The following excerpt is taken from Wikipedia:
"Martin Denny (April, 1911 – March 2005) was an American piano-player and composer best known as the "father of exotica”. In a long career that saw him performing well into his 80s, he toured the world popularizing his brand of lounge music which included exotic percussion, imaginative rearrangements of popular songs, and original songs that celebrated Tiki culture... His music was a combination of ethnic styles: South Pacific, the Orient and Latin rhythms."
My note: - The use of the word "exotica" here means Denny had built a collection of strange and exotic instruments that made the music sound like they are sounds of the south seas - bird calls, palm trees, waves, etc. His first big hit was "Quiet Village" and I just love this song very much. Later on, he also recorded "Pagan Love Song", "Stranger In Paradise", and many more Hawaiian songs. These songs were so beautifully arranged by Denny that upon hearing them, you feel as you were already in paradise!
Below is "Quiet Village" -
Friday, 11 July 2008
Tuesday, 1 July 2008
Saturday, 14 June 2008
Greece & Turkey + George Chakiris!!!
Pic 1) The Grand Library, Ephesus in Turkey; Pic 2) Parthenon, Athens
It's rather funny that in Greece, all older men look like Anthony Quinn in "Zorba The Greek" although Anthony Quinn hailed from Mexico and not Greece! However, not all older women look like Melina Mercouri in the movie, "Never On Sunday"! Everywhere we went in Athens or in the islands, we could hear the song "Never On Sunday" being played, and sometimes they might play "Zorba The Greek".
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Do you remember George Chakiris in "West Side Story"? He was born to Greek immigrants from Greece, so he's very much a Greek! I had the misconception that he's a Puerto Rican due to the way he spoke in "West Side Story". Boy, I was so wrong for when I heard him sing with Nana Mouskouri; he didn't sound like a Puerto Rican at all but a real Greek. Listen to him sing on YouTube with Mouskouri in "Plaisir D'Amour", a very lovely song:
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Thursday, 8 May 2008
The Evergreen Voice From Greece - Nana Mouskouri
In a couple of days, I'll be vacationing in Greece for 10 days. Before I go, I would like to introduce you to the evergreen voice from Greece, Nana Mouskouri. I will talk more about her when I return from my holidays. In the meantime, please enjoy her "Amazing Grace" from YouTube below:
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Wednesday, 30 April 2008
The Invincible Ben-Hur - Charlton Heston (1923 - 2008)
He was Ben-Hur, he was Moses (in Ten Commandments), he was Colonel George Taylor (in Planet of the Apes), he was Mark Antony (in Julius Caesar) - he was the invincible Charlton Heston, an icon and a legend of our time.
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Tuesday, 29 April 2008
A Woman With A Strong Voice - Helen Reddy
Helen Reddy sings - I Don't Know How To Love Him:
The Australian born Helen Reddy has won a Grammy, and she has also appeared on Broadway. She's also a song writer; she wrote the most "iconic and culturally significant song" - I Am Woman!
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Sunday, 13 April 2008
From Bathing Beauty to Million Dollar Mermaid - the amphibious Esther Williams
A friend asked me if I could remember Esther Williams, the Million Dollar Mermaid? Of course, I remember her, especially those elaborately staged synchronized swimming scenes with her at the centre stage. To this date, no other movie(s) can match these spectacular aquatic scenes made by MGM. It was really amazing that 6o years ago, Hollywood could already come up with such wonderful techniques in filming such delightful swimming scenes as well as dancing scenes to such a great effect!
Incidently, Williams married Fernando Lamas in 1969 and they remained married until he died of pancreatic cancer in 1982. Lamas was best known for his film "The Merry Widow" filmed in 1952. I can still remember him dancing merrily with Lana Turner in the movie to the enchanting Merry Widow Waltz playing in the background. He's the father of actor Lorenzo Lamas, whose mother is not Williams. Lorenzo is best known as Lance Cumson in the 1980s soap opera, Falcon Crest.
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Thursday, 10 April 2008
Only The Good Die Young - Andy Gibb (1958 - 1988)
The following excerpt is taken from Billy Joel's 1977 song - Only The Good Die Young: - -
"They say there's a heaven for those who will wait
Some say it's better but I say it ain't
I'd rather laugh with the sinners
than cry with the saints
The sinners are much more fun...
