My Musical Evolution – Part 33 Scratchy 45 Days

I just had a thought that might explain the revival of the Shaving Cream song. Ray Stevens’ The Streak was getting a lot of airplay and recognition. Record companies were probably scrambling to get on the funny song band wagon. Just a theory.

While I did believe that Shaving Cream was a great song and it appealed to my second grade sense of humor [which was about to be influenced by PBS and Monty Python’s Flying Circus] the B side of that record had what I thought was an even more clever word manipulation song. I’m going to start this stack of 7 with Benny Bell’s The Girl From Chicago. This is also an example of why I have such disdain for the 99 cent download a song philosophy. Had I just downloaded Shaving Cream, I  never would have found this great unexpected surprise of a gem.

Benny Bell – The Girl From Chicago


What makes some things so memorable? I can distincly recall the day that mom bought me Ray Stevens’ The Streak. We were at Ayr-Way, remember Ayr-Way? It was over by the mall and years later would morph into Target then later get torn down and rise up again as Super Target. Well, we were at Ayr-Way and mom bought The Streak, Billy Joel’s Piano Man and a puzzle with a picture of Frankenstein’s Monster.
Frankenstein Puzzle

The puzzle was for me obviously. As you might have noticed, monsters have long been a personal favorite of mine. The peculiar thing about this puzzle was that it was not in the typical box but a can. Guess what I just found? for those of you that are contemplating your own journey back in time, I highly recommend bing.com’s image search. In less than a mnute, I found this image.

So why do I remember this? Did something traumatic happend at the Ayr-Way that day? I don’t seem to recall anything. I remember going home and listening to The Streak a few times then retiring to the puzzle while mom listened to Billy Joel. Maybe that was enough. It has been around forty years since then but still, Frankenstein, The Streak and Piano Man are still cosmically linked together. This won’t be the last time that several songs are connected together or with another event, perosn or object. Maybe it is just a function of the human mind to put things into little boxes. Do we have any analysts in the audience? Use the comments section below if you can shed some light on this.

Ray Stevens – The Streak

Billy Joel – Piano Man

Bobby Sherman – Julie Do Ya Love Me

Who would win in a fight between Bad Leroy Brown and Jim? Jim Croce – You Don’t Mess Around With Jim

Simon & Garfunkel – Mrs’ Robinson

The Fortunes – Here Comes That Rainy Day Feeling Again

My Musical Evolution – Part 32 Scratchy 45 Days

So we’re back to the hits of the 70’s. I hope you enjoyed the side trip into classical. I also hope that I’m painting a good enough picture of the diversity of music in my early years. I think this diversity has not only been with me my entire life but has broadened significantly over time. At the moment, I think there are really only a few genres that I avoid. The Gangsta Rap stuff and the Whiny Country Music but even those are subsets of music that I still enjoy. I hope you like this stack of 7.

Ahh, when Smokey sings, I hear violins. Still no relation to the bear. Smokey Robinson – Tears Of A Clown

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band – Mr. Bojangles

Andy Kim – Rock Me Gently.  I used to really like this song a lot. Can’t put my finger on why.

We used to watch Mac Davis’ TV show. I don’t remember much about it except my favorite part was when he’d go to the audience to get subjects for songs that he’d make up on the spot. I did that myself many years later. My songs were more like Weird Al Yankovic songs. I’d take the subject supplied by firends and create a song about it to the tune of a popular or familiar song. I once did a mashup [before I ever heard of mashups] of the Beverly Hillbilly’s Theme and The Beatles Paperback Writer. Mac Davis – Baby Don’t Get Hooked On Me

The Carpenters – Sing

I was in Menard’s yesterday and Love Rollercoaster was on the overhead sound system. This was probably one of the first songs I remember talking about in school. There was all this buzz about the scream. Stories ranged from homicidal to paranormal. you can check it out for yourself at the 2:32 mark. Was a woman being stabbed? Of course in Menard’s I had to stop and listen for the scream. Thinking about it now, it might have been the scream you hear when somebody is riding on a rollercoaster. The Ohio Players – Love Rollercoaster

I don’t know why this song suddenly made resurgance around this time but it did and of course it appealed to any boy in elemntary school. Benny Bell – Shaving Cream

My Musical Evolution – Part 31 Spotlight Operas

I feel fortunate to have been exposed to classical music all my life. For the longest time, my cousin was a ballerina. I may not have recognized the impact that would have at the time but going to all those ballet performances got me cultured. I didn’t realize how much until just a few years ago. A channel on FiOS TV would broadcast ballet perfomances every week. As I surfed by, I’d stop for a moment to take note of the music or the cosutmes or the configuration of the dancers [typically numbers and genders mix] and be able to identify the ballet being shown. Like a parlor trick this would slightly amaze my friends and family. But I digress. Here is the last stack of classical for now, but there will be lots more in a decade or two.

