Happy 85th Birthday to Billboard

The first Billboard singles chart was published on this day in 1940. It was 85 years ago that Billboard began compiling and publishing the National Best Selling Retail Records chart. It became the first official national music chart. Wiki says: Debuting in the issue dated July 27, it marked the beginning of the magazine’s nationwide tracking of record sales in the United States. Initially titled the “National List of Best Selling Retail Records”, the weekly ten-position chart was tabulated using sales figures received from a selection of merchants across the country. Prior to its introduction, The Billboard had produced lists ranking music by various metrics such as performance in vaudeville venues, jukebox plays, sheet music sales, and regional airplay.

The first number one single was “I’ll Never Smile Again” from the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. It featured the Pied Pipers and a singer who would go on to be a musical icon – Frank Sinatra. The song topped the chart for twelve consecutive weeks and elevated Sinatra to national popularity.

They performed the song together in the 1941 film Las Vegas Nights.

All these years later, Billboard is still ranking records/singles. Of course, the music from the past is a lot better that what is on the charts today. (My opinion – don’t be hating!)

Book Recommendation – Marble Hall Murders

One author that I truly enjoy is Anthony Horowitz.  I’ve read quite a few of his books and they have been very well done.  I had been waiting for his latest – Marble Hall Murders.

This book is the third book in his Susan Ryland series.  Despite the fact that the three tie in together, it reads as a stand alone, too. 

Susan is an editor, so she reads and edits manuscripts.  What I love about these books is that there is a book within the book.  They both connect with each other.  Before I get into my quick thoughts, here is the Goodreads Synopsis:

Murder links past and present once again in this mind-boggling metafictional mystery from Anthony Horowitz—another tribute to the golden age of Agatha Christie featuring detective Atticus Pund and editor Susan Ryland, stars of the New York Times bestsellers Magpie Murders and Moonflower Murders.

Editor Susan Ryeland has left her Greek island, her hotel, and her Greek boyfriend Andreas in search of a new life back in England.

Freelancing for Causton Books, she’s working on the manuscript of a novel, Pund’s Last Case, by a young author named Eliot Crace, a continuation of the popular Alan Conway series.  Susan is surprised to learn that Eliot is the grandson of legendary children’s author Marian Crace, who died some fifteen years ago—murdered, Elliot insists, by poison.

As Susan begins to read the manuscript’s opening chapters, the skeptical editor is relieved to find that Pund’s Last Case is actually very good. Set in the South of France, it revolves around the mysterious death of Lady Margaret Chalfont, who, though mortally ill, is poisoned—perhaps by a member of her own family. But who did it? And why?

The deeper Susan reads, the more it becomes clear that the clues leading to the truth of Marian Crace’s death are hidden within this Atticus Pund mystery.

While Eliot’s accusation becomes more plausible, his behavior grows increasingly erratic.. Then he is suddenly killed in a hit-and-run accident, and Susan finds herself under police scrutiny as a suspect in his killing.

Three mysterious deaths. Multiple motives and possible murderers. If Susan doesn’t solve the mystery of Pund’s Last Case, she may well be the next victim.

Horowitz again, does a fantastic job with a great mystery. I love how he intertwines the two stories and how it all comes together in the end.

There were a couple surprises, red herrings, and a few things I did guess.  Apparently, some of these books have been adapted for TV, but I’m not sure where to watch them.

I have yet to be disappointed by one of his books. They are worth the read!  I think you will enjoy them, especially if you are a mystery lover.

4.5 out of 5 stars

Friday Photo Flashback

I’m guessing today’s photo is from somewhere between 1987-1992.  I don’t recall where the photo was taken. I’m going to guess it’s a wedding or some family event.

The picture is of my dad, my Uncle Tom, and me.  This is another photo that I am unaware of who took it. 

We’re all wearing a coat and tie, which is why I believe it was a family function.  It also looks like it was taken in a hall.  I say that because the “wall” behind us looks like one of those walls that fold up to make a room bigger or two create a smaller room.

I’m guessing that we knew the picture was being taken, as my dad and uncle are looking at the camera.  I also assume that because my uncle looks like he’s making an Italian hand gesture and I’m….well, I don’t know what I’m doing.

It was always a hoot when we got together with my uncle. He’s not a blood uncle, but he was my dad’s friend since they were kids, so he was like an uncle. (He was also my Godfather.) The two of them together always led to memories that still make me laugh.

By the looks of this photo, this is probably the beginning of the event.  With a few alcoholic beverages, you can bet the evening would get much more humorous.

