I hope you don’t mind if I focus on a hometown hero that often gets overlooked. Today Marshall Crenshaw celebrates birthday 72. He was born in Detroit, Michigan and was raised in the suburb of Berkley. A radio buddy of mine went to high school with him.
He had hit songs with “Cynical Girl” and “Whenever You’re On My Mind” in the early 80’s. He has said that Buddy Holly was an influence, and early on he was often said to look like him. Perhaps that is why he was cast as Buddy Holly in the movie La Bamba?
Crenshaw was also co-writer of one of the Gin Blossom’s big hits, “Til I Hear It From You.”
Robert Gordon recorded one of his songs in 1981 – “Someday, Someway.” His version went to number 76 on the chart. Crenshaw recorded the song himself in 1982. He released it and it reached number 36 on the Billboard Top 40 Hit chart. It would be his only Top 40 song. Both versions saw early success on New York radio, though Crenshaw’s rendition saw greater success nationally.
Crenshaw wrote the song while he was in New York where he played John Lennon in the musical Beatlemania. He says, “I wrote ‘Someday, Someway’ and five or six of the other tunes on my first album. I wrote those in my hotel room. That was my next move in life, to be a recording artist. I actually had a sense of artistic direction and off I went.”
Someday, Someway was inspired by Gene Vincent’s song “Lotta Lovin’.” Crenshaw said, “I wanted to take the beat and atmosphere of a 1950s Rock and Roll record that I loved … and build something around that. I came up with the music first for ‘Someday’ and dug that it was kind of hypnotic, very spare and succinct.”
Let’s celebrate his birthday with his biggest song –
A huge piece of my childhood premiered 56 years ago today.
Long before Elmo and all of the newer cast members, I sat in front of the TV watching Ernie and Bert, Kermit, Grover, the Count, and Big Bird.
In 1985, Big Bird and the rest of the cast starred in the theatrical movie “Follow That Bird.” Along with the cast, there were some big name cameos: Chevy Chase, Joe Flaherty, Dave Thomas, John Candy, Sandra Bernhard, Eddie Deezen, Sally Kellerman, and Waylon Jennings!
When my oldest son was about 4 or 5, he used to watch this movie all the time. One of his favorite parts was when Waylon Jennings shows up. Jennings is a farmer who gives Big Bird a lift in his truck. On the drive he sings Ain’t No Road Too Long. My boy used to sing along.
It’s time once again for Turntable Talk. This is the 43rd round and since it will begin around Halloween, Dave from A Sound Day asked us to “pick a song that you like that is either about a scary story or person, or just sounds kind of spooky or scary to you.” What do you choose?
There are many songs that come to mind. Because my piece will be toward the end of the contributions, I am avoiding the obvious ones: Monster Mash, Werewolves of London, Purple People Eater, Witch Doctor, Thriller, Ghostbusters, etc… I am sure by the time this publishes, at least one or two of these will have been chosen.
I have chosen to go with an odd tune that you may not be familiar with. It was actually a movie song from the 1936 film, Pennies From Heaven. The film starred Bing Crosby and Louis Armstrong. He was hired for the film at the insistence of Bing Crosby, Bing was a lifelong student, friend, collaborator and admirer of Armstrong. When the film came out, Armstrong got his own credit during the main titles, making him the first African-American to get featured billing alongside white actors.
According to the Wonderful World of Louis Armstrong, Louis was “playing a bandleader who is hired by Crosby to perform at his nightclub, Armstrong’s “role, as written, makes one cringe,” according to Lawrence Bergreen. Bergreen quotes an exchange between Armstrong and Crosby in the film, comedically playing on the ignorance of Armstrong’s character, who asks for seven percent instead of accepting Bing’s offering of ten percent because his is a seven-piece band, “And none of us knows how to divide ten percent up by seven.
