December 2016 - Page 6 of 7 - Ramblin' with Roger

V is for A Very Special Christmas

Since the release of the first A Very Special Christmas album in 1987, the series has raised over $100 million for Special Olympics, more than any other benefit series.

I decided to do a second V post this week, the latter focusing on A Very Special Christmas, because:

1) My friend Carla had only recently heard a song from that first album, and didn’t know about the compilations

2) It is St. Nicholas Day, and I needed an excuse to put some more holiday music herein

3) It’s Wednesday, at least in some hemisphere

A Very Special Christmas is “the title of an ongoing series of Christmas music compilation albums that benefit Special Olympics,” and I own the first seven albums. It was “the brainchild of music producer Jimmy Iovine, who wanted to produce a Christmas album as a memorial to his father. The idea of the record benefiting Special Olympics was suggested by Iovine’s wife Vicki, as she was a volunteer for the organization.

“Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss, the founders of A&M Records, along with Bobby Shriver, helped the Iovines realize the project. Since the release of the first album in 1987, the series has raised over $100 million for Special Olympics, more than any other benefit series. The album cover art is designed by artist Keith Haring.”

I’ve linked to each of the titles AND artists below (except Natalie Merchant, for whom I found only one acceptable version).

A Very Special Christmas (1987) – the original, and still my favorite. A few songs swiped the arrangements of Phil Spector’s Christmas album of a quarter of a century earlier.

1. Santa Claus Is Coming to Town – The Pointer Sisters
2. Winter Wonderland – Eurythmics
3. Do You Hear What I Hear? – Whitney Houston
4. Merry Christmas Baby – Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band – Live track
7. Gabriel’s Message – Sting
8. Christmas in Hollis– Run-D.M.C.
10. Santa Baby – Madonna; Done previously by Eartha Kitt
14. The Coventry Carol – Alison Moyet

A Very Special Christmas 2 (1992)

1. Christmas All Over Again – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, written by Petty
16. What Child Is This? – Vanessa Williams

A Very Special Christmas 3 (1997) – ah, these are coming out every five years

3. Children Go Where I Send Thee – Natalie Merchant
8. Oíche Chiún – Enya. Almost every AVSC album has Silent Night, and this is my favorite version
16. We Three Kings – Patti Smith

A Very Special Christmas Live (1999) – or maybe not. “The album was recorded live in Washington, D.C. in December 1998 at a benefit party held by then-President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Clinton to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the founding of Special Olympics.”

A Very Special Christmas 5 (2001) – “Several of the album’s tracks were recorded live in Washington, D.C. in December 2000 at a benefit concert hosted by then-President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Clinton.”

A Very Special Acoustic Christmas (2003) – “As opposed to earlier editions that contained a wide variety of musical styles, this version… featured primarily Country and Bluegrass artists.” I found this only a season or two ago.

A Very Special Christmas 7 (2009) – and there are others, related to the theme, and benefiting the Special Olympics, which I don’t have (yet) such as Jazz to the World (1995) and World Christmas (1996). Maybe next year, I’ll list tracks from the later albums.

ABC Wednesday – Round 19

V for vocals on TV theme songs

It was recommended by Zach Braff to Bill Lawrence to be used as the show’s theme.

Here’s a continuation of my favorite TV theme songs. These ones have words.

20. The Courtship of Eddie’s Father
“Best Friend”, written and performed by Harry Nilsson. I was a sucker for Harry Nilsson songs, and Bill Bixby TV shows such as My Favorite Martian, The Hulk, and The Magician.
Listen here or here

19. Moonlighting – Music – Lee Holdridge, lyrics – Al Jarreau. Produced by Nile Rodgers
Performer – Al Jarreau. The single released in 1987 reached #23 pop, #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart, and was nominated for two Grammy Awards
Listen here or here or here (full length)

18. Mister Ed – Jay Livingston and Ray Evans
Opening theme sung by Jay Livingston, with Rocky Lane as Mister Ed
Listen here or here or here (end theme)

17. Rawhide – Ned Washington (lyrics) and Dimitri Tiomkin (music)
Sung by Frankie Laine. The series featured a young Clint Eastwood (above, right)
Could the tune have come from an old Russian tune?
Listen here or here or here (full length)

16. Happy Days -Norman Gimbel and Charles Fox
Jim Haas with a group of session singers, version only in closing credits, with an updated version of “Rock Around the Clock” by Bill Haley and His Comets used as the opening theme. “Re-recorded in 1975 with different lyrics for both the opening and closing credits for Seasons 3 through 10.”
Listen here or here; this must be a REALLY late version, after I stopped watching

15. Sesame Street Music by Joe Raposo, lyrics by Raposo, Jon Stone, Bruce Hart
“Can You Tell Me How to Get to Sesame Street?” Raposo enlisted jazz harmonica player Jean “Toots” Thielemans, as well as a mixed choir of children, to record the opening and closing themes.
Listen here or here

14. WKRP in Cincinnati – written by series co-creator Tom Wells and Hugh Wilson
Sung by Steve Carlisle; long version got to #65 on pop charts in 1981
Listen here or here or here (long version)

