New Crooner Matthew Long finds the essence of Perry Como

It's always amazing to find what some folks have posted on the internet....Makes me think my interest in nostalgia isn't so rare after all!

I've always loved the singing of Perry Como and try to collect just about any recording he made. A fellow blogspot blogger went even further and created an interesting webpage featuring some "Faux Como" recordings....back in the fifites heyday of pop, other record companies and singers were trying to get a bit of the Como success by issuing their own versions of Perry's songs. Click here to see this interesting blog and if you download the zip file you can listen to some pretty good and sometimes very lame renditions of the hits.

There is no reason to re-record what Perry has done, he did it well. I have recorded several of his songs just for my own fun using karoeke type tracks. So far no record labels have been pounding at my door to mass market release these. I guess I won't be the next Susan Boyle type discovery, but it was a lot of fun recording them anyhow.

A very talented guy in the UK however has captured the essence of Perry Como. His name is Matthew Long. Click  here to listen to an original V-disc recording by Perry of his first RCA 78 called "Goodbye Sue." Then click here to listen to Matthew's acapella version. Pretty awesome, huh?

Matthew is another addicted Como fan. Unlike me, he has enough sense not to try to re-record Perry's songs (like those cheap record labels did back in the 1950s). Instead he has released a brand new song called "Dancing With You" featuring his smooth voice and a great new tune. The lyrics bring back the days of couples dancing and a big band playing. Click here for a preview.

Matthew says he is hoping to work on an entire album and if the songs are anything like this preview, it's gonna be a great recording! He gets the essence of Perry. After all, he started the Como Appreciation Society. Click here to visit.

Sheet Music brings to life long lost songs

   I hope you have a chance to listen in to my internet radio show. It's on weekly, Saturdays at 1pm with a repeat Sunday at 1pm EST on www.TheGeneMartinShow.com.

  Recently a good friend of mine, Jo, sent me a whole bunch of old sheet music. I am a pack rat when it comes to collecting records, but I don't really have that much sheet music. If I could play the piano better than I can, then maybe I would have more sheet music!

There were many songs that were "old friends" in this stack of music that I got from Jo. Songs like "Because of You", "The Loveliest Night of the Year" and "My Truly Truly Fair" are at the top of my list for playing on the piano.

Some of the music is simply hilarious or hopelessly out of date, even for "The Nostalgic Rambler"!  I have included a few of those covers here and will offer some examples of these long forgotten songs!

"Put Your Shoes On, Lucy"
Got an invitation to visit in Manhattan with my high fallutin' kin,
Ordered from the catalog some fancy clothes,
Looked so stylish from my head to toes,
Saw ev'ry sight and I even did some flirtin'
Did all right til my feet took to hurtin',
So I slipped off my shoes when I thought they couldn't see,
But they must a 'cause this is what they always sang to me.
Put your shoes on, Lucy...

"Quicksilver" (Bing Crosby sang this?!)
Seems like I am having trouble with you
And I don't know what I'm gonna do.
Seems like you're fickle as can be,
And your fickle ways got me up a tree.
You're as hard to hold as quicksilver,
                                                                when you kiss and run away....

"Candy Kisses"
Candy Kisses wrapped in paper
mean more to you than any of mine.
Candy Kisses wrapped in paper,
you'd rather have them any old time....

"Poison Love"
All your poison love has stained the life blood in my heart and soul dear,
And I know my life will never be the same....

Thanks Jo for this great collection of music, both familiar and not so well known...It's a lotta fun to be at the piano with these songs...........

Tune Into My New Radio Show!

The Nostalgic Rambler is now an internet radio show!

Gene Martin, a friend of mine, is a local celebrity and great music fan. He was on the radio here in Florida for years playing the recordings mentioned here on my blog.

Now he has his own internet radio station heard all over the world at www.thegenemartinshow.com. When I was on the radio back in the 1980s and 1990s we became friends and were on each other's radio shows. We've kept in contact. Now that Gene has taken his show on line he has developed quite a listenership, with people tuning in from everywhere...the UK, Ukraine, Canada, Holland, etc. etc. Gene offered me a chance to "unretire" from radio! Now I invite you to tune in to my show, The Nostalgic Rambler.

At this point I'm not sure if Gene will run the show the same time every week, but as of now it will be an hourly show on Saturday and Sunday afternoons at 1pm Eastern Time. Just click here or go to www.the genemartinshow.com and click on the one of the listed top audio players to access it. I usually use Realplayer, which seems to work great. Let me know how you like the show. I'd love to hear from you.

pic above of the legendary Gene Martin, pic below of the Nostalgic Rambler, me!

I've Told Every Little Star

Lots of my favorite songs are about stars. Perry Como's "Catch a Falling Star" or Hugo Winterhalter's "Count Every Star" come to mind.

This week I heard another "star" song that was quite catchy and apparently has been around the block a few times. It is "I Told Every Little Star" written by Oscar Hammerstein and Jerome Kern in 1932 for a musical called "Music in the Air."

