Movie Music Monday – The Barbie Movie

It was on this day in 1959 that the world was introduced to the Barbie doll. It happened at the American Toy Fair in New York. She has remained popular since her introduction and was the subject of Barbie – The Movie. I did not see it, but a lot of people said it was good. I can’t say.

Since this blog is more about the doll itself, here is a little history:

In 1945 Ruth Handler and her husband Elliot founded the toy company Mattel with their close friend Harold Mattson. The idea for Barbie came about after Ruth watched their daughter Barbara cut dolls out of magazines and carefully choose clothes and accessories to clothe them in. All other dolls on the market at the time were baby dolls, but Ruth realized there was enormous potential in a doll with adult features, allowing children to act out their dreams. Barbie, named after their daughter, made her debut at the New York Toy Fair in March 1959 and took toy stores across the US by storm – more than 351,000 dolls were sold that year at $3 each. Today Barbie is the best selling toy in the world – more than one billion dolls have been sold since 1959 in 150 different countries.

In 1997, the Scandinavian group Aqua released the song Barbie Girl. Songfacts.com says:

Although the lyrics seem meaningless, they could be making a statement about the inflated value of sex appeal in society. With abnormally tiny waists and enormous breasts, Barbie dolls are unrealistically proportioned, which her critics claim leads to self esteem and body image issues in young girls. Barbie’s maker, Mattel, responds to these charges by pointing out that Barbie is not supposed to be realistic, and that her outlandish shape is designed so make her easy to pose and dress.

There was quite a legal battle over the song.

Mattel sued the band, saying they violated the Barbie trademark and turned Barbie into a sex object, referring to her as a “Blonde Bimbo.” Aqua claimed that Mattel injected their own meanings into the song’s lyrics. In 2002, a judge ruled the song was protected as free speech under the first amendment, and also threw out a defamation lawsuit Aqua’s record company filed against Mattel. The judge said in the ruling that “The parties are advised to chill.” The case was dismissed, and in the process, it garnered loads of media attention for the song and the band.

Even though “Barbie Girl” wasn’t feature in the 2023 Barbie film, it still returned to the UK Singles chart Top 40 in the week after the movie’s release. Fans of Aqua expected the song to be featured in the movie, but thanks to the legal issues, it was not. The closest it got was a sample of the song in Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice’s “Barbie World” on the soundtrack. I’m not a fan of “Barbie World,” and I suppose “Barbie Girl” isn’t much better. However, here is Aqua to celebrate Barbie’s debut.

Movie Music Monday – Bonus – Wild Hogs

Today, Movie Music Monday brings 2007 and 1962 together.

It was on this day in 2007 that the movie Wild Hogs premiered in theaters.

A blockbuster cast doesn’t always mean the movie is a blockbuster. The cast of Wild Hogs included John Travolta, Tim Allen, Martin Lawrence, William H. Macy, Ray Liotta, Marisa Tomei, and Peter Fonda. It did well financially as it grossed over $253 million against a budget of $60 million. However, the movie got plenty of negative reviews from the critics.

Whether you consider it a hit or a bomb, one thing is for sure – it had a great soundtrack. It is no surprise that a “biker” movie would include plenty of classic rock songs. The soundtrack included songs from Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Allman Brothers, The Spenser Davis Group, George Thorogood, ELO, Lynyrd Skynyrd, AC/DC, Foghat and Bon Jovi.

Speaking of Bon Jovi, Jon Bon Jovi turns 64 today. He was born on this day in 1962.

“Wanted, Dead or Alive” was featured on the Wild Hogs soundtrack. It was also the song responsible for the “Unplugged” craze. At the 1989 MTV Video Music Awards, Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora performed this with just their acoustic guitars, giving the network the idea for the “Unplugged” series.

Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora wrote the song in the basement of Sambora’s mother’s house. They wrote it in one day – it came easily because it was about their actual experiences touring.

According to songfacts.com:

The band was having trouble recording this in the studio, so their producer had them take a break and enjoy some wine at a nearby restaurant. When they returned, they nailed it on their first take.

Happy Birthday, Jon Bon Jovi!

Movie Music Monday – 2001

I almost missed an opportunity. You see, us radio people are always looking for ways to tie things together. For example, if I was playing Blue Moon, it would be cool to follow it with Moon Over Georgia. Then I could follow that with Georgia On My Mind. Then I could follow that with Mind Over Matter, etc… For some reason we find little things like that cool, even though we might be the only one who gets it.

