The Popular Song: AM I BLUE?
Recently I screened a 1929 film musical titled On With the Show and was pleasantly surprised by the inclusion of a wonderful song that I...
FLY PAPER
When I taught my Cinema Studies elective classes, I would always devote time to one of Buster Keaton's masterpieces--Sherlock, Jr. Early...
THE MAKE BELIEVE BALLROOM
Every generation has its own music, and as a child of the 60s, I feel very fortunate to have grown up with the Beatles, and Bob, and...
The Popular Song: COMPARED TO WHAT
In the mid-70s, among the many jobs I undertook while I was working my way through college and grad school, I tended bar at Gilly's, a...
The Popular Song: MISS OTIS REGRETS
I will be adding a series of posts about popular (or obscure) songs composed and performed in the age of popular song (by which I mean...
BOSSA NOVA II: WATERS OF MARCH
When my two daughters were young, I used to look forward to Friday night. The school week was done for all of us and we could kick back...
BOSSA NOVA
When I was a young boy, profound changes in popular music soon had a powerful impact on me and on much of the world. Its genesis came...
A CONSPIRACY OF HOPE
For most of my life, there have been musical extravaganzas in order to raise money or awareness or both for one cause or another. When I...
THE MAESTRO OF MOON RIVER
As a lover of music (look how many posts in this blog deal with music!), I like to call attention to luminaries younger music aficionados...
THE SECOND BRITISH INVASION
I was fortunate to have been alive for the first British musical invasion in the Swinging Sixties. Shortly after the death of President...