I'm sure some of us remember Frank Fontaine doing his Crazy Guggenheim character on Jackie Gleason's TV show many years ago, but I honestly don't recall whether I found his silly drunk act funny at the time. (For the record, he was actually a non-drinker.) I do know that it seems pretty unfunny to me … Continue reading Frank Fontaine – The Crooning Comedian
Category: Nostalgia
Earworms – Sometimes A Segment Is Enough
The frigid weather we're experiencing helped lead to my latest Earworm, and it also proved that --- as we all know -- sometimes just one phrase from a song does the trick. (Or maybe we should say a 'segment' since we're talking about worms.) It happened for me when I contemplated prying myself out of … Continue reading Earworms – Sometimes A Segment Is Enough
Harry Reser Was A Special Picker
When you think of the banjo you would normally visualize either bluegrass or folk music, and we've featured plenty of both here on the GMC. But the banjo has been around for a long time and its popularity in the early part of the last century made it a natural fit for many of the … Continue reading Harry Reser Was A Special Picker
Fantastic Foursome – Happy New Year
Along the lines of our recent Christmas post, I'm combining the New Year's post with another one of our Special Features, in this case Fantastic Foursome. You might remember that it's the one that offers up four different versions of the same song and then allows you to vote for your favorite. This isn't the … Continue reading Fantastic Foursome – Happy New Year
The Many Talents Of Gertrude Niesen
Although hers is not a familiar name to most of us now, Gertrude Niesen was a solid success for a couple of decades beginning in the 1930s. A multi-talented performer, she was a singer and comedic actress who was equally at home on the bandstand, on Broadway, or in Hollywood films. She also co-wrote some … Continue reading The Many Talents Of Gertrude Niesen
Arthur Prysock – A Crooner With Style
We haven't featured a crooner for a while, and today the spotlight falls on a guy whose smooth, glorious baritone and mellow singing style certainly made him one of the best. In a career that spanned more than forty years, Arthur Prysock demonstrated a high comfort level with just about every type of music, including … Continue reading Arthur Prysock – A Crooner With Style
Country Catalyst – Christmas Edition
We're way overdue for a new Country Catalyst, the Special Feature that offers a country music song to a wider audience, and I thought I'd combine it with something appropriate to the season. It's a song that might be familiar to you -- it's been around a long time -- but you might not have … Continue reading Country Catalyst – Christmas Edition
The Amazing Valaida Snow
She was proficient on countless instruments but usually played the trumpet, and with such skill that Louis Armstrong declared her second only to himself (which led to her being called 'Little Louis'). She was also a talented dancer and a marvelous singer, with perfect pitch and the ability to handle everything from jazz to soulful … Continue reading The Amazing Valaida Snow
Skip & Flip – A Brief Burst Into The Spotlight
If you were around in 1959 or are just a fan of the music of those days, then you might remember a couple of songs that had a lot in common. Both "It Was I" and "Cherry Pie" almost made it to the Top Ten on pop charts -- number 11 to be exact -- … Continue reading Skip & Flip – A Brief Burst Into The Spotlight
Leon’s Lone Star Cowboys And Beyond
The swing band era that began in the 1930s was echoed by a similar process in country music, when some of the groups then around began to perform in a style that came to be known as Western Swing. It would prove to be a ticket to stardom for guys like Bob Wills and Spade … Continue reading Leon’s Lone Star Cowboys And Beyond
Geezer Music Club 