See if you find this song as catch as I do. Click here to listen to the 1961 hit by Linda Scott. Click here to listen to a version by Margaret Whiting with a very Lawrence Welk-esque background. Or click here to watch a fascinating video put together by a very talented young man Jacob Collier. How did he do that? Even if it's not often, it is great to see young folks recognize these great tunes....

Where The Hell Is Desilu?

I overheard some women I work with say they couldn't stand writing book reports back in their school days...I guess that's what makes us all different. Writing has always been something I enjoy and sharing a good book with you is another thing that is fun.

You might have to search for this one a little bit as it never was on a best seller list. Still it is a fascinating look at Hollywood and the entertainment biz through the eyes of an insider. Howard Rayfiel was an entertainment lawyer and writer. His book "Where The Hell is Desilu?" is subtitled "How To Fail In Hollywood Without Really Trying." I don't think Rayfiel failed as he mixed and mingled with lots of the big shots of his day. The moral of the whole book seems to be that Hollywood and the entertainment biz is full of egos, crooks and sheisters (is that a word?). For the most part Rayfiel kept his honesty and integrity throughout.

In the post Desi Arnaz days at Lucille Ball's studio Desilu, Howard Rayfiel was the "Resident Counsel" which meant he was the studio's lawyer. His book isn't full of legal mumbo jumbo, however. Instead we get an inside look at showbiz. By that time Lucy was divorced and remarried and her second husband Gary Morton was involved in the production end of her empire. Morton isn't painted in a very good light here. Rayfiel tells the story about how some poor slob was watering plants at the studio and got some hose water on one of Morton's Rolls Royce (he had several). He had a fit and the car had to be driven home immediately. His cars were only washed with bottled water!

The book is full of anectodes about everybody from Bob Hope's son to Walter Mattthau (Matthau responded to a question about why his plumber makes $30 an hour while Matthau made millions....Matthau told the plumber nobody pays money to watch the plumber work!)

Star Trek was of course a Desilu production. At the time nobody thought much about merchandising. A Star Trek t shirt or fan convention was unheard of. Rayfiel talks about how that end of the biz all started as well.

Today Howard Rayfiel lives in Florida (perhaps we'll meet some day....) and is enjoying his retirement I assume.

Since this isn't a school book report there is no minimal word limit, so since I have to make lunch now, I'll stop and just tell you that this is lots of fun and a good read.

Mom liked Pat Boone over Elvis!

Teens in the 50s had several different "idols" to choose from. My mom didn't pick Elvis, she chose Pat Boone. A few years ago Pat gave a concert in Michigan. Ma dragged along several of her record albums to get them autographed. Pat Boone did not give out autographs. Ma wasn't heartbroken, she was livid that her favorite wouldn't do that for her!

It seems like people have been upset at poor Pat Boone for a while now. While researching this nostalgic rambler entry, I read comments about how wrong Pat was for recording songs by blacks in the early days of rock and roll. Pat had several cover hits of songs that black folks like Little Richard did.

At the time I think no one really gave it much thought. Pat Boone's version of "Tutti Frutti" (listen here) went right along with the pop music of the day. I don't think my mom would have gone for the rougher original black version. Pat Boone sang with the crooner style of Bing Crosby and Perry Como. See how Pat Boone affected the teenage girls of the day as he appeared here on The Lawrence Welk Show for heaven sakes! I love that song Moody River...

I'm sorry, but I don't see anything wrong with that and I don't see anything wrong with him recording versions of "black" songs of the day (I don't think the term African American had even been coined back then). One Youtube user commented saying Pat was the "scourge of the music business...." That person obviously wasn't in tune to the 1950s pop music scene. He had lots of fans and hits and the people loved him. Sorry but you can't revise history....although fans of 1950s rock and roll often try. Sirus/XM radio's 1950s station almost ignores the original pop music of the fifties, as if rock and roll/doo wop were the only thing people listened to back then.

I'd like to hear Little Richard do Pat's version of "Angel on My Shoulder." Then we'll see who does it best....

A tip of the hat today to Pat as he is involved in keeping the music of our past alive on the "Music of Your Life" radio network.

Cool Couple Steve and Eydie!

I love to sing but unfortunately am not in the same league as Steve Lawrence. My wife carries a tune but she isn't an Eydie Gorme. Too bad. It must be great to have a career where both husband and wife can be on stage together and sing to their heart's content.

A few years ago Eydie retired but before she did I was able to see her with her husband at one of their last concerts together here in Florida. It was great.

Both Steve and Eydie had great separate recording careers. Click here for a listen to one of Eydie's big hits "Blame it on the Bossa Nova." Click here for one of Steve's hits "Portrait of My Love."

Together they were magic as you can hear by this recording. They did TV shows, starting off with one of my favorite guys, Steve Allen of the original 1950s Tonight Show. Watch them here as they host the Hollywood Palace!

Steve and Eydie, you are COOL! Visit their website at www.steveandeydie.com






enjoy the pics including several albums and one of Steve and Eydie with Steve Allen