duaneiac

New album due out October 25 --

And long may John Prine live, I say.

I kinda wish that, say after the Mary Poppins album, there had been a Duke Ellington Plays Thelonious Monk album, a mix of big band, small group, trio and solo piano tracks. I would love to have heard the Ellington band, with either Paul Gonsalves or Johnny Hodges as soloist, play "Ruby, My Dear".

AND a good record to go with it!

The king of one-hit wonders must have been vocalist Tony Burrows who sang lead on all of these:

First time seeing this (it's on Youtube) and I'm happy to report it's not as bad as I expected. It's not good, but I've sat through worse movies. Of course, I'm willing to forget a lot of cinematic faults for just the few minutes here of Harry Nilsson singing the gorgeous "Remember". Why hasn't this bit of Beatles ephemera been given the full Criterion Collection treatment?

I seem to recall the music video for "I Love L.A." getting a fair amount of broadcast time back in the day, so I'm sure the song got exposure. But would folks living in Des Moines, Savannah, Altoona or even New York City really rush out to buy a song telling them how great L.A. is? I'm guessing that song was not a very big hit in San Francisco.

According to Wikipedia, "I Love L.A." failed to chart on the Billboard Hot 100.

I can't find any record of another Top 40 hit for Randy Newman. I would have thought "You've Got a Friend In Me" would have been a modest hit for him, but I can't find any proof that it made a US Top 40 chart. I know that seems kind of odd, but think about it. Are songs like "Burn On", "Political Science, "Rednecks" or "Louisiana 1927" really Top 40 audience material? His songs make people think and thinking is hard. Instead of listening to songs which might make them question the world around them and their own place in that world, most folks would rather listen to "Me and You and a Dog Named Boo" It seems unfair to label Randy Newman as a "one-hit wonder" though. To me, that term defines a performer/band that will be remembered (if they are remembered at all) for just one record, one moment where everything feel into place and Fate took them on that rocketship ride to fame and quickly back to obscurity. Randy Newman will be remembered long after King Harvest (and man, I do love "Dancing In The Moonlight"!) is forgotten. His contributions as a songwriter are even greater than his legacy as a recording artist. And one Top 40 hit ain't bad. How many Top 40 hits did Jimmy Webb or Leonard Cohen have as recording artists, after all? Now, onto a real one-hit wonder: Gosh, he sure looks like an early prototype of Dr. Teeth!

Disc 1 & 2 of 2.

Here's what I love about movies in the 1940's. They could take Hedy Lamarr and George Sanders and cast them as characters in a story set in 1850's Maine and no one would question the fact that they both have these odd, definitely non-Maine accents. Hedy Lamar is cast as a poor but bad girl (named "Hager", not even "Lindquist" or something which might have explained the accent) who grows up to be a woman who uses her feminine wiles to move up in the world by getting men (including a father & son duo) to do her bidding and, frequently, marry her. George Sanders is cast as a lumberjack. Let that sink in for a moment. Maybe this film was steamy stuff in its day, but it's pretty tepid tea today.

Little Augie Rios would say, "Si!".

Those last three songs sure brought back some memories. Unfortunately, those memories would not have included the performers' names , so thanks for giving them each another moment of fame.

It's been great to be reminded of some really great songs mentioned here. "Sweet City Woman" -- my older brother had that 45 when we were kids. I haven't heard that song in a long time. And "Walkin' My Cat Named Dog" -- I 'm sure I haven't heard that tune in a couple of decades! I had thought about including The Weathergirls in my original post. I had the pleasure of seeing them perform twice back when they were big (pun semi-intended) -- once on a bill that included A Flock of Seagulls and The Thompson Twins! I think to qualify as a "hit" a record needs to at least make it to the Top 40 charts. I've never heard of either of those other John Fred & HPB songs. Not sure how much airplay they got back in the day. That "Hey Hey Bunny" song sounds like it would have been a great Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels record.

A generous 25 track compilation which includes the namesake album (which included Tommy Flanagan and Jo Jones) from1959 along with tracks which find Ms. Osborne in such company as Mary Lou Williams, Beryl Booker and Coleman Hawkins.

And the set up for one of the best (and/or cruelest) lines ever on The Simpsons: