Graduation Day

The Crew Cuts were a Canadian boys group popular when I was a teen.  Today I was trying to get the cd player in my clock radio to work, and pulled their disc from a Lakeside appearance a few years back. It worked after some button experimenting. Graduation Day wasn't their hit (it was Four Freshmen), but it came on. It was a 50s do-wap collection. Made me sort of sad for all the graduates who didn't get their big day.

With Mom in the dining room at 4 S. Hannah.  She was 45 and I was 17.

Rolling in the deep is 9 years old? 2011?

When I was a teen, we had to go to the furniture store to buy records.  Listening to a popular song that was 9 years old would have meant—well something from the mid-40s I couldn’t relate to, so I was surprised to see that Rolling in the Deep, 2011, Adelle, was from 2011, and that I actually knew some of these titles of Best of the 2010’s.

And who could forget Happy, 2014,  Pharrell Williams.  It seemed to be everywhere.  And you really did feel happy after listening to it. Terrific video with great cameos.

Uptown Funk, 2015, Bruno Mars.  Yes, I remember this one. It was a great song, and I’m not sure how I heard it—maybe bumper music on the Fox channel?

I don’t remember Love Yourself, 2016, Justin Bieber, although I seem to remember the line about my mom doesn’t like you and she likes everyone. But what a great video—fantastic choreography.

The Shape of You, 2017, Ed Sheeran, I remember from when the Lifetime Fitness played videos—on and on and on and on.  That one seemed to be on all the time when I joined in 2018.

So I did know a few from this real live Dairy Queen’s blog. https://www.dairycarrie.com/2019/12/31/top-10-songs-of-the-2010s/

Michael Stanley at Lakeside

Last night the program at Hoover was Michael Stanley and friends. ?? No, we'd never heard of him, but he was big in the late 70s and 80s, disbanding his MSB in 1986. He's sure popular around here (Hoover was packed) and he's still working in the Cleveland area on TV and radio. The group had a fabulous pianist, 3 guitars, 2 drummers, and our own wonderful Eddie Caner on violin who grew up in Lakeside. I'm surprised that violin didn't catch on fire he was so hot.

For years the rules at Hoover were no food or drink, but icy bottled water was being sold--perhaps because of the heat. First time I'd seen that. Not sure that's progressive or regressive. It's a huge clean up problem when that starts, and bottled water can't be good for the environment.

My Crazy Ex-girlfriend

I noticed a comment about the CW TV show "My crazy ex-girlfriend" (written, produced, and acted in by Rachel Bloom), so I looked it up and watched part of one episode and read the description (sort of a musical comedy). Everyone is in therapy or sexually confused. Millennials, I think. Is it just a big joke about the culture or is it leading the culture? However, the music is great.

So I watched 3 episodes and sort of got to know the very strange characters, watched an explanation of how the music was written, and then. . . begin to like it.  Then learned 2018 is the last of the series because it’s not doing that well in the ratings.

https://www.cwtv.com/shows/crazy-ex-girlfriend/i-will-help-you/?play=834fff6e-2c14-4185-bc6f-bc7d8816d1f8

Roy Clark (April 15, 1933 – November 15, 2018)

Charles Aznavour wrote "Yesterday when I was young," my favorite recording of Roy Clark, who died this week at 85. Clark was a popular Country Western star, yet this song was a "cross over" and one of his most popular recordings.  We used to watch Clark and Buck Owens on "Hee Haw" and occasionally using Roku find a channel replaying the early years of that popular show.

"I ran so fast that time and youth at last ran out,
I never stopped to think what life was all about
and every conversation I can now recall
concerned itself with me and nothing else at all."

Aznavour died just about six weeks ago at 94.  His last live concert was September 19, 2018.

Clark singing it when he was young. . . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEY4LxORCeo

And when he was old. . . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfnUIC2-1q8

Aznavour singing it. . . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEjoVg07rIE

Mike Huckabee wrote in his newsletter today: 

"Those who worked with Roy Clark remembered him fondly as a kind, generous, friendly and humble man, always smiling and appreciative of others’ talents.  That decency shone through to TV audiences, as well. Clark once said, "A TV camera goes right through your soul. If you're a bad person, people pick that up. I'm a firm believer in smiles. I used to believe that everything had to be a belly laugh. But I've come to realize that a real sincere smile is mighty powerful."

