Friday Forgotten Song: Castles in the Air

In the 1975 film adaptation of James Grady's first novel, the re-titled Three Days of the Condor, Kathy Hale (Faye Dunaway portraying the reluctant 'draftee' to Robert Redford's Joe Turner) says something that decades later continues to strike a chord with me:

"Sometimes I take a picture that isn't like me. But I took it so it is like me. It has to be. I put those pictures away."

The printed photos of desolate city scenes ("lonely pictures", says Turner) in her apartment catch the protagonist's attention, and for which he finds telling. That they are personal in a way that's difficult for her* to share is obvious in those scenes. Such is the case with the song of this forgotten post.

This post has been updated and moved to my current blog, found here.

Friday Forgotten Song: You Only Live Twice

With this week's passing of one of the all-time great film composers, John Barry (1933 - 2011), you'll understand why I sought one of these forgotten posts out. Having scored so many memorable films through his well recognized four-decade career -- including The Lion in Winter, Midnight Cowboy, Body Heat, Dances with Wolves... ah, hell I even list the splendid one he did for Out of Africa here (and I don't even like the film outside of its music and Streep's performance) -- a number of the tributes to the man by bloggers are covering many of the prominent tracks associated with Barry. I highly recommend the blog salutes by friends John Kenneth Muir , Steven Hart, and christian highlighting why this famed English music arranger/composer mattered so heavily in cinema.

The rest of this post has been updated and moved to my current blog, found here.

Friday Forgotten Song: Cherry, Cherry by Neil Diamond

In the wake of Neil Diamond finally making it into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this week (along with a great and worthy set of inductees for 2011), I had to put something together for the occasion. But what was I going to spotlight here? I mean the man had so many friggin' hits in his career, many of them marshaling me through my teen years and the caldron that was high school, how could I pick just one and be representative? Who cares that many dismissed his work for so long because they thought it only epitomized the 'soft' side of rock and regulated it to the 'pop' for the era. They miss the point entirely by not acknowledging how superb his discography (and talent) is in point of fact, or how far-reaching its influence. Besides that, many of my relatives simply worshipped the singer/songwriter/performer. For good reason, too. So I had pressure to make this count. In the end, it came down to what I've played the most of recent. And it's a song I only re-discovered a short time back.

This post has been updated and moved to my current, which can be found here.

Friday Forgotten Song: Everyone's Gone To The Moon

There are songs, if I happen to catch them on radio or the web, that can instantly transport me back to another time. Place doesn't much matter since the time machine remains all in my head to begin with. Random access memory via grey matter, all byway of music and lyrics. For instance, I can find myself back in the 90s whenever I come across Santana's Smooth (or other tracks from that album) -- all of this care of my wife because she brought the CD home one day. Sci-fi Fanatic has been sending me back to the 80s recently with his thoughtful music posts (Cutting Crew's Been In Love Before will do that to me). Just so I don't forget surviving the 70s, Macca and Wings' Band on the Run (along with How Long by Ace) will not let me leave behind that troublesome span. And if pressed, I will say it is Coldplay's Viva La Vida that does it for the 00s.

This post has been moved and updated to my current blog, which can be found here.

Friday Forgotten Song: Our Winter Love

You can ask my kids about this fact, but I have a soft spot for the old music instrumentals that were once more common on the radio and music charts back in the decades of my long gone youth. One of my long time favorites, from 1963, is the Bill Pursell performed Our Winter Love. It remains a hauntingly beautiful melody, IMO. Outside of the Percy Faith's version of Theme from A Summer Place, it is the one instrumental tune I most fondly associate with the 60's.

This post has been updated and moved to my current blog, which can be found here.

Friday Forgotten Book, Film, & Song: 4th of July Edition

In honor of the upcoming 4th of July holiday, I decided that a forgotten post was warranted (plus giving credit to blogger pattinase's excellent Friday Forgotten Books series). Because we're into the second half of the year, and have a three-day weekend, I thought this one should be a triple-header, as well:

Book: During my earlier Stephen King-reading years, if it had his name on it, even in reference, it got my attention. Whatever it was. In the early 80's I came across a recommendation by Mr. King about a certain book he thought was pretty ferocious. It was titled Red Dragon. Later, the publisher would begin advertising it with this quote by the famed writer of horror:

"The Best Popular Novel to be Published in America Since The Godfather"

As Vincent Vega would put it, "That's a bold statement." Its author, Thomas Harris, I recognized as the one who wrote the thriller Black Sunday (I'd seen the 1977 film and subsequently read the book it was based upon). Hmm... If it piqued the horror-meister's awareness, perhaps that 1981 book was worth reading... I innocently thought.

This segment has been updated and moved to its own post on my current blog, found here.

---

Film: During the mid-70's, in my condensed stint as a movie theater projectionist, I had the pleasure to show The Great Waldo Pepper for a one-week period in '76. I've never forgotten it. Since someone in their right mind over at Universal is finally releasing this underrated film in a widescreen version come August (fans have had to live with the crappily cropped Goodtimes Home Video disc for years), I'm spotlighting it here. This is director George Roy Hill's homage to the aerial barnstormers of yesteryear, as told through another remarkable William Goldman screenplay. The film's wonderful story also contains some of the best aerial photography around, and more than a few of its stunt flying sequences have got to be seen to be believed. Plus, it's great to watch the results of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid collaborators Hill, Goldman, and Redford again. For me, director Hill really knew how best to deploy Robert Redford on film (perhaps, even better than Sidney Pollack did). It's well worth catching.

Song: You're a Friend of Mine remains one of my favorite One Hit Wonders. Written by Narada Michael Walden/Jeffrey Cohen and released in 1985, I appreciate this unlikely duet (Clarence Clemons and Jackson Browne) for its sheer joy and exuberance with regard to friendship (one of the good qualities of the blogosphere, too). Not to mention, it has that telltale and unashamedly 80's vibe to it that makes it one infectious tune to listen to. Having Jackson Browne's then girlfriend singing in the music video is not a bad thing, either. If you're interested, the song's lyrics can be found here.

I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe holiday weekend.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Friday Forgotten Song: Linda Ronstadt's Long, Long Time

One of my all-time favorite ballads. From Linda Ronstadt's second solo album, Silk Purse, 1970.

Friday Forgotten Song: Three for the Weekend

Image by matt_in_a_field via Flickr

With an abnormally busy weekend in front of my wife and I (including an overnight school camping trip with my daughter + wedding reception [wife], and a Saturday night birthday party to take my son to at Universal Citywalk [me]), I thought today's forgotten post needed to be a triple-header. Though, the selections proved to be far easier than I'd have expected. First, let me state for the record that I've never have been into the television phenomenon known as American Idol. My wife and daughter are for sure, and sometimes my son. It's not that I haven't seen it (you can't live in the same house with the first two and not be exposed to it). It just doesn't interest me, normally. However, inspired by the great recent review by PCN, for the first selection I chose the great Curtis Mayfield and The Impressions song from 1965, People Get Ready. Covered by a host of singers (including the girl who'll probably win Idol this year, Crystal Bowersox) from Dusty Springfield to Alicia Keys, The Everly Brothers to Bob Marley, a song just doesn't get any better than this:

Next, with TCM scheduling their inaugural Classic Film Festival in Hollywood over this same weekend, I'm really going to be fighting fatigue to make some of the great classic films being presented at this fest. Check out what local film blogger Dennis has on his post for the event. Should I choose the Singing in the Rain tune since that film is on the festival schedule? A Judy Garland song from A Star is Born? How about any of the Bee Gees' tracks that reached #1 from the soundtrack of Saturday Night Fever (How Deep Is Your Love, Stayin' Alive, or Night Fever)? Any of those would be good stabs for the following selection. But if you know me, you know that my all-time favorite film is being shown (twice) during this event. The 1942 Michael Curtiz-directed, Casablanca. With all due respect to the stirring La Marseillaise dueling song sequence in the film, for me the second forgotten song has to be As Time Goes By, sung by the great Dooley Wilson, as Sam:

