edgar, thanks for the song by Buck. Together Again is one that I know.
firefly, That song by Kid Creole was awesome. Somehow, I thought that Phil Collins did the theme song from Against All Odds, but we may be looking at two different situations.
Bob, as usual, you bio's are always welcome here, and the observation about Bill Gates gave us a smile. Hmmm, wonder why that bete noir is always hijacking my stuff? Ah, well. What chance do "wee" peons have against a nerd.
Welcome back, puppy. Loved your sextet today, and thanks, PA.
Two songs to honor our celebs, folks.
First Jane Wyatt.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnV64fuJxmU
Then Cantinflas.
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=K56DTYxV9to
Well, it seems that firefly was correct as well as Letty. Here is Phil Collins' theme from the movie, and here is a salute to John Derek's, Bo.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Sd0W1RyMnE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-4J5j74VPw
For Casey Affleck's birthday, let's listen to this Perry Como song which was part of the soundtrack for Ocean's Eleven
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xHsTLXEF_k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEqkeNTLrcM
My first encounter with Cantinflas came about in 1956.
Sorry, letty. I missed you Around the world. But, at least mine is different.
Thanks, firefly for the mambo. Love Perry.
edgar, mine was plain and yours was colorful. I had no idea that there were so many stars in the movie, Texas, and you inspired me to do this one in answer to the mambo. Wow! Jose, you're better than Rudolph.( I used to call that the flamingo.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aZsMdnhUmc
Greco was such a wonderful dancer. It was great to see him again, Letty.
I just discovered that this lovely classical piece was also featured at the end of the movie, Ocean's Eleven, during the fountain scene.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzeCUlZz5aE
Ah, firefly. I love that classic piece. Thank you, dear. Literally, Claire de Lune means moonlight, but the idiomatic expression has to do with a haze of porcelain. Certainly did not know that.
Well, folks, unfortunately, water leaked into our wee studio and damaged a speaker or two. Here is a Debussey piece that I hope our listeners and contributors can hear clearly, and it's a perfect afternoon selection.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_7loz-HWUM&feature=related
To continue in a classical vein for a bit, I found this song by Sarah Brightman, Dans La Nuit, which (I think) is taken from Chopin's Etude in E, Opus 10. I have mixed feelings about Brightman in general, but this is a pretty song and she does it well
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cg_Eeb73cp8
And, while listening to Sarah, I stumbled upon this French song in a country style. I can't find much information about Georges Hamel, but I think he is Canadian. It's a nice melody and arrangement.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2c3n-KZ3xoA&feature=related
Love that classical piece, firefly, and here are the lyrics that are adapted from that French chanson.
No Other Love can warm my heart
Now that I've known the comfort of your arms
No other love.
Oh the sweet contentment that I find with you Every Time
Every Time.
No other lips could want you more For I was born to glory in your kiss.
Forever yours
I was blessed with love to love you Til the stars burn out above you
Til the moon is but a silver shell
No other love, Let no other love
Know the wonder of your spell.
Fantastic that you found a country singer that sings in one of the romance languages. Now you'll have us searching for George Hamel. We love to do than, non?
Well, folks. Let's not forget Katharine Lee Bates. I think everyone here and in our audience wishes that this was America's national anthem.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CILIBlQ2D0Q
I really don't recall a bad song by Ray, firefly. Love that one, but I didn't know that he had done it.
Jamie Foxx did a great job in the movie about Ray Charles, and this one gets the battling racket gal right in there. It is funny and NOT offensive, folks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgEvRElqiLs
Time for me to say goodnight, and although I could not find firefly's Gorges Hamil, I will wager that he is a cajun. Did find this one by another bunch of cajuns, and I like it so it will be my bon soir.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMNYXnXva6s&feature=related
To all of you here and in the rest of our listening range..
Tomorrow,
From Letty with love
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMMYS60U09I
Saying good morning with Cajun Joe, by Doug Kershaw
Good morning, all.
Well, I did my homework last night to find out more about Georges Hamel. Didn't find out too much about Hamel, but I did learn a lot of other things.
I found a fascinating article on the history of country music in Canada, and it's connections to similar music in the U.S. Although it is a long article, WA2K music history buffs should find it interesting.
http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=U1ARTU0000814
This portion of the very long article mentions Georges Hamel, among other "Canadian cowboys".
Quote:In Quebec the rise in popularity of country music (based on US styles rather than traditional French-Canadian music and comprising a repertoire of original songs and translations of US hits.) was marked by the first recordings (mid-1940s) of Paul Brunelle and Willie Lamothe, The earlier songs of La Bolduc and Le Soldat (Roland) Lebrun also bore some resemblance, in feeling and topic, to those of country music. In La Chanson québécoise (Montreal 1974) Benoît L'Herbier wrote: 'country music's popularity in Quebec is easily explained. Like the average American, Quebecers, many of them farmers, country folk, and close to the soil, experienced the same feelings in the face of life, existence and the world... Their world of simplicity mourned the loss of the La Bolduc and lingered over Le Soldat Lebrun. Country music seemed to them a logical continuation. Moreover, "cowboy songs" possessed a certain folk flavour adapted to a "modern" climate'. Other pioneers in the 1940s and 1950s of country music in Quebec, included Bobby Hachey, Marcel Martel, Paul Ménard, Roger Miron, Ti-Blanc Richard, and Oscar Thiffault. Later performers have included Lévis Bouliane, André Breton, Denis Champoux, Julie and Paul Daraîche, Armand Desrochers, Elaine, Regis Gagné, Georges Hamel, André Hébert, Marie King, Carole Laure, Renée Martel, Patrick Norman, Claude Patry, Larry Robichaud, Jerry and Jo'Anne (Robitaille), Gildor Roy, and Roch Voisine. Evidence of country music's popularity in Quebec is the success of the Festival western de St-Tite, established at St-Tite, near Shawinigan, in 1968.
Here is another French song from one of the pioneers in country music in Quebec--Marcel Martel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJVQwkIIgRE&feature=related
One portion of the article discusses how Canadian vocal stlyles have influenced American singers.
Quote:Canadian country vocal styles also differ from US ones in their reflection of Canadian regional speech accents. Canadian singers generally have a lower-pitched, less nasal sound than their US counterparts, with clearer enunciation, and less drawling and slurring. The Canadian style, in turn, particularly that of Hank Snow and Wilf Carter, has influenced several US singers, including Johnny Cash.
Very interesting. So, let's listen to Hank Snow this morning.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3fnOks-_zk&feature=related
My reading about Canadian music also led me to discover some of the popular music of Newfoundland, which draws upon the traditional influences of the folk music in that region, and which can be heard in this medley by Harry Higgs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFB-TrG8-vk
Nice music to start the day with. Good morning, Canada.
Bert Lahr
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bert Lahr (August 13, 1895 - December 4, 1967) was a German-Jewish American Tony Award-winning comic actor.
Biography
Early life
Born Irving Lahrheim in New York City, Lahr is best remembered today for his role as the Cowardly Lion and the Kansas farmworker Zeke in the classic 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz, but known during his life for a career in burlesque, vaudeville and Broadway.
Dropping out of school at the age of fifteen to join a juvenile vaudeville act, Lahr worked his way up to top billing on the Columbia Burlesque Circuit. In 1927 he debuted in on Broadway in Harry Delmar's Revels. Lahr played to packed houses, performing classic routines such as "The Song of the Woodman" (which he later reprised in the film Merry-Go-Round of 1938). Lahr had his first major success in a stage musical playing the prize fighter hero of Hold Everything! (1928-29). Several other musicals followed, notably Flying High (1930), Florenz Ziegfeld's Hot-Cha! (1932) and The Show Is On (1936) in which he co-starred with Beatrice Lillie. In 1939, he co-starred with Ethel Merman in DuBarry Was a Lady.
Career
Lahr made his feature film debut in 1931's Flying High, playing the part of the oddball aviator he had previously played on stage. He signed with New York-based Educational Pictures for a series of two-reel comedies. When that series ended, he came back to Hollywood to work in feature films. Aside from The Wizard of Oz (1939), his movie career was limited.
His later life was troubled, although he made the transition to straight theatre. He costarred in a much-praised version of Waiting for Godot in 1956 at the Coconut Grove Playhouse in Miami, Florida in which he played Estragon to Tom Ewell's Vladimir. Lahr thought of himself as the top banana in the production, telling Ewell "not to crowd him." When Beckett learned of this, he complained that the play was being taken away from his major character, Vladimir. Lahr later played Estragon in the play's short-lived Broadway run.
Among other Broadway roles, Lahr played Queen Victoria in a sketch from the musical Two on the Aisle. He also performed as Moonface Martin in a television version of Anything Goes with Ethel Merman reprising her role as Reno Sweeney and Frank Sinatra as Billy Crocker. In the late 1950s, Lahr supplied the voice of an animated bloodhound in Old Whiff, a short cartoon produced by Mike Todd which featured the olfactory Smell-O-Vision process developed for Todd's feature film Scent of Mystery (1960). In 1964 he won the Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical for his role in the musical Foxy.
Later life
Lahr occasionally appeared on television, including NBC's live version of the Cole Porter musical Let's Face It (1954) and an appearance as the mystery guest on What's My Line? He also performed in commercials, including a memorable series for Lay's potato chips during its long-running "Betcha can't eat just one" campaign with Lahr as "Aunt Tillie".
In 1967, Lahr died of pneumonia in New York City in the middle of filming The Night They Raided Minsky's, forcing producers to use a double in several scenes. Fittingly, this last role was as a burlesque comic. Lahr is buried at Union Field Cemetery in Ridgewood, Queens.
His son, New Yorker theater critic John Lahr, wrote a biography of his father's life titled Notes on a Cowardly Lion. His daughter Jane Lahr was in the documentary Memories of Oz on the television network Turner Classic Movies in 2001
