Dark Monday • Gee, I Wish I Was Back in the Army

Today, I wish to post about music, and to celebrate Memorial Day, all in one fell swoop. While it might be hard to do, I figured out a way. Released almost 60 years ago, 'White Christmas' was more than just a holiday movie. The musical starring Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen had music and lyrics by the great Irving Berlin also offered several salutes to the armed services, including one I simply love. Toward the end of the film, when the stars were performing in their play-within-the-movie motif, they sang the wonderful "Gee, I Wish I Was Back in the Army", both sweet and fun. This is the song from 'White Christmas'.

One of the first big production numbers in the movie features Crosby and Kaye joined by the rest of the army division singing a send off for their favorite general. The song is "The Old Man", once again written by Irving Berlin. As the General says his goodbyes, the soldiers all sing of their admiration of the man. This is "The Old Man" from 'White Christmas'.

Happy Memorial day, everyone!

Magical Christmas Movie Music

Clockwise: The covers of soundtrack albums for 'White Christmas", 'The Muppet Christmas Carol', 'Meet Me In St. Louis' and 'The Polar Express'.

While I tend to focus on Broadway shows and performers on the blog, I have certainly never shied away from the talented singers and performers from the great movie musicals. After all, many of the great films started life on the stage. And since is is a very special week, I thought we could revisit some very special movie moments. And, with Christmas just one sleep away, I thought a look at some magical Christmas musical memories was in order. I will begin with a memory that I still hold dear. You see, I remember watching the movie 'White Christmas' with my family when I was quite young. The 1954 film starred Rosemary Clooney, Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye and Vera-Ellen as entertainers and love interests. This was the second film to use the song written by Irving Berlin, the first being 'Holiday Inn' from 1942, another charming film starring Crosby. The storyline is somewhat similar, although the latter one incorporated more musical numbers and patriotism, and was shot in glorious technicolor. The following clip is from the film, with Bring Crosby singing "White Christmas" in the film to his fellow soldiers while serving overseas. This is Crosby singing "White Christmas".

If anyone caught my reference in the opening paragraph, it would reflect this next memory. While it might not be from a film more than 50 years old, it is more than twenty years old. 'The Muppet Christmas Carol' was released in 1992, a retelling of the great classic by Charles Dickens, 'A Christmas Carol'. The film was a mixture of muppets and live actors, with actor Michael Caine playing Ebenezer Scrooge, and the Muppets making up a majority of the cast. The film had original music by Miles Goodman, and the songs were written by Paul Williams. My personal favorite of the soundtrack is when Bob Cratchit, played by Kermit the Frog, sings "One More Sleep 'til Christmas". This is a charming number, as 'Bob' is closing up the office on Christmas Eve, and addresses all the best parts of Christmas. I hope you enjoy Kermit sings "One More Sleep 'til Christmas" from 'The Muppet Christmas Carol'.

That brings me to the most recent film of all four I have showcased here, the animated holiday treat, 'The Polar Express'. The soundtrack of the 2004 film featured some classic songs, like Bing Crosby singing "White Christmas", Frank Sinatra singing "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town", and the Andrews Sisters with "Winter Wonderland", all of which make for a delightful listen. but it is the new song, written by Glen Ballard and Alan Silvestri, that steals the spotlight. "Believe" is a soaring ballad, with such light and hope oozing out of each line, you can't help but fall in love. And it had a stellar performance by Josh Groban to complete the magic. From the film 'The Polar Express', this is Josh Groban with "Believe".

With my final clip for the evening, I was unable to resist featuring Judy Garland with a song I still love to this very day. The film was directed by Vincent Minnelli, Judy's husband at the time, and the father of Liza Minnelli. The storyline featured a family living in St. Louis at the time of the 1904 World's Fair. The film features two songs sung by Judy that could and should be considered iconic, and both were written by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane. One such song was "The Trolley Song", a truly wonderful number. But the one I am including here is the stunning "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas", a song that has been sung by many since being debuted in the 1944 film, but never better than by Judy. She added just the right amount of everything to make this brilliant. I hope you enjoy this clip of Judy Garland singing "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" from 'Meet Me In St. Louis".

Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays to all!

And The Winnner Was...

Clockwise: Posters from The Gay Divorcee; Gold Diggers of 1935; Swing Time; Waikiki Wedding; and The Big Broadcast of 1938.