Tritsch Tratsch Polka. Maybe it is my German heritage but I’ve always been fond of the occasional Polka. You’ll see.

Piano concerto No. 1

Dance Of The Comedians

Turkish March

O Fortuna. My CD of this has the english adaptation of the lyrics. I say adaptation because it was not a literal translation. They are pretty interesting. At one point I had it memorized. It went something like this:

O fortune
like the moon you are changing
Ever waxing and waning
Hateful life
first opresses and then soothes as fancy takes it
Poverty and power, it melts them like ice
Fate
Monstrous and empy
You whirling wheel, you are malevolent and well being is in vain
and always fades to nothing, shadowed and veiled
you plague me
now through the game
I bring my bare back to your villiany

What do you think about that?

Orpheus In The Underworld

I bet you all recognized that even if you didn’t know it was Offenbach.

In the Hall Of The Mountain King

My Musical Evolution – Part 30 Spotlight Operas

It seems that mom’s classical records were focused more on the large booming brass overtures and far different from the classical music that I would come to love later on in life. I’m saying that these are good pieces, just that I ended up preferring the more relaxing classics. What started with Disney’s Nutcracker adaptation evolved.

More Nutcracker

Radetzky March

Anitra’s Dance From Peer Gynt

Ballet From Faust

Dance Of The Clowns

Minute Waltz

Barber of Seville. It is so hard to not hear Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd singning over this music. In the 1990’s when I got the CD Bugs Bunny On Broadway wait, I’m getting ahead of myself. Remind me later.

My Musical Evolution – Part 29 Spotlight Operas

I’m going give you a break from the top AM radio hits of the 70’s to take you in a different direction. you might recall me mentioning that mom had a couple dozen LP albums. You know about the Disney stuff and Frankie Laine. She also had a couple of classical compilations. One was 4 or 5 records in a box with a title like 50 Classical Overtures, or 50 Classical Masterpieces. you know something like like that. I did a quick image search on Bing.com but didn’t see anything familiar.

There were times when my sisters and I would dig out these classical albums and perform whatg I’m going to call Spotlight Operas. We would turn off all the lights in the room and tip the table lamp on its side to create an effect similar to a spotlight. We’d put the classical albums on the record player and take turns in the spotlight acting out humrous dances or lip syncing to the classics.  It doesn’t sound that funny in a couple of sentances but we thought it was hilarious and would laugh our butts off to the classics.

March of the Toreadors

Sabre Dance

Hungarian Dance

!812 Overture. I keep wanting ti stick in an “a” between Over and Ture. Don’t no why that it is.

Ride Of The Valkyrie

William Tell Overture. Hey isn’t this the Lone Ranger Song?

Flight Of The Bumblebee. I think it is great how this piece captures the natural flight of the bee in music. Well done.

My Musical Evolution – Part 28 Scratchy 45 Days

When I was living in Vermont, we used to substitute “Saxtons River” for “West Virginia” it just seemed natural. Great song as were many of John Denver’s songs.

John Denver – Country Roads

The Righteous Brothers – Rock And Roll Heaven

The 5th Dimension – One Less Bell To Answer

Olivia Newton-John – If Not For You

The Carpenters – Rainy Days And Mondays

Jim Croce – I’ll Have To Save I Love You In A Song

The Jackson 5 – ABC

My Musical Evolution – Part 27 Scratchy 45 Days

So we continue sorting through mom’s 45s. I apologize if this seems tedious to you. I realize that there are a lot of them and these are only the ones that I can remember. Granted I probably remember most of them but I’m sure that when all is said and done and we move into The KISS Age, there will be several that will have slipped through the cracks. I am only trying to be thorough and present the musical explosion that I experienced at that time.  Here is the next stack of 7.

The Kingston Trio – Where Have all The Flowers Gone I have always had an inexplicable emotional attachment to this song.

Hmmm, did you catch Andy William’s in that clip? I find it fascinating that he keeps popping up.

Three Dog Night – Joy To The World

I don’t think I’d be too keen on accepting wine from a bullfrog even if he was a good friend of mine.

Carly Simon – You’re So Vain

For the longest time, I thought that song was about me. Carly Simon was one of the artists that mom liked enough to make it to album status. In the 80’s I actually bet on some horses at Saratoga. I didn’t win big but I did consciously think of this song when I was there. Up to that point, I didn’t make the connection with “Your horse naturally won.”
 
