From Snow White:
From the popular British comedy due of Morecambe and Wise:
Snow White:
Snow White is a fictional character and the protagonist from Disney's 1937 animated film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, as well as an official Disney Princess.
Morecambe and Wise:
Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise, usually referred to as Morecambe and Wise, or Eric and Ernie, were a British comic double act, working in variety, radio, film and most successfully in television. Their partnership lasted from 1941 until Morecambe's death in 1984. They have been described as "the most illustrious, and the best-loved, double-act that Britain has ever produced". In a list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes drawn up by the British Film Institute in 2000, voted for by industry professionals, The Morecambe and Wise Show was placed 14th. In September 2006, they were voted by the general public as number 2 in a poll of TV's Greatest Stars.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Remembering Memorial Day
I take the liberty of sharing this article from YahooNews: Remembering Memorial Day
by Mike Krumboltz
For many, Memorial Day brings to mind images of parades and picnics, of barbecues and baseball games. What's sometimes forgotten are the reasons for the holiday: The sacrifices made by American soldiers in times of conflict.
As the United States' death toll passes 1,000 in Afghanistan, Memorial Day takes on an especially poignant meaning this year. Here's a brief look at how the holiday got its start, and how people are searching for ways to honor the brave men and women who have lost their lives.
The first holiday
Originally, the holiday was known as "Decoration Day." It was started by a Civil War general named Gen. John Logan, who was the Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic. General Logan sought a way to help the country come back together after the horrors and divide of the Civil War.
The holiday was first observed on May 30, 1868, and Gen. Logan chose that date for two very important reasons: First, the day did not mark the anniversary of a Civil War battle, and second "flowers would likely be in bloom all over the United States." Indeed, many took flowers to Arlington National Cemetery, an activity that still occurs every year.
More on Gen. John Logan
General John A. Logan has a tremendous legacy that goes well beyond his efforts to honor fallen soldiers. According to a museum dedicated to his memory, Gen. Logan led an inspired life and enjoyed a tremendous career. At different points, he was a United States congressman, a senator, and a candidate for the vice presidency. He and his running mate, James G. Blane, lost their bid, but "Logan’s popularity with veterans contributed to the narrowness of the defeat."
An official holiday
This may come as a bit of a surprise, but Memorial Day, despite having been around for over 100 years in one form or another, didn't become an official federal holiday until 1971, when Congress passed the National Holiday Act. This created a three-day weekend at the end of May. Prior to this, different states observed the holiday on different days.
Also worth noting — the "national moment of remembrance." This moment takes place at 3 p.m. local time on Memorial Day and lasts one minute. According to Remember.gov, "the Moment does not replace traditional Memorial Day events; rather it is an act of national unity in which all Americans, alone or with family and friends, honor those who died for our freedom. It will help to reclaim Memorial Day as the sacred and noble holiday it was meant to be. In this shared remembrance, we connect as Americans."
Quotes
They hover as a cloud of witnesses above this Nation. -Henry Ward Beecher
Who kept the faith and fought the fight; The glory theirs, the duty ours. -Wallace Bruce
A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself. -Joseph Campbell
The patriot's blood is the seed of Freedom's tree. -Thomas Campbell
The legacy of heroes is the memory of a great name and the inheritance of a great example. - Benjamin Disraeli
Each man is a hero and an oracle to somebody. -Ralph Waldo Emerson
But the freedom that they fought for, and the country grand they wrought for,
Is their monument to-day, and for aye. -Thomas Dunn English
For love of country they accepted death... -James A. Garfield
The greatest glory of a free-born people is to transmit that freedom to their children. -William Havard
The dead soldier's silence sings our national anthem. -Aaron Kilbourn
For death is no more than a turning of us over from time to eternity. -William Penn
On thy grave the rain shall fall from the eyes of a mighty nation! -Thomas William Parsons
The brave die never, though they sleep in dust:
Their courage nerves a thousand living men. -Minot J. Savage
We come, not to mourn our dead soldiers, but to praise them. -Francis A. Walker
And I'm proud to be an American,
where at least I know I'm free.
And I won't forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me. -Lee Greenwood
by Mike Krumboltz
For many, Memorial Day brings to mind images of parades and picnics, of barbecues and baseball games. What's sometimes forgotten are the reasons for the holiday: The sacrifices made by American soldiers in times of conflict.
As the United States' death toll passes 1,000 in Afghanistan, Memorial Day takes on an especially poignant meaning this year. Here's a brief look at how the holiday got its start, and how people are searching for ways to honor the brave men and women who have lost their lives.
The first holiday
Originally, the holiday was known as "Decoration Day." It was started by a Civil War general named Gen. John Logan, who was the Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic. General Logan sought a way to help the country come back together after the horrors and divide of the Civil War.
The holiday was first observed on May 30, 1868, and Gen. Logan chose that date for two very important reasons: First, the day did not mark the anniversary of a Civil War battle, and second "flowers would likely be in bloom all over the United States." Indeed, many took flowers to Arlington National Cemetery, an activity that still occurs every year.
More on Gen. John Logan
General John A. Logan has a tremendous legacy that goes well beyond his efforts to honor fallen soldiers. According to a museum dedicated to his memory, Gen. Logan led an inspired life and enjoyed a tremendous career. At different points, he was a United States congressman, a senator, and a candidate for the vice presidency. He and his running mate, James G. Blane, lost their bid, but "Logan’s popularity with veterans contributed to the narrowness of the defeat."
An official holiday
This may come as a bit of a surprise, but Memorial Day, despite having been around for over 100 years in one form or another, didn't become an official federal holiday until 1971, when Congress passed the National Holiday Act. This created a three-day weekend at the end of May. Prior to this, different states observed the holiday on different days.
Also worth noting — the "national moment of remembrance." This moment takes place at 3 p.m. local time on Memorial Day and lasts one minute. According to Remember.gov, "the Moment does not replace traditional Memorial Day events; rather it is an act of national unity in which all Americans, alone or with family and friends, honor those who died for our freedom. It will help to reclaim Memorial Day as the sacred and noble holiday it was meant to be. In this shared remembrance, we connect as Americans."
Quotes
They hover as a cloud of witnesses above this Nation. -Henry Ward Beecher
Who kept the faith and fought the fight; The glory theirs, the duty ours. -Wallace Bruce
A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself. -Joseph Campbell
The patriot's blood is the seed of Freedom's tree. -Thomas Campbell
The legacy of heroes is the memory of a great name and the inheritance of a great example. - Benjamin Disraeli
Each man is a hero and an oracle to somebody. -Ralph Waldo Emerson
But the freedom that they fought for, and the country grand they wrought for,
Is their monument to-day, and for aye. -Thomas Dunn English
For love of country they accepted death... -James A. Garfield
The greatest glory of a free-born people is to transmit that freedom to their children. -William Havard
The dead soldier's silence sings our national anthem. -Aaron Kilbourn
For death is no more than a turning of us over from time to eternity. -William Penn
On thy grave the rain shall fall from the eyes of a mighty nation! -Thomas William Parsons
The brave die never, though they sleep in dust:
Their courage nerves a thousand living men. -Minot J. Savage
We come, not to mourn our dead soldiers, but to praise them. -Francis A. Walker
And I'm proud to be an American,
where at least I know I'm free.