You know that only the good die young
Oh woah baby, I tell ya
Only the good die young
Only the good die young..."
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Andy Gibb, the youngest brother of the Bee Gees, did not record the above song, yet the lyrics could very well be applied to him and to his short life. He achieved phenomenal success when he was still a teenager, being the first male singer to chart 3 consecutive No. One singles on Billboard Hot 100 between 1977-1978. Apparently, his record still hasn't been broken to this date. These No. One hits were: I Just Want To Be Your Everything; Love Is Thicker Than Water; and Shadow Dancing.
In 1981, Andy met Victoria Principal, whom he had a crush on for years, on the John Davidson Show, and romance immediately blossomed. Sadly, the love affair only lasted for a little more than a year. However, after they broke up, Andy became hooked on drugs and often complained about his chest pain. He struggled during his latter years, trying so hard to regain his energy and his past glory. Soon after his 30th birthday in 1988, Andy complained of severe chest pain and was admitted to a hospital where he slumped into unconsciousness and later pronounced dead. Did he die of a bad heart? Or a broken heart? Did he really throw his life away?
The irony is, he did sing the song called "Don't Throw It All Away":
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"They say there's a heaven for those who will wait
Some say it's better but I say it ain't
I'd rather laugh with the sinners
than cry with the saints
The sinners are much more fun...
You know that only the good die young
Oh woah baby, I tell ya
Only the good die young
Only the good die young..."
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Andy Gibb, the youngest brother of the Bee Gees, did not record the above song, yet the lyrics could very well be applied to him and to his short life. He achieved phenomenal success when he was still a teenager, being the first male singer to chart 3 consecutive No. One singles on Billboard Hot 100 between 1977-1978. Apparently, his record still hasn't been broken to this date. These No. One hits were: I Just Want To Be Your Everything; Love Is Thicker Than Water; and Shadow Dancing.
In 1981, Andy met Victoria Principal, whom he had a crush on for years, on the John Davidson Show, and romance immediately blossomed. Sadly, the love affair only lasted for a little more than a year. However, after they broke up, Andy became hooked on drugs and often complained about his chest pain. He struggled during his latter years, trying so hard to regain his energy and his past glory. Soon after his 30th birthday in 1988, Andy complained of severe chest pain and was admitted to a hospital where he slumped into unconsciousness and later pronounced dead. Did he die of a bad heart? Or a broken heart? Did he really throw his life away?
The irony is, he did sing the song called "Don't Throw It All Away":
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Saturday, 5 April 2008
The sweet voice in Grease - Olivia Newton John
A recent photo
Sandy and Danny met and fell in love over the summer. They even bragged about their romance to their friends by singing the famous song - Summer Nights, not realizing they're now in the same high school, Rydell High. It's so uncool for greaser Danny to have anything to do with the goody two shoes Sandy! What a situation! And how to solve it? That's the movie - GREASE!
Here's the song "Grease" by The Bee Gees, not by Frankie Valli because I like The Bee Gees better. Besides, this song was written by Barry Gibb of The Bee Gees!
"I solve my problems and I see the light
We gotta plug and think, we gotta feed it right
There ain't no danger we can go too far
We start believing now that we can be who we are...
Grease is the word
They think our love is just a growing pain
Why don't they understand, it's just a crying shame
Their lips are lying only real is real
We start believing now that we can be what we feel...
Grease is the word
Grease is the word, is the word that you heard
It's got groove it's got meaning
Grease is the time, is the place is the motion
Grease is the way we are feeling..."
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Wednesday, 26 March 2008
Distinguished British Actor Dirk Bogarde (1921 - 1999)
From comedy to tragedy - first as Dr. Simon Sparrow in all the Doctor films (such as Doctor In The House, Doctor At Sea and Doctor At Large, etc.); then as the love-sick Sydney Carton who went to the guillotine for love in A Tale of Two Cities, as the ill-fated Anacleto in The Singer Not The Song, and as the wrongly accused Jose in Spanish Gardener, Bogarde had demonstrated he was really a multi-talented actor.
I also like him playing Franz Liszt in Song Without End with beautiful Capucine. The film won the Best Music Score Academy Award for Morris Stoloff and Harry Sukman and the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture (Musical).
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