On the drive to drop the kids off at school, I was thinking about the day. I knew the blog that was scheduled was the 2000th blog. That meant the Movie Music Monday post would be Blog 2001. It was then that it hit me that 2001 was a movie and had one of the most recognized classical music pieces as its theme.

Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey used many familiar classical music pieces in the soundtrack. Kubrick had said that he wanted the movie to be more of a nonverbal experience for audiences. As a matter of fact, about half of the music in the film appears either before the first line of dialogue or after the final line. Almost no music is heard during any scenes with dialogue.

Music in the film includes The Blue Danube by Johann Strauss, György Ligeti’s Requiem, and Also sprach Zarathustra (sometimes translated “Thus Spake Zarathustra” or “Thus Spoke Zarathustra”). It was composed by Richard Strauss. It was inspired by Friedrich Nietzsche’s work of the same name.

The song was so popular that Elvis Presley used it to open his concerts in the 1970’s. The BBC used it in their coverage of the moon landing. It appears in the James Bond film Moonraker. Following in Elvis’ tradition, Blink-182 uses it to open their concerts. Wrestler Ric Flair even used it for his entrances.

So in celebration of this being the 2001st blog post, here is Also sprach Zarathustra.

The originally scheduled Movie Music Monday post will follow shortly.

Movie Music Monday – Buck Privates

It is no secret to those who know me that I love classic comedy. I have written about the Three Stooges, The Little Rascals, and Laurel and Hardy. While I have mentioned them separately at times, I am not sure I ever wrote about the team of Abbott and Costello.

Growing up on Sunday mornings, there would always be an Abbott and Costello movie on TV. Their films were not as slap-sticky as the Stooges, but funny all the same. Now that I am older, I appreciate their humor even more. Especially their bits involving word play, like Who’s On First?

For Movie Music Monday, we dig into the 1941 soundtrack of Buck Privates.

The Hollywood brass weren’t really sure that the boys would be able to carry a movie. Director Arthur Lubin remembered, “The studio was a little uncertain about how they were going to be accepted. But at the first preview the audience just died. Buck Privates was a very, very funny show. And, actually, I must say it was very little credit to the director. It consisted mainly of fabulous gags that these two wonderful guys knew from years and years of being in burlesque.”

Fun Fact: Japan used this film as propaganda to demonstrate to its own troops the “incompetence” of the United States Army.

Abbott and Costello were teamed with The Andrews Sisters for the film. Patty Andrews was born on this day in 1918. The Andrews Sisters perform four songs in the film: “You’re a Lucky Fellow, Mr. Smith”, “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy”, “Bounce Me Brother, With a Solid Four”, and “(I’ll Be With You) In Apple Blossom Time”. The composers of the first three of these songs, Don Raye amd Hughie Prince, appear in the film as new recruits alongside Abbott and Costello.

Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy is a jump-blues number about a trumpeter from Chicago who’s drafted into the army during World War II and shakes up Reveille as the Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B. Believe it or not, the song was originally intended for Lou Costello to perform. As fate would have it, the song was reworked for The Andrews Sisters, who introduced it in the film. The trio also released the tune as a single that same year, and it peaked at #6.

Fun Fact: “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” was nominated for an Academy Award.

Patty Andrews of The Andrews Sisters performed this with Lucille Ball, Lucie Arnaz, and Desi Arnaz Jr. on the 1969 Here’s Lucy episode “Lucy And The Andrews Sisters.”

Bette Midler brought this back to the charts in 1972 when she recorded it for her debut album, The Divine Miss M. Her version, produced by Barry Manilow, peaked at #8 on the Hot 100. It was also reached #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart. Thanks to the hit cover, The Andrews Sisters experienced a career resurgence that included a successful Broadway debut for two of the sisters, Patty and Maxene, in 1974.

In total, the Andrews Sisters have recorded at least four different versions on different labels. The Original on Decca Records in 1941, V-Disc in 1944, Capitol Records in 1956, and Dot Records in 1962.

Happy Heavenly Birthday to Patty Andrews!

Movie Music Monday – Animal House

I have a handful of movies that will always make me laugh. Animal House is one of them.