And I won't forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me. -Lee Greenwood
OT Sunday: Anthony Newley sings Goldfinger
In some ways, I like this version better than Shirley Bassey's.
Anthony George Newley (24 September 1931 – 14 April 1999) was an English actor, singer and songwriter. He enjoyed success as a performer in such diverse fields as rock & roll and stage and screen acting.
Early life
Newley was born in the London working class district of Hackney, the son of Frances Grace Newley and George Kirby, a shipping clerk. He was Jewish on his mother's side. His parents, who had never married, separated during his early childhood, and he was brought up by his single mother. Newley was evacuated during the Luftwaffe bombing of London during the Blitz and was thereby exposed to the performing arts when he was tutored during this time by George Pescud, a former British music hall entertainer.
Although recognised as very bright by his teachers back in London, he was uninterested in school, and by the age of fourteen was working as an office boy for an insurance company when he read an ad in the Daily Telegraph, headed "Boy Actors Urgently Wanted". He applied to the advertisers, the prestigious Italia Conti Stage School, only to discover that the fees were too high. Nevertheless, after a brief audition, he was offered a job as an office boy on a salary of only 30 shillings (£1.50) a week, but also including free tuition at the school. He naturally accepted and his career was to be launched. Whilst serving tea one afternoon he caught the eye of producer Geoffrey de Barkus, who cast Newley as "Dusty" in the children's serial, The Adventures of Dusty Bates.
Career
Newley's first major film role was as Dick Bultitude in Peter Ustinov's Vice Versa (1948) followed by the Artful Dodger in David Lean's Oliver Twist (1948), based on the classic Charles Dickens story. He made a successful transition from child star to contract player in British films of the 1950s (broken up by a short stint in the armed forces), to a top-of-the-pops crooner in the 1960s. During the 1950s he appeared in many British radio programmes and for a time appeared as Cyril in Floggits starring Elsie and Doris Waters. But it was probably the film Idol on Parade that changed his career direction the most. In the film he played a rock singer called up for national service.
He wrote ballads, many with Leslie Bricusse, that became signature hits for Sammy Davis Jr., Shirley Bassey and Tony Bennett. During the 1960s he also added his greatest accomplishments on the London West End theatre and Broadway theatre stage, in Hollywood films and British and American television. In the 1970s he remained active, particularly as a Las Vegas and Catskills Borscht Belt resort performer and talk show guest, but his career had begun to flounder. He had taken risks that eventually led to his downfall in Hollywood. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s he worked to achieve a comeback. He died of kidney cancer at the age of 67, soon after he had become a grandfather.
Music
Newley had a successful pop music career as a vocalist, which started in May 1959 with the song "I've Waited So Long" a number 3 hit in the UK charts thanks largely to the exposure it received as being featured in the film "Idol On Parade". This was quickly followed by his number 6 hit "Personality" and then two number-one hits in early 1960: "Why" (originally a 1959 U.S. hit for Frankie Avalon) and "Do You Mind?" (written by Lionel Bart). As a songwriter, he won the 1963 Grammy Award for Song of the Year for "What Kind of Fool Am I?", but he was also well-known for "Gonna Build a Mountain", "Once in a Lifetime", "On a Wonderful Day Like Today", "The Joker" and comic novelty songs such as "That Noise" and "The Oompa-Loompa Song", and his versions of "Strawberry Fair" and "Pop Goes the Weasel".
He wrote songs that others made hits including "Goldfinger" (the title song of the James Bond film, Goldfinger, music by John Barry), and "Feeling Good", which became a hit for Nina Simone and the rock band Muse. With Leslie Bricusse, he wrote the musical Stop the World - I Want to Get Off in which he also performed, earning a nomination for a Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical. The play was made into a (poorly-received) film version in 1966, but Newley was unable to star in it due to a schedule conflict. The other musicals for which he co-wrote music and lyrics with Bricusse included The Roar of the Greasepaint—the Smell of the Crowd (1965) and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971), based on the children's book by Roald Dahl.
The consensus of critics and fans rates "Pure Imagination", "Ain't It Funny", "Love Is a Now and Then Thing", and "In My Solitude" at the top of the list. Amongst the many compilations now available are Anthony Newley: The Decca Years (1959–1964), Once in a Lifetime: The Anthony Newley Collection (1960–1971), and Anthony Newley's Greatest Hits (Deram).
When he collaborated with Bricusse, they referred to themselves as the team of 'Brickman and Newburg', with Newburg concentrating mainly on the music and Brickman on the lyrics. Ian Frasier often did their arrangements and it has been suggested that his contributions were more extensive than has been acknowledged. For the songs from Hieronymous Merkin, Newley collaborated with Herbert Kretzmer.
The comedy album Fool Brittania, starring Newley, Joan Collins and Peter SellersIn 1963, Newley had a hit comedy album called Fool Britannia!, the result of improvisational satires of the British Profumo scandal of the time by a team of Newley, his then-wife Joan Collins, and Peter Sellers. Newley's contributions to Christmas music are highlighted by his rendition of "The Coventry Carol" which appears on many anthologies. He also wrote and recorded a novelty Christmas song called "Santa Claus is Elvis". And there is a notorious album of spoken poetry which has Newley appearing in the nude on the sleeve with a similarly-attired young model.
In his later years as a mature singer Newley recorded songs from Fiddler on the Roof and Scrooge. He enjoyed his final popular success onstage when he starred in the latter musical which showed in London and toured UK cities including Liverpool, Birmingham and Manchester, in the 1990s. At the time of his death he had been working on a musical of Shakespeare's Richard III.
In May 2010 Stage Door Records released a compilation of unreleased Newley recordings entitled 'Newley Discovered'. The album produced with the Anthony Newley Society and Newley's family contains the concept recordings for Newley's self-penned movie musicals 'Can Hieronymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness?', 'Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory' and 'Mr. Quilp'.
In recognition of his creative skills and body of work, Newley was elected to the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1989.
Acting
The short-lived 1960 ATV series, The Strange World of Gurney Slade, in which Newley starred and also featured Bernie Winters, continues to have a cult following owing to its postmodern premise that the Newley character is trapped inside a television programme. Apart from a repeat of one episode on Channel 4 in 1992, it has not been seen in the UK in recent years. The show's theme tune by composer Max Harris, which was later utilised in the "animated clock" segments on the BBC children's show Vision On, may be better known today than the series itself. The piano figure prominent in the recording was lifted (unacknowledged) from Mose Allison's song "Parchman Farm".
Newley played Matthew Mugg in the original Doctor Dolittle and the repressed English businessman opposite Sandy Dennis in the original Sweet November. He also hosted Lucille Ball on a whirlwind tour of mod London in the Lucy TV special "Lucy in London." He performed in the autobiographical, Fellini-esque and X-rated Can Hieronymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness?, which he also directed and co-wrote with Herman Raucher. He performed in 'Quilp' (based on Dickens's 'The Old Curiosity Shop'), for which he composed some songs ('Love Has the Longest Memory of All'). His last feature role in the cast of the long-running British TV soap opera EastEnders was to have been a regular role, but Newley had to withdraw after a few months when his health began to fail.
Personal life
Newley was married to Ann Lynn from 1956 to 1963, but the marriage ended in divorce. A son, Simon, was born to them but died in infancy from a congenital infirmity. He then was married to the actress Joan Collins from 1963 to 1971. The couple had two children, Tara Newley and Sacha Newley. Tara became a broadcaster in England and Sacha is a renowned portrait artist based in New York and represented by four paintings in the National Portrait Gallery (United States) in Washington, D.C.. Newley's third wife was former air hostess Dareth Rich, and they also had two children, Shelby and Christopher. In an episode of Angela and Friends (Sky One) Tara Newley also mentioned another sister, a third living daughter of Newley's.
Newley had been raised by his mother Grace, and, from the age of eight onward, by his stepfather, Ronald Gardner. Gardner wound up in Beverly Hills working as a chauffeur but soon ran off with another woman. Newley searched, with the help of a detective, for his biological father, George Kirby, and effected a reunion. Newley bought his father a house in Beverly Hills, in the hope that he would reunite with Grace, but this did not happen.
Newley died on 14 April 1999, in Jensen Beach, Florida, from renal cancer at the age of 67. He was said to have died in the arms of his companion, the designer Gina Fratini.[10] He was survived by his five children, a granddaughter Miel, and his mother Grace, then aged 96, who has subsequently died. Since then two more grandchildren have been born: Weston (Tara's second child) and Ava Grace (Sacha's first, with his wife Angela Tassoni).
Newley's life is the subject of a biography by Garth Bardsley called Stop the World (London: Oberon, 2003). Although Newley alluded to some degree of bisexual activity in 1960s in his epic autobiographical film, Merkin, the allegation in the Bardsley biography that he had been "kept" by an older man while he struggled to restart his career in the 1950s was a shock to his fans. In 2007 the actress Anneke Wills published a memoir that details her involvement with Newley just before he took up with Collins, producing a daughter named Polly who perished in a car accident.
Anthony George Newley (24 September 1931 – 14 April 1999) was an English actor, singer and songwriter. He enjoyed success as a performer in such diverse fields as rock & roll and stage and screen acting.
Early life
Newley was born in the London working class district of Hackney, the son of Frances Grace Newley and George Kirby, a shipping clerk. He was Jewish on his mother's side. His parents, who had never married, separated during his early childhood, and he was brought up by his single mother. Newley was evacuated during the Luftwaffe bombing of London during the Blitz and was thereby exposed to the performing arts when he was tutored during this time by George Pescud, a former British music hall entertainer.
Although recognised as very bright by his teachers back in London, he was uninterested in school, and by the age of fourteen was working as an office boy for an insurance company when he read an ad in the Daily Telegraph, headed "Boy Actors Urgently Wanted". He applied to the advertisers, the prestigious Italia Conti Stage School, only to discover that the fees were too high. Nevertheless, after a brief audition, he was offered a job as an office boy on a salary of only 30 shillings (£1.50) a week, but also including free tuition at the school. He naturally accepted and his career was to be launched. Whilst serving tea one afternoon he caught the eye of producer Geoffrey de Barkus, who cast Newley as "Dusty" in the children's serial, The Adventures of Dusty Bates.
Career
Newley's first major film role was as Dick Bultitude in Peter Ustinov's Vice Versa (1948) followed by the Artful Dodger in David Lean's Oliver Twist (1948), based on the classic Charles Dickens story. He made a successful transition from child star to contract player in British films of the 1950s (broken up by a short stint in the armed forces), to a top-of-the-pops crooner in the 1960s. During the 1950s he appeared in many British radio programmes and for a time appeared as Cyril in Floggits starring Elsie and Doris Waters. But it was probably the film Idol on Parade that changed his career direction the most. In the film he played a rock singer called up for national service.
He wrote ballads, many with Leslie Bricusse, that became signature hits for Sammy Davis Jr., Shirley Bassey and Tony Bennett. During the 1960s he also added his greatest accomplishments on the London West End theatre and Broadway theatre stage, in Hollywood films and British and American television. In the 1970s he remained active, particularly as a Las Vegas and Catskills Borscht Belt resort performer and talk show guest, but his career had begun to flounder. He had taken risks that eventually led to his downfall in Hollywood. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s he worked to achieve a comeback. He died of kidney cancer at the age of 67, soon after he had become a grandfather.
Music
Newley had a successful pop music career as a vocalist, which started in May 1959 with the song "I've Waited So Long" a number 3 hit in the UK charts thanks largely to the exposure it received as being featured in the film "Idol On Parade". This was quickly followed by his number 6 hit "Personality" and then two number-one hits in early 1960: "Why" (originally a 1959 U.S. hit for Frankie Avalon) and "Do You Mind?" (written by Lionel Bart). As a songwriter, he won the 1963 Grammy Award for Song of the Year for "What Kind of Fool Am I?", but he was also well-known for "Gonna Build a Mountain", "Once in a Lifetime", "On a Wonderful Day Like Today", "The Joker" and comic novelty songs such as "That Noise" and "The Oompa-Loompa Song", and his versions of "Strawberry Fair" and "Pop Goes the Weasel".
He wrote songs that others made hits including "Goldfinger" (the title song of the James Bond film, Goldfinger, music by John Barry), and "Feeling Good", which became a hit for Nina Simone and the rock band Muse. With Leslie Bricusse, he wrote the musical Stop the World - I Want to Get Off in which he also performed, earning a nomination for a Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical. The play was made into a (poorly-received) film version in 1966, but Newley was unable to star in it due to a schedule conflict. The other musicals for which he co-wrote music and lyrics with Bricusse included The Roar of the Greasepaint—the Smell of the Crowd (1965) and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971), based on the children's book by Roald Dahl.
The consensus of critics and fans rates "Pure Imagination", "Ain't It Funny", "Love Is a Now and Then Thing", and "In My Solitude" at the top of the list. Amongst the many compilations now available are Anthony Newley: The Decca Years (1959–1964), Once in a Lifetime: The Anthony Newley Collection (1960–1971), and Anthony Newley's Greatest Hits (Deram).
When he collaborated with Bricusse, they referred to themselves as the team of 'Brickman and Newburg', with Newburg concentrating mainly on the music and Brickman on the lyrics. Ian Frasier often did their arrangements and it has been suggested that his contributions were more extensive than has been acknowledged. For the songs from Hieronymous Merkin, Newley collaborated with Herbert Kretzmer.
The comedy album Fool Brittania, starring Newley, Joan Collins and Peter SellersIn 1963, Newley had a hit comedy album called Fool Britannia!, the result of improvisational satires of the British Profumo scandal of the time by a team of Newley, his then-wife Joan Collins, and Peter Sellers. Newley's contributions to Christmas music are highlighted by his rendition of "The Coventry Carol" which appears on many anthologies. He also wrote and recorded a novelty Christmas song called "Santa Claus is Elvis". And there is a notorious album of spoken poetry which has Newley appearing in the nude on the sleeve with a similarly-attired young model.
In his later years as a mature singer Newley recorded songs from Fiddler on the Roof and Scrooge. He enjoyed his final popular success onstage when he starred in the latter musical which showed in London and toured UK cities including Liverpool, Birmingham and Manchester, in the 1990s. At the time of his death he had been working on a musical of Shakespeare's Richard III.
In May 2010 Stage Door Records released a compilation of unreleased Newley recordings entitled 'Newley Discovered'. The album produced with the Anthony Newley Society and Newley's family contains the concept recordings for Newley's self-penned movie musicals 'Can Hieronymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness?', 'Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory' and 'Mr. Quilp'.
In recognition of his creative skills and body of work, Newley was elected to the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1989.
Acting
The short-lived 1960 ATV series, The Strange World of Gurney Slade, in which Newley starred and also featured Bernie Winters, continues to have a cult following owing to its postmodern premise that the Newley character is trapped inside a television programme. Apart from a repeat of one episode on Channel 4 in 1992, it has not been seen in the UK in recent years. The show's theme tune by composer Max Harris, which was later utilised in the "animated clock" segments on the BBC children's show Vision On, may be better known today than the series itself. The piano figure prominent in the recording was lifted (unacknowledged) from Mose Allison's song "Parchman Farm".
Newley played Matthew Mugg in the original Doctor Dolittle and the repressed English businessman opposite Sandy Dennis in the original Sweet November. He also hosted Lucille Ball on a whirlwind tour of mod London in the Lucy TV special "Lucy in London." He performed in the autobiographical, Fellini-esque and X-rated Can Hieronymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness?, which he also directed and co-wrote with Herman Raucher. He performed in 'Quilp' (based on Dickens's 'The Old Curiosity Shop'), for which he composed some songs ('Love Has the Longest Memory of All'). His last feature role in the cast of the long-running British TV soap opera EastEnders was to have been a regular role, but Newley had to withdraw after a few months when his health began to fail.
Personal life
Newley was married to Ann Lynn from 1956 to 1963, but the marriage ended in divorce. A son, Simon, was born to them but died in infancy from a congenital infirmity. He then was married to the actress Joan Collins from 1963 to 1971. The couple had two children, Tara Newley and Sacha Newley. Tara became a broadcaster in England and Sacha is a renowned portrait artist based in New York and represented by four paintings in the National Portrait Gallery (United States) in Washington, D.C.. Newley's third wife was former air hostess Dareth Rich, and they also had two children, Shelby and Christopher. In an episode of Angela and Friends (Sky One) Tara Newley also mentioned another sister, a third living daughter of Newley's.
Newley had been raised by his mother Grace, and, from the age of eight onward, by his stepfather, Ronald Gardner. Gardner wound up in Beverly Hills working as a chauffeur but soon ran off with another woman. Newley searched, with the help of a detective, for his biological father, George Kirby, and effected a reunion. Newley bought his father a house in Beverly Hills, in the hope that he would reunite with Grace, but this did not happen.
Newley died on 14 April 1999, in Jensen Beach, Florida, from renal cancer at the age of 67. He was said to have died in the arms of his companion, the designer Gina Fratini.[10] He was survived by his five children, a granddaughter Miel, and his mother Grace, then aged 96, who has subsequently died. Since then two more grandchildren have been born: Weston (Tara's second child) and Ava Grace (Sacha's first, with his wife Angela Tassoni).
Newley's life is the subject of a biography by Garth Bardsley called Stop the World (London: Oberon, 2003). Although Newley alluded to some degree of bisexual activity in 1960s in his epic autobiographical film, Merkin, the allegation in the Bardsley biography that he had been "kept" by an older man while he struggled to restart his career in the 1950s was a shock to his fans. In 2007 the actress Anneke Wills published a memoir that details her involvement with Newley just before he took up with Collins, producing a daughter named Polly who perished in a car accident.
OT Saturday: Matt Munro Sings Born Free
(I know that my Kindle readers can't view videos, but I'll just share videos on Saturdays and Sundays, all other days it's business as usual.
Matt Monro (1 December 1930 – 7 February 1985) was an English singer who became one of the most popular entertainers on the international music scene during the 1960s. Throughout his 30-year career, he filled cabarets, nightclubs, music halls, and stadiums in Australia, Japan, the Philippines, and Hong Kong to Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and the Americas. He sold more than 100 million records during his lifetime.
Early career
He was born Terence Edward Parsons in Shoreditch, London and attended Duncombe School in Islington. Affectionately nicknamed "the singing bus driver" (because one of his many occupations prior to achieving fame was driving the Number 27 bus from Highgate to Teddington), he got his first break in 1956 when he became a featured vocalist with the BBC Show Band. An important influence on his early career was the pianist Winifred Atwell, who became his mentor, provided him with his stage name, and helped him sign with Decca Records.
In 1957 Monro released Blue and Sentimental, a collection of standards. Despite the album's critical acclaim, Monro languished among the young male singers trying to break through at the end of the 1950s, many of them emulating Frankie Vaughan by recording cover versions of American hits. (Monro even recorded a version of Vaughan's "Garden of Eden" during this period.) A short recording contract with Fontana Records followed.
By the end of the 1950s, Monro's mid-decade fame had evaporated, and he returned to relative obscurity. He and his wife Mickie lived from her wages as a song plugger and his royalties from a TV advertising jingle for Camay soap. In 1959 he recorded a country pastiche song, "Bound for Texas", for The Chaplin Revue, a feature-length compilation of Charlie Chaplin shorts. It would be the first of many Monro soundtrack themes.
