Movie Music Monday – Spiderman 2

Superheroes were big when I was growing up. I watched the Batman 1966 TV show, on Saturday morning my brother and I would watch the Superfriends cartoon, and on the Electric Company, there used to be a segment with a live action Spiderman.

Hollywood is forever recycling ideas and it is no surprise that Superhero movies have been very prominent over the past couple decades. I saw the first Toby McGuire Spiderman movie and thought it was ok. It did well at the box office, so naturally Hollywood had to make a sequel.

I didn’t see any of the sequels. I’m not sure why, other than they trailers didn’t peak my interest. This was probably at a time where Superhero movies were saturating the box office.

In 2004, my iPod was fairly new to me and I was adding music from iTunes regularly. When you opened it up, there were always “new” songs on the home page. One of them caught my eye.

At first, I wasn’t sure what to think when I saw “Theme From Spiderman” by Michael Buble’. You could listen to a thirty second preview before you bought a song, and that’s all it took for me to love it!

I don’t recall if the 1967 Spiderman cartoon was something I watched on Saturday mornings or if it was something that came on after school. What I do remember was just how cool it was! That, and it had one of the coolest theme songs!!

According to Wikipedia, the theme song was written by Paul Francis Webster and Bob Harris. The original song was recorded at RCA Studios in Toronto (where the cartoon was produced) featuring 12 CBC vocalists who added to the musical backing track supplied by RCA Studios, New York.

The vocalists were members of the Bobby Van Singers, and Laurie Bower Singers. The singers were paid only for the session and have had no residuals from its use since then.

The theme song contains one of my favorite lines: “Is he strong? Listen, bud, he’s got radioactive blood!”. Isn’t that awesome?!

The 1967 version was featured at the end of the first Spiderman movie in 2002. The Michael Buble’ version appears at the end of the 2004 sequel.

Let’s listen to both, just because!!

Here’s Michael’s swinging take on the theme. His band is so good!!!

Spiderman Theme

Spider-Man, Spider-Man
Does whatever a spider can
Spins a web, any size
Catches thieves just like flies
Look out
Here comes the Spider-Man

Is he strong?
Listen bud
He’s got radioactive blood
Can he swing from a thread?
Take a look overhead
Hey, there
There goes the Spider-Man

In the chill of night
At the scene of a crime
Like a streak of light
He arrives just in time

Spider-Man, Spider-Man
Friendly neighborhood Spider-Man
Wealth and fame
He’s ignored
Action is his reward
Look out
Here comes the Spider-Man

In the chill of night
At the scene of a crime
Like a streak of light
He arrives just in time

Spider-Man, Spider-Man
Does whatever a spider can
Spins a web, any size
Catches thieves just like flies
Look out
Here comes the Spider-Man

Spider-Man, Spider-Man
Friendly neighborhood Spider-Man
Wealth and fame
He’s ignored
Action is his reward
Look out
Here comes the Spider-Man

Happy Hallo-Christmas?

In Michigan you never know what Trick or Treating will be like. Most of the time, it is cold or rainy. I can only remember one or two times where it was mild. Yesterday was just crazy!

Sam realized that the kids hadn’t carved pumpkins that afternoon. So we sat on the kitchen floor cleaning out the pumpkin guts. That was pretty much when both kids said, “I’m done!” Ella said, “Daddy, make mine a cat!” I had no stencil or anything, so I did my best. She was happy with this terrible carving….

Andrew wanted a “Monster Pumpkin.” This was a better effort from me … still ridiculous.

We ventured out with our neighbor and their two little ones. It was chilly, but not freezing. The kids wore their winter coats under their costumes and Sam and I had on hats and coats. It was a good thing we were dressed that way! After 30 minutes in the neighborhood, the wind kicked up in an instant and the snow was blowing hard. Suddenly, it was bitterly cold and wet!

We were halfway through the neighborhood, so we had no choice but to finish. I felt bad for our neighbor, as her little girl looked like she was frozen. Ella was like a mail carrier – snow wasn’t going to stop her from nabbing candy!! Andrew was kind of done when the snow kicked up. I wound up putting him up on my shoulders for the last few minutes.

Ella was struggling a bit because her dress was a bit long. She kept tripping on it. So Sam and I took turns holding up the “hoop” so that she could walk from house to house. Bending down to hold that up and out of the way led to some back pain for both of us!

We were all soaked when we got back home. Sam made the kids hot chocolate and we ordered out for dinner. The snow fell for quite awhile and we got a decent coat. It wasn’t a solid coating, but still pretty as the sun rose this morning.

Why was I watching the sun rise? Well, the puppy decided that she had to go outside. Of course, she’d never seen snow before and it took her forever to finally go out onto the grass!

We realized this morning that we were so busy holding dresses, waiting for the neighbors to catch up to us, and carrying kids, that we didn’t get one picture of them outside that night!! I’m glad that we got those professional pictures done. At least we have some in their costumes!

After a Long Week – The Weekend

The weekend is finally here! It has been a crazy week.

Monday, I took the kids to get their pictures taken in their Halloween costumes. Our photographer, Beth, once again got some great shots in our 15 minute mini-session. Ella is going as Rapunzel this year.

Andrew is going out as Spiderman.

The pictures came out so good.

Tuesday, Ella woke up with a fever. It was crazy high. She slept most of the day and eventually, Sam took her to urgent care. Strep Throat and tonsil stones. She was miserable.

My brother came up Tuesday night and Wednesday they were going to stop by our house, but I told them it was better if I came to him. So Sam stayed with Ella and Andrew came with me. They were staying at an Air B&B near us. It was a brief visit because I had to work that day.

On Thursday, Ella was feeling a little better, but not 100%. Sam had to take Andrew to Occupational Therapy, so Ella and I stayed home. I was trying to fold laundry and get stuff done, but she called to me and asked me to snuggle with her on the couch.

