Burt Bacharach is one of the must influential composers of popular music, of the 20th century.
Born in Kansas City, Missouri on 12th May 1928, Burt Bacharach grew up in Forest Hills, an upper middle suburb of New York City. Although Bacharach began taking piano lessons at the age of eight, his musical breakthrough came at fifteen years old when he began sneaking into Manhattan’s jazz clubs to see both Dizzy Gillespie and the Count Basie Band perform.
His music is characterized by unusual chord progressions, influenced by his background in jazz harmony, and uncommon selections of instruments for small orchestras. Most of Bacharach’s and David’s hits were written specifically for and performed by Dionne Warwick, but earlier associations (from 1957 to 1963) saw the composing duo work with Marty Robbins, Perry Como, Gene McDaniels, and Jerry Butler. Following the initial success of these collaborations, Bacharach went on to write hits for Gene Pitney, Cilla Black, Dusty Springfield, Jackie DeShannon, Bobbie Gentry, Tom Jones, Herb Alpert, B. J. Thomas, the Carpenters, among numerous other artists. He arranged, conducted, and produced much of his recorded output.
A six-time Grammy Award winner and three-time Academy Award winner, Bacharach’s songs have been recorded by more than 1,000 different artists. As of 2014, he had written 73 US and 52 UK Top 40 hits.
Today he is celebrating his 94th birthday.
This is just one of his many songs he co wrote with Carole Bayer Sager
In this ‘woke’ era it surprises me that the musical “The Greatest Showman” didn’t get cancelled. Even more amazingly it was a huge success, even though it probably was one of the biggest history revisions ever to hit the cinema and later on TV and streaming services.
Joice Heth was one of the ‘performers’ of the P.T Barnum show.
Often buried deep within the Barnum mythology is the shocking story of how P.T Barnum got his start, leasing an elderly Black slave who he’d exhibit as President George Washington’s 161-year-old nursemaid.
Heth was offered to Barnum for $1000. With slavery illegal in the North, Barnum instead negotiated to “lease” Heth for a year, paying for his half with a loan, and recruiting a business partner, Levi Lyman, for the rest.
Barnum and his partner Levi Lyman drew the curious to see Joice Heth using posters and advertisements . The advertisements provided the story that would entice readers to see the “real thing” by highlighting Heth’s connection to the revered George Washington as well as the curiosity of her extreme age.
Heth was, toward the end of her life, blind and almost completely paralyzed when Barnum started to exhibit her on August 11, 1835, at Niblo’s Garden in New York City. For skeptics that discounted the legitimacy of Heth’s age, her body aided in the belief of her exaggerated age. Harriet Washington, an American writer and medical ethicist, states that at the time of her display, Heth had a very small frame, deep wrinkles, was toothless, and had fingernails that resembled talons. Washington explains that Heth’s toothless mouth was a result from Barnum forcefully extracting her teeth so that she would look older. As a 7-month traveling exhibit for Barnum, Heth told stories about “little George” and sang a hymn. Eric Lott claims that Heth earned the impresario $1,500 a week, a princely sum in that era.Barnum’s career as a showman took off. Her case was discussed extensively in the press. As doubt had been expressed about her age, Barnum announced that upon her death she would be publicly autopsied. She died the next year in Bethel, Connecticut, at the home of Barnum’s brother Philo, on February 19,1836.
Nearly a week later on February 25, 1836, Heth’s corpse was cut open in New York’s City Saloon, in front of 1,500 paying spectators. The doctor, David L. Rogers, came to some interesting conclusions. Heth was not, as P. T. Barnum had claimed, 161 years old. That, in turn, cast doubt on her alleged connection to George Washington, whom she supposedly nursed when he was a child.
Barnum insisted that the autopsy victim was another person, and that Heth was alive, on a tour to Europe. Later, Barnum admitted the hoax.
Not only exploited Barnum her in her last months of her life, he also exploited her in death. Those 1500 spectators all had pay 50 cents each to see the autopsy. By any standard and measure those are not the deed of a noble man, as he is portrayed in the musical. It was an utterly despicable way to treat a human being.
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There is nothing I can write that would do any justice to the legend that is Jim Steinman. Without him there would be no Meat Loaf, Bonnie Tyler and probably no Celine Dion either.
His songs were not just songs, they were epic mini operas. Something many people don’t know that aside from being a composer, he also worked as a producer and lyricist. In 1998 he produced the song “No Matter What” performed by Boyzone. It was taken from an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical ” Whistle down the wind” for which Jim Steinman wrote the lyrics for. Given the fact he has composed so many of my favourite songs I am willing to forgive his collaboration with aforementioned Boyzone.
The news broke today that Jim Steinman died on Monday the 19th of April. Rest in Peace Jim.
All that is left for me to do is to highlight some of his epic work.