International success
Prior to producing the Peter Sellers album Songs For Swinging Sellers in 1960, George Martin asked Monro to record a satirical ditty to help the comedian imitate the song with a Frank Sinatra-type styling. When Sellers heard the recording he decided to use it to open the record rather than record his own version. However, Sellers billed Monro as "Fred Flange," and though it was a demoralizing experience at the time, the incident developed into a lifelong friendship with Martin, who subsequently asked Monro to begin recording with him for EMI's Parlophone record label. Their second single, "Portrait of My Love," reached number three in the UK Singles Chart.
By the following year, he had been named Top International Act by Billboard magazine, and his follow-up hits included "My Kind of Girl" (1961), "Softly as I Leave You" (1962) and the song from the James Bond film From Russia with Love (1963). For the latter, his vocals were not used in the opening titles, as became the standard for the series; they were heard on a radio during the film and over the final credits. At the 1964 Eurovision Song Contest, singing "I Love the Little Things," he finished second behind Italy's 16-year-old Gigliola Cinquetti, despite an "excellent performance of the only English language song of the night." The Austrian entry "Warum Nur Warum?", sung by Udo Jürgens, caught Monro's ear, despite its sixth-place finish, and he recorded an English version titled "Walk Away" (with lyrics by Monro's manager Don Black), earning him another hit single late in 1964. He also had a hit with the The Beatles' "Yesterday" in 1965, releasing the first single of the most recorded song of all time, predating even the Beatles' own. The following year, Monro sang the Oscar winning title song for the film, Born Free, which became his signature tune. The opening scene for the film The Italian Job featured Monro singing "On Days Like These." These two movie themes featured lyrics also written by Don Black, who started his career as a renowned songwriter when Monro challenged him to pen the English lyric that became "Walk Away." On December 31, 1976, Monro performed Walk Away on BBC1's A Jubilee Of Music, celebrating British pop music for Queen Elizabeth II's impending Silver jubilee.
Monro achieved fame in the United States when "My Kind of Girl" (1961) and "Walk Away" (1964) hit the Top 40. In 1966, following the death of Nat King Cole, EMI moved Monro from Parlophone to Capitol. After relocating to California and recording several albums with American arrangers, Monro returned to the UK and began appearing on EMI's Columbia label, his final U.S. album release being Close To You in 1970. This LP contained the uncharted (in the US) but widely played "We're Gonna Change The World", a semi-satirical song about women's liberation.
He continued touring and recording until just before his death, releasing a single and promoting it throughout the UK and Australia in 1984. In one of his final appearances he praised Boy George, noting the importance of quality recordings in all musical genres.
Death and legacy
Monro died from liver cancer in 1985 at the Cromwell Hospital, Kensington, London, leaving a widow, Mickie, and three children: Mitchell, Michele, and Matthew. Mitchell, a professional pilot, also died of cancer in 2004. A Memorial was held in Harrow.
The twentieth anniversary of Monro's passing spotlighted the continuing interest in his music, with a Top 10 tribute compilation CD (UK), a No. 1 concert DVD (UK), a BBC TV documentary, and an official website all appearing in 2005. A 2007 compilation CD entitled From Matt With Love reached the Top 40 of the UK Albums Chart during its first week of release.
In Autumn 2005 Matt Monro Jr. toured the United Kingdom with a tribute concert commemorating the anniversary. Also, EMI re-released Matt Sings Monro, a 1995 duet album that combined his voice with the senior Monro's. Another posthumous Matt Monro duet, with Cliff Richard, appeared on Richard's duets CD, Two's Company, in 2007.
Monro never recorded a "live" concert album, preferring the technical purity of the recording studio and wanting his public performances to retain an element of uniqueness. However, in the past few years, commercially-released concert albums have emerged following meticulous remastering of radio and television shows, private recordings he commissioned. These include an intimate 1967 cabaret performance from his first tour of Australia; a 1967 BBC concert with Nelson Riddle; a 1966 arena concert before 24,000 fans in Manila; and one of his final concerts, recorded on the last night of his fourteenth and final Australian tour in 1984.
In recent years, many singers riding the resurging wave of retro-pop have cited Matt Monro as a strong influence, including Michael Bublé, Monica Mancini, and Rick Astley. Musicians' biographies regularly note his stylistic influence on their subjects, including Cass Elliot and Karen Carpenter. He continues to feature prominently on radio stations and CD compilations featuring popular easy-listening vocalists.
After a near fatal accident some time ago, daughter Michele decided that she must leave something so that her son would know all about his grandfather and spent 3 years writing a biography of her famous father. The Singer's Singer: The Life and Music of Matt Monro. 656 pages, was released on 29 January 2010 by Titan Books Ltd.
His music
Most of Monro's recordings were produced or overseen by George Martin. Unlike his contemporaries, Monro recorded very few Tin Pan Alley standards during his career. (The exception was Matt Monro sings Hoagy Carmichael, one of his most highly-regarded albums.) Instead, he and Martin searched for material written by promising newcomers and commissioned English lyrics for dramatic melodies written by European composers. He also covered many of the most popular stage and screen songs of the 1950s and 1960s. Over the years, his recordings featured arrangements by Johnnie Spence, Sid Feller, Billy May, John Barry, Buddy Bregman, Kenny Clayton, Colin Keyes, and Martin himself. Monro also teamed up with Nelson Riddle and Billy May for concerts broadcast by the BBC.
In 1973 Monro released a vocal version of the popular Van der Valk TV-series theme titled "And You Smiled". It was his final hit. In 1977 he recorded "If I Never Sing Another Song", which became a latter-day standard among his contemporaries, its lyrics referring to the "heyday" of fan mail, awards, and other trappings of celebrity that had faded for them.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Dated Death in Dr. Thorndyke, Pt 2
The doctor, Jervis, is approached by a coachman, who wants to take him to a patient. But he mustn't know where that patient is.
"Am I to be led to the house blindfolded, like the visitor to the bandit's cave?"
Truth to tell, I'm assuming this is a reference to a popular story pre-1912, but I can't find out what it is. I thought it might be Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves...
"With a muttered anathema on the unknown Mr. Graves and the unrestful life of a locum tenens, I stepped into the uninviting vehicle."
anathema (un-eth-a-muh) : a person or thing detested or loathed: That subject is anathema to him.
Origin:
1520–30; < L < Gk: a thing accursed, devoted to evil, orig. devoted, equiv. to ana(ti)thé(nai) to set up + -ma n. suffix
locum tenens: Locum, short for the Latin phrase locum tenens (lit. "place-holder," akin to the French lieutenant), is a person who temporarily fulfills the duties of another. For example, a Locum doctor is a doctor who works in the place of the regular doctor when that doctor is absent, or when a hospital/practice is short-staffed. These professionals are still governed by their respective regulatory bodies, despite the transient nature of their positions.
