duaneiac

Out of curiosity, I looked at the list of the Academy Awards' Best Original Song winners & nominees. There are only 2 winners since 2000 that I would definitely know: Bob Dylan's "Things Have Changed" (2000) and the aforementioned "Let It Go" (2013). I might recognize "It's Hard Out Here For A Pimp" (2005) if I heard it again, but I'm not sure. Almost every other song from those years -- even from movies I saw -- is a total blank. I don't know if any of the other Oscar winners were a hit, but they meant zippo to me. Admittedly, I am older and have not seen a lot of the movies the nominated songs come from -- haven't even heard of some of the movies. Out of more curiosity, I looked through the list to see what was the last year I knew all of the nominated songs. As further proof of my old fogeyhood, I had to go all the way back to 1984. Without checking, see if you can guess which of these 5 nominated songs won the Oscar that year: "Against All Odds" "Footloose" "Ghostbusters" "I Just Called To Say I Love You" "Let's Hear It For The Boy" It may be significant that in 2005 and 2008 the Academy could only scrape up 3 songs to nominate -- and two of 2008's songs came from one movie, Slumdog Millionaire. In 2011, there were only two nominated songs!! Imagine how much it must have stung to be on the losing end of that! Sorry, Sergio Mendes, but you should have known better than to go up against the Muppets.

How many "hit" tunes come from musicals anymore? What was the last Broadway "hit" tune? "One Night In Bangkok" perhaps? That actually made the charts and got a lot of radio airplay back in the day. i can't imagine jazz musicians being in a rush to record an instrumental of that, though. And about the only "hit" songs from movies recently seem to come from Disney movies. Does any one even remember which songs won the "Best Song" Oscar for, say, the past 10 years (other than parents who had small children and will never be able to "Let It Go").?

"I Remember Clifford".. One of the greatest "love" songs ever composed. Gets me every time.

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What better way to spend a sunny summer day than outdoors at Event # 14 -- The Sand Rally The final race, after the two qualifying races, was one of the most thrilling contests so far this year. I was actually on my feet cheering and clapping. For the Crazy Cat's Eyes, Ol' Blue Eye was just about purrrrrfect.

I still assume that only those musicians (or their estates) who have the most dogged accountants and lawyers working for them get paid their due royalties since the recording companies certainly hire the most dogged accountants and lawyers to "prove" that no royalties are due.

This is a really good movie, perhaps even better than the original one. It has a fairly decent story, but it's the outstanding performances by William Marshall and Pam Grier that really stand out here. Although folks may snicker, I think he justifiably could have been nominated for a Best Actor award that year for this performance. In the hands of a less powerful and dedicated actor, this whole film could have devolved into a schlocky horror movie or a campy mess. Mr. Marshall gives a performance of dignity and depth that really "fleshes" out the title character and anchors the entire film. The climax of the film is a really well directed and edited sequence. At Blacula's request, Ms. Grier's character is performing a voodoo ceremony in an attempt to rid him of the vampire curse once and for all. Intercut with this are scenes of the police raiding the mansion Blacula is using as his base, as they do a room to room search looking for (and unfortunately, for many of the officers, encountering) the squadron of the living dead our anti-hero has already created. It's all set against a dramatic voodoo drums rhythm and builds the suspense very well. The music is credited to Bill Marx. I assume that was Harpo's kid.

James Moody famously sang "Benny's From Heaven". I think there is a version of it on his Telarc CD called Moody's Party. Even knowing the bit ahead of time, it was hilarious hearing him perform it in person. I think he also sang on his Mancini CD, perhaps "I Love You and Don't You Forget It".

He sang more than "rarely", yet less than "frequently", so I guess Buddy Rich qualifies as an occasional singer Two, of many, sides of Carla Bley:

One of my favorite Ed Asner/Lou Grant scenes -- he and Mary attend the wedding of Lou's ex-wife Edie: And stick around for the jazz related concluding scene!

Ed Asner, the most awarded actor in Emmy history, has passed away at the age of 91. https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/ed-asner-emmy-winning-lou-174012833.html Why do I feel like we should all start singing "It's A Long Way To Tipperary"?

Mr. T. H. E. Cat Stevens The second one may be pretty obscure to any one under 50 -- it's from a short-lived 1960's TV show

Another vocal favorite by Mr. Mulligan is his holiday tune, "It Must Be Christmas" (not available on YouTube).

"New" old music. I got a smile from the CD face made to resemble the 1970's era orange RCA Victor record labels, right down to the "dynaflex" logo.

A great Password moment from 1965. The celebrity players are Jim Backus and Natalie Schafer, Thurston & Lovey Howell. The Password is "Shipwreck" (audience titters) First player's clue to Mr. Backus is "Gilligan" He replies, "Island". The other contestant's clue to Ms. Schafer is "Catastrophe" After a brief pause, she replies, "Television". Audience erupts.

Event # 12 this year is Diving Kind of a ho-hum viewing experience, IMHO. As far as I'm concerned, this event should be called "Sinking", after the similar feeling the Crazy Cat's Eyes are giving me at this point of the games. Event # 13 is the Elimination Race This is a more action-packed event as the competitors race down a course filled with obstacles and booby traps. The last one out is not only a rotten egg, they are also eliminated. There is a new team atop the standings after this event. A special tip of the hat should go to the Thunderbolts, who despite having won only one medal in all the events, currently occupy the fifth position on the leader board. Through hard work and solid consistency, the Bolts have proven they are no flash in the pan.

I guess Marty Grosz, now 91, is the only surviving member from these sessions. Anybody know how he's doing these days?