To mark the occasion o the Academy Awards tonight, I thought I would take a look back at the first five winners of the Academy Award for Best Original Song. The Academy Awards began in 1929, a small brunch of industry bigwigs patting themselves on the back. There was no surprise that first year, as the winners were announced a few months prior. That was changed for the second ceremony, where the winners were announced from the podium. The early ceremonies mostly recognized the actors, directors and producers. Once again, things changed in 1934, the first year the music was recognized. In fact, two awards were given, for 'Best Original Song' and for 'Best Score'. For the purposes of this celebration, we will just be looking at the 'Best Original Song' winners. The very first winner of the Academy Award for Best Original Song was "The Continental" from 'The Gay Divorcee'. The movie featured Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire, and several beautiful dance numbers. The biggest dance was for this song, with music by Con Conrad and lyrics by Herb Magidson, although it was heard as an instrumental on screen. "The Continental" was both a song and a swing dance, but more of an exhibition dance than a dance craze. Watch and enjoy "The Continental" from 'The Gay Divorcee'.

The next year, the Academy Award went to a song that was a classic in the making. Not only did it charm in this original version, it went on to be sung by many through the years, it also went on the have live afterwards on the Broadway stage. The 1935 Academy Award for Best Original Song went to "Lullaby of Broadway", the huge musical number from 'Gold Diggers of 1935'. With music by Harry Warren and lyrics by Al Dubin, the song was perfect for production values of Busby Berkeley, whose imaginative choreography and direction made magic. Forty-five years later, Gower Champion brought '42nd Street' to the Broadway stage, featuring the music of Warren and Dubin. One of the big numbers from the show was "Lullaby of Broadway", first sung by the late Jerry Orbach. But it was Wini Shaw who had the honors in the original film, so please enjoy "Lullaby of Broadway".

The next winner is another classic, sung by many, from Bing Crosby to Billie Holiday to The Jaguars to The Letterman to Tony Bennett and so many more. But the song, with music by Jerome Kern and lyrics by Dorothy Fields, began as a sweet love song in the movie 'Swing Time'. I would say it was a simple beginning, but anytime a song is introduced by Fred Astaire in a film with Ginger Rogers, simple doesn't seem to apply. Such is the case with "The Way You Look Tonight", a song even lyricist Fields said "The first time Jerry played that melody for me I went out and started to cry. The release absolutely killed me. I couldn't stop, it was so beautiful." Watch and listen as Astaire delivered "The Way You Look Tonight".

I have to say, this next winner owes a great deal to finding the perfect performer as it does anything else. 'Waikiki Wedding' was a tropical musical, set on beautiful Hawaii. It starred Bing Crosby and the dashing male lead, opposite Shirley Ross. The cast also included Martha Raye and Bob Burns as the second leads, and comic relief. It was Crosby who delivered the 1937 winner of the Academy Aware for Best Original Song, "Sweet Leilani". It was written by Harry Owens, a composer born in Nebraska. He was a bandleader, and in 1926 took up residence at the Lafayette Cafe in Los Angeles. It was there he auditioned and first started working with a young singer named Bing Crosby. A few years before the film, Owens had moved to Hawaii, and was named music director of The Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Waikiki. On vacation before shooting 'Waikiki Wedding', Crosby visited his friend, and heard the orchestra play a song Owens had written for his daughter, Leilani. Bing loved it, and wanted to use it in his upcoming film. And it went on to win the Oscar. Enjoy the scene from the movie 'Waikiki Wedding'.

The fifth winner of the award is another song that went on to become a classic. Although 'The Big Broadcast of 1938 starred W.C. Fields, Martha Raye and Dorothy Lamour, the song was not sung by one of these big stars. Instead, "Thanks for the Memory" was sung by one of the comics, a young Bob Hope. The song, with music by Ralph Rainger and lyrics by Leo Robin, went on to be the signature song for the comedian, which he performed at the end of his shows. I hear it, and I instantly think of Hope, whose television specials and work with the USO I remember so well. In fact, I am not sure I have ever seen the original movie, even though this song is such a strong memory. In the clip from the movie, see Hope sing the song with costar Shirley Ross in 'The Big Broadcast of 1938'.

Enjoy the 2013 Oscars!

Dark Monday • Christmas On Broadway

Tonight there is a special post for Dark Monday, the post I dedicate to the Broadway and movie musicals on a night when, in the days of yore, when Broadway took the night off. When they did this, it was the only day of the week the nights were turned off, hence the title 'Dark Monday'. Through the years there have been several Christmas-themed songs from the stage and screen, and I am going to offer up just a couple. I will begin with what might be the most obvious choice of the post. When 'Mame' opened on Broadway in 1966, it certainly had some great talents contributing. The musical was based on the book and Broadway play 'Auntie Mame', which eventually became a movie starring Broadway star Rosalind Russell. The lead character is a charismatic and combustible character,based on novelist's Patrick Dennis' real life aunt. The musical was brought to life with a stellar case, including Angela Lansbury. Here is Angela singing "We Need A Little Christmas" off the original cast album.

