A recent news article about the FBI recovering Dorothy's famous ruby slippers, thirteen years after they were stolen from a Museum in Minnesota, got me to thinking about The Wizard Oz. And since my thoughts often revolve around music, I also began thinking about the music from the movie. Of course, the iconic song from … Continue reading Ruby Slippers And The Music Of The Wizard Of Oz
So I'm trying to get back to the kind of posts I've generated in the past, and here's what I've come up with. Folks, it's time for a new edition of the Squeaky Wheel. You might recall that previous Squeaky Wheel posts are all about my grumbling, cantankerous take on something that's bugging me, and … Continue reading Squeaky Wheel Says
My first post since I came back from my medical problems (the last two I posted were actually written months ago) needs to be a special one, but I'm having trouble getting started. Even though I'm home now after something like three months of medical issues, I'm keeping pretty busy with regular home visits from … Continue reading Writer’s Block Takes Its Toll On BG
(Note: this is the last post I had ready to go before my hospital adventure. From now on I'll have to come up with some new ones, so wish me luck! BG) A good friend of mine, who has been gone for many years now, had a working vintage jukebox in his living room. But … Continue reading Jukeboxes I Have Known
There are a lot of things that we found funny as kids just because of their odd and unusual names, and I can remember one of them being the glockenspiel. I'm pretty sure that I had no idea what it really was when I was growing up, but I seem to remember hearing the word … Continue reading Glockenspiels Are Not What They Used To Be
I was thinking of using this song for the Saluting Silly Songs feature, but even though at first blush it seems a likely candidate, I'd rather think of it as something slightly more serious than that. So we'll go with Silly Songs' older brother in the Special Features category, Anatomy of a Song. I've written … Continue reading Anatomy Of A Song: Pound Those Keys!
I can remember hearing music by Enoch Light's orchestra many times through the years, but I now realize that I always had a few misconceptions about him. By the time I started noticing him in the 1950s and 1960s he was known as someone who specialized in cutting-edge music, and as a pioneer in producing … Continue reading The Two Eras Of Enoch Light
Some people say there's no such thing as a coincidence, mostly because they believe that things happen for a reason, either fate or a higher power. Logical statisticians will tell you that random pairings will always occur in large numbers of events. As for me, I'm not too sure how they happen but I believe … Continue reading Are Airships In Our Future?
I always thought Bent Fabric -- the pianist and composer who had a big hit with "Alley Cat" in 1962 -- had picked a strange stage name, one that sounded like a folded piece of cloth. But it turns out that it's almost his real name. The Danish-born musician, who is now in his nineties … Continue reading Yes, Bent Fabric Is For Real
I'm kind of a wimpy whistler. By that I mean I'm not one of those guys (or gals!) who can insert two fingers into their mouth and let out a loud piercing squeal that freezes traffic. On the other hand, I'd like to think I can sometimes whistle a particular tune in a way that … Continue reading The Wonderful World Of Whistling
Geezer Music Club 