Often a great performing artist's career is largely defined by one very famous song. One might name Frank Sinatra and "New York, New York," Ray Charles and "Georgia," Tony Bennett and "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" in this regard. Clearly the legendary jazz great Louis Armstrong and his classic
Music and Movies
Music and Movies
Who Wrote God Bless America?
Irving Berlin 1906 Irving Berlin, by all accounts one of America's greatest songwriters, came to America in 1893 when his parents left Russia to escape persecution. Drafted into the Army in 1918, he was assigned to create songs for an Army show, Yip! Yip! Yaphank. (Yaphank, on New York's Long Island,
The Battle Hymn of the Republic
Who Wrote the Rock Classic Wild Thing?
Recorded by such diverse acts as Kermit the Frog, Jeff Beck, and Jimi Hendrix, it was Andover England's The Troggs who took "Wild Thing" to #1 in 1966. "Hailing from the relatively unknown British town of Andover, the Troggs hooked up with manager/producer Larry Page (who was involved in the Kinks' early affairs) in
Legendary Canadian Songwriter Gordon Lightfoot Dies at 84
Canada's favorite son, Gordon Lightfoot, was one of the greatest singer-songwriters to come out of the 1970s...and that's saying something. His name, along with the likes of Paul Simon, Jackson Browne, Carole King, Elton John, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, James Taylor, David Bowie, Randy Newman, Cat Stevens, Billy
Who Wrote the Pink Panther Theme Music?
The Pink Panther theme is one of the most famous movie soundtracks of all time. It was written by Henry Mancini (April 16, 1924 – June 14, 1994), whose career spanned 40 years and garnered the composer four Oscars and twenty Grammys, the all-time record for a pop artist. [Since surpassed by Beyonce] The Ultimate
Everybody’s Talkin’: About Harry Nilsson
What Does Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Mean?
The word is a compound word, and said by Richard Lederer in his book Crazy English to be made up of these words: super- "above", cali- "beauty", fragilistic- "delicate", expiali- "to atone", and -docious "educable", with all of these parts combined meaning "Atoning for being educable through delicate beauty. Wikipedia.org Mary Poppins LP It's not the longest
Who Wrote the Theme from The Exorcist?
The Exorcist Poster What do you remember most about the controversial 1973 horror film, The Exorcist? The special effects like Linda Blair, as the possessed Regan, swiveling her head 360 degrees? The graphic language often parodied as "Your mother sews socks that smell"? The phenomenon? It was the biggest grossing (no pun intended!) film of
I Got You Babe
Do you know anyone who hasn't seen the great 1993 movie Goundhog Day starring Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell? Timeless! (No pun intended.) Sonny and Cher It's impossible not to come away from the film humming the Sonny (Bono) and Cher hit "I Got You Babe" from the soundtrack—it's what wakes up weatherman Phil
Everybody Wants to Rule The World
While watching NBC's Medium ("But For the Grace of God"), which centered around the solving of a young girl's murder in the 1980s, I was struck by the effective and nostalgic use of original 80s pop music in the soundtrack, including "Everybody Want to Rule the World" by the British duo Tears
Remembering the Great Ray Charles
Imagine if Snoop Dogg or Justin Timberlake, or Beyonce, after tearing up the R&B Charts for a year or two, released a country album...and had the gall to call it The New Hip Sound of Country. And furthermore, imagine that the album not only does well with BOTH R&B and
Who Wrote the Music to Psycho?
Initially director/auteur Alfred Hitchcock didn't want any music to accompany what has become one of the most famous scenes in the history of motion pictures: The "Shower Scene" in his 1960 suspense-thriller Psycho. The film was revolutionary in a number of ways, not the least of which was killing off a major
Who Played Willy Wonka in WIlly Wonka and the Chocolate Factory?
Brilliant comic actor and writer (and fine singer and dancer too!) Gene Wilder, AKA WIlly Wonka, AKA The Candyman, passed away August 29th 2016 at his home in Connecticut from complications surrounding his long (and largely unknown) diagnosis with Alzhiemer's disease. He was 83 years old. Willy Wonka is the Man—The
Who Sang Bust A Move?
Did Gene Autry’s Horse Stay at Nashville’s Historic 5-Star Hermitage Hotel?
Who Wrote Smile Though Your Heart is Aching?
Did Elvis and Nixon Meet at The White House?
In April 2016, Amazon Studios releases "Elvis and Nixon," the dramatized story of the actual true circumstances surrounding the infamous meeting of "The King," Elvis Presley and the sitting President of the United States Richard M. Nixon, in 1970. "On a December morning in 1970, the King of Rock 'n Roll