February 20, 2012

Hello, and thanks for dropping by our little corner of the cyberworld.  Welcome to Week 40 of this feature, which, I’m proud to say, now appears in more computers than in any other household appliance.

Watched the 136^th (I think) Westminster Kennel Club dog show from Noo Yawk  a few days ago.  It’s always good entertainment and usually provides a few laughs, too.  Oh hey, speaking of laughs, find a copy of the movie ‘Best in Show’, which is a hilarious take-off on dog shows. The movie came out about ten years ago, but I’m sure you could still find it at the many on-line video sources.

Anyway, even after watching this show for some years now, we still can’t figure out why the preferred method of presenting the hairier dogs is with a full down-to-the-floor coat. It just looks weird. Some of these pups look like big industrial floor cleaning mops, instead of dogs.  I really doubt that anyone in the real world lets their dog’s coat grow that long.  For one thing it’s a monumental chore  to keep a dog like that clean, and you can’t convince me that the dogs themselves like it that much. A long coat hampers their natural movement, interferes with their vision and attracts grunge.  Of course, being the pampered pets they are, maybe they stay in dust-free hermetically sealed doggie apartments.

We were rooting for the Dachshound or the Dalmatian to win this year, but the top honors went to a Pekinese, which looked for all the world (sorry, Peke fans) like some creature from outer space or maybe one of those hairy sea creatures that hang around coral reefs.  I’m sure he is a wonderful dog, but he just doesen’t LOOK like one.

Trivia results are on the way shortly.  First, here’s a few more tunes from my all-time favorites list. Someone commented again the other day on the variety of music that I like. Well, it’s just because I’ve been blessed by exposure to a lot of different types of music in my growing-up years, and I’ve always been grateful for that. From the big band collection my Dad had, to my many years in broadcasting, to the classical concerts we’ve attended, to summer band concerts in the courthouse square, it’s been a 50 year feast. Music is one of the beautiful things in life, and I can’t wait to hear something new tomorrow.

1.  ‘You Make Me Feel So Young’  by Frank Sinatra. One of Frank’s best from his great mid-1950s period when he was working with Nelson Riddle and other top shelf talent.  On this recording he just sounds happy with his sound and life in general, which was somewhat of a rare occasion in his turbulent personal and professional life.

2.  ‘Money’ by Barrett Strong.  This was Motown’s first big chart hit in ’61 (written by founder Berry Gordy) and it was prophetic, because that’s what Motown became as it nurtured the budding careers of dozen of artists, many of whom are still contributing to that great legacy today.  I have a couple of music ‘shrines’ I’d really like to visit someday, and Motown’s original Grand Avenue studio is one of ‘em.

3.  ‘Midnight Train to Georgia’ by Gladys Knight and the Pips.  Man, what a monster hit in 1973. Everywhere you went you heard this song: on the radio, tv, in clubs, restaurants, comin’ out of the woodwork, for all I know. Not only a perfectly written song, but it was sung with great authentic feeling by Ms. Gladys, backed up, of course, by her guys, who were doin’ some slick dance moves behind her whenever they performed it on tv.

4.  ‘Patricia’  by Perez Prado. There were a lot of international hits in the 50s and 60s, and one of the most notable was this nifty little goodie by Perez, who grew up in Cuba, but had most of his success later in Mexico and the USA.  This song is an instrumental with an irresistible latin-jazz rhythmn punctuated by Prado’s organ playing.  Listen and watch on YouTube.  You’ll be dancin’ before long.

5.  ‘Cloudburst’ by Lambert, Hendricks and Ross.  One of the most amazing jazz vocal performances by a trio, ever, period. The main vocal is done by Jon Hendricks, who crams more words into two-and-a-half minutes than you would think humanly possible, with perfect articulation at breakneck speed.  I first heard this in the 60s when my brother belonged to the Columbia Record Club and I’ve loved it ever since. LH and R’s tight vocal style inspired a lot of vocal groups, most notably Manhattan Transfer.

Lots of good replies to our Trivia questions this week. Let’s get to the results. Jean Clair came through with the right answer to the business question: it was Action Sports that was originally located in the 1600 block of Main. Kevin Mauler got it, too, but a little later than Jean.  Dean guessed Fiat, which was part of the old Spruill Motors complex at 16^th andMain. Laurie guessed Goss Insurance and  Dana Dawson guessed Great Bend Floral.  Good job, all. Terry Keenan had the music question answered in about two seconds: The group was The Four Seasons, (formerly the Four Lovers; I’m not kiddin’) who took their name from a New Jersey bowling alley. Which would have made them ‘alley cats’, right Joe Boley?

No reply to the Italian immigrant question. Hint: this entrepreneur, who was inspired by Henry Ford’s production methods, went on to build his own ‘transportation’ empire—for kids.  What was his name or the name of his product? (It’s still around.)

Well, the 1600 block of Main thing reminded me of another question.  What was the name of an appliance store (1970s-80s) in that same block?

And here’s another question about famous groups with not-so-famous former names:  what famous group’s earlier name suggested a big hole in the ground?

Have a good week. ‘Til we meet again next Monday, I remain your humble radio servant…

John