praise with elation, praise every morning
God's recreation of the new day

dadpad, I really love that song, buddy. The chord changes on piano are lovely as well. I guess Cat no longer sings, more's the pity.

Well, folks, I hear my paramour outside, (er, make that power mower) and my friend Skip is cutting the grass which ranges from St. Augustine to Bermuda to crab grass to chinches and chiggers. Well, at least my hibiscus bush is lovely.

Not one of us is superman; superannuated maybe, but let's pretend that we can be.

Maureen McGovern


Can you read my mind?
Do you know what it is you do to me?
Don't know who you are,
Just a friend from another star
Here I am like a kid at a school
Holding hands with a god, I'm a fool
Will you look at me quivering
Like a little girl shivering?
You can see right through me
Can you read my mind?
Can you picture the things I'm thinking of?
Wondering why you are
All the wonderful things you are
You can fly, you belong to the sky
You and I could belong to each other
If you need a friend,
I'm the one to fly to
If you need to be loved, (to be loved)
Here I am, read my mind!

Will you look at me quivering
Like a little girl shivering?
You can see right through me
If you need a friend,
I'm the one to fly to
If you need to be loved,
Here I am, read my mind!
Read my mind!

For George and Christopher

ella fitzgerald sings from the jerome kern songbook : " i'm oldfashioned "
with lyrics by johnny mercer (couldn't be a better combination of talents !).
hbg

We love to listen to dead people, don't we hbg. Love that song, Canada.

I can still hear and see our piano player do this one at Glade Springs. What beautiful changes he used.

What'll I Do
Irving Berlin

Gone is the romance that was so divine.
'Tis broken and cannot be mended.
You must go your way,
And I must go mine.
But now that our love dreams have ended...

What'll I do
When you are far away
And I am blue
What'll I do?

What'll I do?
When I am wond'ring who
Is kissing you
What'll I do?

What'll I do with just a photograph
To tell my troubles to?

When I'm alone
With only dreams of you
That won't come true
What'll I do?

letty :
i never think of those three greats - and many others - as LIVING LEGENDS that never died .
here is another legend : UNCLE LOUIS !
hbg

Lucille by Kenny Rogers
Lucille by Kenny Rogers

In a bar in Toledo
Across from the depot
On a bar stool she took off her ring
I thought I'd get closer
So I walked on over
I sat down and asked her name
When the drinks finally hit her
She said I'm no quitter
But I finally quit livin' on dreams
I'm hungry for laughter
And here ever after
I'm after whatever the other life brings

In the mirror I saw him
And I closely watched him
I thought how he looked out of place
He came to the woman
Who sat there beside me
He had a strange look on his face
The big hands were calloused
He looked like a mountain
For a minute I thought I was dead
But he started shakin'
His big heart was breakin'
He turned to the woman and said

You picked a fine time to leave me Lucille
With four hungry children
And a crop in the field
I've had some bad times
Lived through some sad times
But this time your hurtin' won't heal
You picked a fine time to leave me Lucille

After he left us
I ordered more whisky
I thought how she'd made him look small
From the lights of the bar room
To a rented hotel room
We walked without talkin' at all
She was a beauty
But when she came to me
She must have thought I'd lost my mind
I could'nt hold her
'Cos the words that he told her
Kept coming back time after time

You picked a fine time to leave me Lucille
With four hungry children
And a crop in the field
I've had some bad times
Lived through some sad times
But this time your hurtin' won't heal
You picked a fine time to leave me Lucille

I love that song, hbg, and now that I know the background, thanks to you, I find it really eerie.

I just discovered why I know The Japanese Sandman written in 1920. My sister played it on the piano when she was twelve years old. I was pre kindergarten. She calls it "imprinting" I call it strange.



