It was on this day in 1995 that the Brady Bunch Movie was released to theaters. Rather than rehash the show in its own time period, producers placed the family in the 90’s…..and rehashes the show there.
Fans of the Brady Bunch TV show either loved or hated the film. I was actually impressed with how well the actors played the original characters.
It was also nice to see some familiar faces in cameo roles. Among those cameos were Davy Jones, Mickey Dolenz and Peter Tork of the Monkees. Some of the original cast appeared, too. Florence Henderson, Ann B. Davis, Barry Williams and Christopher Knight all appear in other roles. Drag Queen, RuPaul, has a cameo as a teacher/counselor named Mrs. Cummings.
I admit I almost picked Sunshine Day from the soundtrack. It’s the same song the original Brady kids did on the show. As I started to listen to it, I thought I’d spare you having to hear that one. Too cheesy. Instead, how about we feature RuPaul’s You Better Work? At least that one won’t be stuck in your head for 10 days after one listen…
FYI – the spoken lines at the beginning are said by Lawanda Page – Aunt Esther on Sanford and Son!
Before I start today, I promise that this will all tie together. Today’s film is the biography of Glenn Miller, The Glenn Miller Story. The 1954 film starred Jimmy Stewart as Glenn Miller and June Allyson as his wife.
The film really is good, even though there are places where it may not be historically accurate. Jimmy does a pretty good job as Miller. I think any time someone plays a musician, who isn’t necessarily a musician, you’re going to be scrutinized by a musician. I watched pretty closely to his trombone “playing” and it is good enough to fool some people.
The movie follows Miller through his early career right up until he is lost over the English Channel. When I first saw this movie, I was unaware that was how he died. I really did enjoy this movie and recommend it to those who love music.
I picked this film today because one of the songs in it, made history today. Glenn and his band had many hits. They include, I Got a Gal in Kalamazoo, Moonlight Serenade, American Patrol, and Tuxedo Junction. His best known is In the Mood, but none of those are songs that I’m presenting today.
It was on this day in 1942 that the first literal gold record was awarded. It was given to Glenn Miller from RCA Victor Bluebird for selling 1.2 million copies of “Chattanooga Choo Choo” on this day. W. Wallace Early, the manager of record sales had this to say:
“We’re mighty proud of that Chattanooga Choo Choo, and the man that made the record, Glenn Miller. You see it’s been a long time – 15 years in fact – since any record has sold a million copies. And Chattanooga Choo Choo certainly put on steam and breezed right through that million mark by over 200,000 pressings. And we decided that Glenn should get a trophy. The best one we could think of is a gold record of Chattanooga.”
In 1958, the Recording Industry Association of America introduced a gold record award program. It was for any record which received one million dollars in retail sales.
So, hop on board as we chug along on the Chattanooga Choo Choo…
The Real Glenn MillerJimmy Stewart as Glenn Miller
Nathan Lane turns 69 today. Nathan has starred in movies like The Birdcage, Mouse Hunt and The Producers. To me, he will always be Timon from The Lion King, where he introduced us to the phrase “Hakuna Matata.”
In this popular song from the 1994 Disney classic The Lion King, Timon the meerkat (Nathan) and Pumbaa the warthog (Ernie Sabella) share their worry-free philosophy with Simba (Matthew Broderick), a lion cub who is grieving over the death of his father.
The Swahili phrase “Hakuna Matata,” they explain, means “no worries” and helped Pumbaa deal with his own rough childhood, when all the other animals shunned him over his frequent flatulence. Simba also adopts the motto as he transitions from a cub to a full-grown lion.
The song was written by Elton John (music) and Tim Rice (lyrics), who also wrote Can You Feel The Love Tonight and Circle of Life for the film. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song, but lost to another Lion King number: “Can You Feel The Love Tonight.”
