Holy crap! Thanks Ken. I think I barfed up turkey from three decades ago. You wanna get Trump out of the White House? Play this outside 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. on a continuous loop. He'll probably pack his bags and quit by the time it's halfway through the 2nd repeat.
I have to say I liked the Mel Torme song--no one can combine schlock and class quite like him. And The Motels cover was clearly feminist tongue-in-cheek, so I can appreciate it even if the theme is distasteful. Also, they are an exceptionally great pop band.
I'll say that when a recording of a cover is done well, even if misguided, it's still good music. There wasn't anything on this that made me cringe.
I thought "Yummy Yummy Yummy" was funny covered by Julie London & "Purple People Eater" by Judy Garland was memorable. I like "I've Never Been to Me", the music anyway, even if the lyrics are a bit corny.
As the co-author of "Hollywood Hi-Fi," the book of little-known celebrity records, I thank you for this show, which is right up my alley. Anyone who likes this sort of stuff should scroll through our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/hollywoodhifibook
Thank you for playing the only version of "Send in the Clowns" that I actually like. Mel and Julie London were among the great pre-rock lounge-jazz singers forced to cover schlock by their labels in the '60s, with Mel's most infamous being "Sunshine Superman." The "Yummy, Yummy, Yummy" LP by Julie London also features "Louie, Louie," "Light My Fire," "It's Nice to Be With You" and "The Mighty Quinn." Whoever made her do that should have drawn and quartered.
The Judy song is from her TV variety show, so I'll cut her some slack. Tony Bennett was also pressured to cut then-modern pop/rock but refused. This LP is as close as the label got to ruining him (check out the cover), but the song selection in 1969 definitely could've been worse ("This next swingin' tune is called 'In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida,' ladies and gentlemen!"): https://www.discogs.com/Tony-Bennett-Tony-Sings-The-Great-Hits-Of-Today/master/431110
The second you said Carole King wrote the next song, I knew you were going to play "He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss.)" I think of it as a "do whap" song. Fun fact: The Crystals original was produced by Phil Spector, so she's lucky that all she got was a fist. This makes a great back-to-back spin with the Beatles' "Run For Your Life."
PS - If you hate Charlene's "I've Never Been To Me" as much as I do, you should also torture yourself with her follow-up, "Used to Be," a duet with Stevie Wonder(!) That should give readers an idea of how inexplicably popular she was at the time.
9 comments :
Holy crap! Thanks Ken. I think I barfed up turkey from three decades ago. You wanna get Trump out of the White House? Play this outside 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. on a continuous loop. He'll probably pack his bags and quit by the time it's halfway through the 2nd repeat.
"Happy needless turkey murder day!" - Phoebe
I have to say I liked the Mel Torme song--no one can combine schlock and class quite like him. And The Motels cover was clearly feminist tongue-in-cheek, so I can appreciate it even if the theme is distasteful. Also, they are an exceptionally great pop band.
I'll say that when a recording of a cover is done well, even if misguided, it's still good music. There wasn't anything on this that made me cringe.
Maybe smirk a little.
I thought "Yummy Yummy Yummy" was funny covered by Julie London & "Purple People Eater" by Judy Garland was memorable. I like "I've Never Been to Me", the music anyway, even if the lyrics are a bit corny.
Some of those songs were pretty great! And who doesn't want to hear Julie London singing bubblegum?
As the co-author of "Hollywood Hi-Fi," the book of little-known celebrity records, I thank you for this show, which is right up my alley. Anyone who likes this sort of stuff should scroll through our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/hollywoodhifibook
Thank you for playing the only version of "Send in the Clowns" that I actually like. Mel and Julie London were among the great pre-rock lounge-jazz singers forced to cover schlock by their labels in the '60s, with Mel's most infamous being "Sunshine Superman." The "Yummy, Yummy, Yummy" LP by Julie London also features "Louie, Louie," "Light My Fire," "It's Nice to Be With You" and "The Mighty Quinn." Whoever made her do that should have drawn and quartered.
The Judy song is from her TV variety show, so I'll cut her some slack. Tony Bennett was also pressured to cut then-modern pop/rock but refused. This LP is as close as the label got to ruining him (check out the cover), but the song selection in 1969 definitely could've been worse ("This next swingin' tune is called 'In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida,' ladies and gentlemen!"): https://www.discogs.com/Tony-Bennett-Tony-Sings-The-Great-Hits-Of-Today/master/431110
The second you said Carole King wrote the next song, I knew you were going to play "He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss.)" I think of it as a "do whap" song. Fun fact: The Crystals original was produced by Phil Spector, so she's lucky that all she got was a fist. This makes a great back-to-back spin with the Beatles' "Run For Your Life."
PS - If you hate Charlene's "I've Never Been To Me" as much as I do, you should also torture yourself with her follow-up, "Used to Be," a duet with Stevie Wonder(!) That should give readers an idea of how inexplicably popular she was at the time.
My question is, how did you fit so many songs with an average duration of 19 years into a half-hour podcast?
Thank you for showcasing Shooby Taylor. What a trainwreck! I couldn't love it more.
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