THE JAPANESE SANDMAN
(Words by Raymond B. Egan / Music by Richard A. Whitin, 1920)


Won't you stretch imagination for the moment and come with me
Let us hasten to a nation lying over the western sea
Hide behind the cherry blossoms here's a sight that will please your eyes
There's a baby with a lady of Japan singing lullabies
Night winds breath her sighs here's the Japanese

Just as silent as we came we'll leave the land of the painted fan
Wander lightly or you'll wake the little people of old Japan
May repose and pleasant dreaming be their share while the hours are small
Like an echo of the song I hear the Japanese Sandman
call new days near for all here's the Japanese

Sandman sneaking on with the dew just an old second hand man
He'll buy your old day from you
he will take every sorrow of the day that is through
and he'll give you tomorrow just to start a life anew
then you'll be a bit older in the dawn when you wake
and you'll be a bit bolder with the new day you make
here's the Japanese Sandman trade him silver for gold
just an old second hand man trading new days for old.

Oops, missed your song, Victor. Love it, too. Kenny Rogers is fantastic and those lyrics are funny.

Here's a more somber one by Kenny

Ruben James, in my song you live again
And the phrases that I rhyme
Are just the footsteps out of time
From the time when I knew you Ruben James

Ruben James all the folks around Madison County
Cussed your name just a no
Count share croppin colored man
Who would steal anything he can
And they always laid the blame on Ruben James

Ruben James, you still walk furrowed fields on my mind
The faded skirt the weathered brow
The calloused hand up on the plow
I loved you then and I love you now Ruben James
Flora James, Ruben James

Gray, a gossip of Madison County died with child
And although your skin was black
It was you that would not turn your back
On a hungry white child with no name, Ruben James

Ruben James, with your mind on my soul
And the bible in your right hand
You said turn the other cheek
A better world is a waiting for the meek
In my head those words remain from Ruben James

Ruben James one dark cloudy day
That brought you from the fields
And to your lonely pine box came
Just a preacher, me and the rain
To sing one last refrain for Ruben James

Cat Stephens changed his name to Usaf Islam and accepted that faith.

(not sure of the spelling in his new name.)

Fools fall in love in a hurry Fools give their hearts much too soon Just put in two bars of stardust Just hang out one silly moon Oh! They've got their love torches burning When they should be playing it cool I used to laugh but now I'm the same Take a look at a brand new fool Fools fall in love just like schoolgirls Blinded by rose coloured dreams They build their castles on wishes With only rainbows for beams Oh! They're making plans for the future When they should be right back in school I used to laugh but now I'm the same Take a look at a brand new fool All right! They've got their love torches burning When they should be playing it cool I used to laugh but now I'm the same Take a look at a brand new fool Take a look at a brand new fool.

The Drifters

Yes, dadpad, that is the correct spelling. Well, Here's my goodnight song from CAT. <smile>

Cat Stevens - Moonshadow

Oh, I'm bein' followed by a moonshadow, moonshadow, moonshadow
Leapin and hoppin' on a moonshadow, moonshadow, moonshadow

And if I ever lose my hands, lose my plough, lose my land,
Oh if I ever lose my hands, Oh if.... I won't have to work no more.
And if I ever lose my eyes, if my colours all run dry,
Yes if I ever lose my eyes, Oh if.... I won't have to cry no more.

And if I ever lose my legs, I won't moan, and I won't beg,
Yes if I ever lose my legs, Oh if.... I won't have to walk no more.
And if I ever lose my mouth, all my teeth, north and south,
Yes if I ever lose my mouth, Oh if.... I won't have to talk...

Did it take long to find me? I asked the faithful light.
Did it take long to find me? And are you gonna stay the night?