The abbreviated form "locum" is common in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and the United Kingdom; unlike in Latin its plural is locums. In the United States, the full length "locum tenens" (plural: locum tenentes) is preferred, though for some particular roles, alternative expressions (e.g. "substitute teacher") may be more commonly used.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Dated Death in Dr. Thorndyke, pt 1
There are many free books available for the Kindle, and I downloaded one of them, entitled The Mystery of 31 New Inn, by R. Austin Freeman (1862-1943). This novel was published in 1912, and so it is loaded with "Dated Death."
The name "New Inn" does not refer to an inn as a rooming house, but rather an "inn of Chancery."
The Inns of Chancery or Hospida Cancellarie were a group of buildings and legal institutions in London initially attached to the Inns of Court and used as offices for the clerks of chancery, from which they drew their name. Existing from at least 1344, the Inns gradually changed their purpose, and became both the offices and accommodation for solicitors (as the Inns of Court were to barristers) and a place of initial training for barristers. The practice of training barristers at the Inns of Chancery had died out by 1642, and the Inns instead became dedicated associations and offices for solicitors. With the founding of the Society of Gentlemen Practisers in 1739 and the Law Society of England and Wales in 1825, a single unified professional association for solicitors, the purpose of the Inns died out, and after a long period of decline the last one (Clement's Inn) was sold in 1903 and demolished in 1934.
The narrator of the story begins by saying that "A couple of framed diplomas on the wall, a card of Snellen's test-types and a stethoscope lying on the writing-table, proclaim it a doctor's consulting room.
A Snellen chart is an eye chart used by eye care professionals and others to measure visual acuity. Snellen charts are named after the Dutch ophthalmologist Herman Snellen who developed the chart during 1862. (Anyone who goes to get glasses takes a test using a Snellen chart, with large letters at the top, gradually getting smaller until only 20-20 viewers can see the tiny letters at the bottom.)
The narrator goes on to say that a "bottle-boy" sticks his head in the door of the room and announces, "Gentleman." As in, a gentleman to see you.
"Sweeps, labourers, milkmen, costermongers - all were impartially, invested by the democratic bottle-boy with the rank and title of armigeri.
Armigeri is a Latin term, meaning, entitled to bear arms. In olden days, only Gentlemen were allowed to carry edged weapons. The weapon for the peasant was a club or long bow. Noble families were armigerous - they had a right to bear arms.
bottle-boy -- Presumably a young lad who separated out the milk bottles to return to the milk man
sweep -- chimney sweep
coster-monger - Costermonger, or simply Coster, is a street seller of fruit (apples, etc.) and vegetables, in London and other British towns. They were ubiquitous in mid-Victorian England, and some are still found in markets. As usual with street-sellers, they would use a loud sing-song cry or chant to attract attention. Their cart might be stationary at a market stall, or mobile (horse-drawn or wheelbarrow).
An explanation of Dr. Thorndyke:
Dr John Evelyn Thorndyke is a fictional detective in a long series of novels and short stories by R. Austin Freeman (1862-1943). Thorndyke was described by his author as a 'medical jurispractitioner': originally a medical doctor, he turned to the bar and became one of the first - in modern parlance - forensic scientists. His solutions were based on his method of collecting all possible data (including dust and pond weed) and making inferences from them before looking at any of the protagonists and motives in the crimes. (Freeman, it is said, conducted all experiments mentioned in the stories himself.) It is this method which gave rise to one of Freeman's most ingenious inventions, the inverted detective story, where the criminal act is described first and the interest lies in Thorndyke's subsequent unravelling of it.
Between 1907 and 1942 Thorndyke appeared in around 60 novels and short stories.
Novels
The Red Thumb Mark (1907)
The Eye of Osiris (1911), published in the USA as The Vanishing Man
The Mystery of 31, New Inn (1912)
A Silent Witness (1914)
Helen Vardon's Confession (1922)
The Cat's Eye (1923)
The Mystery of Angelina Frood (1924)
The Shadow of the Wolf (1925)
The D'Arblay Mystery (1926)
A Certain Dr Thorndyke (1927)
As a Thief in the Night (1928)
Mr Pottermack's Oversight (1930)
Pontifex, Son and Thorndyke (1931)
When Rogues Fall Out (1932), published in the USA as Dr. Thorndyke's Discovery
Dr Thorndyke Intervenes (1933)
For the Defence: Dr Thorndyke (1934)
The Penrose Mystery (1936)
Felo de se? (1937), published in the USA as Death at the Inn
The Stoneware Monkey (1938)
Mr Polton Explains (1940)
Dr. Thorndyke's Crime File (1941) -- omnibus including "Meet Dr. Thorndyke" (essay), The Eye of Osiris (novel), "The Art of the Detective Story" (essay), The Mystery of Angelina Frood (novel), "5A King's Bench Walk" (essay), and Mr. Pottermack's Oversight (novel).
The Jacob Street Mystery (1942), published in the USA as The Unconscious Witness
Short Stories
John Thorndyke's Cases (1909) (published in the United States as Dr. Thorndyke's Cases).
The Singing Bone (1912) (published in the United States as The Adventures of Dr. Thorndyke).
Dr. Thorndyke's Casebook (1923) (published in the United States as The Blue Scarab)
The Puzzle Lock (1925)
The Magic Casket (1927)
The name "New Inn" does not refer to an inn as a rooming house, but rather an "inn of Chancery."
The Inns of Chancery or Hospida Cancellarie were a group of buildings and legal institutions in London initially attached to the Inns of Court and used as offices for the clerks of chancery, from which they drew their name. Existing from at least 1344, the Inns gradually changed their purpose, and became both the offices and accommodation for solicitors (as the Inns of Court were to barristers) and a place of initial training for barristers. The practice of training barristers at the Inns of Chancery had died out by 1642, and the Inns instead became dedicated associations and offices for solicitors. With the founding of the Society of Gentlemen Practisers in 1739 and the Law Society of England and Wales in 1825, a single unified professional association for solicitors, the purpose of the Inns died out, and after a long period of decline the last one (Clement's Inn) was sold in 1903 and demolished in 1934.
The narrator of the story begins by saying that "A couple of framed diplomas on the wall, a card of Snellen's test-types and a stethoscope lying on the writing-table, proclaim it a doctor's consulting room.
A Snellen chart is an eye chart used by eye care professionals and others to measure visual acuity. Snellen charts are named after the Dutch ophthalmologist Herman Snellen who developed the chart during 1862. (Anyone who goes to get glasses takes a test using a Snellen chart, with large letters at the top, gradually getting smaller until only 20-20 viewers can see the tiny letters at the bottom.)