The 27 club is a group of artists who have all died in a variety of way, drugs overdose , alcoholism ,suicide, plane crash, traffic accident, natural causes or murder. The one thing they had in common was their age, the all died aged 27.
It all started off when Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Jim Morrison all died at the age of 27 between 1969 and 1971. At the time, the coincidence gave rise to some comment, but it was not until Kurt Cobain’s 1994 death, at age 27, that the idea of a “27 Club” began to catch on in public perception.[Blues musician Robert Johnson, who died in 1938, is the earliest popular musician who has been included in the members of the 27 Club, although there were two other musicians before him who died age 27.
Alexandre Levy ,a Brazilian composer, Levy died prematurely at 27 and is considered to be the first musical artist to die at the age. His hometown, Sao Paulo , grants a prestigious award in his name.
Louis Chauvin (March 13, 1881 – March 26, 1908) was an American ragtime musician.
His death certificate lists causes of death as “multiple sclerosis, probably syphilitic”, and starvation due to coma, but a modern diagnosis probably would conclude he had a neurosyphilitic sclerosis and not link it to multiple sclerosis.
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When it comes to music, it is very rare that I have to admit “I stand corrected”, especially when it comes to a piece of music I know inside out.
‘Jeff Wayne’s musical version of the War of the Worlds’ is by far my most favourite album in my collection, I actually have a variety of versions of the album. The original vinyl from 1978 and 3 CD versions. The original version on CD, the 2009 live version recorded in Dublin and the 2011 new generation album.
I saw the 30th anniversary show live in Dublin in June 2009 , which I really enjoyed, I was however very disappointed(to use an understatement) that in later years, Justin Hayward would be replaced by Westlife’s Brian McFadden(something I still can’t understand). I did write to Jeff Wayne and asked him to clarify why he replaced a very talented singer and musician with someone who has less talent then my small toe.(I did not use those exact words though.
But before I get side tracked, the blog is about a mistake I made. One of the singles from the original, and subsequent, album is “Forever Autumn” a romantic but yet haunting ballad. The song was played on the radio this week and the presenter mentioned that this song was actually written for a Lego commercial.
I was outraged and said that it was a ridiculous statement. The thought of it, a classic piece of a concept album originally music for Lego. I went on to say, that I am an expert when it comes to that particular album. However after a bit of research(and not even that much research) I discovered that the original melody was indeed written by Wayne in 1969 as a jingle for a Lego radio commercial.
Vigrass and Osborne, the performers of the original jingle, added lyrics to the song and recorded it for their 1972 album Queues. Their version was also released as a single and gained moderate commercial success in Japan, selling more than 100,000 copies and becoming a top-20 hit on the country’s record chart.
Although it pains me, I am a big enough man to admit “I stand corrected”.
Ending the blog with the version we all know and love so well.
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On April 16 ,1977 David Soul scored a massive NO 1 hit with “Don’t give up on us baby”, take away the “on us baby” and you would have the perfect title for his life.
Mostly known as the iconic Hutch from the buddy cop TV show “Starsky and Hutch”, David Soul has had a turbulent life to use an understatement.
Born in Chicago, Illinois, as David Richard Solberg,David Soul is the son of a minister who was at one time serving as the religious affairs advisor to the U.S. High Commission in Berlin.
Soul attended Augustana College, University of the Americas in Mexico City and the University of Minnesota. At 19, he turned down a professional baseball contract with the Chicago White Sox in order to study political science. While in Mexico, inspired by students who taught him to play the guitar, Soul changed his direction and decided to follow his passion for music. His first appearance upon returning from Mexico to the States was in a club in Minneapolis, The 10 O’Clock Scholar.
He first appeared on TV in small roles in shows including I Dream of Jeannie (1965), Flipper (1964) and All in the Family (1971). Regular TV work kept coming in for Soul including making masked appearances on The Merv Griffin Show (1962), as the popular singer known only as “The Covered Man.”
He explained: “My name is David Soul, and I want to be known for my music.”
In 1967, he signed a contract with Columbia Pictures and following a number of guest appearances, including the episode “The Apple” from the second season of Star Trek.
He landed the role of Joshua Bolt on the television program Here Come the Brides with co-stars Robert Brown, Bobby Sherman and Bridget Hanley. The series was telecast on the ABC network from September 25, 1968, to September 18, 1970.[6] In 1972 he co-starred as Arthur Hill’s law partner on Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law. Following numerous guest-starring roles on TV, including Streets of San Francisco, he was cast by Clint Eastwood in the film Magnum Force.
His talents came to the attention of several TV execs who were looking for someone to play one of the lead roles in the upcoming Starsky and Hutch (1975) TV series. After four seasons, the show came to an end, yet Soul’s talents were still in demand. He quickly went on to appear as the meek writer turned terrified vampire hunter Ben Mears in the chilling television mini-series Salem’s Lot (1979), and then as Jake in the interesting television movie Homeward Bound (1980).