The Mamas & The Papas – California Dreamin’

Maybe if Mama Cass and Karen Carpenter got together back then they might both be with us today.

The Jackson 5 – Rockin’ Robin

Jim Croce – Bad Bad Leroy Brown

America – Horse With No Name

America was all over the radio back in the day but mom only had this one song as I far as I remember. When I bought their greatest hits on CD in the 80’s I recognized all of those songs but we’ll get to that later.

My Musical Evolution – Part 26 Scratchy 45 Days

Mom really could pick them.

Olivia Newton-John – Please, Mr. Please

Paul McCartney & Wings – Uncle Albert / Admiral Halsey

Steely Dan – Do It Again

The Carpenters – Hurting Each Other

It is hard to listen to Karen Carpenter without thinking about how insidious anorexia is. So sad.

The Partridge Family – I’ll Meet You Halfway

Helen Reddy – I Don’t Know How To Love Him

The 5th Dimension – (Last Night) I Didn’t Get To Sleep At All

My Musical Evolution – Part 25 Scratchy 45 Days

How many of mom’s 45s have we heard so far? We still have quite a few ahead of us. As I think about these old somgs and sample them on YouTube, i can’t help but feel like I’m dong one of those informercials for a Time-Life CD collection of 1970’s hits. Those really were great songs and they really were great times. If you wanted to collect all of these amazing musical memories, you could expect to pay thousands of dollars but thanls to Time-Life, this whole collection can be yours for 4 easy monthly payments of #39.95!

Does every generation feel this way about the music of their youth? Twenty years from now will somebody be writing about how awesome Can’t Touch This was? Am I imagining it? Am I biased? It just seems that there was a very different quality to the music that came out of the late 60’s and early 70’s. I’m not saying it was all better. I think there has been really good music produced in every single year of my life. There just seems to be something distinct different about these 1970’s hits. Here’s another stack of 7 to think about.
 
 
The Guess Who – These Eyes
 

 
The Association – Cherish
 

 
Olivia Newton-John – I Honestly Love You
 

 
I can remember an evening when my mother was trying to transcribe the lyrics to this song. Today I’d just use Bing.com to find the lyrics but back in the 70’s we didn’t even have touch tone phones. Mom would play the record over and over writing down the words as she heard them. There was one area where it was a little obscure and we couldn’t quite make out what she was saying. “There you are with yours and here I am with mine. So I guess we’ll just be-????” What was that last bit? If my mother is reading this, according to numerous online lyrical databases, it goes like this.

If we both were born
In anoother place and time
This moment might be ending in a kiss
But there you are with yours
And here I am with mine
So I guess we’ll just be leaving it at this

We weren’t even close.
 
Seals & Crofts – Diamond Girl
 

 
Chicago – Saturday In The Park
 

 
Jim Croce – Time In A Bottle
 

 
Blood, Sweat & Tears – Spinning Wheel
 

 

My Musical Evolution – Part 24 TV Theme Songs & Movie Records

Island At The Top Of The WorldIt all started with Hawaii Five-0 as you know. Then those Disney records where they adapted their movies to album form. Back in the 1960’s and into the 1970’s these adaptations were the only way to bring these movies home from the theater. Remember, there weren’t DVD’s or even VCR’s back then. So records like this, Island At The Top Of The World were the closest thing. They would take the soundtrack music, the dialog and sound effects and try to recreate the films on the record. Occasionally, there would be an accompanying book with illustrations but mostly it was imagination only. I wonder if it was having records like this as a child that led to my interest in dialogue and ability to memorize the spoken word. We had Island At The Top Of The World back in the 70’s and I had accidentally memorized it. When I saw the movie again a year or so ago [It was in the $5 bin at Wal-mart] I was surprised that I could repeat so much of the dialogue.

When Star Wars came out, I had seen it so many times that I could repeat every word from every scene from beginning to end. It was kind of like Fahrenheit 451 only with movies instead of books. My sister Bethany did the same thing with Empire Strikes Back. All we need was Barbara to pick up Jedi and we’d have the set but she went Manilow instead.

Anyway, from the Disney seed grew this attraction to film scores, and Television theme songs. Don’t be surprised when they keep showing up.
 
Welcome Back Kotter
 

 
Happy Days
 

 
Laverne & Shirley
 

 
The Monkees. The Monkees will show up again when I’m at Vermont Academy. This is why.
 

 
S.W.A.T. – S.W.A.T. was the first time that I can remember seeing an M-16 and I wanted one.
 

 
The Partridge Family
 

 
Baretta