It's Been a Little While.....

It's been a little while but there are a couple if things that I would like to get off my chest.

1. This came up completely out of the blue, but apparently JImmy Kimmel is teaming up with Norman Lear to produce a one off special recreating episodes of All in the Family and The Jeffersons. With an all star cast that includes Woody Harrelson, Marisa Tomei, and Jamie Foxx amongst others. I don't know what to feel about this. On one hand, why go to the trouble of recreating episodes? Why not just show the old ones? (I know, I know, MILLENIALS SCARED OF LOW DEF!) IN addition to that, I know that the Brits tried this a few years ago and it didn't work ( the one I quickly looked at was Are You Being Served? and it was ghastly). On the other hand, Norman Lear is involved so obviously it raises the bar of the quality of this production.

One thing I beg of Kimmel and Lear. No Trump jokes. After all, Donald Trump wasn't even in the public consciousness when these classic shows aired. Now they could skip around that point by alluding to Nixon, who clearly was around and doing some of the same things Trump has been claimed to have done (Thanks Mueller Report!). Either way. I'm sure they are going to get a shot in somehow, but how they do it needs to be handled with the class that these shows entail. I wish them good luck in their endeavor.

2. Random one I had just now, but did you know that Star Wars is older than the last time France used the guillotine to execute someone? France last used the guillotine in September 1977, a few months after Star Wars came out. Huh

3. I'm still annoyed that the Mister Rogers documentary wasn't nominated for an Oscar. I understand that the creator, Morgan Neville, won the Oscar the year prior, but still? Nominations should go to the best candidates. And I think that that film, while basic in style, was very effective and powerful in telling its story. But I think Tom Hanks, playing Fred Rogers later this year in a film, will nab and Oscar nom in a way of repentance (and the fact that he is an incredible actor).

4. A ton of injuries happening in baseball (which the Yankees seem to be the victim of the most) and we keep hearing how trained these athletes are  and how brittle they are. There has to be a way to be strong and flexible at the same time. A long time ago, baseball players were not creatures of muscle. They were skinny guys, fat guys etc. But they were limber and pitched and hit without giving full effort all of the time (most of them anyway). In that way, they were able to last longer in their careers and suffered fewer injuries. In addition to this, because of free agency, players don't have to take second jobs like they used to and spend the time lifting weights now. Whatever it is, a balance has to be made, otherwise we are going to see a lot more of the Michael Conforto (2 years ago) and Aaron Judge (today) like injuries.

Rutbreaker: The Title Sequence of "Working Girl"

 As usual with my random searches and delvings into the endless pit of who knows; I do not how how I landed on this particular thing. But I am glad that I did. I had a passing knowledge of the 1988 movie Working Girl, Melanie Griffith played a secretary in New York and the title song "Let the River Run" won an Oscar and it was composed by Carly Simon.

I will add to that list that it has one of the best opening title sequences for a movie that I have ever seen in my life. Without further adieu, here it is; the opening of Working Girl:

My God. It's wonderful. And I will tell you why it's wonderful:

1. The song "Let the River Run" won the Oscar and a single was released with Carly Simon singing the main vocal. The song doesn't work that way. It works better with a chorus of voices, especially since I believe it was meant to be a kind of jungle spiritual, with New York as the jungle. The version in the opening is perfect and exact.

2. Look at the actual camerawork. It's one continuous shot around the Statue of Liberty and to the Staten Island Ferry to come up alongside it.  I'm sure that with a steady-cam, which probably existed by the last 80s, you could do this from a chopper or small plane. Nowadays, people might not bother and just use CGI for it. It is a brilliant piece of camerawork, and should be remembered alongside other great like sequences in film history (the restaurant entrance scene in Goodfellas comes to mind).

3. Looking in comments underneath the title sequence, it seems to hearken back to a more meaningful time not only for the city but for the country. Unfortunately, you can see a big difference when the camera comes up on the ferry and you see the Twin Towers, in their commercial glory. The 80s in New York were documented in other movies such as Wall Street and they illustrated the dark points of the city. This sequence seems to show it as a magnificent palace, where the impossible can and will happen. So it worked on many different levels, not just being a pretty image, but also at the psychological level.

This title sequence does everything that you need a title sequence to do and it does it in a simple elegant matter. Very impressive and definitely worth remembering

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The Day That March Went Mad

We all have a compulsion for underdog stories and great theater, which is why the NCAA Tournament, commonly known as March Madness, is very popular. However, this year's edition did not really feature much madness, even though Duke was trying like hell to provide it. (Why didnt Johnny Dawkins have UCF foul up 3?). So I have decided to tell a tale from yesteryear in order to fill that sense of chaos. A story of March 14, 1981: The Day That March Went Mad.