You don’t say “no” to snuggles! She is so funny though. At one point, she faced me and put her arms around me. As she hugged me, she said, “I just love you, daddy!” She held me for like 5 minutes. I was thinking about just how amazing this was. She made me feel so special. It was amazing. Then, suddenly, she let go and said, “Ok, that’s enough hugging for one day, dad!” Hilarious!!

We got a Halloween Tonie for their Tonie Box and it plays all kinds of Halloween songs. They have been watching Halloween episodes of Miss Rachel, Paw Patrol, Bubble Guppies, and such. The Ghostbusters theme song is on that Tonie (and in the Miss Rachel show). I did a spit take with my coffee when out of the blue from the couch, she says, “Dad. Who you gonna call?” Immediately followed by her screaming, “Ghostbusters!”

She was actually making up lyrics to it in her room the other day “There’s a tree outside. Outside my house. Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters! It was complete nonsense and I loved every minute of it.

Daisy, our new puppy, is slowly but surely getting better about going to the bathroom outside. I’m not looking forward to standing outside in the rain and snow with her this winter waiting for her to go! On a funny note, I think she thinks she is going trick or treating with the kids this year….

The kids did a Trunk or Treat this evening and got a bunch of candy. They have the list of candies that fall under the “daddy tax” rule.

Tomorrow, we are heading out for a Halloween Train Ride with my friend Margaret and her family. I am SO looking forward to it. It should be a blast.

Have a great weekend!!

Celebrating Some Supers

Today is National Superhero Day! I think every child grows up exposed to superheroes. I know as I look back on my childhood there were plenty of them.

My brother and I would wake up on Saturday mornings and watch The Superfriends!

Batman and Robin, Superman, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman were always there. Sometimes the Wonder Twins were part of the team with their ridiculous monkey and sometimes, it was the even more annoying Wendy, Marvin and Wonder Dog.

My brother and I were introduced to Batman long before this. We always loved the 1966 TV show.

We were also familiar with Wonder Woman. Lynda Carter was one of my first childhood crushes!

I had other superhero cartoon characters I loved just as much –

My love of rhyme may have stemmed from episodes of Underdog!

Underdog had a pretty amazing theme song, which seemed to be common with cartoon superheroes. Case in point:

I loved watching your friendly neighborhood Spiderman – and singing along with the theme song. Another example:

The number one super guy – Hong Kong Phooey! Scatman Crothers provided the perfect personality and voice for this bumbling character.

Speaking of bumbling superheroes, many won’t remember these guys –

Strong Man, Tornado Man, Rope Man, Diaper Man, and Cuckoo Man were about as crazy as they came. It was always a treat to catch them on TV.

I used to love Blue Falcon, because the great Gary Owens provided his voice!

I guess I still love superheroes even as an adult. One particular family is a favorite

I won’t lie – I hope there is a third Incredibles movie!

Today, I salute these heroes and the many real life super heroes!

Who is your favorite superhero?

A Big “Thank You” to “Mr. Puppet”

I believe the saying goes “A stranger is a friend you haven’t met yet!” Thanks to this blog and social media, I have been able to connect with some friends who I have never met face to face. One of those friends is Mr. Puppet.

A few days ago, I posted a blog about random acts of kindness. Today, I need to thank Mr. Puppet for an act of kindness that I was the recipient of. Before I tell you about that, let me tell you about him.

Mr. Puppet is Bob Abdou. He is a ventriloquist and puppet master who has been entertaining folks for many years. As I sat here trying to recall just how I connected with him, I realized that it could have been quite a few ways (all of them on Facebook). For example, it could have been because we are both Beatles fans. I belong to a few Beatles group pages and I may have met Bob on one of those. Is Bob a big fan? Well, he has “a few” Beatles collectibles.

….and a few more ….

… and a few more

….and remember the famous Abbey Road album cover?? Yeah, his Beatles puppets actually walked Abbey Road!!

It could have been through a Beatles page I became acquainted with him. It also could have been one of the Batman pages I follow. He’s a fan of the Caped Crusader, too!

Of course, maybe it was through a love for Spiderman or Marvel comic characters…?

Or maybe it was on a site about collectible Lunch Boxes or Classic Movies or TV Shows?

A better guess might be through a Three Stooges page …

In all honesty, however, I think we met through a mutual love of the legendary Soupy Sales.

He even has an original White Fang puppet in his collection!

Before going on, I think it is apparent from the above photos (all stolen from his Facebook page), that Bob is quite a collector. While I have never been to his home, I understand that it is not an odd thing for people to stay overnight at his place. I would imagine from all of the many photos that I have seen, his house is more like a museum. This incredible collection is simply amazing!

He has amazing stuff from Happy Days that even Henry Winkler would find fascinating!

And I can honestly say, no one I know – except Bob – has a Welcome Back, Kotter collection!!

Back to Soupy and how we met. Bob can correct me if I am wrong, but on one of the Soupy pages on Facebook he posted that Soupy Sales attended his wedding! I couldn’t even imagine how cool that would be! He posted a picture of Soupy with him and his wife, June.

Bob actually remembers the first words Soupy spoke to him at the Friars Club. He has them hanging in his home.

You can learn more about Bob, his shows, and more by surfing to his website:

https://mrpuppet.com/index.php

Thank You!

On January 8th, I posted a small blurb on Facebook about it being Soupy’s Birthday. I included a couple links to past Soupy related blogs that I had written. I later discovered that I had received a private message from Bob:

“Hey Keith. Send me your home address. I have an item to send you soon. Thxs bob“

Keep in mind, Bob and I have never met face to face. I know him through Facebook, we have chatted on occasion and we share a love for many of the same things (The Godfather, The Muppets, Dean Martin, Red Skelton, Hanna Barbera cartoons, and of course the other things I mentioned above). If it had been anyone else asking, I just would have ignored the message. But it was Bob, so why wouldn’t I send him my address? A few blogger friends have my address and have sent me books, Christmas cards, etc… So I sent it to him.