Bergreen writes that this banter dwells “on black inferiority and subservience” but what he doesn’t mention is that Pops (Armstrong) legitimately loved this scene, quoting it in front of friends on one of his later private tapes. One of his last television appearances was made with Crosby on the David Frost Show from February 10, 1971. During the interview portion, Armstrong talks about how much fun they had making the film and though 35 years had gone by. Armstrong quotes the entire “percent” scene, line by line, as it originally appeared in the film. Thus, it’s easy for a white critic to “cringe” while watching Pennies From Heaven but for Pops, funny was funny and he cherished the gags he was asked to deliver.
The lone song that Armstrong has to himself in the film is called “The Skeleton in the Closet.” As you watch this clip, I hope you appreciate the story telling and acting by Armstrong. I love watching him in this. He is completely enjoying himself while performing this. That is why I want you to see the movie scene first. The recording is good, but you certainly lose out by not being able to watch him.
The Wonderful World of Louis Armstrong says this about the recorded version: “The “spookiness” of the record gave the arranger the license to use all sorts of unusual harmonies and nonchord tones, things that would sound pretty modern ten years later, but just convey a haunted house spirit when used as they are on this record. ” Give it a listen.
Here are the lyrics:
There’s an old deserted mansion on an old forgotten road Where the better ghosts and goblins always hang out One night they threw a party in a manner a la mode And they cordially invited all the gang out
At a dark, bewitchin’ hour when the fun was loud and hearty A notorious wall flower became the life of the party Mmm, the spooks were havin’ their midnight fling The merry makin’ was in full swing They shrieked themselves into a cheerful trance When the skeleton in the closet started to dance
Now a goblin giggled with fiendish glee A shout rang out from a big banshee Amazement was in every ghostly glance When the skeleton in the closet started to dance
All the witches were in stitches while his steps made rhythmic thumps And they nearly dropped their broomsticks when he tried to do the bumps You never heard such unearthly laughter, or such hilarious groans When the skeleton in the closet rattled his bones
A Halloween classic? Probably not. However, it is a fun song that fits right in with Dave’s topic this month. I really hope that you enjoyed it and aren’t upset that I passed on “the usual” hits. The thing I love about Dave’s feature is being exposed to songs that are new to me.
Thanks again to Dave for hosting my favorite monthly feature to write for. I look forward to the next topic.
Today is November 8th. In all my years of radio, I cannot believe I never saw this connection before (and we used to do a lot of “This Day in History” stuff).
The fun fact has to do with these two men:
Both of these men were born on this day*.
November 8, 1431 is the date that has been accepted and observed as the birthday of the man on the right – Vlad the Impaler. He is regarded as a hero in Romania.
November 8, 1847 is the date that the man on the left was born – Bram Stoker. He was the irish author who was known for writing a dozen horror and mystery novels (and novellas).
I’m sure by now you have made the connection: Vlad the Impaler is better known as Vlad Dracula and Bram Stoker is the author who wrote “Dracula.”
I know that Vlad’s birthday is traditionally observed on this day. I have to wonder if it is observed today because it is Stoker’s birthday. Either way, I think it is cool to note the connection between these two.
FYI – There is no birthday connection between Vlad and Bram to Bela … Lugosi. He was born October 20, 1882. Lugosi, of course, is best remembered as Count Dracula in the movies.
As the chilly fall weather creeps in, I thought I would share a summer photo today.
The above photo was taken in August of 1979. From left to right, you have my brother, me, and our friends Nicole and Jim. It looks as though we were ready to go swimming, but we didn’t have a pool. Perhaps we were running through the sprinkler or something.
One of the reasons I love this picture is that this was our first swing set. I remember my dad pouring the cement to keep the poles in the ground. I also remember waiting for what seemed like forever for us to finally be able to use it.