13. The Golden Girls – written by Andrew Gold, who had previously recorded it
“Thank You for Being a Friend” sung by Cynthia Fee
Listen here or here

12. Friends – co-written by Friends producers David Serrato and Marta Kauffman; composer Michael Skloff (Kauffman’s husband); songwriter Allee Willis; Phil Sōlem and Danny Wilde (both of the Rembrandts)
“I’ll Be There for You” by The Rembrandts. Single got to #17 in 1995
Listen here or here or here (single)

11. Scrubs – “(I’m No) Superman” written and performed by Lazlo Bane.
It was recommended by Zach Braff to Bill Lawrence to be used as the show’s theme.
Listen here or here or here (multiple versions)

10. Gilligan’s Island – “The Ballad of Gilligan’s Isle” by Sherwood Schwartz and George Wyle
One of those perfect story/songs for a very lightly-regarded show
Listen here (1st season) or here (later opening/closing) or here (later opening/closing)

9. The Muppet Show – Jim Henson and Sam Pottle
I loved that show.
Listen here or here

8. Batman – lyric and music by Neal Hefti
Performed by The Ron Hicklin Singers, a chorus of four tenors and four sopranos
Listen here or here

7. The Monkees – written by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart
Theme from the Monkees performed by The Monkees, lead vocals by Micky Dolenz.
Listen here or here or here, full length

6. The Beverly Hillbillies – Paul Henning
“The Ballad of Jed Clampett” -vocal by Jerry Scroggins, instruments by Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs
Listen here or here (tag to Winston cigarettes) or here, single with Flatt on vocals, which went to #44 pop, #14 adult contemporary, and #1 for three weeks country

5. Maude – written by Marilyn and Alan Bergman and Dave Grusin
“And Then There’s Maude” performed by the late, great Donny Hathaway. Picture above features Bea Arthur (center) as Maude.
Listen here or here

4. All in the Family – Lee Adams and Charles Strouse
“Those Were the Days” performed by series stars Carroll O’Connor and Jean Stapleton
Listen here (earlier iteration) or here (later version, when “Didn’t no welfare state” sounded more resigned and “Gee, our old LaSalle ran great” was more precisely enunciated)

3. Cheers – written by Gary Portnoy and Judy Hart Angelo
“Where Everybody Knows Your Name” performed by Gary Portnoy. Rather melancholy.
Listen here or here or here (the full song, which is not an improvement)

2. The Addams Family – written by Vic Mizzy
Actor Ted Cassidy, in his “Lurch” voice, punctuated the lyrics with words like neat, sweet, and petite.
Listen here or here

1. The Jeffersons – Ja’net Dubois and Jeff Barry
“Movin’ On Up” – performed by Ja’net Dubois, from another Norman Lear show, Good Times.
Listen here or here

The Addams Family and The Beverly Hillbillies en espanol

See also here or here for others’ best TV theme songs.

Related: Almost a TV theme

Take Two of These and Call the Bank in the Morning

Book review: Apocrypha Now

Yes, Solomon WAS rather sexist, now that they mention it.

Once again, I find myself reviewing a follow-up book. Apocrypha Now is a sequel of sorts to God is Disappointed in You, also by Mark Russell, with illustrations by New Yorker cartoonist Shannon Wheeler.

While the earlier book is a retelling of the King James Version of the Bible, Apocrypha Now is the “Cliff Notes” version of the extra-Biblical writings. Part One is the Midrash, a collection of “texts that flesh out the story of the Jews in the Old Testament.”

If you’ve perused Genesis – and I’ve read it a LOT, in attempts to read the Bible straight through – some of the stories will be familiar: creation, Cain and Abel, Noah, Abraham, but with details that scripture left out. While the stories are often funny, and occasionally salty, some of them compare favorably with the dry, sometimes obtuse source text.

One story, near the end of the Laws of Moses, could be a sermon, as is. It’s about God’s forgiveness and Apology Day, what is now called Yom Kippur. “I thought the climax of my relationship with the human race was going to be giving you the law. But it wasn’t. It was forgiving you for breaking it.”

Yes, Solomon WAS rather sexist, now that they mention it.

The next section contains stories of the Apocrypha, those books in the Catholic Bible that were not included in the King James Version, books such as Maccabees, a warrior group. I’ve actually read these, and the presentation in Apocrypha Now is pretty accurate.

The last section contains alternate Gospels, ones that didn’t make the cut. I happen to own Lost Books of the Bible by William Hone. I read two chapters contained there and compared those with the Russell writings, and they are quite in sync.

In the Infancy Gospels, little five-year-old Jesus is a bit of a jerk, not knowing how to rein in this enormous power he has discovered. Over time, Jesus develops his humanity. The other story is The Acts of Paul and Thecla, the latter a woman who went to great lengths to follow Paul, despite the obstacles. This is a stirring tale in either version, but more readable as distilled by Russell.

Throughout the book, Shannon Wheeler created full stories, which are entertaining. The drawings he created as an accompaniment to Russell’s stories were also nice, if nonessential.