Goodnight, all

From Letty with love

Good night, Miss LettyBettyHettyGetty.

~~~

Something from a band from my hometown. Just heard it ... made me think of home.


Bedouin Soundclash

When The Night Feels My Song

I'm on the rocky road,
Heading down off the mountain slope,
And as my steps echo (echo) louder than before

Another day is done,
Say good-bye to the setting sun,
See what I found, turn back to the ground just like before

And hey hey hey, hey hey hey (hey!)
hey Beautiful Day (hey! hey!)
Hey Beautiful Day
Hey, hey hey hey
Hey Beautiful Day (hey! hey!)
Hey Beautiful Day

When the night feels my song,
I'll be home, I'll be home

Into the undergrowth,
Twist and turn on a lonely road
In the twilight the day turns to night and I'm alone

And when the light has left,
I'm not sure of my EVERY step
I'll Follow the wind that pushes me west back to my bed

And hey hey hey, hey hey hey (hey!)
Hey Beautiful Day (hey! hey!)
Hey Beautiful Day.
Hey, hey hey hey (hey!)
Hey Beautiful Day (hey! hey!)
Hey Beautiful Day.

When the night feels my song,
I'll be home, I'll be home
(x 3)

Paddys Green Shamrock Shore, Trad ballad

From Derry Quay we sailed away on the 23rd of May
We were boarded by a pleasant crew bound for Americay
Fresh water there we did take on, five thousand gallons or more
In case we'd run short going to New York far away from the Shamrock Shore


So fare thee well sweet Liza dear and likewise to Derry town,
And twice farewell to me comrade boys who dwell on that sainted ground
If fortune it ever should favour me or I to have money in store
I'll come back and I'll wed the wee lassie I left on Paddy's Green Shamrock Shore


Well we sailed three days and we were all seasick, not a man on board was free
We were all confined unto our bunks with no one to pity poor me
No father dear nor mother kind to hold up me head when t'was sore,
Which made me think more on the lassie I left on Paddy's Green Shamrock Shore


Well we safely reached the other side in three and twenty days
We were taken as passengers by a man and led round in six different ways,
We each of us drank a parting glass in case we might never meet more,
And we drank a health to Old Ireland and Paddy's Green Shamrock Shore


So fare thee well sweet Liza dear and likewise to Derry town
And twice farewell to me comrade boys who dwell on that sainted ground
If fortune it ever should favour me or I to have money in store
I'll come back and I'll wed the wee lassie I left on Paddy's Green Shamrock Shore

Good morning, WA2K listeners and contributors.

edgar, I missed your Drifters song last evening, and yes, Texas. Fools do fall in love in a hurry.

Miss Beth, That is a feel good song, gal, and it is going to be a beautiful day. Thanks for the warning. <smile>

My goodness, there is my Irish friend, Mikey. It's wonderful to have you here in our wee studio, honey. What a lovely traditional song of the homeland. Thank you.

Here's one by that famous duo of the past, S & G.


Slow down, you move too fast.

You got to make the morning last.

Just kicking down the cobble stones.

Looking for fun and feelin' groovy.



Hello lamppost, What cha knowing?

I've come to watch your flowers growing.

Ain't cha got no rhymes for me?

Doot-in' doo-doo, Feelin' groovy.



Got no deeds to do, No promises to keep.

I'm dappled and drowsy and ready to sleep.

Let the morning time drop all its petals on me.

Life, I love you, All is groovy.

Beatrix Potter
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Born: 28 July 1866
Kensington, London
Died: 22 December 1943
Near Sawrey
Occupation: Children's author, illustrator
Genres: Children's literature

(Helen) Beatrix Potter (28 July 1866 - 22 December 1943) was an English author and illustrator, botanist, and conservationist, best known for her children's books, which featured animal characters such as Peter Rabbit.




Biography

Beatrix Potter was born in Kensington, London on July 28, 1866. Educated at home by a succession of governesses, she had little opportunity to mix with other children. Even Potter's younger brother, Bertram, was rarely at home; he was sent to boarding school, leaving Beatrix alone with her pet animals. She had frogs and newts, and even a pet bat. Among her pets were two rabbits. Her first rabbit was Benjamin, whom she described as "an impudent, cheeky little thing", while her second was Peter, whom she took everywhere with her, even on trains, on a little lead. Potter would watch these animals for hours on end, sketching them. Gradually the sketches became better and better, developing her talents from an early age.