Today, I received the “item” he sent me. I was speechless. Truly. Included in the box was a note that reads, “Since we are both Soupy fans, I want you to have this special toy plaque.”

I have never seen this before. It is so cool! It is obviously Soupy doing his dance “The Mouse,” which was a number one song in New York City and a fan favorite.

From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU, Bob! I will be sure to take good care of it! Your kindness speaks volumes of your character. I am so grateful to have connected with you. I hope to one day get to meet you in person, shake your hand, and compare White Fang impersonations. What a blessing it is to call you my friend! Thank you again!

Bob included his phone number with the package, and I plan on giving him a call in a few days to thank him personally, but for now, his generosity was something that I felt needed a place on the internet. (I also wanted to make sure I gave his website a plug!)

I also wanted to say that it feels good to be the person who performs random acts of kindness. However, when you are the recipient of one of those random acts, it really does feel extra special.

Super Tune Top Ten

It’s been awhile since I posted a musical blog, so in a way this is overdue. In a way, it is also sort of a twist on a combination of older blogs.

What Prompted This Blog?

While I wouldn’t consider my daughter a “TV Head,” PBS Kids or Disney Channel is usually on in the background while Sam and I play with her. Sam has the PBS Kids app on her phone and every once in a while, she will watch a show on there. She knows that every time she presses a new character, the new show will play.

There are three shows on the app that are Super Hero oriented: Hero Elementary, Super Why!, and Word Girl. As Ella presses the buttons, she usually listens to the theme songs and then moves to another show. For whatever it is worth, she must have played the theme song to Word Girl about 6 times in a row the other day. I’m not gonna lie, it’s a pretty cool theme song. I love the driving bass line and horns in it! Give it a listen:

Kudos to the gal singing that! Those are some pretty difficult lyrics to sing that fast.

Anyway, that song got me to thinking about how most super heroes have cool theme songs. So I thought I would present my Top 10 Super Hero Theme Songs. I’m sure yours may differ from mine. Feel free to comment with your favorites, your top 10, or ones you feel I missed….

10. The Greatest American Hero

Probably the wimpiest Super Hero ever, I agree! However, the song went all the way up to #2 on the charts for Joey Scarbury. It also was so popular that George Constanza created his answering machine message to the tune of it…

Fun Fact – William Katt is the son of actress Barbara Hale, who played Della Street on Perry Mason.

9. Batman Movie Theme (1989)

This ominous theme song by Danny Elfman set the tone for the Batman movie starring Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson. Obviously, this is MUCH darker and more serious than the 1966 incarnation.

The Elfman score got it’s entire album. Some of the music went on to be a part of Batman: The Animated Series, and can be heard in many video games, too.

8. The Super Friends

Ok, maybe this is cheating a bit. This show contains many super heroes who will appear on this list separately with there own theme. However, this was the show that introduced me to many of them. From 1973-1986, there were 7 different versions of the Super Friends. The great Ted Knight (of Caddyshack and Too Close For Comfort fame) did the narration until 1977, when Bill Woodson took over.

As a bonus – here are all 7 intros to the show….

I never understood why the first series had Wendy, Marvin, and Wonder Dog. They were more annoying than anything. I was never really fond of Aquaman, either, but thought Norman Alden (who voiced him) was a great actor.

7. Underdog

I saw this in reruns/syndication. It originally ran from 1964 to 1967, and again in syndication until 1973. The theme song may have been one of the first songs I learned how to sing. I loved Underdog as a kid, but never realized he spoke in rhyme until much later.

George S. Irving (the voice of Heat Miser in the Year Without a Santa Claus) was the narrator and Wally Cox voiced Underdog. Fun Fact: TV Guide ranked Underdog as number 23 on its “50 Greatest Cartoon Characters of All Time” list

6. Superman

I remember seeing this in the theater. I was probably not in band yet, but I remember the trumpet fanfare opening of this song and it really caught my attention. I will forever think of this song when I think of Superman.

This is just one of MANY great movie themes written by the great John Williams (Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, etc…)

5. Wonder Woman

Let me be clear – the TV show Wonder Woman. Lynda Carter was one of my first celebrity crushes. She was (and still is) one of the most beautiful women. The theme for the show is just “funky.” “In your satin tights, fighting for your rights, and the ole red white and blue….” The running bass line throughout the song and 70’s “gospel-ish” singers singing her name – what’s not to love?

Fun fact: Lyle Waggoner, who plays Steve Trevor, once did a screen test to play TV’s Batman!

4. The Incredibles

Yes, the entire family has a theme song – and it is awesome! The film score was composed by Michael Giacchino. The film’s director, Brad Bird, was looking for a specific sound as inspired by the film’s design — the future as seen from the 1960s. It truly is a musical masterpiece.

Full Credits Score is here – The horns in this are just amazing!!

3. Hong Kong Phooey

How can a theme song sung by the legendary Scatman Crothers not make the list? Ok, to be fair, I might be a little biased. This show only aired in 1974 (and in syndication until 1976), and it is technically only 40 seconds long, but it’s cool! It’s “groovy!” The “number one super guy” had to be on my list ….

Fun Fact: The band Subline covered this song in 1995.

2. Batman (1966)

In 1966, the campiness of Batman took the TV world by storm! Adam West was Batman, Burt Ward was Robin and the celebrity villains were larger than life. The theme song for Batman was created by Neal Hefti. The guitar riff is instantly recognizable. The song was a top 20 hit for him, despite the fact that the lyrics consisted of repeating “Batman” over and over and over….

Here is the “hit” version:

The TV version:

The Marketts also scored a top 20 hit with their version:

Fun Fact: Give the Beatles “Taxman” a listen and see if you can hear a Batman influence. George Harrison based the music for that song on the Batman theme. He was a big fan of the show.

and…..

#1 Spiderman

No surprise to anyone who knows me. This is one of the “baddest” and “coolest” theme songs. While I think there are other super heroes who are cooler than Spidey, he certainly has my favorite theme song! “Is he strong, listen bud, he’s got radioactive blood” – what a great line!!!