The feedback on Good Reads to Apocrypha Now was mostly positive. The gold-edged pages with a purple ribbon place marker, with the words of Jesus in classic Bible-red, really added to my experience.

I’m sure a few will find these books sacrilegious. As a Christian, I found Apocrypha Now entertainingly funny, and occasionally inspirational.

This was originally published for Trouble with Comics.

Music Throwback Saturday: Jesus is Just Alright

Mike Brewer was out of Oklahoma City, Tom Shipley from Mineral Ridge, OH.

As little as I know about current recordings, I know about as much about the music of my youth. If you asked me who performed the first three songs I have mentioned here, I would have little problem, though these were the only Top 40 hits each of them had.

Put Your Hand In The Hand, I could tell you, was by the group Ocean. I even have this song on some compilation LP. The record by the pop band from London, Ontario, Canada went to #2 in 1971. It was originally released by future Canadian hitmaker Anne Murray in 1970, but it did not chart for her.

In my mind, I associate that song with One Toke Over The Line by Brewer & Shipley, which hit #10 in 1971. Mike Brewer was out of Oklahoma City, Tom Shipley from Mineral Ridge, OH, who formed as folk-rock duo in Los Angeles.

Spirit in the Sky by Norman Greenbaum, born in Malden, MA, was #3, for three weeks in 1970. Dustbury described this quite well recently, but I included it anyway.

Given the decadent nature of rock and roll (or so I’ve been told), I was fascinated by the spiritual nature of these songs, plus the explicit message of Oh Happy Day by the Edwin Hawkins Singers in 1969.

For another song from the era, I picked Jesus is Just Alright by the Doobie Brothers, assuredly NOT a one-hit-wonder. This song went to #35 in early 1973. This was on Toulouse Street, their second album with the decadent gatefold photo.

Listen to:

Put Your Hand In The Hand – Anne Murray HERE

Put Your Hand In The Hand – Ocean HERE

One Toke Over The Line – Brewer & Shipley HERE

One Toke Over The Line – Gail and Dale HERE

Spirit in the Sky – Norman Greenbaum HERE or HERE

Jesus Is Just Alright – Doobie Brothers HERE or HERE

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Bermel was “inspired by tempestuous letters written by Hungarian composer Bela Bartok, [reflecting] on the struggles of living as an immigrant in an unfamiliar country,” the United States.

The family went to the Wednesday, November 23, 8 p.m. showing of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time at Proctors Theatre in Schenectady. It won the 2015 Tony Award for Best New Play, and is now on its first North American tour. Simon Stephens has adapted Mark Haddon’s best-selling novel.

Fifteen-year-old Christopher is extraordinarily intelligent but has difficulty with everyday life. “When he falls under suspicion for killing his neighbor’s dog, he sets out to identify the true culprit, which leads to an earth-shattering discovery and a journey that will change his life forever.”

Though the words autism or Asperger’s are never used, it’s evident that Christopher is on the spectrum. The point of the play is that WE, the audience likewise experience it, which is loud, occasionally confusing, compartmentalized, and, sometimes, oddly symmetrical.

We thought it was astonishing what could be conveyed with light and sound, and intentional misdirection worthy of a magician. The mostly black set was a three-dimensional grid with concepts and locations written up it. (And if that did not make sense, I understand.)

The two people behind us thought the play was terrible, and they left at intermission, and I doubt they were the only ones. But we thought it was worthwhile, as did a relative of mine and one of her daughters, who saw the matinee that day.

Interestingly, before the performance, we ran into a couple of people who would be performing signing for the later shows, one of whom was a friend of ours. The other person, who grew up with sign language, sometimes has trouble with similes, metaphors, and other figures of speech. Coincidentally, the character Christopher feels the same way.

But, I was told later, this made the assignment easier because one could just sign the words, devoid of contextual meaning, that being how the word salad would feel to a person like Christopher.

ASO

The Wife and I went to hear the Albany Symphony Orchestra at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall the weekend before. This was the fourth concert of David Alan Miller’s 25th Anniversary Season. He and the orchestra have been “nationally recognized for his adventurous programming and commitment to giving voice to new works by living American composers, [enticing] Capital Region audiences to explore new and diverse repertoire.”

After a half dozen selections from Handel’s Water Music, the Symphony played Christopher Theofanidis’s A Thousand Cranes for Harp and Orchestra, “inspired by the unique story of Sadako Sasaki, a young girl who was sickened by the atomic blast in Hiroshima, Japan; despite the intense and dark impulse of the event, Sadako’s story and A Thousand Cranes is a reflection of hope and faith in the future.” It was a very touching and lovely piece.

After the intermission, we heard Derek Bermel’s A Shout, A Whisper, and a Trace. It was a wonderfully energetic piece that featured three percussionists. Bermel was “inspired by tempestuous letters written by Hungarian composer Bela Bartok, [reflecting] on the struggles of living as an immigrant in an unfamiliar country,” the United States; it was a timely reflection. The program ended with a fine rendition of Schumann’s 4th Symphony.

We would go to the symphony more often except that it generally involves getting a child sitter. Fortunately, we got the tickets from Lee at church, who could not use them.