My uncle passed away a few years ago.  He always had a joke to tell and his laugh could be heard over a crowd of people.  I miss him.

Update – Kids and Me

With all that went on with me and my ER visit, I neglected to post about my son.  He had his MRI on Monday and I am happy to say that it came back normal.

The children’s hospital was fantastic.  The staff was excellent.  There was a pinball game in the waiting room.  No coins necessary!

They told us it would take about 3 hours.  They had it done in just over an hour.  It was a long day – 4 hours total on the road.   I came home and took a nap!

Ella was invited to a birthday party for a girl she dances with last weekend. It was looking like rain the whole time, but it held off until the end of the party. They had all kinds of things to do.

Each kid got to “adopt a puppy.” They had these little stuffed pups in cardboard doghouses that they could decorate and pipe cleaners and beads to make them a collar.

The hit was bubbles!  They had bubble machines, bubble wands of all shapes and sizes.  The coolest thing was this wand that you put in the solution and when you squeeze the handle, it splits into five bubble wands.  Five times the bubble fun with one dip!

She had such a great time.  She also got to meet my new nephew before me.  Sam took the kids to see him when I was at work last week.

She loved every minute of it.  She kept saying how soft the baby’s skin was.  Lol

And me?  I’ve been resting.  I keep getting up and walking around as I really can’t seem to sit still. Checking my blood pressure every couple hours and trying to follow doctor’s orders.

The Unwanted Vacation

I had planned a very different post for today.  Instead, I am finally up and about after a long night.

Last night was a fairly normal night at work.  One of our labs needed an oxygen concentrator, so I put one of ours in my car and made the 30 minute drive there.  I dropped it off and returned to my lab.

I was sitting at the computer when I got this extremely strong pain in my neck and the back of my head.  Anytime I tried to look to the left, it got worse.  I turned and asked my coworker if I looked ok.  She said I did and asked why.  I told her and she began all the “heart attack/stroke” questions. 

She asked if I wanted to go to the ER and I said I was fine.  I turned around and began to work again.  8 minutes later I experienced a nauseating wave of dizziness. I told my coworker that maybe she should call.

The team all worked like clockwork.  One took my blood pressure, one waited for EMS, and the other called 911 and documented everything.

I felt like I was sweating, and my blood pressure was sort of high.  When EMS arrived they threw EKG leads on me and said something looked off.  My coworker said there was elevation in a couple leads.  They thought it might be a slight heart attack or mild stroke.

My coworker used my phone to call my wife.  She called her mom to come over and watch the kids and made the house drive to the hospital.  On the way she called my dad.

In the ambulance, they did an IV and asked a bunch of questions.  I guess there were things I remember and things I didn’t.  They got me right into a room at the ER.

I laid in there with occasional waves of pain in my neck and head.  They ran blood work and there was no indication of a heart attack.  Glucose was a little high but they said that was nothing to worry about.

I wound up getting a CT scan of the brain and neck, which apparently was normal. “We checked your brain and found nothing .. ” LOL

They put a lidocaine patch on my neck and gave me pain pills.  They discharged me shortly after.  They had run all the tests they could.  If anything changes, I’m to call ER or my primary doc, who I have to see in the next couple days.

So, my fun post will have to wait.  Meanwhile, the doc has me off work the rest of the week.  Not exactly the vacation I hoped for…..

Tune Tuesday

Just last month teen idol Bobby Sherman passed away. He would have turned 82 years old today.

Bobby seemed to be everywhere. He was singing on the radio, as well as acting on television and on the big screen. He was a singer on the show “Shindig,” he had a role on “Here Comes the Brides,” and had guest appearances on Emergency!, The Mod Squad, Murder She Wrote, and even Frasier.

Eventually, he left the public spotlight and became a paramedic. He volunteered with the LAPD, working with paramedics and giving CPR and first aid classes. He became a technical Reserve Police Officer with the LAPD in the 1990s, a position he still held as of 2017. For more than a decade he served as a medical training officer at the Los Angeles Police Academy, instructing thousands of police officers in first aid and CPR. He was named LAPD’s Reserve Officer of the Year in 1999.

In March of this year he was diagnosed with stage 4 kidney cancer. He passed away three months later on June 24th.

He left us plenty of music. He released 107 songs, 23 singles and 10 albums between 1962 and 1976. Seven of those were Top 40 hits. The one that always comes to my mind is Julie Do You Love Me, which reached #5 on the Hot 100 chart.

Happy Heavenly Birthday, Bobby!

Movie Music Monday – Stormy Weather

It was 82 years ago today that the musical Stormy Weather premiered in the US.