At that time, the tournament was at NBC, and they were covering games in the original regional style that CBS was doing up until their partnership with Turner Sports. These games were also not staggered so that they ended up ending at the same time. The first salvo of this insanity took place in Dayton when #1 seed DePaul (No, this is not a typo) was facing #9 seed Saint Joseph's. The game was close all day and with 12 seconds left, DePaul had a one point lead and the ball. St. Joe's had no choice but to foul Skip Dillard, an 85 % FT shooter, and send him to the line for a one and one. Remember this is before the advent of the 3 pointer, so if Dillard hit both, the game would have been iced. Bryant Gumbel with the highlights to start and Don Criqui has the call:

Ray Meyer came close a few times but never won a title with DePaul and after his retirement, his program slowly sunk into the nothingness that DePaul currently is. 

And this was just the beginning.

The second and third acts of this "madness" took place almost simultaneously, which would force NBC to use its technological prowess. The two games were #5 seed Arkansas vs #4 seed Louisville (the defending champs) and #8 seed Kansas State vs. #1 seed Oregon State (again not a typo). Both of these games were close. Louisville had just taken the lead with 6 seconds to go, while KSU and OSU were tied with 90 seconds to go (Also remember, the NCAA would not introduce the shot clock for another 5 years so teams could just dribble and shoot with no urgency).

So NBC did something very bold. They switched away from the L'ville game to the K-State game for a few seconds as Arkansas was in a time out. They stayed there for 30 seconds as K-State had the ball and was dribbling, then went back to the end of the L'ville game. Marv Albert was on the call and this transpired.

                                 

US Reed would make plenty of due on that one shot. And Arkansas sent the defending champs home to bed. But what about the other game? Well, NBC switched back to that game. Jay Randolph is on the call, and THIS transpired.

                                      

Within a minute of each other, NBC had captured two of the greatest buzzer beaters in the history of college basketball and did it deftly. Oregon State, under Ralph Miller, would also get close and fail to reach the top. Incidentally,  if you listened to Jay Randolph closely, he also mentioned that #3 seeded UCLA under Larry Brown also lost that day to #6 seed BYU.

While most people credit the 1979 NCAA final between Larry Bird's Indiana State Sycamores and Magic Johnson's Michigan State Spartans as the crux of college basketball's popularity in modern culture, I think this day does more because it provided the fever pitch that we are used to in the NCAA tournament. It's a place where any team on any day can lose and that is what makes it truly mad. It was not seen this past weekend. but hopefully we can see some good college basketball in the next round of games beginning on Thursday.

For more information on this particular day, read Tim Layden's SI article about the day and the broadcasting around it

https://www.si.com/more-sports/2012/03/14/1981-madness

Talk to you soon.

The Venerable Venable

In this new year, I have discovered that I have a new "obsession", which is probably a wrong word for it but it will have to do for now. I have found myself watching QVC and more specifically, the shows hosted by this man:

His name is David Venable and he is QVC's resident food expert. When I was younger, and my sister can attest to this, I went through a Food Network phase, before they became all competition shows. and I suppose I am going through the same kind of thing here. I never thought that shopping television would be entertaining but this man makes it so. First off, he looks like a frickin' Muppet in human form. The second thing is that he seems to enjoy what he is doing. I mean, it probably must be draining to be selling stuff all the time; I have experience in this department.

But David seems to have fun exploring the different products, no matter how boring they are, and making them seem important, no matter how specialistic they seem to be. And especially when he tries different types of food. This is where he seems to shine:

           
                                         

As with a lot of my trends, I discovered this guy by accident. I was studying infomercials and I was looking at Ron Popeil doing a demo on QVC with his turkey fryer. I don't know how I connected to him at first, but now I know why I stay. Each program goes about 2-4 hours and it is just simple television. You just are entertained. And no, I haven't bought anything from his show; but it is entertaining to see him sell to people with excessive incomes who are desperate for food related frivolities. It has become my new pastime.

Tough Goings On

The last month or so, there have been some major things happen in my life for the worse. A couple of them are family related so I don't wish to go into them at this present time. I do want to talk about the third one, because even though it seems out of left field, it isn't. And I will tell you why.

About a half hour ago, Alex Trebek revealed that he had been diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer. He is going to try and fight, but the odds are long.