Potter's father, Rupert William Potter (1832-1914), although trained as a barrister, spent his days at gentlemen's clubs and rarely practised. Her mother, Helen Potter née Leech (1839-1932), the daughter of a cotton merchant, spent her time visiting or receiving visitors. The family was supported by both parents' inherited incomes.

Every summer, Rupert Potter would rent a country house; firstly Dalguise House in Perthshire, Scotland for the eleven summers of 1871 to 1881,[1] then later one in the English Lake District. In 1882 the family met the local vicar, Canon Hardwicke Rawnsley, who was deeply worried about the effects of industry and tourism on the Lake District. He would later found the National Trust in 1895, to help protect the countryside. Beatrix Potter had immediately fallen in love with the rugged mountains and dark lakes, and through Rawnsley, learnt of the importance of trying to conserve the region, something that was to stay with her for the rest of her life.


Scientific aspirations and work on fungi

When Potter came of age, her parents appointed her their housekeeper and discouraged any intellectual development, instead requiring her to supervise the household. From the age of 15 until she was past 30, she recorded her everyday life in journals, using her own secret code (which was not decrypted until decades after her death).

An uncle attempted to introduce her as a student at the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew, but she was rejected because she was female. Potter was later one of the first to suggest that lichens were a symbiotic relationship between fungi and algae.[2] As, at the time, the only way to record microscopic images was by painting them, Potter made numerous drawings of lichens and fungi. As the result of her observations, she was widely respected throughout England as an expert mycologist. She also studied spore germination and life cycles of fungi. Potter's set of detailed watercolors of fungi, numbering some 270 completed by 1901, is in the Armitt Library, Ambleside.

In 1897, her paper on the germination of spores was presented to the Linnean Society by her uncle Sir Henry Enfield Roscoe, as women were barred from attending meetings. (In 1997, the Society issued a posthumous official apology to Potter for the way she had been treated.) The Royal Society also refused to publish at least one of her technical papers.


Literary career

The basis of her many projects and stories were the small animals that she smuggled into the house or observed during family holidays in Scotland and the Lake District. She was encouraged to publish her story, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, but she struggled to find a publisher until it was accepted when she was 36 in 1902, by Frederick Warne & Co. The small book and her following works were extremely well received and she gained an independent income from the sales. She also became secretly engaged to the publisher, Norman Warne, but her parents were set against her marrying a tradesman. Their opposition to the wedding caused a breach between Beatrix and her parents. However, the wedding was not to be, for soon after the engagement, Norman fell ill of pernicious anemia and died within a few weeks. Beatrix was devastated. She wrote in a letter to his sister, Millie, "He did not live long, but he fulfilled a useful happy life. I must try to make a fresh beginning next year."[3]

Potter eventually wrote 23 books. These were published in a small format, easy for a child to hold and read. Her writing efforts abated around 1920 due to poor eyesight. The Tale of Little Pig Robinson was published in 1930; however, the actual manuscript was one of the first to be written and far predates this publication date. [4]


Later life: the Lake District and conservation

After Warne's death, Potter purchased Hill Top Farm in the village of Sawrey, Cumbria, in the Lake District. [5] She loved the landscape, and visited the farm as often as she could, discussing the set-up with farm manager John Cannon.[6] With the steady stream of royalties from her books, she began to buy pieces of land under the guidance of local solicitor William Heelis. In 1913 at the age of 47, Potter married Heelis and moved to Hill Top Farm permanently. Some of Potter's best loved works show the Hill Top Farm farm house and the village. While the couple had no children, the farm was constantly alive with dogs, cats and even a pet hedgehog, naturally enough named "Mrs Tiggywinkle".

On moving to the Lake District, Potter became engrossed in breeding and showing Herdwick sheep. [5] She became a respected farmer, a judge at local agricultural shows, and President of the Herdwick Sheep Breeders' Association. When Potter's parents died, she used her inheritance to buy more farms and tracts of land. After some years Potter and Heelis moved down into the village of Sawrey, and into Castle Cottage ?- where the local children knew her for her grumpy demeanour, and called her "Auld Mother Heelis".[7]