The original theme is cool, and then Michael Buble’ comes along and throws an amazing Big Band arrangement of it….. I absolutely love this! I wish I had the sheet music for this. Check out his cover:

Fun fact: The Ramones covered this, too, in 1995.

Ok, so what ones did I miss?

Favorite Films – The 2000’s

It’s been a couple of weeks since I picked back up on this series of blogs, so I thought I had better. A while ago, I saw a post that suggested you pick one favorite film from every year of your life. So far, I have covered 3 decades. Some years were easier than others. Some years were very difficult, because there were many “favorites”. One quick reminder – the movies are movies that I have seen. There may be a monster hit movie from a certain year that I wasn’t inclined to see, or just didn’t see it.

As I move into the fourth decade of my life, I noticed something that I want you to keep in mind. In 2002, my oldest son was born. As I began to look through the movies of the 2000’s and even in the 2010’s, I noticed the amount of animated and kid films increased. What I also noticed is that in many cases, those movies ended up being better than some of the adult films of those years. Agree with me or not, remember this is MY list. While many of my readers are from Facebook and do not have blogs, many of my readers DO have blogs. It has been fun to revisit each year, and I would love to see the list of some of my blogger friends (hint hint).

That being said, let’s dive into the 2000’s!

Ashton Kutcher became a household name in 1998 as Kelso on That 70’s Show, so it was only a short time before they had him star in a feature film, and naturally it was a comedy – Dude, Where’s My Car? While I found it mostly stale, there were a few laughs. 2000 brought us the funny sequel to Eddie Murphy’s Nutty Professor in Nutty Professor II: The Klumps, Samuel L. Jackson and Bruce Willis were both very good in Unbreakable, Harrison Ford wound up being the bad guy in What Lies Beneath, and Russell Crowe starred in the visually brilliant Gladiator (although at times I was bored with it).

A runner up for my pick for this year was the very funny Emperor’s New Groove, the animated feature that starred David Space, Patrick Warburton, John Goodman, and the amazing Eartha Kitt. I loved this movie and Kitt’s voice work is just amazing. However, music is what made me pick my favorite for 2000 – O Brother, Where Art Thou?

George Clooney plays a convict who escapes from a chain gang and ends up recording a hit record. I loved the story, and loved the soundtrack. I was working in country radio when the movie came out. The phones were constantly ringing for Man of Constant Sorrow! The sound sounded so out of place among the current country hits of the time, but maybe that’s why it did so well. It reminds me of when the Dixie Chicks first hit radio – their sound was so unlike anything on the air at the time that it stood out and sounded great! I still have the entire soundtrack of this movie on my iPod!

In 2001, Morgan Freeman reprised his role as Alex Cross in the movie adaptation of Along Came a Spider. David Spade introduced us to Joe Dirt. Amanda Pete, Jason Biggs, Steve Zahn, Jack Black and singer Neil Diamond all starred in Saving Silverman. Much like Titanic, they tossed a love story into a real life historic event for Pearl Harbor with Ben Affleck. We also got the first installments of some BIG franchises – Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. Wes Anderson offered up a gem with The Royal Tenenbaums with Gene Hackman, the Wilson Brothers, and Ben Stiller. Wes Anderson’s films always have a very unique look to them and I almost chose this one as my pick, but instead, I chose Shrek.

The film is based on the 1990 book by William Steig. Chris Farley was supposed to be the voice of Shrek, but his death led them to re-cast the role. Word is that Mike Myers did the voice straight, and was unhappy with it. He recut the voice with his Scottish accent and the rest is history. Now add the talents of Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, and John Lithgow and it’s magic! It was a fun movie to watch and remains a favorite that I still watch with my kids.

There were a few animated and kids films in 2002: Ray Romano starred in Ice Age, Disney brought us Lilo & Stitch, and there was a live action Scooby Doo movie. The second (or fifth) installment of Star Wars hit the screen with Attack of the Clones, while other sequels included Men in Black II, Analyze That, and Austin Powers 3 – Goldmember. Two big sequels were Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Sitting here in 2019, who could have known that there would be a gazillion more super hero movies to come … but my pick for 2002 is Tobey Maguire as Spiderman.

As a fan of Spiderman since I was a kid, I was excited to see this one. I thought Tobey was a good Peter Parker. The rest of the cast was great, too (James Franco, Willem Dafoe, JK Simmons)! I always thought Kirsten Dunst was pretty, and thought she was great as Mary Jane. It was a fun movie to watch with good special effects and a good story.

The Lord of the Rings saga continued with the Return of the King in 2003. Will Ferrell appeared in Old School, which I felt was “Animal House crossing the line”. Uma Thurman starred in the first Kill Bill, and Johnny Depp appeared for the first time as Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. A clown fish named Nemo stole the hearts of many in Finding Nemo, while Disney offered up the action adventure film Holes. Again, music played a factor in my favorite – School of Rock.

Jack Black is a rocker who gets tossed out of his band. He fills in as a substitute teacher and teaches his class all about Rock and Roll. He also uses the kids to form a band in hopes of winning a Battle of the Bands contest. The soundtrack includes cuts from the Ramones, The Darkness, Led Zeppelin, Stevie Nicks, and the song they play at the end is the classic AC/DC song, It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock and Roll).

Damn you, 2004! There were so many great movies that came out this year!! 7 of them easily could be my top pick! Adam Sadler brought us 50 First Dates with Drew Barrymore. Mel Gibson brought us the controversial Passion of the Christ. Uma Thurman returned to Kill Bill again in part 2. Harry Potter was back with the Prisoner of Azkaban. Tina Fey and Lindsay Lohan gave us a look at public school in Mean Girls. We enjoyed some high school football with Friday Night Lights. Shrek and Donkey were back with a new friend (Puss in Boots) in Shrek 2. Will Ferrell donned a mustache as he told the Legend of Ron Burgandy in Anchorman. Harold and Kumar went to White Castle for some sliders. Zombies were all over the place in Simon Pegg’s Shaun of the Dead (which I loved!). A very funny cast (Vince Vaughn, Rip Torn, Justin Long, Ben Stiller, Christine Taylor) told us an underdog story in Dodgeball (Chuck Norris has a funny cameo). Nick Cage stars in a great film that makes you rethink history in National Treasure. Jamie Foxx was just brilliant as Ray Charles in the biopic Ray.