The movie starred the beautiful Lena Horne, Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, and Cab Calloway. Also making appearances were Fats Waller and Dooley Wilson (who was the piano player in Casablanca). The movie is loosely based on Robinson’s life. It would be Robinson’s last film (he passed away in 1949).

Wiki says: “Stormy Weather is a primary showcase of some of the leading African American performers of the day, during an era when African American actors and singers rarely appeared in lead roles in mainstream Hollywood productions.” The entire movie is only about 75 minutes long, yet it is full of music! 20 songs to be exact.

The soundtrack is full of great songs like Ain’t Misbehavin’ from Fats Waller, Cab Calloway and his band offer up a few numbers including Jumpin’ Jive and then there is the title track performed by Lena Horne. While she is remembered for her version of the song, she also performs in several dance numbers with Robinson. It was one of her few non-MGM film appearances, and one of only two films from the 1930s-1940s in which she played a substantial role.

It was first sung by Ethel Waters under the title of “Stormy Weather (Keeps Rainin’ All The Time)” at the Cotton Club in Harlem. “When I got out there in the middle of the Cotton Club floor,” Waters recalled. “I was singing the story of my misery and confusion … the story of the wrongs and outrages done to me by people I had loved and trusted … I sang ‘Stormy Weather’ from the depths of my private hell in which I was being crushed and suffocated.”

Lena Horne’s version of the song is probably the best-known recording of this standard and became her signature tune. She originally sang it in 1941 for RCA Victor, but it was re-recorded in 1943 for the soundtrack. Noteworthy cover versions have been recorded by Judy Garland, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra and Billie Holiday, among many others.

Fun Fact: Lena Horne’s version of the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2000 and Ethel Waters’ recording three years later.

Here is the version from the film:

Here is the 1943 recording:

I have always loved the bluesy Jackie Wilson version:

Most people have never heard the “doo wop” version that the Spaniels (who sang Goodnight Sweetheart) did. I just love everything about this version:

I could play so many other versions of the song, but instead I will encourage you to search up the great covers on YouTube. It is just such an amazing song, it’s hard to have a bad version of it.

Sources: Wiki, Songfacts

A Simple Request

Tomorrow morning, I’ll be taking a 2-3 hour trip to a children’s hospital on the west side of the state.  Andrew is having an MRI. 

We’re hoping that this will finally give us some answers.  The neurologist suggested that we get this done to rule out some of the possible issues.  If it is a normal MRI, we’re not any closer to figuring things out.

Can I ask that you keep Andrew in your thoughts or prayers?  I pray for safe travels and a few answers. 

Thank you.  I will be sure to keep you posted.

Book Recommendation – The War Pianist

My wife knows I like historical fiction books.  She found this at Sam’s Club and said, “It sounds like a story you might like. 

My first thought was “a piano player during wartime?” Then I read the  Goodreads Synopsis:

Pianist: NOUN. Informal. A person who operates or controls a radio transmitter – often in code.

July, 1940

Blitz-ridden London: Marnie Fern’s life is torn apart when her grandfather is killed in an air raid. But once she discovers that he’d been working undercover as a radio operative – or Pianist – for the Dutch resistance, Marnie knows she must complete his mission – no matter the cost…

Nazi-occupied Amsterdam: At the other end of the wireless, fellow pianist Corrie Bakker is caught in a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse as she desperately tries to keep her loved ones out of the line of fire – even if it means sacrificing herself…

Bound together by the invisible wires of their radios, the two women lead parallel lives in their home cities, as both are betrayed by those they trust the most. But when the Nazis close in on one of them, only the other can save her…

Two cities. Two spies. But which woman survives?

I enjoyed the book, even though there were a couple times where I thought “would they really be up and walking after that happened to them?” All in all, it was a good read that kept my interest.

I give it 3.5 out of five stars.

Friday Photo Flashback

I was looking for something for a coworker yesterday and was going through a bunch of thumb drives. I actually found some photos that I had forgotten about. Look at this gem:

Sam and I took a trip down to Cleveland for our anniversary one year. We visited the Christmas Story House and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The photo above was one of those green screen pictures they take when you first walk in. They used this ridiculous pose and put us on stage with a huge crowd in front of us in one picture. My favorite was this one.

This one made me think of the Dr. Hook song “On the Cover of the Rolling Stone.” Neither one of us thought that our pose was good, but it made us laugh, so we bought the pictures. When I found it I actually chuckled out loud remembering the first time we looked at it.

That was a fantastic trip! It reminds me that we are overdue for a getaway for the two of us!