tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post3828370811515163865..comments2023-11-03T06:02:02.128-07:00Comments on By Ken Levine: Great minds or great memories?By Ken Levinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17305293821975250420noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-78939426645736813682009-06-08T05:21:14.294-07:002009-06-08T05:21:14.294-07:00I remember coining the term "the Govenator&qu...I remember coining the term "the Govenator" moments after Ah-nold was elected, in an email to a friend. I also predicted that my friend would see it everywhere very soon. <br /><br />And I was right.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-86253858980818829572009-06-06T16:01:39.021-07:002009-06-06T16:01:39.021-07:00@RogerOwenGreen: Yes, and Eric Carmen made an enti...@RogerOwenGreen: Yes, and Eric Carmen made an entire career ripping off Rachmaninoff. Hell, he didn't care; he was dead.Baylinkhttp://photo.imageinc.usnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-66565460836868028762009-06-05T14:17:58.644-07:002009-06-05T14:17:58.644-07:00Then there was the time that Sgt. Bilko went to gr...Then there was the time that Sgt. Bilko went to great lengths to write down a tune Cpl. Paperelli used to sing in the shower, then managed to get Col. Hall to think he created it and came up with "The Song of the Motor Pool". Only it was already "The Song of Signal Corps", Paperelli's old unit and the platoon didn't win the big TV contest.<br /><br />And the writer of that series, Nat Hiken, used to write for Milton Berle...<br /><br />And The Phil Silvers Show featured an early appearance for Alan Alda..Will in Londonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-3290022077882922372009-06-05T08:20:57.740-07:002009-06-05T08:20:57.740-07:00Didn't Barry Manilow steal Could It Be Magic f...Didn't Barry Manilow steal Could It Be Magic from Chopin?Roger Owen Greenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05298172138307632062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-60554889421661433002009-06-05T01:09:32.384-07:002009-06-05T01:09:32.384-07:00An even better example than the Sedaka one is the ...An even better example than the Sedaka one is the story of Arthur Freed and "Make 'Em Laugh." While working on "Singing in the Rain," Stanley Donen, the director, suggested to Freed that they needed a song a bit like Cole Porter's <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2RQmWiSRpk" rel="nofollow">"Be A Clown"</a> for Donald O'Connor. Freed agreed, went away for a while and came back with <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FW02c5UNGl0" rel="nofollow">"Make 'Em Laugh"</a> which is pretty much the same song with a different lyric. Oddly Cole Porter never complained. Perhaps it was because Freed was at that time head of MGM's musical division.Jimnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-72279929713550291302009-06-05T00:36:47.646-07:002009-06-05T00:36:47.646-07:00The Sedaka story reminds me that when Paul McCartn...The Sedaka story reminds me that when Paul McCartney wrote the tune for "Yesterday," he was so astonished at coming up with it that he went around playing for everybody he knew, asking them if he hadn't accidentally lifted it from something, because he could hardly believe it was his own creation.Simon S.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-71965773368587368352009-06-04T22:23:01.612-07:002009-06-04T22:23:01.612-07:00P.S. -- It's the nightmare of every author of ...P.S. -- It's the nightmare of every author of humor that he'll discover the piece he's been working on for weeks was already done better by Robert Benchley in 1923. Wish I could take credit for that observation, but James Thurber said it first.Pat Reedernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-41492096750693628252009-06-04T19:07:38.849-07:002009-06-04T19:07:38.849-07:00It happened to Sedaka, too. Billy Joel admits that...It happened to Sedaka, too. Billy Joel admits that his first version of "Moving Out" was actually the music to "Laughter In The Rain". <br /><br />Try it yourself and match up the lyrics.Glenn Haumanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15825568109767338845noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-56584063984430942602009-06-04T17:47:48.613-07:002009-06-04T17:47:48.613-07:00I knew you weren't channeling "Bobby"...I knew you weren't channeling "Bobby" all along.Joehttp://blog.vinapedia.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-11489942580751636202009-06-04T15:22:49.145-07:002009-06-04T15:22:49.145-07:00Oh, and your comments about writing award show rev...Oh, and your comments about writing award show reviews goes exactly the same for me. In fact, it makes me write them a little faster, since I can't read yours until mine is posted. Look for Tallulah's Tony Award Show review on The HuffPo Monday.D. McEwannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-43413187536059997872009-06-04T15:20:21.929-07:002009-06-04T15:20:21.929-07:00Never for a moment did I think it was a lift; just...Never for a moment did I think it was a lift; just a joke so THERE that we both found it independently a year apart. My first reaction to seeing it here was pride; I knew it was a good joke. Nothing to apologise for.<br /><br />And Heaven knows, I have had the experience more than once of writing something I thought was terrific, and then finding it in something that I had read a year or two earlier. That joke memory closet is slippery.<br /><br />Woody Allen had a stand-up bit 40 years ago: "I just wrote a novel. I call it 'Great Expectations.' My agent said, 'It's a good book, possible a great book, but there's no need to have written it, as Charles Dickens had already written it.' "<br /><br />But thank you for the gracious acknowledgement.<br /><br />And Tallulah enjoyed the ballpark beer.D. McEwannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-67319358677652491702009-06-04T13:25:42.360-07:002009-06-04T13:25:42.360-07:00We work all night writing a topical comedy service...We work all night writing a topical comedy service for morning radio, so we usually avoid the trap of repeating someone else's joke (we're writing news about stories that just happened hours before). Every night, I watch Leno and the other talkers, to see what they had to say on the same subjects. I find that at least two or three of our lines would usually pop up word-for-word in Leno's monologues two or three days later (you could spot them by the audience reaction: loud laughter, sustained applause, etc.) I always assume that's just two minds working on the same track, and not one of our clients fencing stolen material. Although one time, I did have to wonder when I wrote a really off-the-wall line based on a fact that was in about the 17th paragraph of a long news story, and Leno did the exact same line two days later. <br /><br />But then, I reminded myself that my wife and I work together, and nearly every night when she brings me her lines on the premises I've written, several of them will be nearly identical to lines I've already written. I figure that just means I married the right woman. Finally.Pat Reedernoreply@blogger.com