He may be best remembered as the longtime host of the cornpone comedy series, “Hee-Haw,” but fellow musicians were in awe of his talent on multiple instruments, particularly banjo and guitar.  He could play just about anything, as he proved on stages from Branson, Missouri, to the Grand Old Opry, to the Boston Pops, Carnegie Hall and the Rossiya Theatre in Moscow, where he was one of the first American entertainers to perform in the Soviet Union."

Céline Dion - The Power Of Love

Sometimes we old ladies think nothing beautiful came out of modern popular music, and although this is no longer new, especially not for the 18 to 21 year olds, I think it is powerful, lovely, and one of the best of the 1990s.  The power of love.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8HOfcYWZoo

http://www.celinedion.com/ca/home

I think she, Lady Gaga and Adele (especially Rolling in the Deep) are better than anything made by women in earlier eras of popular music.

So much better than Doggie in the Window, or It’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to.  Agreed?

Lyrics aren’t so great, but you can’t beat Gaga for performance and glamor. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4Gwc6XBgQ4

Rolling in the deep by Adele

Best scorned lover song of all time, cross overs galore--blues, pop, disco--including the ocean from England to U.S. Such a talented singer/song writer.

And a darn good cover by this little gal and her mother.

A painful twang at least to my ears

So many singers have this sound: someone is sitting on his chest to place a clothes pin on his nose.
It seems to be both secular and religious genre. Latest one I heard was on Catholic radio, but that painful twang can be heard just about universally, with either acoustic or electric guitar, whether singing to God or the girlfriend.

4 chords, 36 songs

Do the songs all sound alike to you? Maybe they are. Here's a fun way to review a little recent music history.



HT Opining Online

A blog about prisons

I've been in a number of prisons, not as a prisoner, but as a visitor primarily following the same guy through the system until after seven years or so he was "shock parolled" after his 5th wife was murdered by her boyfriend leaving a baby to raise. I guess the parole board thought he was the guy to do it. The reason he had a baby was that he had escaped in the prison garbage truck and they left town together.

Yesterday the Conestoga group met at the Ohio Historical Society (now open only on Saturdays due to budget cuts by the state) to hear David Meyers talk about the local music scene. Wonderful presentation with great photos. David has over 4,000 pages of manuscript on this topic and a huge rare record collection--that's sort of what a fascination with local history can do. But he has also written about Ohio's prisons, and his latest book is out. While checking that web page I came across his blog, Central Ohio's Historic Prisons. Because of Dave's encyclopedic interests in music, records, film, prisons, local history (he also worked on Columbus Unforgettables series now out of print), screen writing, religion and family, he somehow manages to merge all of them in his blog--with photos. See the record labels about the great Ohio Penitentiary fire, April 21, 1930! And did you know the Professor of psychology at OSU who coined the term "moron" was once the coach of the USC Trojans? It's all on Dave's blog. Ah, a blogger after my own heart.

He's also on Facebook, and a member of UALC for you locals.

Lakeside yard sales

I was headed for the Erie Road Mkt to buy milk and oj and just had to pass two yard sales! Got 3 fabulous CDs for $3--Sweet And Lovely: Capitol's Great Ladies Of Song with Keely Smith, Sarah Vaughan, Julie London, Peggy Lee, and others; Mary Chapin Carpenter (whom I heard live here at Lakeside in the 90s before she became famous); and a Glenn Miller. Also a one volume Bible dictionary for $1, and a midwestern garden book for $1 (I don't garden, but benefit from our son's special touch with plants). But on the way back with my treasures I passed a cottage with a laundry basket of Pfaltzgraff Yorktowne pottery for $10.00. We have more than enough dishes here at the cottage, also in blue and white (Currier and Ives), but this looked good to me. I tried to pick it up (put the money in the coffee can because the owners weren't there) and couldn't even budge it. I drafted the two young boys across the street to watch it and help load it in my van, and I came back with the car.

I think there are 5 dinner plates, a bunch of saucers, 3 cups, 6 sandwich plates, sugar and creamer, large pitcher, 4 soup bowls, serving platter and a serving bowl. I think they might be seconds, the stamp on the bottom is not clear on some, but for a cottage that's fine.

And the laundry basket was included in the price!

If disco had lasted longer. . .

Maybe we wouldn't have an obesity problem?
Boogie, Oogie, Oogie. Taste of Honey.



HT, 2nd cup of coffee