Of course, with blogging friends Jen and Christine flying in (and Pop Culture Nerd trekking in from the Valley), the majority of my time during Saturday's daylight hours will be spent at the L.A. Times Festival of Books. We'll be getting together (at book panels and/or the book signings) with authors like Robert Crais, Gregg Hurwitz, Sophie Littlefield, and others we know or haven't yet met. And after all of that (plus the birthday event), I don't think I'll get to see my entire immediate family back together until around 10 - 10:30 PM that night. Then come Sunday, we'll get up as a clan and head out to the book fest, once more. Whew... I'm tired already just typing about it. So, for all of this excitement and goings on, there really is only one song that epitomizes all of this (and will be the final forgotten). It is 1983's I Love L.A. by songwriter, arranger, composer/singer, Randy Newman. It remains the unofficial song of this city -- at one time, city officials tried to get Frank Sinatra's version of L.A. is My Lady instituted as such. There is no way I could ever see that song played at a local sporting event. No frakkin' way! That will not ever happen, IMO. There really is only one song for L.A., and this 80's tune still embodies it:

Have a great weekend everyone (I know I will).

Powered by ScribeFire.

Technorati Tags: Los Angeles, forgotten song, Casablanca, Curtis Mayfield

Friday Forgotten Song: The Supremes - Stoned Love

Way back when, I had friends who'd argue endlessly about the quality and achievements of their favorite musical groups in comparison with others. None more so than with those groups that transitioned with new members over the years. The music labels were not about to let go of a popular (money making) group name just because the lead singer would go on to a solo career (which they also managed). And when that group was The Supremes, excuse me... make that Diana Ross & The Supremes, it could lead to an endless source of vocal disputes among my friends. I always felt the talented singers that came on to the group post Diva Diana got the short end of the stick. They had to compete with the legacy of all of those 60's hits for this Motown girl group that successfully crossed over to Pop. Plus, doing it with Ross still prominently on the scene with her solo songs and albums being promoted on the radio and tours (my friends and I managed to make of couple of these) made it that much harder. Still, new lead singer Jean Terrell had a voice that I really appreciated. Her short stint with The Supremes (aka, 70's Supremes) remains memorable.

The rest of this post has been updated and moved over to my current blog, found here.

Friday Forgotten Song: Marty Robbins' El Paso

I know why I thought of this old song. It's March. And every year since 1978, it is this month when I think of my mother in clear, wistful terms. As a young child, I recall her moving across the apartment she lived in singing right along with balladeer Marty Robbins whenever this song would drift out of the radio. The memorable number brings to mind how she'd grab me up to dance with her, and how I'd gaze up to look at her in return (and in awe) as we'd meander about that small room that made up a home to her. As my wife reminds me every so often about my nostalgia gene, I know exactly who I inherited the trait from. When she heard the song, I could tell that part of my mother would be instantly transported back to her place of birth... back to Texas. The Tejano roots of the melody, and it's tale of star-crossed lovers, gave it a haunting quality to my mother then... and to her son now.

The rest of this post has been updated and moved over to my current blog, found here.

Friday Forgotten Song: Bobby Fuller Four's Let Her Dance

I thought I'd end the work (and Oscar) week with a forgotten song for this first friday in March. Resurrected recently in Wes Anderson's wonderful adaptation of the children's novel written by Roald Dahl, Fantastic Mr. Fox, this was the upbeat, up-tempo song used for the final sequence in the film. Written by Bobby Fuller, it was his first top 40 hit in 1965. When people recall the artist, this track seems to take a backseat to Fuller's second hit and higher placed song, I Fought The Law. Still, it remains an infectious tune made by an artist heavily influenced by the music legend (and fellow Texan - my mother would be so proud to hear me say that), Buddy Holly.

The rest of this post has been updated and moved over to my current blog, found here.