I wish the photo would have been positioned a bit better so you could see the whole swing set. It was really cool. It was set up kind of like the letter “H.” In the photo, you can see I am holding the rings. I remember being able to hold onto them, jump up and do a flip on them. On the other side you can see Jim on a swing. Along with the rings and swing, on the other side there was a bar on a chain. It was something like a trapeze artist might use and we would often hang upside down on them.
I had to search the net and while I couldn’t find the exact set we had, I found something similar.
It was set up just like the photo above. Except in the place of one of the swings, we had one of those two seat swings. You know, the one that kind of looked like a see saw? It took me forever to find the thing on the internet because I didn’t even know what to call it. However, you can see the thing in this picture:
Remember those things??
The top photo takes me back to a time where kids were kids. We could swing on a swing set for hours. We had no electronics to distract us. We interacted with other kids and always seemed to get along. My how the times have changed.
I came across a couple pictures I forgot to post in connection with Halloween. I thought you might get a kick out of these. If I had to add a parenthetical title it might be “Cool Couple Costumes.”
While out trick or treating with the kids I happened to see one of our neighbors. They were out with their little ones, too. They had the perfect couple costume.
Some readers may be familiar with Spongebob Squarepants. On the show, there are two superheroes who would be comparable to Batman and Robin I suppose. The characters are Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy (Voiced by actors Ernest Borgnine and Tim Conway).
You can’t imagine how much I chuckled when I saw our friends dressed as these two. They really did a great job on their costumes.
The pressure is on for Sam and I to do something just as good next year.
My second cousins throw a huge Halloween Party every year. Each year they come up with a new theme. One year they did a “dead celebrity” theme. Everyone dressed as a deceased celebrity. My dad went as Harpo Marx. Other years they have done a pirate theme, a witches and wizards theme, a devil theme, and an outer space/alien theme.
I remember in September my dad telling me what this year’s theme was to be – Ozzy Osbourne. My dad just goes with the flow and said he was going to go dressed as Ozzy. There were plenty of them at the party, too. Some went as Ozzy and Sharon’s wedding photo, while others were their children or members of Black Sabbath. My cousin’s really go all out for these parties. I had to share this picture of them.
Fantastic.
For one party, Sam and I dressed up as Popeye and Olive Oil. We haven’t really been to any parties, but I’m wondering what couple costume we could be. I asked AI and they came up with this:
That could work, I think. Not very original, but it could work…..
It was on this day in 2005 that The Incredibles was released in theaters. Of all the Pixar films, it is probably my favorite. It was a favorite of my oldest son, too. This blog isn’t about the movie, but does tie in….
Of my four children, three of them have had to do the same project in Kindergarten (Andrew hasn’t been to kindergarten yet). Prior to Thanksgiving, the kids are sent home with a picture of a turkey. They are instructed to disguise the turkey so that it doesn’t become Thanksgiving dinner.
Back in 2007, I doubt Pinterest was around and I don’t think you could Google “Turkey Project” and have hundreds of photos come up with ideas. When we asked my oldest son what he wanted to disguise his turkey, he said he wanted him to be Mr. Incredible.
I remember going out to some fabric store and buying colored felt. I did all of the cutting as some of the pieces were small. We bought some red and black feathers and we put it all together. I have to say, it came out really cool.
Two years later, my second son had the same project. We asked him what he wanted to do with his turkey. He wondered if it could be a dancer. So, we made him a disco dancing turkey. we were able to use some of the left over felt from the previous project, and bought a couple colors for hair and pants.
With my daughter now in kindergarten, in an entirely different school district, the turkey project came home over the weekend. My wife searched Pinterest and I looked online. Her first idea was to disguise the turkey as “Me. That way people will think he is just another friend.” So Sam and I started to think about how we could make the turkey look like her.
Then she changed her mind. She wanted the turkey to be disguised as the Tooth Fairy. We found an old tutu, some stickers for the eyes and mouth, made a wand with teeth on the end of it, and ta da – the Tooth Fairy.
Honestly, I love this silly project. I’m already excited to see what Andrew decides to come up with when it is his turn!
Delbert first hit the stage in 1957 and toured continuously until his last tour in 2018. He is a multi talented musician who can play guitar, harmonica and piano.
For me, it’s hard to put him into one genre of music. He’s probably best known for rock, blues, and country. He’s won four Grammy Awards – in 1992 for Rock Performance by a Duo with Bonnie Raitt; 2002 for Contemporary Blues Album for “Nothing Personal”; 2006 for Best Contemporary Blues Album for “Cost of Living” and in 2020 for Best Traditional Blues Album for Tall, Dark, & Handsome. He has been nominated for eight Grammy Awards as of 2020.
I was having trouble getting the videos to load in my draft, so I hope they show up here. Today I wanted to feature two fantastic cover songs. First, I love his cover of James Brown’s Please, Please, Please:
Next, his cover of Johnny Ace’s Pledging My Love:
He has done so many great songs, but these two are my faves….
When I got into radio, I asked one of the DJ’s if he had any advice for me. “Don’t get involved with a listener!” was his reply. I asked him why and his response was, “Haven’t you ever seen Play Misty for Me?”
I hadn’t. So I rented it. It starred Clint Eastwood and Jessica Walter and it scared the heck out of me!
The film came out on this day in 1971. The movie in a nutshell:
Popular radio show host Dave Garver (Clint Eastwood) becomes restless in his relationship with his girlfriend (Donna Mills). Impulsively, he goes out and sleeps with a woman (Jessica Walter) he meets at a nightclub. After the fact, he finds out she was not an anonymous hookup, but an obsessive fan who has called in repeatedly to request he play the song “Misty.” Garver soon discovers extricating himself from the woman will be no easy feat as she becomes increasingly psychotic.
In my radio career of over two decades, I thankfully never encountered a listener like this! Naturally, we were all leery of any food or drink that was brought to the radio station. You never knew what might or might not be in it.
Most DJ’s had “groupies” who followed you around to your appearances. Many just wanted to chat with you. They always treated you like you were a “big star” or “famous.” I always told them I was just a guy doing a job. Still, there were plenty of folks that followed me around or always called the station. Off the top of my head: Gary, Dawn, Ann, Dan, Marie, Jennifer, Heather, Don, Tracy, Michelle, Lee, Kortney, Shelley, Pat, Sandy, Joe, Deatta, and many more all connected with me at various stations and throughout my career. Many of them became friends afterward. None of them ever attacked me violently.
Errol Garner composed Misty in 1954. It would be recorded by many artists including Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughn, Aretha Franklin and Johnny Mathis. It would become Mathis’ signature song.
The entire family was home Friday night. We took advantage of a mild Halloween night and went trick or treating.
Andrew was a SWAT team member, while Ella was a unicorn fairy. She wore a hat, so the unicorn horn stayed home.
We walked the entire neighborhood (a little over a mile) and had a nice night. It’s always great running into other neighbors and their kids out and about.
One thing I noticed was that neighbors were giving kids a choice this year. “You can take two pieces from each bowl,” or “We have potato chips, popsicles, or candy. Pick one.” Well, wait just one cotton picking minute….
We never got a choice as a kid! We took what they handed to us. Then we’d go home and create a “keep” pile, a “garbage” pile and a “mom or dad” pile. None of my kids like Almond Joy. I always had a ton of them after Halloween. This year, they picked their favorites, so zero for me this year.
By the end of the night, they were pooped. But both were in awe of our neighbor’s huge pumpkin, so they had to get a picture in front of it.
Yesterday was a lazy day. We stayed home and I took down the Halloween stuff. I probably should have taken advantage of the mild weather and put up the outdoor Christmas stuff, but I didn’t.
Instead, I began to rake the leaves. I wound up with a big pile, but no leaf bags. I apparently used them earlier in the year. The kids didn’t mind at all.
Various Ramblings of a Nostalgic Italian 