A word about a film from 2004 before I announce my pick. I saw the DVD cover for Napoleon Dynamite in the video store. I am not sure what made me get it. Someone may have mentioned it to me, whatever the case, I rented it. We popped it in. I watched it all the way through. When it was done I remember saying “What the hell did we just watch?!” I literally sat there scratching my head. I just couldn’t figure it out! It was so dumb! But here is the weird part – after it ended and after I sat there for a minute – I started the movie over!!! I watched it all over again. The second time I watched it – I laughed like hell!! All of a sudden, it was a funny friggin movie! When I would recommend it to people, I would tell them “you may have to watch it twice”! LOL

Ok, so my movie picking credibility may forever be tarnished because of that last paragraph….but here is my pick for 2004 – The Incredibles.

Brad Bird (who does the voice of Edna) wrote this masterpiece. Craig T. Nelson is Mr. Incredible and Holly Hunter is Elastigirl (also Mrs. Incredible). Samuel L. Jackson is super cool as Frozone. After getting sued for injuring a citizen, Super heroes are banned from performing their duties. They go into the Super Hero Relocation Program and live as ordinary citizens. Syndrome is a super villain (voiced by Jason Lee) and his antics bring the “Supers” back out into the public eye. The music soundtrack is just amazing. I was SO excited when the sequel was announced. Just LOVE this movie!! No Capes!

There weren’t many films I liked from 2005. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith was good, as we see the “birth” of Darth Vader. DreamWorks had fun with the animated film Madagascar. Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson were Wedding Crashers. Goblet of Fire was the next installment of the Harry Potter series. My pick for favorite of 2005 is a remake – I know, I know! I have dissed many remakes, but I found Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to be different enough that I liked it.

Johnny Depp is one of those actors who amazes me. When I look at the various roles he has played, each one of them is very unique. His take on Willy Wonka is so vastly different from Gene Wilder’s in the original. It is almost creepy – ok, it is creepy! The whole movie is a bit darker than the original, too. While the story is basically the same, it is different enough that it stands alone as being worthy of my pick.

The success of animated films becomes apparent by 2006. DreamWorks put out two animated movies this year – Flushed Away and Over The Hedge, while Pixar released Cars. Ben Stiller interacts with history in A Night at the Museum. Johnny Depp is back as Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men’s Chest. Little Miss Sunshine is a delightful film with Steve Carell, Greg Kinnear, and Alan Arkin. My pick for favorite stars Jack Black as Nacho Libre.

While it is a comedy, it also has heart. Jack Black is a cook at a monastery. He grew up there. There are many orphans that live there, and there is little money to feed them properly. He decides to wrestle after hours in an effort to raise money for the orphans. I love this movie, because while there are moments you laugh at loud, there are also heartwarming moments.

Animation movies continued to be big in 2007 – Jerry Seinfeld had Bee Movie, Shrek was back for a third (and probably weakest of the series) movie, and Pixar had the marvelous Ratatouille. Jack Sparrow returned in At World’s End, and Simon Pegg offered up the comedy Hot Fuzz. Harry Potter returned in the Order of the Phoenix, and Nick Cage was back for the sequel to National Treasure: Book of Secrets. Jon Heder, coming off the success of Napoleon Dynamite, teamed up with Will Ferrell for Blades of Glory. The gang from TV’s Reno 911 got their own film Reno 911:Miami. My pick for favorite – The Bucket List.

Admittedly, I did not see the movie until recently, I am glad I did. This movie made “the bucket list” a phrase everyone now uses. We all have items on a list that we want to do before we die. Going to Italy is on mine. Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman are just wonderful in this film. If you haven’t seen it – you have to!

Comedies from 2008 included Simon Pegg’s Run Fatboy, Run, Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr. starred in Tropic Thunder, Rainn Wilson was The Rocker, and Will Ferrell and John C. Riley were Step Brothers (Boats and Hoes!!) Animated films from 2008 included WALL-E, and Kung Fu Panda. Tom Cruise starred in a great story about the plot to kill Hitler in Valkyrie. Harrison Ford reprised his role as Indiana Jones in The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (I didn’t care for it). Will Smith was a guy with super powers in Hancock.

Vantage Point was almost my pick for favorite. Dennis Quaid stars in the film about an assassination attempt of the President. The movie shows all the different views of the event – all the different vantage points. It was a very cool film to watch. I hate to say it, because it is kind of a remake, but my pick for favorite is Get Smart.

TECHNICALLY, it is NOT a remake. It is just based on the TV show. At first I was angry to hear they were making this movie, because of my love for the TV show. Then I heard that Steve Carell would be playing Maxwell Smart. I thought he was perfect for the role. Alan Arkin is great as the chief (I like him in almost everything he does). Anne Hathaway is 99. James Caan is the President. The Rock is also an agent. Great cameos from Bill Murray and Bernie Kopell, the orginal Seigfried (although I wish Bernie’s cameo had been longer). Over all, it was a good story. I loved the nods to the TV show, that earned bonus points for me.

As we enter the final year of this decade, three films all stand out as ones that could easily be my pick. Two of the dumbest films I saw were Paul Blart Mall Cop (which even got a sequel!!) and Year One. I am stupider for watching both of those films! Animation and kid films included The Fantastic Mr. Fox, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, and the Monsters VS Aliens. Harry Potter was back with the Half Blood Prince. Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw starred in The Blind Side. Woody Harrelson kills the undead in Zombieland. I’m gonna be honest – I NEVER saw Avatar, it just didn’t look interesting to me. I was impressed with the new Star Trek movie – I felt the characters stayed very close to the original star’s portrayals. I really enjoyed Inglorious Basterds (always been a fan of WWII movies).

