Thanks to Halloween, I pushed back posting Sunday's "Last Week Tonight" with John Oliver until today. And it's a bit different from usual. If you didn't see the broadcast, they actually did two "Main Stories". One was more traditional, but they posted the other one -- which is odd, but wonderfully fun. It's about Lee Greenwood, the country music singer who most-famously wrote one big hit, "God Bless the USA," which Republicans and Trump especially have taken to heart, even "partnering" with Greenwood on his "Trump Bible." But the story takes a closer look at Greenwood and his career and the song. And...well, it's interesting and a lot of fun.
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Right before the election, Randy Rainbow is back with a new song parody. While funny, the song is a bit angrier than most of his other work. The production is well-edited, too, with a lot more news footage than usual. Note: after his brief introduction, he has one of his long ads. If you want to jump past the, the video begins again at the 1:55 mark. From the archives. This week's contestant is Judy Delaney from Rochester, New York. I got the hidden song surprisingly quickly, though I'm not sure if most people will. Even host Fred Child wasn't able to get it. But it's a song from an area of music that's in my wheelhouse. I took a guess on the composer style, but it was just a stab in the dark, and I was wrong. Though as it turns out, I was closer than I thought I'd be.
In 1987, Perry Como was one of that year's Kennedy Center Honorees. He isn’t nearly as well-known today as he was in his day. In fact, many people might not even know his name today, though they'll definitely know his work -- that's from still hearing him around the holidays with his major hits of the season: “There’s No Place Like Home for the Holidays” and its follow-up, “There’s No Christmas Like a Home Christmas”. However, in his day (starting in the 1940s, but really kicking in during the 1950s and 1960s, even getting a Grammy nomination during the rock era for Best Song with the ballad “It’s Impossible” in 1970), the laid-back “Mr. C” was huge, and important in the growth of television, perhaps the first singer to have a hit, long-running show. And he continued to have a very solid career with TV Christmas specials and touring into the mid-1990s. (In fact, I think he had Christmas specials on television for 47 years!) Side Note: The title above refers to the theme song of his TV show, "Dream Along with Me (I'm on My Way to the Stars)" The filmed bio here does a very nice job presenting this all. And since he had such a huge number of hit songs, the entertainment section is a treat, with a clever but not unexpected twist, and along with a wonderful story by Vic Damone. A few weeks back, I posted a video here from the classic TV special, Julie and Carol at Carnegie, which Julie Andrews and Carol Burnett starred in 62 years ago. Here’s another number from the special, their enthusiastic version of the song “Big D,” which is from the musical The Most Happy Fella with a score by Frank Loesser. From the archives. This week's contestant is Marc Loudon from New Orleans, Louisiana. And it's a lovely piece which...well, I missed both. I'm sure that many people will get the composer style, but I just focused on a different composer and wrongly stuck with that. As for the hidden song, after the contestant guessed it right off (as he did with the composer style) and Bruce Adolphe played the piece again, I could hear it clearly, so I suspect others will, too.
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AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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