Soul has been married five times and has five sons (two of whom are stepsons) and a daughter. He first married the actress Mirriam “Mim” Solberg (née Russeth), in 1964. The couple had one child together, but the marriage only lasted a year.
Soul then married actress Karen Carlson in 1968, after they had met on the set of the television series Here Come The Brides. The couple also had a child together, but they divorced in 1977.
During the years he was filming Starsky & Hutch, Soul had an open relationship with actress Lynne Marta.
Soul’s third wife was Patti Carnel Sherman (the ex-wife of fellow Here Come the Brides co-star and teen pop idol Bobby Sherman), whom he married in 1980. They had a child together, but the marriage disintegrated due to Soul’s alcohol abuse and violent temper. During his marriage to Sherman, Soul was court-ordered to undergo anger management therapy after assaulting her while she was seven months pregnant. The couple divorced in 1986.
Those weren’t his only problems, despite the huge success in Starsky and Hutch and hit songs like “Don’t give up on us baby” he was left virtually broke. In a British TV documentary he admitted that at one he had been so desperate he had tried male prostitution, however he did not say when, or if he had gone the whole way.
Soul married again in 1987, to actress Julia Nickson. The couple had one child, China Soul, who is a singer/songwriter.Soul and Nickson divorced in 1993.[citation needed]
Soul immigrated to the United Kingdom in the mid-1990s and settled in London with his girlfriend, American actress Alexa Hamilton, though the couple later broke upIn September 2004, Soul became a British citizen, while retaining his U.S. citizenship. He is an avid fan of English football and is an Arsenal F.C. supporter.
Soul married his fifth wife, Helen Snell, in June 2010. They had been in a relationship since 2002, after meeting when Soul was working in the British stage production of Deathtrap.
In 2005 appeared as Jerry Springer in “Jerry Springer-the Opera”
His wife announced the US-born actor died aged 80 on Thursday, January 4,2024 surrounded by his family. Rest in Peace David.
Leaving you with the song mentioned in the title.
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I am not going to apologize for this but it is a fact I am a massive Grease fan, and today happens to be the anniversary of the single “Grease” reaching the #1 position on the Billboard top 100.
However as the title of this blog suggests there is more to the story. Here are some lesser known fact about the most successful musical of all time.
Elvis was Offered a Feature Role
The story goes that the King of Rock was asked to be the Guardian Angel, Frenchy’s hair salon singing mentor, but when he turned it down Frankie Avalon was given the part instead.
Carrie Fisher Almost Got The Role of Sandy
Yes it’s true. Our Star Wars favorite was considered for the role, but “Grease” director thought she didn’t have the right look for Sandy. Maybe his friend George Lucas talked him out of it.
This Company Lost Out Big Time
Coca- Cola had initially had a lucrative deal with the film creators, but unfortunately for them their agreement stopped in the later stages of shooting. Because of this, any hints of Coca-Cola branding were blurred out of the last edits of the film.
Elvis Died on the Same Day as Shooting Look at Me I’m Sandra Dee
To pay respect to the music legend, who almost played a part in “Grease”, the producers added a line to the Sandra Dee song. Next time you watch, try listen out for it, “Elvis Elvis let me be, keep that pelvis far from me”.
Not A Teenage Heartbreak
Though most of the characters were supposedly high school sweethearts, the real life actors were far from it. Travolta was 23, Jeff Conaway was 26 and Olivia Newton-John was 28. Makes you look at them differently right?
Danny was Almost Played by Someone Else
Initially, producers offered the main role to Henry Winkler, the Happy Days actor who played Fonzie. We are so glad he turned it down, giving John the limelight he deserved.
Not having a Ball
Lucille Ball’s daughter was the first to be offered the role of Rizzo. Though after stating that she was better than the role offered, Rizzo became the character we know her as today.
Barry Pearl AKA Doody, AKA Professor Erasmus Q. Tinkerputt.
Barry Pearl who played Doody in Grease also played , iProfessor Erasmus Q. Tinkerputt in the kids show Barney the dinosaur. In fact he earned more money in Barney then in Grease.
Donation
I am passionate about my site and I know you all like reading my blogs. I have been doing this at no cost and will continue to do so. All I ask is for a voluntary donation of $2, however if you are not in a position to do so I can fully understand, maybe next time then. Thank you.
To donate click on the credit/debit card icon of the card you will use. If you want to donate more then $2 just add a higher number in the box left from the PayPal link. Many thanks.
His talents came to the attention of several TV execs who were looking for someone to play one of the lead roles in the upcoming Starsky and Hutch (1975) TV series. After four seasons, the show came to an end, yet Soul’s talents were still in demand. He quickly went on to appear as the meek writer turned terrified vampire hunter Ben Mears in the chilling television mini-series Salem’s Lot (1979), and then as Jake in the interesting television movie Homeward Bound (1980).
History of Sorts 
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