That leaves me with four films – one that I disliked and three I loved. I know that I am in the minority here, so I apologize in advance. I didn’t care for the Hangover. It obviously was major hit which spawned quite a few sequels. Everyone kept saying, “You’ve got to see this movie”, so I did. I really didn’t find it as funny as everyone else did. I don’t know what it is, I just didn’t find it to be the great film everyone else did.

Sherlock Holmes with Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law was VERY well done! I enjoyed it very much. I really felt that it captured the Sherlock Holmes from the stories. I found it funny, exciting, and thought it had a great story. When I discovered Sherlock with Benedict Cumberbatch, I felt that it was done in almost the same vain as this film.

I almost picked A Christmas Carol starring Jim Carrey as my favorite. First of all, it is one of my favorite Christmas stories. I am sure that I have blogged about it in the past. Second, Jim Carrey does the majority of the voices in it and it just amazing. I loved the animation and it has been one that I watch each and every Christmas season. My pick for 2009, however, is another animated film … Up.

Pixar continues to bring out amazing movies for the whole family. Up is the story of Carl Frederickson(voiced by Ed Asner), and his quest to go to Paradise Falls to fulfill a promise to his wife. The montage that shows the love story of Carl and Ellie is done with no voices – just action and music. It is the most moving thing I have ever seen. Yes, I cried. It is beautiful.

The adventure that Carl ends up going on with his newfound friends Russell, Doug, and Kevin is exciting and heartwarming. I truly wish that Pixar would give us a sequel to this film, just to see more of this wonderful friendship that Carl and Russell have. I LOVE this movie!

9 more years to go and I will pick up the series next in 2010. I hope you enjoyed reading this!

Summer Memory – The Good Humor Man

As I was walking to my car to leave for work today, an ice cream truck was driving down my street. I found it odd that it was not playing music. Usually, you can hear the sounds of “Little Brown Jug”, “Turkey in the Straw”, “Pop! Goes the Weasel”, or “The Entertainer” (among others) when the ice cream man was driving around. That wasn’t always the case, though.

My first memories of the Ice Cream Man are from when we lived in Sterling Heights in the early 1970’s. The Good Humor Man always drove his white truck (like the one pictured above and below) and there was no music. There was a set of bells attached to a string that the driver pulled to ring them. I remember hearing the bells from the next street over and running over to my mom and dad to get a dollar of change to buy ice cream.

If you look carefully above the windshield in the picture above, you can see the bells the driver would ring. Here are the bells detached from the truck:

I’m sure that the loud music is a better at getting the kids attention today, but we always listened for those bells!

I remember many summer days running up to my dad (who was usually mowing the grass, or working outside) and he’d walk to the curb with us to stop the ice cream truck. There were SO many treats to choose from! When I was a kid, I guess I wasn’t so OCD. I used to try different ice creams all the time. Today, I have favorites and stick with those. Some of the treats I remember most:

The Ice Cream Sandwich. I still love them. The chocolate still sticks to my fingers while I eat them. The good ice cream trucks took this amazing treat a step further –

Vanilla, Chocolate AND strawberry ice cream?! Yes, please!!!

Push Ups. I remember them being orange mostly. Some trucks had the Flintstone theme, some had polka dots on them. I remember we used to save the plastic stems and piece that pushed the ice cream up and used them for something with our Star Wars figures.

The Chocolate Éclair was always a favorite of mine. I also like the variation where there was a chocolate candy center. No crunchies on that one, but it had a hard chocolate coating over vanilla ice cream.

As much as I love chocolate, I preferred the Strawberry Shortcake version! You can buy these in the stores today, but the ones from the ice cream truck always seemed to taste better.

The Bomb Pop! This seemed to be the favorite of many kids in the neighborhood. All of us kids had red and blue lips after eating this thing. I’m not sure why, but this one always seemed to melt faster than anything else I got from the ice cream man.

Who didn’t love a Snow Cone!? It was another favorite! It also left whatever color it was all over your face. Really, it’s a pretty lame treat. It’s just a little flavor over ice. The flavor ended up at the bottom of the wrapper as it melted. That was kind of the bonus, you got to drink a shot of all three flavors after all the ice was gone.

Tweety Bird Ice Creams were the ones I remember most. They came in other characters, too. I think there was Bugs Bunny, The Pink Panther, and Spider Man. Today, I know the most popular of this creation is SpongeBob. They all had gumball eyes and after you unwrapped it, it rarely looked like the character it was supposed to be!

The “cup” of ice cream was always available. It may be vanilla or vanilla with chocolate. Some had a real thin layer of chocolate syrup on it. Sometimes it came in a plastic cup, sometimes I was in a paper one. Either way, it almost always came with that little wooden scooper/spoon.

The Screwball was a favorite of mine for some time. It was a flavored ice (kind of like Italian Ice) with a gumball at the bottom of the cone/cup. Sometimes they were called Tornadoes or Twisters, but I remember them as Screwballs. They also had one with two gumballs at the bottom.

If I had to pick a favorite, it would probably be the Drumstick. I guess that’s why I still buy them at the store occasionally. I always loved how it had that one bit of frozen chocolate at the bottom of the cone. Bonus chocolate is always a good thing!!

As I grew older, the bells from the Good Humor trucks made way for the repetitive songs from warped records. As older children, we still chased down the trucks, but because of the loud music, we had to yell “STOP!” in order for them to slow down. The larger sides of the truck allowed for more room for the “Poster Price List”. We still looked in awe at the many treats and made the difficult decision of choosing just one to cool us off on a hoy summer day.

I have fond memories of getting ice cream with my dad and mom. I also have great memories of buying them for my sons. I wish, however, the sounds of those Good Humor bells were still ringing in neighborhoods today. If they were, I guess I’d be one of the first “kids” to run out and yell, “Stop!”