Back in 1978, a little-known show opened on Broadway, telling the story of the Chicken Ranch, a legal brothel in Texas. With music and lyrics by Carol Hall, 'Best Little Whorehouse In Texas' was nominated for six Tony Awards, winning for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical and Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical for Henderson Forsythe and Carlin Glynn, respectively. There is a moment in the show when the house madame sing a beautiful ballad, which went on to be one of the long-lasting impressions from the show. Enjoy this version of "Hard Candy Christmas" sung by the star of the movie version, Dolly Parton.

The next show features Music by Charles Strouse amd Lyrics by Martin Charnin. The musical 'Annie came to the Broadway stage in 1977, telling the story of a young orphan girl at the time of the Great Depression. While it gave us the ultimate Broadway song in "Tomorrow" and one of the most delicious character in Mrs. Hannigan. Here is "A New Deal From Christmas" being performed as part of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade this year.

While it took decades before the Broadway musical to be made inspired from the Paramount Pictures holiday classic, White Christmas. That 1954 film was, in fact, inspire by the 1942 Paramount musical, 'Holiday Inn'. Both films featured the music of the great Irving Berlin, and much of the scores were included in the 2004 Broadway version running for the holiday season. But in this clip, we see Bing Crosby sing the song, which I think appeared in the 1942 film. Nonetheless, enjoy "White Christmas"!

Enjoy your Christmas!

Frank Sinatra & Bring Crosby • Christmas

Found this clip and found it irresistible to post, even if there are some small issues with the sound. Someone very smart had Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby get together to sing a medley of Christmas songs, including "Santa Clause Is Coming To Town", "The Christmas Song" and "White Christmas". Enjoy, for I sure as hell did!

The Sounds of 1937

Clockwise: Fred Astaire; Robert Johnson; Bing Crosby; Count Basie; and Benny Goodman.

You know, I was just in a random mood when I was writing this post, and so I randomly picked a year, and researched what were the top five songs. The year was 1937, and I was a bit surprised by what I discovered. I thought it would be the combination of swing music and some of the great ladies from the big band era. Well, I was close on one call, and could not be more wrong with the other. There was a bit of swing in the music, but not as much as I would have guessed. And I didn't realize that one of the top songs of the years would be a blues classic from one of the great blues guitarists of all time, Robert Johnson. Johnson, often thought of as the king of the Mississippi Delta Blues, made amazing music in 1936 and 1937, and died in August of 1938. His death is shrouded in mystery, for legend said he was poisoned with a bottle of whiskey, although the story doesn't truly match up with the events. Johnson was 27 when he died. This is the 5th most popular song of the year, Hellhound On My Trail, also known as the Hellhound Blues.



I hadn't even thought of how movies would be influencing the music of the time, yet is most certainly did. Take, for example, the #4 song on the list, by the one and only Mr. Fred Astaire. In 1937, he had a movie in the theaters costarring the wonderful Ginger Rogers, Swing Time. The musical featured a song written by the great George and Ira Gershwin, They Can't Take That Away From Me. The song was an instant hit, and continues to be a part of the Great American Songbook. Here is Astaire singing They Can't Take That Away From Me.



Th #3 song on the list was from another film, one I am afraid to say I don't think I ever really saw. That surprises me, since I still love catching old movies on the television, and just eating them up like jellybeans. The song was featured in the 1937 film, Waikiki Wedding. The movie starred Bing Crosby, Shirley Ross, Bob Burns, and Martha Raye, a formidable cast indeed. Sweet Leilani was written by Harry Owens, and won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. It was also a huge hit for Crosby. Here he is, singing Sweet Leilani.



I knew it would be impossible to go through this list of the top songs and not to have a bit of swing on it. Now, it seems almost insane for me to think there is anyone who cares for music who doesn't know Benny Goodman, but just in case that might be true, Goodman was a bandleader and clarinet player who not only played great Big Band songs, but also grabbed hold of Jazz, and in particular Swing music, and brought it to the forefront. To put that in some perspective, you could say that Swing was the Disco of the 1930s. It was joyful, energetic, just an explosion of emotion. Check it out when Benny Goodman plays with music greats Gene Krupa, Harry James, and Lionel Hampton on Louis Prima's popular Sing, Sing, Sing.



The #1 song of 1937 was the elegant Count Basie with his orchestra playing One O'Clock Jump. Basie wrote and recorded the song in New York City in 1937, utilizing the saxophone work of Herschel Evans and Lester Young, trumpet by Buck Clayton, Walter Page on bass. Count Basie himself on piano, and with that, a jazz classic was born. Enjoy One O'Clock Jump.