Shortly after the film was released, Disney trademarked the phrase so other companies couldn’t exploit the brand by plastering the motto on their products. In 2018, close to 200,000 people signed a petition for Disney to give up the trademark on the grounds of cultural appropriation. “The term ‘Hakuna Matata’ is not a Disney creation, hence not an infringement on intellectual or creative property, but an assault on the Swahili people and Africa as a whole,” the petition reads. But, as trademark experts point out, Disney doesn’t really own the phrase, it just owns the use of the phrase when connected to the film or the company.
“No worries”…..feel free to use the term and sing along! Happy birthday, Nathan Lane!
Actress Penelope Ann Miller turns 61 today. She has been in so many great movies. She was in Kindergarten Cop, Carlito’s Way, Other People’s Money, The Shadow, Along Came a Spider, and so many more. I will always remember her as Brenda in Adventures in Babysitting.
Penelope plays Brenda, who runs away to a bus station. Elisabeth Shue’s character decides to go get her, and is talked into taking the kids she is babysitting. Thus begins the adventure…
The movie is set in Illinois – in Oak Park and Chicago. Chicago is known for some fantastic blues music, and some great songs appear on the soundtrack. One of my favorite cuts is from the legendary Muddy Waters.
In 1977, Muddy Waters released his Hard Again album. It was produced by Johnny Winter. The album was Waters’ first after leaving the famous Chess label. There were a couple re-recordings on the album, but new stuff, too. A great cut from that album appeared in Adventures in Babysitting. Give a listen to The Blues Had a Baby and They Named it Rock and Roll!
Muddy Waters – The Blues Had a Baby and They Named it Rock and Roll
So today you get a bonus cut. One of the greatest scenes in the movie is when Shue and her tag along kids enter a blues bar. The great Albert Collins is on stage. When the kids try to leave, Collins tells them that “nobody leaves” the bar “without singing the blues.” This leads to Shue’s character telling (“singing”) their story as a blues song. To me, it’s one of the best scenes in the movie.
Albert Collins and Elizabeth Shue – Babysitting Blues
Today we go back to 1988 to the film Sports Illustrated magazine called the Greatest Sports Movie of All Time – Bull Durham.
The romantic comedy starred Kevin Costner, Susan Sarandon, and Tim Robbins. The soundtrack for the movie includes some great songs from Joe Cocker, Los Lobos, and The Fabulous Thunderbirds. It also includes some bluesy tracks from Bonnie Raitt, Dr. John, Stevie Ray Vaughn and George Thorogood. You can also find John Fogerty’s baseball anthem, Centerfield, on the soundtrack.
There is one thing about movie soundtracks that has always bugged me. I hate when a movie features a song and it never makes it on to the official soundtrack. That is the case with today’s Movie Music Monday song.
It was on this day in 1950 that Billy Ward and the Dominoes stepped into the National Studios recording studio. They recorded a song that is considered to be one of the earliest to shape and generate rock and roll. It was also one of the first R&B songs to cross over and become a pop hit. That song was Sixty Minute Man.
The song was written by group member Billy Ward and his collaborator/business partner Rose Marks. The song is rooted in Blues music, and the singer brags about his sexual prowess. (Hey, it fits a romantic comedy, right?) This song had more of an R&B sound and was an early influence on Rock music.
Songfacts says that this was one of the first ever double-entendre hits. Billy Ward and His Dominoes were a big deal in the 1950s. They were one of the best-selling acts of that decade. They had three Billboard Top-40 hits by the end of the decade.
It should be noted that the song is often referred to as a “dirty blues” song. Ok, it is. The content is pretty risque for 1950. However, songs of this type are known to go back as far as the 1930’s. There were plenty of them, but this one was important to rock and roll.
“Sixty Minute Man” was banned by many radio stations and was seen as more of a novelty record. (From Wiki) “In hindsight it was an important record in several respects: it crossed the boundaries between gospel and blues. The lyrics pushed the limits of what was deemed acceptable. It appealed to many white as well as black listeners, peaking at number 17 on the pop chart. Cover versions were made by several white artists. Bill Haley and the Comets sang the song in the mid-1950s during their live shows.”
Despite being banned, the song did very well. It was released in May of 1951. By the end of the month had reached number one on the R&B chart. It held that position for an almost unprecedented 14 weeks. The single also made it to number 17 on the pop singles chart and was voted “Song of the Year” for 1951.