Why no, I haven’t seen that …

As a morning DJ on the radio, I was expected to watch all the “hot” shows. I was on air when the first season of American Idol was on, when Desperate Housewives debuted, and when Grey’s Anatomy premiered. I watched most of those shows. What made it very difficult was that most of these shows came on after 9pm and I was up at 3:30am to be on the air at 6am. That’s where the show prep services came in handy. Many of them had “recaps” of all the things that happened in those hit shows and we could easily sound like we were “in the loop” with them.

Now that I only do radio part time and have a full time non-radio job, I rarely watch any of the “hype” shows. My wife, who started watching Grey’s Anatomy when it started, continues to never miss an episode (even when she has to watch it a day later online). There are very few shows that I have any desire to watch. If I have time to watch TV, it is usually something old that I have on DVD or watch on YouTube.

Every day when I scroll Facebook, I can see the things that are trending and can honestly say, “I’ve never seen that.” The past couple weeks there have been plenty of memes saying “I have never seen an episode of ….” or “When you talk about _____, I honestly just nod because I don’t know what the hell you are talking about”. Yeah, that’s me.

That’s right. I have never seen a full episode of Game of Thrones. I have seen bits and pieces because someone may have been watching it at work or in a room I walk through. I know, it’s a big deal – to some people – not to me.

Another show I have never seen an episode of is The Walking Dead, or the various spin offs. I know that some big characters were killed off on the show and caused a ruckus on social media, but I couldn’t tell you who, how, or why. The whole “zombie” thing is something I just don’t find interesting.

Then there is Stranger Things. I saw an episode or two of this. I might watch it, if I had the time, because I think the nostalgia part of it is neat, but in all honesty, I’d rather watch one of the many old shows I have at home on DVD.

Now before you get angry, let me preface this next section by saying I have seen Guardians of the Galaxy, Iron Man and Iron Man 2, and The Avengers Age of Ultron. I think I saw them because my boys wanted to see them. It’s not that I am not into the whole Marvel thing, I enjoyed some of the Spiderman films. It’s not that I don’t like super heroes, I enjoyed a few of the early Batman films. It just seems to me that there is an over abundance of these movies out today.

These super heroes were all over my TV growing up. They were in comic books. They were in cartoons on Saturday morning. I love super heroes, but to me these stories are more and more special effects than a good story. Yes, the effects are important, but so is the story. Some of these stories are just rehashing of the same premise. They did Spiderman with Tobey Maguire … did we need a new series of them? They did Superman with Christopher Reeve … did we need a newer version with what ever the actor’s name is? I thought Michael Keaton was good as Batman … now there is a slew of Dark Knight films.

Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are all a buzz about this Avengers movie coming out. I have a co-worker who literally threatened us to not tell her what happens in the movie, because she isn’t going on the day it opens. I don’t see what the big deal is. It’s just another super hero movie. It will be filled with good versus evil, loud explosions, maybe someone will die, and millions of dollars in special effects. I won’t be seeing this in the theater. I probably won’t even rent it on DVD or watch it on Netflix.

Maybe I should be ashamed of that. Maybe I am a little bit.

Maybe, I am not. I heard someone say once “an old movie you have never seen, is a new movie”. The same holds true for episodes of TV shows you have never seen and books you have never read. My book shelves are stacked with books that I have yet to read. I have complete series of TV shows that I have yet to watch. I’d much rather be watching those.

Just my opinion.

Toon Tunes …

694dd9d7947a55b7f09d2aa90bb8d071--bugs-bunny-bunnies

As I stated at the end of yesterday’s blog – I could easily write an entire blog about Cartoon Theme songs. Some readers messaged privately with suggestions, while others commented on Facebook. So, I sat down and gathered some thoughts and have come up with a list of some of my favorites. In doing so, I noticed that some cartoons were great cartoons, but their theme songs were just not that memorable to me. Those I will omit. Perhaps they are some of your favorites, and again, feel free to add them to my initial list.

The Classics

“Overture, curtains, lights. This is it, the night of nights.

No more rehearsing and nursing a part, We know every part by heart

Overture, curtains, lights. This is it, you’ll hit the heights

And oh what heights we’ll hit … On with the show, this is it!”

Every Saturday morning, we’d sit in front of the television and hear Bugs Bunny and his cartoon pals sing this song as the Bugs Bunny Show began. Cartoon after cartoon kicked off with the Merrie Melodies or Looney Tunes theme. We watched Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd, Foghorn Leghorn, Yosemite Sam, Sylvester and Tweety, The Roadrunner, Wile E Coyote, and countless others make us laugh with sticks of dynamite and anvils. Oh, what a time to be a kid!

Outside of the Looney Tunes, Hanna Barbera churned out a lot of the classic cartoons we all have come to love. In 1958, kids were introduced to Yogi Bear and his pal Boo Boo. The theme song told us that he was “smarter than the average bear”, and he was! No Pic-a-nic basket was safe! Yogi was a take off of Art Carney’s Honeymooners character Ed Norton. Daws Butler nails the voice perfectly. From opening theme, you know you are in for some great fun with Yogi trying to outsmart Ranger Smith.

Speaking of the Honeymooners – Hanna Barbera literally stole the entire show idea and just set it in the stone age. That’s right, The Flintstones was a direct rip off of the show. It worked. It was the first prime time cartoon show and it did very well. The adventures of Fred and Barney commence after we are introduced to them via the theme song “Flintstones! Meet the Flintstones, they’re the modern stone age family!” Fred and Barney also would up on Saturday morning cartoons with newer versions and varieties of the 1960’s show including a cartoon about their grown up kids Pebbles and Bamm Bamm.

My buddy Vince immediately mentioned the theme song to Jonny Quest in response to my last blog. As far as theme songs, this one is awesome. Quest first appeared on TV in 1964 and from the moment it starts you get the feeling something big is coming. There is a sense of urgency in it. You are joining him on an adventure! In my 30 years of radio, I have heard this theme song as background music for contests, traffic reports, and more. Why? Because it is one cool theme song!

