Wednesday, November 21, 2018
EP99: Holiday Turkeys: What Were They Thinking?
In honor of Turkey Day, Ken spins one audio trainwreck after another. You’ll laugh till you cringe.
Listen to the Hollywood & Levine podcast!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYBODY.
Stay warm on the East Coast. I hear record lows for the Macy's Parade. At least Matt Lauer gets to sleep in. My heart really goes out to the Broadway performers who have to do those production numbers in front of Macy's. "The good news is you're in a Broadway show. The bad news is you're getting frostbite."
Earl B writes:
ReplyDeleteWow! Ella singing 'Mack' was wonderful! She didn't get flustered and storm off the stage or cut the number short, she owned it, she had fun with it, the audience responded in kind - it was beautiful.
I'm guessing that's from a concert album (no way they'd put that out as a single). What was the title? I must find it.
Ken - consider this a friendly warning:
ReplyDeleteRALF PAULSEN.
This was der Deutscher Songspieler on the Mister Edtheme.
Mr. Paulsen was a popular entertainer in Germany, with many hit records in his native land (and tongue).
He was also popular on German TV variety shows, where he would perform his hits in "production numbers" of a sort.
Many of these may be found at YouTube.
I particularly commend to your attention Ralf Paulsen's stirring performance of the German-language lyrics to the Bonanza theme, as performed in full cowboy gear on a variety show - truly unforgettable.
I invite everybody who reads these words to go to YouTube right now and watch Ralf Paulsen in all his Deutscher cowhand glory (you may read invite as triple-dog-dare if you wish …).
Yep. They're going freeze their chestnuts off. Listened to WCBS-AM last night and they said the wind chill alone is going to make it feel like 0-9 degrees. And if it's too windy the balloons may not be able to go up because it'll be too dangerous. Who wants a Garfield the Cat balloon taking down a building cause it got away from its handlers?
ReplyDeleteMatt Lauer sleeps in who? Hasn't he learned anything?
ReplyDeletemade it to the end!!!
ReplyDeletetrue pain was never more enjoyable - thanks. Christ, you know it ain't easy.
The only reason I made it to the end was that I was web surfing at the same time. But man, that was AWFUL!
ReplyDeleteHappy Thanksgiving!
I'm gonna listen to this later. I just hope you've included the legendary hideousness that is Turkey Lurkey Time.
ReplyDeleteLouis Armstrong actually recorded "Mack the Knife" a couple years before Bobby Darin. I think he was the first performer to turn it jazzy instead of the street-singer style done in The Threepenny Opera.
ReplyDeleteNow I'm trying to remember who did "Hey Jude" before Bing Crosby. Good luck with the One after 99.
I looked up "Oh, Holy Night bad" on YouTube and found a link to the song by a man named Steve Mauldin. I can truly say of his version of the song "He killed it".
ReplyDeleteEarl B: That was from Ella in Berlin.
ReplyDeleteEarl B writes:
DeleteThanks, Al!
Not only did Louie do Mack the Knife before Darrin, he did it before ANYONE not singing it in German! In the best known English translation, from the Marc Blitzstein 1954 version of The Threepenny Opera, which played Off-Broadway for over six years... Blitzstein's translation provides the basis for most of the popular versions heard today, including those by Louis Armstrong (1956) and Bobby Darin (1959; Darin's lyrics differ slightly), and most subsequent swing versions.
ReplyDeleteMaybe your current podcast system might not support it but I'd love to hear you do your own Thanksgiving Parade Show.
ReplyDeleteBim Bam Baby was #20 in 1952, so nothing you said about it makes any sense.
ReplyDeleteI finally listened to this episode. When you played Sinatra, Crosby came to mind... but not for "Hey, Jude." My favorite Crosby wacky record is when he and the Andrews Sisters tried to be black with a cover of Louis Jordan's "Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby?"
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oElUtVKBF4
This is supposed to be funny, but it's just cringeworthy. Paul Frees, whose other imitations on this album are acceptable (Peter Lorre's "Hey, Jude" is hysterical) "does" Sidney Toler as Warner Oland singing "Let It Be." But it's not even close to being Warner Oland. It's a cartoon Jo Jitsu style Japanese accent - so it's not even from the right country. Just horrendous.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HY7KtC_Klrs
The hottest version of the "Mickey Mouse Club March" you will ever hear:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oSpe0BAV-k
And you've never appreciated John Philip Sousa until he's been yodeled.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tI_m5VBFUxU
*Sigh* The above message should read "Warner Oland as Charlie Chan." It's been a long week.
ReplyDelete