The man who, along with his brother Richard M. Sherman, wrote some memorable songs for many musicals such as Mary Poppins, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and Bedknobs and Broomsticks died yesterday.
Here is a song they wrote for Walt Disney’s The Jungle Book (1967), a film that captivated me when I first saw it and remains one of my all-time [Read more…]
He died today.
Here is the group singing one of my favorite songs I’m a Believer. He’s the one with the tambourine.
Incidentally Neil Diamond wrote this song, which had a resurgence when Smash Mouth did a cover (also very good) that was played in the hit film Shrek.
Colbert has a good singing voice and often sings along with his musical guests but singing an opera duet with one of the great tenors Placido Domingo must be his most ambitious effort yet. Here they perform La Donna E Mobile from Giuseppe Verdi’s Rigoletto. [Read more…]
… to all the readers of this blog.
I hope that the strangest dream that Simon and Garfunkel sang about in 1964 can come true in the near future.
If you are sick of cheesy holiday music, here is some relief, played on a glass harp.
This is my favorite Neil Diamond song, an evocative embrace of childhood memories.
The similarities in the voices of Cookie Monster and Tom Waits is uncanny.
Since it is hard to make out the words sometimes, here are the lyrics.
I’d sell your heart to the junk-man baby for a buck, for a buck
If you’re looking for someone to pull you out of that ditch, you’re out of luck, you’re out of luck
The ship is sinking, the ship is sinking, the ship is sinking
There’s a leak, there’s a leak in the boiler room
The poor, the lame, the blind
Who are the ones that we kept in charge?
Killers, thieves and lawyers
God’s away, God’s away, God’s away on business. Business.
God’s away, God’s away, God’s away on business. Business.Digging up the dead with a shovel and a pick, it’s a job, it’s a job
Bloody moon rising with a plague and a flood, join the mob, join the mob
It’s all over, it’s all over, it’s all over
There’s a leak, there’s a leak, in the boiler room
The poor, the lame, the blind
Who are the ones that we kept in charge?
Killers, thieves, and lawyers
God’s away, God’s away, God’s away on business. Business.
God’s away, God’s away, on business. Business.[Instrumental Break]
Goddamn there’s always such a big temptation to be good, to be good
There’s always free cheddar in a mousetrap, baby, it’s a deal, it’s a deal
The ship is sinking, the ship is sinking, the ship is sinking
There’s a leak, there’s a leak in the boiler room
The poor, the lame, the blind
Who are the ones that we kept in charge?
Killers, thieves and Lawyers
God’s away, God’s away, God’s away on business. Business.
God’s away, God’s away, God’s away on business. Business.I narrow my eyes like a coin slot baby, let her ring, let her ring
It’s all over, it’s all over, it’s all over
There’s a leak, there’s a leak, in the boiler room
The poor, the lame, the blind
Who are the ones that we kept in charge?
Killers, thieves, and lawyers
God’s away, God’s away, God’s away on business.
God’s away, God’s away, God’s away on business. Business.
Lee Pockriss, the composer of the 1960 hit song Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini by Brian Hyland, has died at the age of 81.
This was one of the many silly songs that became hits in that ‘beach party’ period before rock-and-roll really took off. Pockriss also wrote the much better song Catch a Falling Star which became a hit for Perry Como in 1957.
I tend to not know the names of songwriters. So I did not know until he died recently that Jerry Lieber was behind the lyrics to so many of the greatest songs of my youth. An old interview on Fresh Air of Lieber with Mike Stoller, who wrote the music, played excerpts of one great hit after another. Here’s a sample showing their range.
The silly Yakety Yak by The Coasters:
The poignant On Broadway by The Drifters:
And the ultimate ennui song, Is that all there is? by Peggy Lee: