Ken is unleashed. Instead of one or two topics, he has twenty. From TV, movies, sports, Broadway, hurricanes, Emmys, theme songs, songwriters, Hollywood myopia, his dad, a review, listening habits, and details on how you can win a signed CHEERS script (maybe the greatest contest prize EVER), Ken shares his take on it all.
12 comments :
Submitted for your approval, in the category of cover versions where the singer doesn't understand the lyrics:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8tdmaEhMHE
Friday Question: am reading a book about John Candy and they touch on the movie Volunteers, which the author called a "crushing disappointment" (not sure if he meant for Candy or just overall).
Anyway, have you written about Candy before, Ken, or can you now?
I always thought a biopic or documentary of his life would be interesting.
Am reading a book now about John Candy and they touch on the movie Volunteers, which the author called "a crushing disappointment" (not sure if he meant for Candy or just in general).
Anyway, Friday question: have you written about Candy before, Ken, or can you now?
Always thought a biopic or doc on his life would be interesting.
Have you heard Bing Crosby Getting Down with His Bad Self, singing "Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby?" with the Andrews Sisters?
Ken, I enjoyed the experiment. I've said this before that your voice sounds like Jack Paar but today I also hear a bit of Fred Allen in it. Both were funny and intelligent people. I listen to the show at normal speed.
I use audacity to edit the sound, changing tempo to speed it up without changing pitch. Some podcasts, I listen to at 1.65x speed. Ken's at 1.3x
I've always been interested in songs where an unexpected cover improved the song. Ever heard the original Jackie DeShannon version of "Bette Davis Eyes"? She cowrote the song (and made a lot of money from the Kim Carnes cover), but her own take is pretty awful.
On the other hand (and I know I'm way in the minority on this), I prefer the original Otis Redding version of "Respect" to Aretha Franklin's much better known cover. Franklin's performance is unforgettable, but I think Redding's is a lot more down-to-earth and relatable.
Ken,
Is Allan Malamud related to the author Bernard Malamud who wrote "The Natural?"
Going in the opposite direction of Mel Torme's "Send In the Clowns" an Irish group called Trillogy did a very soulful version of the "Friends" theme song "I'll Be There For You" and I actually think that it's extremely good:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zqr1JDDoWdg
If/when they do a "Friends" reunion show it would make for a very emotional way to start the show. The characters have obviously all moved on with their lives and can't be there for each other the way they were when they were in their twenties.
I didn't like the whole Little League weekend. Having the Pirates and Cardinals play a game in Williamsport was a gimmick and I thought very unfair to both teams. You know if MLB thought it was a good idea, they would have had the Yankees and/or the Red Sox there.
Rhino Records put out a series of records where popular songs were sung bad by actors. The hightlight is William Shatner's "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds".
I've had a similar reaction to premium cable/streaming programs. Around Emmy time it seems that they are the only programs nominated. But they are just regular programs with gore, cursing and sometimes nudity. Take away these shock value items and they are dull, dull, dull. Case in point -- when the Sopranos and Sex and the City were stripped for regular cable they had to be "cleaned up". And they bombed. Big time.
I agree with your assessment of the Players' Weekend jerseys. Just ridiculous. (I am a bit of a baseball neophyte; I started watching, listening to, and reading about baseball because of this blog.) If it were just the bats or the shoes, (like the Brewers' Ryan Braun's Florida tribute) it wouldn't look as ridiculous. But who really has a nickname longer than their actual name? "CODYLOVE"? What?
Growing up, I became a John Denver fan. He made the original recording of a Jimmy Webb song called "Postcard From Paris." Glen Campbell did two excellent covers on his last two albums.
Then there was a YouTube idiot named Tom Crown. This song is not built for reggae. There's probably a reason Google chooses the trumpet mute manufacturer as the first page result.
Love this podcast!
I think it's a pity you're not crazy about your voice. If I were to say I'm crazy about your voice, that would be both a lie and really disturbing on at least one level. Mostly the latter. But I can say that I enjoy listening to your voice, and wish mine were half so listenable.
On the topic of listening to podcasts sped up, I tried it for awhile then abandoned it. It just so happened that the period when that feature became available coincided with a time in my life when I had a huge backlog of podcasts episodes, so I tried out a few episodes of various podcasts at 1.5x speed. I was determined to try it more than once, but the result pretty much gave me aural PTSD. I came close to never listening to any sounds ever again. None of which is intended to imply that people who derive benefit from speeding up podcasts are twisted deviant sickos; I feel that should be evident by definition.
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