All the music on this post can be found on iTunes and Amazon.

Christmas Spirit

A very long time ago, my mother gave the speech that Santa Claus lived in all our hearts, and it is the joy, love, and giving that keeps his spirit alive. I might have scoffed a bit at the time, but now have to think it is true. I think it is fairly evident that there is plenty of Christmas Spirit in Rosemary Clooney when she sings Let It Snow.



And there is such joy and beauty when The Carpenters sing a Christmas Medley, it is hard to think otherwise. After all, the gorgeous sound made by Karen Carpenter whenever she sang had to have some affect on your spirit and mood.



If having Bing Crosby sing White Christmas wasn't special enough, when he is joined by Frank Sinatra to sing it could make it something that certainly shifts your spirits into an accelerated Christmas spirit, right?



And if Maggie, Terre and Suzzy Roche can't bring you to a new level in your Christmas spirit, I would have to think you need a check up from your doctor immediately. The sisters are a big part of my holiday soundtrack, so check out their Christmas Medley.



Merry Christmas Eve!

Visit Christopher Dallman for the Holidays

With his striking good looks, a beautiful voice that can sound both strong and willful as well as haunted and hurt, out singer/songwriter Christopher Dallman became part of my music library on a lark, and for that I will be forever grateful. I was ordering a CD from CD Baby a few years ago, and decided I was getting boring, so I picked a couple of others I wasn't too familiar with, and hoped for the best. The fates were being very kind to me that day, as one of those CDs was called Race The Light, and from the first listen, it became a favorite. So I did some research on the web, and found out a little more about the artist, Christopher Dallman. I also wrote him a note on MySpace, thanking him for the music that I loved. He wrote a gracious reply, and I have been following him since.

After a bit of a respite, Dallman came back on the music scene with a bang, releasing Anthem, a marriage equality single, Sad Britney and Never Was in 2009, and Live in LA in 2010. He is also looking to release more music in the beginning of 2011. All of this makes fans like myself quite happy, cause you can never have enough Chris in your life. But, if it weren't for the great music from Race The Light, I am not sure I would have been following Christopher as closely, and know his music now. So I will be grateful for songs like Mistake.



I love that song, like so many others in Christopher's catalog, so of course I wanted to include him in the holiday series. And I was quite pleased he took the time out of his busy schedule to be a part of holidays on Soundtrack to my Day. So I started off my asking about his own favorite holiday music. "I like the classic holiday music like Bing Crosby and Nat King Cole," he replied. "It makes me feel like a kid at Christmas." Well, I can't argue with that one at all, and only hope to encourage it with a clip of the amazing Nat King Cole singing The Christmas Song.



So I wanted to nkow if Christopher had any favorite holiday song he liked to perform live? "I like doing Joni Mitchell's River," he answered, "and my own version of Silent Night. Sad versions, of course." Apparently, sad isn't a word he just associates with Britney. But I have to admit to being intrigued about hearing Dallman performing the Joni Mitchell song. Watch this, and tell me if you you aren't dying to hear Chris sing River, too.



So, Chris Dallman, what are your hopes for the New Year? "I hope my family and friends stay safe and healthy," he said warmly. "And I hope to drink a lot of really nice wine."

Well, while it might be slightly out of sequence, I thought I would slip in another holiday classic, with Bing Crosby singing White Christmas for Mr. Dallman.



Time for my preoccupation with the listening habits of people who are on my iPod. I wanted to know what was his favorite music from 2010. "My favorite music of 2010 is Lissie. She has been around for a while," he explained, "but she blew up this year. I love her album, I love her EP, I love her live show, and I love the song she did with George Stanford on his record Roll Away."

What is Chris looking forward to musically in 2011, since it is so close now? "I'm releasing a new music video for Gimme More from Sad Britney in January," he explained, "followed by a new record produced by George Stanford, and then a short (but hopefully not too short!) US tour. It's going to be a good year."

Now, the idea of Christopher appearing near me on tour soon is enough to make me a happy camper. Near giddy, as a matter of fact. While he may be planning on playing the new music, I also hope he makes time for favorites old and new. One of those is the last video he released for the song Ghosts from Never Was.



For more about Christopher Dallman's music, check out his official website here. You can check in there to find out the latest new on releases and upcoming tour dates. You can also buy some really great music.

Christmas Music - Bing Crosby & David Bowie

Bing Crosby used to have Christmas specials every year, and one year he had David Bowie as a guest, and together they had an incredible duet.