In 1962, Hanna Barbera took us on another travel through time. This time is was the future. “Meet George Jetson” … the theme starts by introducing us to each member of the family. We are wowed with flying cars, tubes that allow people to travel from one place to the other, folding cars, and more. The Jetsons lacked some of the luster of the Flintstones, but it still was a success and a favorite of kids my age.

There were MANY incarnations of Scooby-Doo. The best one in my opinion was Scooby Doo, Where Are You? Some cool teenagers and their dog always seem to stumble on a mystery – and solve it! So many bad guys would have gotten away with it, “If it hadn’t been for those meddling kids”! “Scooby doobie doo – Where are you? We got some work to do now…”. Not only did they have a cool theme, they often had another song that would play during a chase scene!

I want to mention a couple more 60’s cartoons to mention before moving on. I mentioned Henry Mancini in my blog yesterday, he is responsible for one of the all time greatest cartoon themes: The Pink Panther. It was the theme to the 1963 movie, and also used for the cartoon starting in 1964. There are so many things that make it such a magnificent piece, but the one that stands out is the tenor sax solo. It is perfection! The song was released as a single and was a top 10 hit.

Part of the Pink Panther show was the Ant and the Aardvark. It is a very Tom and Jerry/Cat and Mouse type cartoon. John Byner does the voices for the cartoons and his choices were to do the ant in a Dean Martin-ish voice, while doing the aardvark in a Jackie Mason-ish one. The theme reminds me of a Dixieland-swing song. The theme song basically plays as an underscore throughout all 17 of the series cartoons, and you will be humming it for a few hours after you’re done watching!

In 1967, Hanna Barbera offered up The Abbott and Costello Cartoon show. These cartoons were unique in that Bud Abbott provides the voice for himself. Costello had passed away in 1959, and his voice was provided by Stan Irwin. I don’t recall the cartoon itself much, but I can recall the opening sequence and the music of the theme. The only words spoken …..well, yelled, during the theme are “Hey Abbott!” by Costello.

The Super Heroes

What kid doesn’t want to be a super hero? I know we did. We spent Saturdays after cartoons were done pretending to be Batman, Superman, etc… We could watch them on the Superfriends show. Very heroic music would play as actor Ted Knight (of Caddyshack and the Mary Tyler Moore Show) introduced us to each of them. There were a few different Superfriends shows – one featured Wendy, Marvin, and Wonder Dog, another featured The Wonder Twins, and another featured some of the lesser known heroes.

The Super Heroes had some of the best theme songs. Underdog’s theme was one I can still sing to this day: “When criminals in this world appear, and break the laws that they should fear, the cry goes up both far and near for Underdog!”. Wally Cox voiced Underdog and spoke entirely in rhyme. He was always trying to save Sweet Polly Purebread from Simon Bar Sinister and Riff Raff. George S. Irving was the narrator of the show – he is known for playing The Heat Miser in the holiday special The Year Without a Santa Claus. It is one of my favorite theme songs.

Who was your number 1 super guy? Well, Hong Kong Phooey, of course! He tells us so in the theme song! It’s another Hanna Barbera classic! The theme is sung by Scatman Crothers, who many may know from the Shining, Sanford and Son, and other films. He plays Penrod “Penry” Pooch, a janitor who is a Kung Fu Master, thanks to his Hong Kong Book of Kung Fu. The theme reminds us that he is quicker than the human eye, and he’s got a groovy style – ah, the 70’s!!!

The all time best super hero cartoon theme song has got to be, hands down, Spiderman! We all know the story of Spiderman – Peter Parker is bitten by a radioactive spider and gets his super powers. I love that this is referenced in the theme song: “Is he strong? Listen, bud, he’s got radioactive blood!” That is brilliant writing right there! We all love Spidey, and we know that he’s got our backs…..after all, he is our “friendly neighborhood Spiderman”. There is only one version of the theme that is as cool as the original – be sure to check out Michael Buble’s version of the theme song! It’s pretty sweet!

One Full Musical Toon

I have got to give praise to a cartoon that is entirely musical. This is a cartoon that has been referenced by friends I grew up with as well as my kids. That cartoon is “The Three Little Bops”. It’s a modern day take on the Three Little Pigs.

What makes this cartoon so memorable is that these three pigs are now a musical trio playing jazz for clubs (House of Straw, House of Sticks, and finally, the House of Bricks). The Big Bad Wolf is also a musician….but not a very good one. He keeps trying to join the pigs and they keep telling him to beat it because his playing is awful. The crowds don’t like his playing either. At first, he is kicked out of the house of straw, so he “huffs and puffs” and blows the place down. He does the same for the house of sticks. The house of bricks, however, is a bit more of a challenge. “I’ll show those pigs that I’m not stuck, if I can’t blow it down, I’ll blow it up”. He attempts to light the fuse on a big tub of TNT, and the fuse is blown out. He moves farther away from the target and lights it again, but he’s too far from the building and as he is carrying it back, the TNT explodes – and takes him with it.

The narrator states, “The Big Bad Wolf was really gone and with him went his corny horn. Went out of this world without a trace, didn’t go to heaven, was the other place”. We then see the wolf down there playing his horn brilliantly. One pig notes, “The Big Bad Wolf, he learned the rule – you gotta get hot to play real cool!” The wolf’s spirit, with his horn float up through the floor and join the pigs on the end of the song. The pigs lobby card now reads “The Three Little Bops Plus One”.

The music for the cartoon is done by the great Shorty Rogers who was a jazz composer and trumpeter. The vocal is done by the one and only Stan Freberg. This cartoon is fun, jazzy, hip, and so well written! Another thing that makes this cartoon unique is that Mel Blanc was under contract with Warner Brothers during this time and his voice is not used in the cartoon at all (at least according to all the sources I checked).

Now it’s your turn. Which cartoon theme songs were your favorites?

That’s all folks….