I don’t know of anyone who doesn’t think of Animal House when they think of college fraternities. Granted, when I was in college, everyone was pretty subdued compared to the folks of Delta House. The movie features the antics of John Belushi, Tim Matheson, Steven Furst, Thomas Hulce and more. It was college chaos!

The film also features one of the great movie soundtracks, too. It features Sam Cooke, Stephen Bishop, Paul and Paula, and, of course, Otis Day and the Knights. It also features one from birthday boy, Bobby Lewis.

Bobby Lewis was born on this day in 1925. The story of his hit Tossin’ and Turnin’ is one of being in the right place at the right time. According to Songfacts.com:

After several unsuccessful auditions, R&B vocalist Bobby Lewis stopped off at the office of Beltone Records in Manhattan. The already signed Ritchie Adams, lead singer of the Fireflies, recognized Lewis from a gig they’d both appeared in at the Apollo theater and suggested he record his composition “Tossin’ And Turnin’.” The single was released at the end of 1960 and rose to the top of the Billboard charts selling 3 million copies.

It is one of only six songs from the 1960s to spend at least seven weeks in the number one position on the Billboard Hot 100. His follow up, One Track Mind, was a top 10 record, but Bobby didn’t do much on the charts after that.

He passed away in April of 2020 at the ripe age of 95.

Most versions of the song start with a cold intro:

When Bobby played the song live, he would add the prelude to the song. Here is the song/prelude.

Tossin’ and Turnin’ remains one of my favorite tunes from the 60’s. Happy Birthday, Bobby!

Movie Music Monday – Mermaids

Today we wish Shelley Fabares a Happy 82nd birthday. Shelley is primarily known for her many TV roles. She played Mary on The Donna Reed Show and Christine Armstrong Fox on Coach. She also popped up on The Twilight Zone, The Love Boat, Newhart, Fantasy Island, The Rockford Files, Ironside and many more.

I almost chose an Elvis movie to celebrate.

She and Elvis did three movies together: Girl Happy, Spinout and Clambake. However, playing an Elvis song instead of one of her own songs didn’t seem right.

Shelley had a #1 song in 1962 with Johnny Angel…

According to songfacts.com: Fabares did not consider herself a singer and thought that the voices of her backup vocalists were so “beautiful” that it frightened her to try to be a recording artist herself… but she managed it. Although she did have another Top 40 hit, it was obvious that her acting career would always be stronger. Her singing career ended in 1966.

On an episode of The Donna Reed Show, her character Mary Stone abandons her plans to attend college to pursue a singing career. She sings this song on the show.

Tying it in with Movie Music Monday, the song was featured in the 1990 movie Mermaids starring Cher.

The song can be heard in the film when Charlotte (played by Winona Ryder) sees Joey (played by Michael Schoeffling) for the first time.

Happy Birthday, Shelley Fabares!!

Movie Music Monday – Honeymoon in Vegas

Last Thursday would have been Elvis Presley’s 91st birthday. Believe it or not, that’s not why I picked today’s movie – Honeymoon in Vegas. I actually chose it because the soundtrack is loaded with some great Elvis cover songs.

Take a look at the talented folks who contributed to the album! Offering up their versions of Elvis tunes are Billy Joel, Amy Grant, Bono, Travis Tritt, John Mellencamp and today’s birthday boy Ricky Van Shelton.

I first heard Ricky when I worked at my first country station. He had plenty of hits, but many of them were cover songs. He covered Statue of a Fool, From a Jack To a King, and He’s Got You. For the Honeymoon in Vegas soundtrack, he covers “Wear My Ring Around Your Neck.”

The song was written by Bert Carroll and Russell Moody. It was recorded and released by Elvis in 1958 and only made it to #2 on the pop chart. Prior to this song, Elvis had a string of 10 consecutive #1 songs. Wear My Ring broke the streak.

Ricky’s version of the song was the first single release from the soundtrack. It didn’t do as well as Elvis’, but it did reach #26 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart.

In May 2006, he announced that he would be retiring from touring to spend more time with his family. Since then, Shelton has been sort of a recluse. He has almost disappeared from public life. He does keep busy, however, focusing on painting and writing children’s books.

I hope he is enjoying his retirement and that he has a very Happy 74th Birthday!