Beatrix Potter died at Castle Cottage in Sawrey in 1943. Her body was cremated, and her ashes were scattered in the countryside near Sawrey.[8]


Subsequent events

In her will, Potter left almost all of her property interests to the National Trust ?- 4,000 acres (16 km²) of land, cottages, and 15 farms. The legacy has helped ensure that the beauty of the Lake District and the practice of fell farming remain unspoiled to this day. Her properties now lie within the Lake District National Park.

1971 saw the film release of The Tales of Beatrix Potter directed by Reginald Mills. Several of the Tales were set to music and danced by the members of The Royal Ballet including Frederick Ashton who was also the choreographer. The Tale of Pigling Bland was turned into a musical theatrical production by Suzy Conn and was first performed on 6 July 2006 at the Toronto Fringe Festival in Toronto, Canada.

In 1982 the BBC produced The Tale of Beatrix Potter. This dramatization of her life was written by John Hawkesworth and directed by Bill Hayes. It starred Holly Aird and Penelope Wilton as the young and adult Beatrix respectively. The modern author Susan Wittig Albert publishes a series of mysteries featuring a fictionalized Beatrix Potter, focusing on the period of her life between her fiancé's death and her eventual establishment as a farmer in Sawrey, Cumbria. In December 2006 Penguin Books published Beatrix Potter: A Life in Nature, a new biography by Linda Lear, which emphasizes Potter's scientific accomplishments both as a botanical artist and as an amateur mycologist.[9]

Miss Potter, a biographical film starring Renée Zellweger, was released on 29 December 2006. The character of Norman Warne was played by Ewan McGregor, while that of William Heelis was played by Lloyd Owen.


Places to visit

There are several locations open to the general public relating to Potter, mainly in the Hawkshead area of the Lake District, including:

Hill Top Farm - open to the public, but for a limited number of visitors per day. It has been restored to exactly the condition as it was when Potter lived there.
The Beatrix Potter Gallery - in Hawkshead village, shows a number of original letters and drawings.
The Beatrix Potter Attraction - displays a collection of models and displays of Beatrix's work, in the town of Windermere.
The Beatrix Potter Garden - at Dunkeld House in Perthshire, Scotland, now home to the Birnam Institute, has gardens recreating Potter's tales and exhibitions throughout the summer.
The Beatrix Potter Shop - in Gloucester, this building was the basis for Potter's book The Tailor of Gloucester.

Quotations

"I remember I used to half believe and wholly play with fairies when I was a child. What heaven can be more real than to retain the spirit-world of childhood, tempered and balanced by knowledge and common-sense..." - Beatrix Potter's Journal, 17 November 1896, from the National Trust collection.

Rudy Vallée
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Background information

Birth name(s): Hubert Prior Vallée
Date of birth: July 28, 1901
Birth location: Island Pond, Vermont
Date of death: July 3, 1986 (Aged 84)
Death location: North Hollywood, California
Genre(s): singer, actor, bandleader, and entertainer
Spouse(s): Leonie Cuachois (anul)
Fay Webb (div)
Jane Greer 1944 (div)
Eleanor Norris 1946-86

Rudy Vallée (July 28, 1901 - July 3, 1986) was a popular American singer, actor, bandleader, and entertainer. Born Hubert Prior Vallée in Island Pond, Vermont, he grew up in Westbrook, Maine. In high school, he took up the saxophone and acquired the nickname "Rudy" after then famous saxophonist Rudy Wiedoeft.

Having played drums in his high school band, Vallee played clarinet and saxophone in various bands around New England in his youth. In 1917, he felt that Uncle Sam needed one more brave young man in World War I, but was discharged when the Navy authorities found out that he was only 15.[citation needed]He enlisted in Portland, Maine on March 29, 1917, under the false birthdate of July 28, 1899. He was discharged at the Naval Training Station, Newport, Rhode Island, on May 17, 1917 with 41 days of active service (source: Maine Military Men, 1917-1918 [database online available through [1]. This database was abstracted from "Roster of Maine in the Military Service of the U.S. and Allies in the World War, 1917-1919." Vol I-II. Augusta, ME, U.S.A., n.p., 1929]). From 1924 through 1925, he played with the "Savoy Havana Band" in London. He then returned to the States to obtain a degree in Philosophy from Yale and to form his own band, "Rudy Vallee and the Connecticut Yankees." With this band, which featured two violins, two saxophones, a piano, a banjo and drums, he started taking vocals (supposedly reluctantly at first). He had a rather thin, wavering tenor voice and seemed more at home singing sweet ballads than attempting vocals on jazz numbers. However, his singing, together with his suave manner and handsome boyish looks, attracted great attention, especially from young women. Vallee was given a recording contract and in 1928, he started performing on the radio.