The narrator goes on to say that a "bottle-boy" sticks his head in the door of the room and announces, "Gentleman." As in, a gentleman to see you.
"Sweeps, labourers, milkmen, costermongers - all were impartially, invested by the democratic bottle-boy with the rank and title of armigeri.
Armigeri is a Latin term, meaning, entitled to bear arms. In olden days, only Gentlemen were allowed to carry edged weapons. The weapon for the peasant was a club or long bow. Noble families were armigerous - they had a right to bear arms.
bottle-boy -- Presumably a young lad who separated out the milk bottles to return to the milk man
sweep -- chimney sweep
coster-monger - Costermonger, or simply Coster, is a street seller of fruit (apples, etc.) and vegetables, in London and other British towns. They were ubiquitous in mid-Victorian England, and some are still found in markets. As usual with street-sellers, they would use a loud sing-song cry or chant to attract attention. Their cart might be stationary at a market stall, or mobile (horse-drawn or wheelbarrow).
An explanation of Dr. Thorndyke:
Dr John Evelyn Thorndyke is a fictional detective in a long series of novels and short stories by R. Austin Freeman (1862-1943). Thorndyke was described by his author as a 'medical jurispractitioner': originally a medical doctor, he turned to the bar and became one of the first - in modern parlance - forensic scientists. His solutions were based on his method of collecting all possible data (including dust and pond weed) and making inferences from them before looking at any of the protagonists and motives in the crimes. (Freeman, it is said, conducted all experiments mentioned in the stories himself.) It is this method which gave rise to one of Freeman's most ingenious inventions, the inverted detective story, where the criminal act is described first and the interest lies in Thorndyke's subsequent unravelling of it.
Between 1907 and 1942 Thorndyke appeared in around 60 novels and short stories.
Novels
The Red Thumb Mark (1907)
The Eye of Osiris (1911), published in the USA as The Vanishing Man
The Mystery of 31, New Inn (1912)
A Silent Witness (1914)
Helen Vardon's Confession (1922)
The Cat's Eye (1923)
The Mystery of Angelina Frood (1924)
The Shadow of the Wolf (1925)
The D'Arblay Mystery (1926)
A Certain Dr Thorndyke (1927)
As a Thief in the Night (1928)
Mr Pottermack's Oversight (1930)
Pontifex, Son and Thorndyke (1931)
When Rogues Fall Out (1932), published in the USA as Dr. Thorndyke's Discovery
Dr Thorndyke Intervenes (1933)
For the Defence: Dr Thorndyke (1934)
The Penrose Mystery (1936)
Felo de se? (1937), published in the USA as Death at the Inn
The Stoneware Monkey (1938)
Mr Polton Explains (1940)
Dr. Thorndyke's Crime File (1941) -- omnibus including "Meet Dr. Thorndyke" (essay), The Eye of Osiris (novel), "The Art of the Detective Story" (essay), The Mystery of Angelina Frood (novel), "5A King's Bench Walk" (essay), and Mr. Pottermack's Oversight (novel).
The Jacob Street Mystery (1942), published in the USA as The Unconscious Witness
Short Stories
John Thorndyke's Cases (1909) (published in the United States as Dr. Thorndyke's Cases).
The Singing Bone (1912) (published in the United States as The Adventures of Dr. Thorndyke).
Dr. Thorndyke's Casebook (1923) (published in the United States as The Blue Scarab)
The Puzzle Lock (1925)
The Magic Casket (1927)
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Rewind, by Bruce Kimmel (2005)
Rewind, by Bruce Kimmel. Authorhouse. 2005
Jonathan Goldman is a successful producer of Broadway sountracks. For the last three years, he has run his own company, Twyckam Island, but the money to start up the business was provided by two investors, Dick and Deborah Bowman. There are a couple of thorns in his side; his useless secretary, Paula Finkel; his payroll manager, Bob Noone, who keeps wantinng to be given more things to do for the company, and Deborah Bowman, the bipolar (manic-depressive) woman who thinks Twyckam Island belongs to her and keeps referring to Jonathan as her employee.
Abruptly, however, Jonathan's world goes to hell in a handbasket. Paula quits, after sending him an email in which she accuses him of malfeasance and of inappropriate behavior toward her, and Dick and Deborah Bowman fire him, after finagling the business papers so that his name is no longer listed as an owner of Twyckam Island, but simply as that employee that Deborah had always claimed he was.
His life spirallig out of control - even if he sues the Bowman's he'll lose, as they're wealthy and can afford to keep the suit dragging on in the courts until he's bankrupt - Jonathan decides there's only one way out. He drives his car over a cliff.
Then....the people who caused him such misery begin to die...
Here are the first several paras of the opening chapter:
Bruce Kimmel certainly is in his milieu in Rewind. A former actor (he had guest-starring roles in several sitcoms during the 1970s) Kimmel is also a singer (recording under the name Guy Haines) and a successful record - and now CD - producer. He produeced a hundred or so Broadway albums for Varese Sarabande, then, after they closed their division, he started his own label, Fynsworth Alley, usng start up money from a wealthy couple who were his investors...just like in Rewind.
Indeed, Rewind is semi-autobiographical, as Kimmel relates exactly what happened to him and Fynsworth Alley. His investors forced him out of his own label, they filed a lawsuit against him which almost bankrupted him, and after he was out of the picture they drove the label into the ground with their ineptness. He was driven to despair and felt like killing himself and them... but of course never did so, except in print. (Would that more people would take such a therapeutic step - write their murders instead of commit them.)
Kimmel writes relatively well, though he does have an annoying affectation -- all of his characters repeat themselves. (As for example in the example above, when Jonathan Goldman is talking about his sound engineer:
It would be okay if just one character did it - as for example Jonathan Goldman - as an example of his affectations, but every character does it. (Goldman narrates the first half of the book, but after he drives his car off a cliff, subsequent chapters are narrated by other people...using a technique derived (successfully) from Sunset Boulevard. ) And every character who takes up the narration thereafter does it, too.
For example, here's Brian Levitt:
The book is certainly fascinating in what it reveals about the music business. But, knowing that he's written it based on true events, the characters are somewhat irritating. Useless secretary Paula Finkel, for example. If she was so useless, why didn't he fire her long ago, instead of letting her stick around being useless? Indeed, that would have made more sense. He fires her, and that's what prompts her to send him and the Bowmans the email in which she accuses him of stealing from the company and acting inappropriately with her. But instead, it's her choice to quit, and she writes the email out of sheer vindictiveness.
Bob Noone is simply an inherently dishonest individual. The name "Noone" must be a dig at the real-lfe payroll guy (no one, a nobody) who took over Goldman's company but wasn't any good at the producing end and thus everyone ended up hating him.