I have a radio story about the song, but that will have to wait for another blog. For now, here are the Dominoes…
It was on this day in 1988 that Rain Man first hit theaters. The movie stars Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman.
The film won Academy Awards for Best Director (Barry Levinson), Best Picture, and Best Actor (Hoffman). The film features one of my all time favorite songs from a jazz legend.
The song At Last was written by songwriters Mack Gordon and Harry Warren. They wrote it in 1941 for the film musical Sun Valley Serenade. The following year it was rearranged and re-recorded and used in the film Orchestra Wives. It was performed in both movies by Glenn Miller and his Orchestra with vocals by Ray Eberle, and the song became a major big band hit in October 1942.
Believe it or not, another singer held the title “Queen of Soul” before Aretha Franklin. That singer was the amazing Etta James. She recorded At Last in 1961 shortly after signing with Chess records. Leonard Chess thought James was a classy ballad singer and saw pop crossover potential in her; it was his decision to back her with violin orchestrations for the song. Her version went to #2 on the R&B charts.
The song is used in Rain Man when Tom Cruise’s character is teaching Dustin Hoffman’s character to dance.
It was on this day in 1988 that The Naked Gun premiered in theaters. It starred Leslie Nielsen and was based on the short-lived TV series, Police Squad.
Nielsen stars as Lieutenant Frank Drebin of Police Squad. George Kennedy, Ricardo Montalban, Priscilla Presley, and OJ Simpson (Yes, THAT OJ Simpson), as well. It was created by the same people who created Airplane! The jokes and puns are quick and there are many verbal and physical gags. The movie was so successful that two sequels followed.
In the film, Nielsen’s character and Presley’s character become romantically involved. There is a hilarious montage of the two together on various dates. While this montage happens, the music that plays under it is a familiar song from the 1960’s. I’m Into Something Good.
The song was written by Carole King and her writing partner Gerry Goffin. It was first recorded by Earl-Jean, the lead singer of the Cookies. Her version only went to #38 on the charts. The song became a British Invasion hit when producer Mickie Most heard Carole King’s demo and decided to cover it with a new British group, Herman’s Hermits.
The Hermits released this as their debut single. In December of 1964, their version went to #13 in America and #1 in the UK. This version is not the version used in the Naked Gun, however. It sounds similar because it is actually a rerecording done by Herman’s Hermits lead singer, Peter Noone.
For the record, the producers DID want the original Herman’s Hermits version. Songfacts.com explains what happened:
Peter Noone recorded a new version of this song for the 1988 movie The Naked Gun. Herman’s Hermits recorded for Cameo/Parkway Records, which was bought by Allen Klein, who as a result owned the rights to the songs Herman’s Hermits recorded for the label as well as tracks by The Animals, Chubby Checker, Bobby Rydell and many others. Klein rarely allowed the songs he controlled to be used in movies.
Before Allen Klein’s death in 2009, Peter Noone explained to the Forgotten Hits newsletter how this song ended up in The Naked Gun: “They wanted to use the song in the movie. Klein declined because he knew he would have to account to somebody (e.g. Paramount). As he hates to account to anyone, because he can’t cheat and lie, he had to say no. The producers and writers contacted me with their story and I said, ‘I can make a copy exactly like the original and nobody will be able to tell the difference.’ When it was done, we decided you couldn’t tell the difference so we took off the guitar and replaced it with a whahhoo machine so Klein wouldn’t say it was the original. It’s a tragedy that Klein and his witless children stop all the product they control from being in movies so they can steal ALL the money. A question: Have any songs under the Klein families’ control ever been used in movies, commercials, TV shows? Doesn’t anyone ever wonder why? Surely there would be one Herman’s Hermits song, one Animals song. One song from a Cameo / Parkway artist, one Sam Cooke song, just one, that would work in a motion picture?”
Personally, I like the 1988 remake better than the original!