This news hits me pretty hard, I even teared up a bit. Because this man has been on my TV screen basically my whole life. When I was young, I watched Jeopardy! a lot. In our old playroom/living room we had a couch that was a 2 piece couch and it was shaped like an "L". Whenever J! (for brevity) came on, I would go behind the couch that was not back against the wall and basically choose the contestant that I would want to win. And I would stand there and press down on the top of the couch like a buzzer. And hopefully the contestant whose place I was standing in, won.

I've gone off and on when it comes to watching J! but all I know is that it has always been there. And along with that, he has always been there. The brainy quizmaster who plays it straight yet has a very wry sense of humor. I may go into more detail about him, if (hopefully) and/or when the time comes. But it's just sad that rocks of your existence begin to crumble. Eventually it would happen anyway, but out of the blue like some of these things can be a bit much. And I know it's kind of stupid to call a game show host a rock, but he has always been there. And it just seems to add a bit to the entropy that has gone on in my life,

Of course, prayers to him and his family. I hope he wins.

Thank you.

Greg's R&R HOF Nominee #4: Kool & The Gang

The Members:

-Robert "Kool" Bell  (Bass)       -Ronald Bell (Tenor Sax)                                                                        -George Brown (Drums)            -Claydes Charles Smith (Guitar)
-Larry Gittens (Trumpet)           -Clifford Adams (Trombone)
- J.T.Taylor (Vocals)                   - Robert "Spike" Mickens (Trumpet)
-Michael Ray (Trumpet)

To be honest, Kool and The Gang is kind of the impetus for this whole series of posts. Of the four nominees that I have listed, they are the one nominee that, at least for me, I can't understand why they aren't in already. So they kind of started this process for me.

Kool and the Gang formed in Jersey City in the mid 60s, but it wasn't until the early 70s that they would score their first big success. It was the age of funk and R&B and KATG (which they will be named for brevity in this post) scored their first 2 top ten singles with "Jungle Boogie" and "Hollywood Swinging".

However, their stay at the top would not last long as funk went out of style in the mid-70s and disco began to dominate the charts. It is at this point, in 1979, that KATG makes a decision that would prove to be a masterstroke. Up till the point, they had been more of an instrumental band, with no major vocalist. That was about to change when they hired J.T. Taylor to be their lead vocalist. He gave their music a voice. In addition, they tweaked their funky style to fit the lighter pop and disco era that was booming. And lo and behold, they were on a roll. They had 3 major top ten singles in this stretch: "Ladies Night" "Too Hot" and arguably their biggest hit and the song they are most remembered for: "Celebration"

                                    

And this time, as music styles shifted again, and disco went out of style, KATG was ready and quickly shifted to more of a soft rock style as they entered the mid-80s. And the top hits kept on coming with songs like "Fresh", "Misled" (more on that one later), "Cherish" and my personal favorite song of theirs; "Joanna"

                                         

They would have 2 more Top Ten Singles in "Victory" and "Stone Love" before J.T. Taylor decided to leave KATG to start a solo career and essentially the prime period of KATG ended. There is no question that they had Hall-worthy success: 21 singles in the Top 40 over the span of their prime period. In fact, from 1980 to 1986 they had more top 40 singles than the King of Pop, Michael Jackson.

In terms of accolades, they won 2 Grammys and 7 American Music Awards. And, perhaps a sign that their time might be coming soon; KATG, through the Bell Brothers, Taylor, and George Brown, were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2018. So maybe in a couple of years they might be entering the R&R Hall of Fame, but honestly, they should be in already. And for the life of me, I don't really understand why they aren't in.

 -Are they not in because they turned away from straight funk to produce more pop style/light music? Look at Chicago and they change they made in the early 80s led by Peter Cetera and Dave Foster. And they eventually got in.

-Are they not in because they are not considered rock enough? Similar band and well deserving candidate Earth, Wind and Fire are in; they got in in 2000. Now, they were one of the major innovators in the funk category, but they did not have great commercial success in the 80s while KATG managed to survive and flourish. 

Plus I should add this. People think selling out is garbage and shameful. To me, there is a difference between crappy shlock and quality shlock, and if you want to say that KATG sold out, you would have to admit that most of their pieces are quality shlock.

The Two Songs:

The two songs I have chosen to represent KATG show their ability to change throughout the years. First is the massively under renowned instrumental piece "Summer Madness" This was made in the middle of their pure funk period in 1974 and it showcases their use of synthesizers and smooth jazz. The sound reminded me of Pink Floyd and what they would do with long musical pieces, especially "Shine on You Crazy Diamond" except this has the funk of KATG in tact

                                     

The second song I have chosen comes from the mid 80s and it shows that KATG can indeed pull off a rock song, especially for that time. It is the 1985 Top Ten hit, "Misled":

                                     

Who would have thunk that KATG could pull off a great rock and roll style guitar riff that could have come from any popular 80s rock band (too many to name). Anyway I think this song, more than anything shows that KATG do indeed belong in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Because they have the success credentials and, despite what people think, they do know how to rock.