Vallee became the most prominent and, arguably, the first of a new style of popular singer, the crooner.[citation needed] Previously, popular singers needed strong projecting voices to fill theaters in the days before the electric microphone. Crooners had soft voices that were well suited to the intimacy of the new medium of radio. Vallee's trombone-like vocal phrasing on "Deep Night" would inspire later crooners such as Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and Perry Como to model their voice on jazz instruments.

Vallee also became what was perhaps the first complete example of the 20th century mass media pop star. Flappers (the predecessors of "bobby soxers"), mobbed him wherever he went. His live appearances were usually sold out, and even if his singing could hardly be heard in those venues not yet equipped with the new electronic microphones, his screaming female fans went home happy if they had caught sight of his lips through the opening of the trademark megaphone he sang through.

In 1929, Vallee did his first film, The Vagabond Lover. His first films were made to cash in on his singing popularity, but Hollywood found Vallee could act as well. Also in 1929, Vallee began hosting The Fleischmann's Yeast Hour. Performers first introduced to the American public on that program included Jack Benny, Eddie Cantor and Kate Smith.

Vallee continued hosting popular radio variety shows through the 1930s and 1940s. The Royal Gelatin Hour featured various film performers of the era, such as Fay Wray and Richard Cromwell in dramatic skits.

Along with his group, The Connecticut Yankees, Vallee's best known popular recordings included: "The Stein Song" (aka University of Maine fighting song) in the early part of the decade and "Vieni, Vieni" in the latter '30s. A note of trivia: "Vieni, Vieni" can be heard in the background as Jimmy Stewart enters the restaurant in Frank Capra's holiday classic, It's a Wonderful Life. Remarkably for an American, Vallee sang fluently in three Mediterranean languages, and always varied the keys, thus paving the way for later pop crooners such as Dean Martin, Andy Williams and Vic Damone. Another memorable rendition of his is "Life Is Just A Bowl of Cherries", in which he imitates Willie Howard's voice in the final chorus. Vallee was also entertaining in George Gershwin's witty "Kitty from Kansas City", not to mention the first recording of tipsy laughter in "There is a Tavern in the Town", decades before Elvis Presley was to use that gimmick on stage in "Are You Lonesome Tonight?".[citation needed]

Vallee's last significant hit song was the reissue of the melancholic ballad "As Time Goes By" from the soundtrack of Casablanca in 1943, which he had recorded fifteen years before it was used in this classic movie.[citation needed] During World War II, Vallee performed with the Coast Guard Band,[citation needed] entertaining U.S. troops with this forty-piece orchestra until 1944.

When Vallee took his contractual vacations from his national radio show in 1936, he insisted his sponsor hire Louis Armstrong as his substitute[citation needed] (this was the first instance of an African-American fronting a national radio program). That same year, Vallee also wrote the introduction for Armstrong's book "Swing That Music". In 1937 Vallee attended Suffolk University Law School in Boston, Massachusetts.[2]

Vallee acted in a number of Hollywood films in the 1930s and 1940s. One of his best acting roles is as the millionaire playboy on whom Claudette Colbert relies in the 1942 screwball comedy directed by Preston Sturges, "The Palm Beach Story".

In 1955, Vallee displayed his comedic abilities in Gentlemen Marry Brunettes, co-starring Jane Russell, Alan Young, and Jeanne Crain. The production was filmed on location in Paris. The film was based on the Anita Loos novel that was a sequel to her acclaimed Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Gentlemen Marry Brunettes was popular throughout Europe at the time and was released in France as A Paris Pour les Quatre ("Paris For The Four"), and in Belgium as Tevieren Te Parijs.