Happy 53rd Birthday to the beautiful Christina Applegate. She is best remembered for her role as Kelly Bundy on TV’s Married With Children. She also starred in the title role on the TV series, Jesse. She went on to other TV roles in Samantha Who, Dead To Me, and Up All Night. She won a Primetime Emmy Award for her guest appearance on TV’s Friends.
She’s appeared on Broadway and has been in many hit films. She appeared in 1991’s Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter is Dead, 1996’s Mars Attacks, 1998’s Mafia, and 2015’s Vacation sequel. She is no stranger to comedy, and was the brilliant antagonist (Veronica Corningstone) to Will Ferrell’s Ron Burgandy in Anchorman.
Anchorman is set in 1974, so the soundtrack is full of some fantastic songs by Kansas, Jonathan Edwards, Neil Diamond, Bill Withers and Tom Jones. The one song that always sticks out to me is an Isley Brother’s classic. When Applegate’s character is brought into a conference room full of men, Who’s That Lady is playing as she walks in.
When Who’s That Lady was released, it became the Isley Brother’s first Top Ten song since It’s Your Thing in 1969. The song spent three weeks at No.6 on the pop chart and reaching No.2 on the R&B charts.
On this day in 2005, Walk The Line opened in US theaters. The biographically film starred Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny Cash and Reese Witherspoon as June Carter.
The movie was based off of two Cash autobiographies. The first being “Man In Black: His Own Story in His Own Words”” from 1975. The second: “Cash: The Autobiography” from 1997.
The film was praised by many and won numerous industry awards, including an Oscar for Reese Witherspoon. However, some critics found the film too constrained by Hollywood plot formulas of love and loss, ignoring the last twenty years of Cash’s life and other more socio-politically controversial reasons he was considered “the man in black.”
Johnny’s daughter, Roseanne Cash, had mixed feelings about the film. She did not enjoy the “painful” experience of seeing the film, “because it had the three most damaging events of my childhood: my parents’ divorce, my father’s drug addiction, and something else bad that I can’t remember now. I don’t resent them making it – I thought it was an honorable approach.”
The soundtrack featured nine songs sung by Joaquin Phoenix, and four songs by Reese Witherspoon. It was well received and won a Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for Motion Pictures. While there are so many songs to choose from on this soundtrack, I will go with my favorite Johnny Cash song – here is Ring of Fire.
The Karate Kid is no longer a kid! Ralph Macchio, who played Daniel in the 1984 film, turns 63 today! The movie and it’s two sequels certainly helped Macchio gain star status.
He went on to appear in the 1986 film Crossroads and appeared on Broadway opposite Robert Deniro. I loved him in the 1992 film My Cousin Vinny with Joe Pesci. He also had roles in Entourage, How I Met Your Mother and Ugly Betty. In 2018 he reprised his role as Daniel in the YouTube series Cobra Kai.
Whenever I think of the Karate Kid, I always think of the cheesy Joe Esposito song, “You’re The Best.” The song it plays over a long, dialogue-free scene where Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence win their matches in the big karate tournament on their way to a showdown in the finals. The song itself was included on the movie’s soundtrack but wasn’t released as a single.
Songfacts says, “With negligible radio play and no music video, the song lay dormant until the turn of the millennium, when waves of nostalgia – and the internet – pushed it to the fore. It became a cultural touchstone, used in various movies, TV shows and commercials to represent the indomitable – if slightly hokey – spirit of the ’80s.”
The song almost debuted in another film. The music for the song was composed by Bill Conti, who did the score for The Karate Kid. The lyrics were written by Allee Willis (who contributed to Earth, Wind and Fire’s “September” and the theme song to the show Friends). Bill Conti wrote “Gonna Fly Now” for the Rocky soundtrack. It was used again in the sequel. However, for Rock III, Sylvester Stallone wanted something different. Conti and Willis wrote “You’re The Best” for that film, but Stallone rejected it, going with “Eye of the Tiger” instead.
You’re the Best found it’s way to the Karate Kid film because, according to singer Joe Esposito, director John Avildsen loved it!
Various Ramblings of a Nostalgic Italian 