Thank you for joining on this musical journey. Please Please contact me at Facebook, @UnitedWhofans on Twitter or in the comments section below if you want more of these types of things and any other bands you want to suggest. Thank you very much.

           

Greg's R&R HOF Nominee #3: The Monkees

-Mike Nesmith

-Peter Tork

-Davy Jones

-Micky Dolenz

The Monkees being in the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame has been a debate for ages and ages. A lot of people have written petitions and spoken out about it but they are still not in. The reason for that is believed to be that most people view the Monkees as a "fake" band. Which you can argue they were, at least at the beginning.

The Monkees were created around a sitcom premise that they were a struggling band trying to be the Beatles. The show was a success both with audiences and critics, winning the Outstanding Comedy Series Emmy in 1967. Along with that show success came musical success. Their first 4 albums reached #1 and their 5th reached #3. In terms of singles, 6 of their first 7 made the top 3 in the US charts and the one that didn't reached #2 in the UK.

But in time, the series wore down and so did the records. The show was canceled after 2 seasons and soon their music began to fall out, partially assisted by the movie Head, which is now a cult film, but poorly received at the time. They recorded up until 1971, eventually starting to write their own music.

Now if that was where the story ended, then I don't think there would be much of a case for them. 

However....

In 1986, MTV And Nickelodeon began rerunning the Monkees TV show and all of the sudden, the Monkees were hot again with a brand new generation of children and perhaps some people with nostalgia. The Monkees, who had gone seperate ways for the most part, toured again and released a new single "That was Then and This is Now" which reached #20 on the charts.

                                 

Another interesting thing happened. The production company tried to do the whole thing over again with "The New Monkees" Never heard of it? There's a reason. It was gone in a blink of an eye. What it shows is that the Monkees themselves were not built in a mold. You just couldn't copy them over. It speaks to their individuality outside the machine. Ever since then the Monkees have been remembered very fondly by the public and by musicians in general. The thing that I find most interesting is that the Monkees gained respect from the very people that they were built to imitate in the first place; The Beatles. John Lennon famously told Mike Nesmith that the Monkees were the greatest comedy act since the Marx Brothers. And even Ringo had some fun with them.

                                 

Now the fan respect for the Monkees is all well and good but that still doesn't make them Hall-worthy even for me. So I have to look to the music. For the past two entries I have picked two songs that I believe makes them stand out. The two I have for the Monkees is a classic and new song. The classic is "Daydream Believer"

                               

It was written by The Kingston Trio's John Stewart, who said it was supposed to be about suburban life and emergence from a haze of two lovers. From reading these past lists, you know that I like songs that have hidden meanings. Especially hidden behind glossy fronts. But in this case, the glossy front becomes a bit scratched if you listen to the chorus. You can hear a touch of melancholy in the voice of Davy Jones as he sings "Oh, what can it mean?"  It is a brilliant touch and what propels this song above their others in my opinion.

Davy Jones passed away in 2012, which led to another little rise of interest in the Monkees. In 2016, the surviving members, including Nesmith, who most Monkee fans know is a bit aloof when it comes to the Monkees, recorded a new album called Good Times! to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Monkees. The album went to #14 on the charts and was critically lauded and raved. I picked this second song because it shows the craftsmanship of their musical talents in terms of what they can pull off. The song is called "Me and Magdalena"

                                  

It is a great harmonical piece by Nesmith and Dolenz, written for them by Ben Gibbard from Death Cab for Cutie. And it speaks to a simpler time in life. It sounds like it comes out of that time where the Monkees came from.

Now to the opposition. Clearly in the beginning they did not write their own songs, and still don't much. Who cares? Bernie Taupin's lyrics combined with Elton John's melodies brought him to stardom. People write for other musicians all the time. The other complaint is that they did not play instruments in the beginning. That I believe is true because the show was the primary outlet. But as time went on, they began to become confident with instruments and learned to write songs for themselves and play their own tunes. They became a proper band. Unfortunately, by the time they grew into it, the fad died out and they were done.

At least it seemed they were done, when in fact they were not. The fact that their legacy has lasted so long and they have become more and more respected over time and they have created good music to this day shows that they are a proper band and should qualify for the Rock and Roll HOF.

Next week, the final installment in this round of my nominees: Kool and the Gang

If you have ideas for nominees at a later date and if you want this to continue, please let me know in the comments or on my Facebook page