In middle age, Vallee's voice matured into a robust baritone. (In his later years he told a collector of his early records that "Everything I did before 1950 you can **** on.")[citation needed] He performed on Broadway in the show How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and appeared in the film of the same name. He appeared in the campy 1960s Batman television show as the character "Lord Marmaduke Fogg".[citation needed] He toured with a one-man theater show into the 1980s. He occasionally opened for the Village People.

His reputation in Hollywood was that of a tightwad, but he wasn't the only one. He also had a reputation for being one of the most difficult people in show business to work for. It was said that the two happiest days in a performer's life were 1) when they signed a contract to work for Rudy Vallee and 2) when their contract finally expired so that they could stop working for him. On several occasions, Vallee was known to have rushed into his audience in order to punch audience members who booed. He was married briefly to the much-younger and sexy actress Jane Greer, but that ended in divorce in 1944. His previous marriage to Leonie Cuachois was annulled and the one to Fay Webb ended in divorce. After divorcing Jane Greer, he married Eleanor Norris in 1946, who wrote a memoir, My Vagabond Lover. Their marriage lasted until his death in 1986.

Rudy Vallee died on July 3, 1986 at the age of 84, and he was interred in St. Hyacinth's Cemetery, Westbrook, Maine, from which his headstone was stolen. Famous last words: "I do love parties", while watching a TV show.[citation needed]

Sally Struthers
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sally Ann Struthers (born July 28, 1948, Portland, Oregon) is an American actress and spokesperson, best known for playing Gloria Stivic; the daughter of Archie and Edith Bunker on All in the Family.



Biography

Personal life

Struthers was born in Portland, Oregon where she attended Grant High School. Her maternal grandparents were Norwegian immigrants. Struthers married Dr. William Rader, a psychiatrist, on December 18, 1977. Now divorced, they had one child together.


Career

Struthers first achieved fame for her portrayal of Archie Bunker's daughter, Gloria Bunker Stivic, on the 1970s sitcom All in the Family. After a shaky start, word of mouth propelled the program to the top of the Nielsen Ratings heap, giving tens of millions of viewers the chance to see "Gloria" defending her liberal viewpoints about negative stereotypes and inequality. Struthers won two Emmy Awards (in 1972 and 1979) for her work in All in the Family.

In Five Easy Pieces (1970), she had a memorable sex scene with Jack Nicholson.

She has acted in television series, including being a regular performer on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour and playing the titular role in the short-lived All in the Family spin-off Gloria (1982-1983), on stage, and in made-for-TV movies and feature films. She also had a recurring role as Bill Miller's manipulative mother, Louise, on the CBS sitcom Still Standing.

Since 2000, Struthers has regularly appeared on the dramedy Gilmore Girls as the girls' neighbor, Babette Dell.

In 2001, Struthers attended the funeral of Carroll O'Connor, along with Rob Reiner. Jean Stapleton was also present.

She has also provided voices for a number of animated series such as The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show (as Pebbles Flintstone), TaleSpin (as Rebecca Cunningham) and Dinosaurs (as Charlene Sinclair).


Other work

Struthers is also widely known for her work with two organizations that advertised heavily on cable and late-night television. The first of these is the Christian Children's Fund, advocating on behalf of impoverished children in developing countries, mainly in Africa. The second organization she worked with is the International Correspondence School, which offers degrees by sending lessons directly to individuals' homes.

Struthers was a semi-regular panelist on the 1990 revival of Match Game.


South Park Parody

Sally Struthers was parodied in two episodes of South Park: "Starvin Marvin" (1997), and "Starvin' Marvin in Space" (1999). In the former episode, she appeared as a grossly obese caricature of herself who worked for the Feed the Children Foundation, a fictionalized version of the Christian Children's Fund. The charity, however, was just a front, and all of the food destined for those in need ended up being consumed by Struthers. In the latter episode, Struthers was even more exaggeratedly caricatured, this time as Jabba the Hutt from Star Wars.