But the characters of Dick and Deborah Bowman? Deborah is a racist (he's Jewish) and she's homophobic (his sound engineer is gay) and yet he puts up with her regular stream of abuse instead of telling her to buy him out, or offering to buy them out? Doesn't say much for Goldman's character.
Kimmel has written another mystery for mature readers - Writer's Block, and two mysteries for kids featuring the character Adriana Hoffstetter. He publishes them all himself, through AuthorHouse, although this must not be held against him. The books are professionally edited, and while Kimmel's affectations and his ego can get a little wearing, the mysteries themselves are well-written. I think its simply Kimmel's desire to have complete control over his work that makes him publish the books himself, not that they're unworthy of being purchased by a "real" publisher - although said publisher might have given him an editor who could have gotten him to tone down his repetition schtick.
Unfortunately the prices for the boois are a bit high.... I'd be willing to read the Hofstetter books if I could get them for $6 a piece, but not for $15!
Jonathan Goldman is a successful producer of Broadway sountracks. For the last three years, he has run his own company, Twyckam Island, but the money to start up the business was provided by two investors, Dick and Deborah Bowman. There are a couple of thorns in his side; his useless secretary, Paula Finkel; his payroll manager, Bob Noone, who keeps wantinng to be given more things to do for the company, and Deborah Bowman, the bipolar (manic-depressive) woman who thinks Twyckam Island belongs to her and keeps referring to Jonathan as her employee.
Abruptly, however, Jonathan's world goes to hell in a handbasket. Paula quits, after sending him an email in which she accuses him of malfeasance and of inappropriate behavior toward her, and Dick and Deborah Bowman fire him, after finagling the business papers so that his name is no longer listed as an owner of Twyckam Island, but simply as that employee that Deborah had always claimed he was.
His life spirallig out of control - even if he sues the Bowman's he'll lose, as they're wealthy and can afford to keep the suit dragging on in the courts until he's bankrupt - Jonathan decides there's only one way out. He drives his car over a cliff.
Then....the people who caused him such misery begin to die...
Here are the first several paras of the opening chapter:
It was excruciating. She was on her fifth take; her pitchy singing and her interpretation of the song was, to put it in the nicest possible way, putrid. Suddenly, she stopped singing.
"Sorry, I need more me. Is that possible?" she asked, adjusting her headphones for the umpteenth time.
I looked over at my long-time engineer, Marty. My long-time engineer Marty was staring at the console, looking like he was about to throw up the cannelloni he'd had for lunch.
"She needs more her," I said.
Marty looked at me with his usual Marty look - the look of someone who was troubled with constant constipation (he wasn't - it was just his look). "I can give her more her until her ears bleed-it ain't gonna help."
I pressed the talkback button. "More you coming up," I said, with as much niceness as I could muster.
Marty turned a knob on the console, rewound the tape and started the track up again. The voice of Teddy, the conductor, came over the speakers, counting off -- "One, two, three," and, a beat later, the band played a four-bar intro. Callie dove into the song. Unfortunately, it wasn't a song you should dive into; it was a gentle song, a sweet song, a tender song, and she was singing it as if she was Olivia de Havilland in The Snake Pit. The vocal quality was laden with heaviness and darkness and weirdness, not tomention too much volume.It was stultifying, and it had been stultifying since take one. She stopped again.
Bruce Kimmel certainly is in his milieu in Rewind. A former actor (he had guest-starring roles in several sitcoms during the 1970s) Kimmel is also a singer (recording under the name Guy Haines) and a successful record - and now CD - producer. He produeced a hundred or so Broadway albums for Varese Sarabande, then, after they closed their division, he started his own label, Fynsworth Alley, usng start up money from a wealthy couple who were his investors...just like in Rewind.
Indeed, Rewind is semi-autobiographical, as Kimmel relates exactly what happened to him and Fynsworth Alley. His investors forced him out of his own label, they filed a lawsuit against him which almost bankrupted him, and after he was out of the picture they drove the label into the ground with their ineptness. He was driven to despair and felt like killing himself and them... but of course never did so, except in print. (Would that more people would take such a therapeutic step - write their murders instead of commit them.)
Kimmel writes relatively well, though he does have an annoying affectation -- all of his characters repeat themselves. (As for example in the example above, when Jonathan Goldman is talking about his sound engineer:
I looked over at my long-time engineer, Marty. My long-time engineer Marty was staring at the console, looking like he was about to throw up the cannelloni he'd had for lunch.
It would be okay if just one character did it - as for example Jonathan Goldman - as an example of his affectations, but every character does it. (Goldman narrates the first half of the book, but after he drives his car off a cliff, subsequent chapters are narrated by other people...using a technique derived (successfully) from Sunset Boulevard. ) And every character who takes up the narration thereafter does it, too.
For example, here's Brian Levitt:
A week after the funeral I got a call from James Bedford telling me the Bowmans were dropping the lawsuit. If I was willing to drop the countersuit, we could all just sign off and be done with it. While I would sincerely have loved to take that bitch to court, we all signed off and were done with it.
The book is certainly fascinating in what it reveals about the music business. But, knowing that he's written it based on true events, the characters are somewhat irritating. Useless secretary Paula Finkel, for example. If she was so useless, why didn't he fire her long ago, instead of letting her stick around being useless? Indeed, that would have made more sense. He fires her, and that's what prompts her to send him and the Bowmans the email in which she accuses him of stealing from the company and acting inappropriately with her. But instead, it's her choice to quit, and she writes the email out of sheer vindictiveness.
Bob Noone is simply an inherently dishonest individual. The name "Noone" must be a dig at the real-lfe payroll guy (no one, a nobody) who took over Goldman's company but wasn't any good at the producing end and thus everyone ended up hating him.
But the characters of Dick and Deborah Bowman? Deborah is a racist (he's Jewish) and she's homophobic (his sound engineer is gay) and yet he puts up with her regular stream of abuse instead of telling her to buy him out, or offering to buy them out? Doesn't say much for Goldman's character.
Kimmel has written another mystery for mature readers - Writer's Block, and two mysteries for kids featuring the character Adriana Hoffstetter. He publishes them all himself, through AuthorHouse, although this must not be held against him. The books are professionally edited, and while Kimmel's affectations and his ego can get a little wearing, the mysteries themselves are well-written. I think its simply Kimmel's desire to have complete control over his work that makes him publish the books himself, not that they're unworthy of being purchased by a "real" publisher - although said publisher might have given him an editor who could have gotten him to tone down his repetition schtick.
Unfortunately the prices for the boois are a bit high.... I'd be willing to read the Hofstetter books if I could get them for $6 a piece, but not for $15!
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