Movie Music Monday – The Glenn Miller Story

I have featured this film before, but for a different reason. The last time was the anniversary of Glenn Miller’s Chattanooga Choo Choo becoming the first gold record. Today is for a much sadder anniversary.

It was on this day in 1944 that Glenn Miller’s plane disappeared somewhere over the English Channel. The incident remains an unsolved mystery. No wreckage was ever found. There are a few theories about what happened including bad weather causing the carburetor to freeze up, a fire on board, and even some sort of espionage.

In the film, Jimmy Stewart portrays Miller. It covers his early days in the music business in 1929 through his disappearance on this day in 1944.

Moonlight Serenade was released as an instrumental in May of 1939. It is often referred to as the song that first introduced the “Miller Sound.” What made his music unique is that many of his songs, including Moonlight Serenade, have a clarinet lead. Often times, the melody in most big bands would be done by the trumpet or trombone.

The song would become Miller’s signature song. Lyrics were added to the instrumental that were composed by Mitchell Parish.

In 2004, a jazz critic named Gary Giddins told the New Yorker, “Miller exuded little warmth on or off the bandstand, but once the band struck up its theme, audiences were done for: throats clutched, eyes softened. Can any other record match ‘Moonlight Serenade’ for its ability to induce a Pavlovian slobber in so many for so long?”

Movie Music Monday – Ocean’s Eleven

Happy 100th Birthday to the amazing Sammy Davis Jr.! There was really nothing that he could not do! He could play multiple instruments, he could dance, he could sing, he could act, he was an all around entertainer!

As a member of the Rat Pack, Sammy appeared on stage and in movies with Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Joey Bishop and Peter Lawford. One of those movies was Ocean’s 11.

That’s right, the Rat Pack did the original version of Ocean’s 11. It was one of the first Rat Pack movies I ever watched. I loved it.

In the movie, a group of military buddies have a plan to rob the five major casinos in Las Vegas on New Year’s Eve. Their plan to do so is reminiscent of an episode of Mission: Impossible. It is one of the best of the Rat Pack films.

The song “Eee O Eleven” is performed three times in the film. It is the film’s theme song. The title is a reference to the craps phrase “Yo-11,” a bet on the dice coming up eleven, used to avoid confusion with a roll of “7”. The song was written by Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen and performed by Sammy.

You can hear it over the opening and end credits of the film, but Sammy also performs it in the movie itself.

Happy 100th Birthday, Sammy!!

Movie Music Monday – The Girl Can’t Help It.

It was on this day in 1956 that “The Girl Can’t Help It” starring Jayne Mansfield, Tom Ewell and Edmund O’Brien opened in theaters.

The movie was originally conceived as a way to build Mansfield’s celebrity, but it took on a life of its own and became a rallying point for young people, helping propel rock and roll into its unofficial “first Golden Age.” The unintended result has been called the “most potent” celebration of rock music ever captured on film. No doubt the cameos by Fats Domino, The Platters, Gene Vincent, Eddie Cochran, Julie London and Ray Anthony helped with that.

The film was based on “Do Re Mi”, a short story by Garson Kanin. After seeing the adapted screenplay, Kanin did not approve of the new take on his story and requested his name be removed from the credits. Subsequently, director Frank Tashlin came up with the new title, The Girl Can’t Help It.

FUN FACT: The film the heavily inspired young, pre-Beatle John Lennon to be a rocker. The impact was so significant that, 12 years later, the Beatles took a break from recording “Birthday” to watch the film premiere on British television (Lennon had seen it in theaters).

The Girl Can’t Help It is the title song to the film, and was written by Bobby Troup. Little Richard recorded it and it was released in 1956. Fats Domino was originally supposed to record the song for the film, but the sessions fell through. The song has been covered by The Everly Brothers, The Animals, Led Zeppelin, and many others.

In the US, the song peaked at No. 49 on the Billboard Top 100 singles chart and No. 7 on the R&B Best Sellers Chart.

Songfacts.com sums up the song in this way:

“The Girl Can’t Help It” is about a young woman so attractive that she unwittingly captures the attention of every guy she passes. In addition to her siren-like sex appeal, there’s a distinctly incendiary element to her superpowers. She turns bread to toast with a wink of an eye and makes “beefsteak become well done” with a smile. She can’t be held responsible for the potentially dangerous effects of her fiery presence. The poor girl just can’t help it.

Accompanied by scenes from the film: