haines his way

12/19/2002:
"CREIGHTON BARREL"

Well, dear readers, you learn something every day. Here, for example, is what I learned this very morning while Luckie and I were having our morning constitutional: Over the years people would tell me they were buying something from someplace called Creighton Barrel. I didn’t know what it was, what they sold, although it did sound vaguely English to me. Well, imagine my surprise when a truck pulled up at a neighbor’s house and on the side of said truck were the words Crate and Barrel. I thought to myself, myself that sounds just like Creighton Barrel, and then it hit me like a Crate and Barrel – all these years I’d been wrong. Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, I, BK, was wrong all these years, Crate and Barrel-wise. Isn’t that somewhat funny? Isn’t that somewhat too too?
That story reminds me of the Beach Boys song California Girls. For years I thought they were singing Lipstick on the seat California Girls rather than Wish they all could beat California Girls. In fact, when someone finally had the good taste to correct me I refused to believe it for a week and listened to the song over and over again to make certain what the correct lyric was. I still think Lipstick on the seat California girls is better.
We are back on track with answering your excellent questions on Thursday. So, the answers are forthcoming in the next section. Crate and Barrel – that just slays me.
Well, my answers to your excellent questions are particularly long-winded so let’s get to them by clicking on the Unseemly Button below.

Oh, I promised to tell you the little story that went along with running into that old pal of mine in Palm Springs – if you missed the note she wrote me it is in yesterday’s posts. I met her in 1970 (she was sixteen, I think) when I, for a really short time, took part in a show that had been running for years in LA called The Drunkard, which starred William Jarvis (he was also the adaptor and director). I can’t remember who I played or anything about the show other than that I sang an endless song called Pussy in the Bag. I joined the show with one rehearsal and went on the following night, although I had to have a cheat sheet with me for the song (I think it was something like twelve choruses). We did the show for several weeks at some restaurant in the Valley, and Joanie was the pianist. Then, as I recall, we had a month or two off while Mr. Jarvis found a new restaurant to perform in. I got a call and was given an address to show up at on a Saturday night for our first show. I certainly didn’t recognize the name of the restaurant but the address I recognized immediately. Why, you ask and I will answer you because today is the day I answer your excellent questions. Because, Ripley’s believe it or not, the address was the very same as the restaurant my father had owned. I couldn’t believe it, but when I showed up there it was indeed my father’s old restaurant, which he’d closed in 1966. What are the odds of that, I ask you? It was so strange performing the show there, creepy really. And our dressing room was in the office of the restaurant. I’ll just bet the combination to the safe therein was the same as it was when my father owned the place. I, of course, knew that combination like the back of my hand, but I was a good and upstanding fellow and did nothing. Joanie and I had a great time doing the show – before it would start, I’d join her at the piano and we’d play duets. Our most popular was Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head. And now, on to your excellent questions.
William E. Lurie asks if I will once again be answering Wednesday’s questions on Thursday, now that I am not working at the television show. Well, the answer appears to be yes, by golly and by gum. Do I know the date yet for the Tourette Syndrome benefit in New York, New York. I most certainly do – it’s Monday March 3rd and we’re gearing up in earnest right this very minute. We’re all very excited about it – we have put together and even better version of the Baja Marimba Band for the New York concert (some of the LA players couldn’t make the trip) and while we’ve only just started to think of talent, we have Diana Canova, and from LA, David Naughton, Tammy Minoff and Christa Jackson (wait’ll you hear her). And Dave Frishberg, too. I have some terrific people in mind and will be announcing the cast as they agree to do it. What do I think of Broadway producers who know an above-the-title performer in going to be out of the show on certain dates but continue to advertise that performer as if he or she will not be missing any performances? Well, sometimes the above-the-title performer has it in their contract that they are always advertised whether they’re there or not. Sometimes it’s not the fault of the producers at all. What I find more worrisome is the habit of today’s breed of above-the-title performers who book out for other things. That never happened very much in the old days. Ethel Merman didn’t book out, Carol Channing didn’t book out – they’re job was starring in a show and they rarely if ever missed a performance and certainly they didn’t miss them because they’d taken a job somewhere else for a night. Do I think that previews on Broadway should be lower-priced than performances after opening, since the show is still being refined. That’s the way it used to be, of course, but from what I understand it is no longer financially viable to do it with the costs of running the show so high. I do find it annoying, though, to pay top dollar to see sets not working, or hear songs which haven’t been orchestrated yet or performers going up on lines because they don’t know them yet. Finally, what child is this who lay to rest? Why, Luckie, of course. That’s all she does all day long – first she has a few yelps and pees and then, exhausted from such activity, she rests. She actually had no incidents yesterday, so that’s a good thing.
Philip Crosby asks what is my favorite Disney animated feature? Oh, I have a soft spot for Peter Pan and Lady and the Tramp, and I certainly like Beauty and the Beast. Who is my favorite unlikely musical theater performer? Well, I suppose Twiggy would be unlikely, but I love her and love to watch her do anything. And Lou Diamond Phillips certainly knocked my socks off in a totally unexpected way.
Jrand55 asks what I think is the most honest celebrity autobiography I’ve read. I haven’t read all that many, really, but I liked Veronica Lake’s book, which I thought was very interesting. I liked Twiggy’s book because, after all, she did mention me. I like Mr. Akira Kurosawa’s Something Like an Autobiography. How do I suppose Debbie Reynolds celebrates Christmas. Hmmm. Perhaps she sings Tammy whilst drinking egg nog. Perhaps she sings the song Meltz and Ernest wrote for her (but which she didn’t record), Sammy. Did I get Jrand’s order for Benjamin Kritzer? I did and it is on its merry way.
Sandra asks if I put up a Christmas tree. I used to all the time, but I haven’t since I’ve been in this house, because I just can’t find the right place to put it. Maybe next year I’ll figure it out. Sandra saw a Louis Armstrong doll that sings Hello, Dolly! when you push a button. Does Jerry Herman get a check for two cents every time one of those is sold? First of all, may I just say that I find the concept of a Louis Armstrong doll frightening? I’m sure Mr. Jerry Herman gets some kind of interesting royalty on the doll, but I don’t have a clue as to what it might be. What should Sandra send her two cousins for Christmas? One is Hindu and one is Buddhist. I think you should send the Hindu a statue of Buddha and I think you should send the Buddhist a statue of Hindah.
Arnold M. Brockman asks when we’ll be seeing a photo of Luckie. Mr. Mark Bakalor and I are getting together next week to discuss a few additions to the site, one of which will be a proper photo gallery. We’ll also finally have our FAQ section and we’re about to deal with the whole chat room issue. So, stay tuned.
Michael Shayne forgot to ask about Judy Kuhn and Linda Purl, to see what I thought about working with them. Judy is very opinionated but I really enjoyed doing her album, and she is really a gifted performer and actress and we got along just fine and dandy. I wasn’t pleased with some of the arrangements on her album, but other than that the whole experience was terrific and I’d work with her anytime. Linda is amazing – just the easiest person to work with and she loves direction and she loves the studio and we had a ball. What is the story behind Carol Burnett, Jackee Harry, Sinbad and Woody Woodpecker laughing on I Love to Laugh on Michelle Nicastro’s Reel Imagination album? You know, I don’t remember anymore. I think she went and got all those people on tape, doing their laugh, that’s my memory. A little known fact is that Guy Haines is also laughing in there, too. Is there really a Vineland Gospel Chorus? No, we made up the name (the studio was on Vineland) – it was all friends of Michelle, Lanny and I. Do I keep all reviews (good and bad) of my recordings? I only keep bad ones if they’re funny. I have piles of reviews in storage somewhere, so I guess the answer is yes. Where did the concept of the hidden track come from and was I the first producer to do it? I will go out on a limb and say yes, I was the first to do it for theater music albums. Hidden tracks had been done on rock albums although I’d never heard one. I just decided to do one and once we did the one it just spiraled from there. Of course, others have now done it but for theater albums I do believe we were the first. For hidden tracks do I prefer a song like Disneyland on Michelle Nicastro’s On My Own album, sound effects or just plain fooling around? I like doing whatever is spontaneous and fun. How did it become Emily Skinner and Alice Ripley and not the other way around? They decided – I think it had something to do with the way they were positioned in Side Show.
Kerry says I seem to have a knack for choosing material for Mr. Guy Haines. Have there been songs that I picked that just didn’t work after you tried them? No, they all worked, I think. The only one we scrapped was Here’s That Rainy Day – someday I’ll let people hear it I suppose, but it just wasn’t what either of us had hoped for. Terry Trotter did a fine job playing it, but it was just too slow and drawn out. And thank God it was, because we replaced it with the devoon You Must Believe in Spring.
KT, our newest dear reader, asks if I tried coaxing Luckie out from under the table with puppy treats. Yes, but first, prior to coming out, she yelps and pees as if I were grinding a stiletto heel into her nostril. Can I conjure up a Golem house-boy for KT? Possibly – we’re expecting some Golems on Christmas Eve. What is a V day? Yesterday was a V day – a day in which there were too too many words which started with the letter V.
Mark L. asks how I met/chose Niki Harris to provide taps on many of my albums. I think Walter Willison must have introduced us, because I think she’d been part of the whole Grand Hotel thing. She’s wildly wonderful and a grand person.
JMK asks what is the most amount of material I’ve managed to get final takes of in one day? Well, on our orchestra dates we routinely did the whole album – sixteen songs. Not all of them with the full band, of course. And there were only final takes, as I don’t save – I do takes until we get the right one and then we move on. Scratch vocals are done on the orchestra date, and then there’s usually an additional two or three days of vocal takes after that. On cast albums, of course, you normally do the entire album in one day – so a show like Little Me, which is quite a long CD, was done in nine hours (we’d gotten really good by then and had it down to a science – I don’t know any other show album producers who could do these things in less time on a regular basis). Do I know other Jews, beside myself, who celebrate Christmas? Sure, quite a few. We all celebrate it in the normal Christmas way.
Craig asks if I remember what song was playing when I had my first kiss? Well, you’ll read about it in the sequel to Benjamin Kritzer, but I had my first real kiss sitting in the back row of the Four Star Theater and the song in the film (and the film’s title) was Where the Boys Are. What was I doing when Kennedy was shot, when Challenger blew up, and 9/11. I was in high school when Kennedy was shot, and they let us all go home. I honestly don’t remember where I was when Challenger blew up. 9/11 – I was awakened quite early in the morning with a phone call from Vinnie who said, “The world is ending.” What are my plans for New Years? I never make plans on New Year’s Eve or day. I like to be alone on New Year’s Eve, to contemplate and make resolutions and the like (I may go out this New Year’s Eve, but I’ll be home by ten if I do). If my local DVD store does indeed bite the dust, does that mean I won’t get advance copies of DVDs? No, because I get them from a different store. What are the top five DVDs that aren’t out yet that I’d want to own. Li’l Abner, of course. And The Magnificent Ambersons (although one is on its merry way from merry France), Once Upon a Time in America, Once Upon A Time in the West, Fellini’s The White Sheik and La Dolce Vita and I Vitteloni and a hundred others. What extras would I want on them? Oh I never really care that much about the extras – whatever would be fine with me. What’s the best advice someone has ever given you? Oh, that’s too tough and broad – so, I’ll tell you the wonderful advice someone gave me on writing my book. I was complaining about how every time I’d start a new chapter it was like I’d never written anything before. It was really hard for me. The brilliant advice was don’t finish the chapter and stop. Either stop in the middle of a sentence or at the end of a paragraph, and that way, when you pick up the next time it will get your head right back into the scene, get you flowing and then back into the process. That advice never failed. Is there one teacher that inspired me the most? I’m afraid you will have to read the sequel to Benjamin Kritzer – I can’t give away everything, you know.
Jose asks if I ever long for snow now that I am based in LA? I love snow, but I can’t say I long for it, as I’ve always been based in LA – I’m an LA baby. Was there ever a session where the singer was sick but the finished product showed no signs of it. Oh, several times I think that sort of thing happened. Guy Haines had been sick as a dog, but both of us were pleased with the album. Dorothy Loudon was terribly ill when we did Night of the Hunter, but it ended up working for us and she is delightful on that album. Was there ever a session where someone was sick and we just had to scrap it because we weren’t going to get a good take? Sure. Sal Viviano was really sick when we did the Cinderella album – I did many takes, but I knew he wouldn’t be happy with them, so I replaced him on the album with Jason Graae. Christianne Noll was sick when we did the Sondheim album, but she came back a day or two later and we redid the parts we needed to – same with Susan Egan on some song or other. What album took the longest from initial concept to final production and pressing? I’d say A Broadway Love Story. It took eight months for me to get the song selections to work, to do the arrangements of them and get the “story” right. In fact, we were still putzing around with it two weeks before the session. And which album took a lot more studio time that I’d planned for? I don’t really think we had anything that really went over like that.
Well, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must write until the cows come home, I must eat foodstuffs, I must pick up my Christmas cards and send them out pronto. Today’s topic of discussion: I think someone brought this up weeks ago, but since I wrote about it today, what lyrics have you totally misunderstood (like Lipstick on the seat California girls) and had wrong for years? Or, what names (like Crate and Barrel) have you misunderstood? Topic two: Our very own Mr. Donald Feltham had a reading of the musical he wrote the book for, which is called Flight. Someone came on a chat board and roundly criticized it, rather viciously if you ask me. Now, I have been critical of workshops and readings for years – no more so than now, where these authors invite everyone and their mother and somehow the readings are filled with regular theatergoers. I find it an incredibly non-productive way to go about things. What is your opinion on this matter? Post away, my pretties.

Replies: 66 Unseemly Comments

I've gotten lyrics wrong on many songs I've heard, but the classic is actually a joke from "Friends" when ditzy Phoebe tells the group she always knew Elton John was gay because of that song he sang "Hold me closer, Tony Danza..."
Posted by Philip Crosby @ 12/19/2002 09:31 AM PST

I have never been first before. I am honored.
Posted by Philip Crosby @ 12/19/2002 09:32 AM PST

What exciting questions and what early answers.
I too enjoyed Veronica Lake's book. And do you know when she was promoting it, she appeared on the syndicated TO TELL THE TRUTH with two imposters pretending to be Veronica Lake, and the years had been so unkind, that she only got one vote from the panel!
Hurray....Kritzer is on his way!
I also won a copy of Picture Mommy Dead starring MISS SUSAN GORDON!! And Zsa Zsa Gabor!! And Martha Hyer!!! How will I be able to wait?
Posted by Jrand55 @ 12/19/2002 09:37 AM PST

oh...and I think it is
"I wish they could all BE California Girls...."
Posted by Jrand55 @ 12/19/2002 09:38 AM PST

Ah, Mondegreens! IIRC (If I Recall Correctly in internet lingo....and as Chairman Kaga is wont to say) that is the correct term for misheard lyrics.
The classic, of course, is "There is a bathroom on the right" instead of "There is a bad moon on the rise."
And I always thought the lyric in Evergreen was "love, endless endeavor, ever green" instead of the correct "endless and ever, ever green." (Actually, I like mine better.)
Posted by Pam @ 12/19/2002 09:38 AM PST

Well, there's that Springsteen (I think) tune that someone else had a hit with where I swear the chorus has a line with something like "lit up like a douche in the middle of the night." That is one frightening image, let me tell you.
Posted by JMK @ 12/19/2002 09:56 AM PST

When I was but a wee lad I used to sing "Gloria, Gloria had a mule-a" for Glory, Glory Halleujah"!
Posted by William E. Lurie @ 12/19/2002 10:13 AM PST

I've listened over and over to Leonard Nimoy's rendition of "If I Were a Carpenter" from his "Two Sides of Leonard Nimoy" album, and I could swear he sings:
If I were a miller,
At a mill wheel grinding,
Would you piss in your colored box,
Your soft shoes shining?
Anyone know what the actual lyric is there? Who originally made a hit out of that song, anyway? Maybe his version is better enunciated at that point . . .
I love listening to Spock sing, by the way, and I have all his albums. I can't decide even for myself whether it's music or comedy, and I don't really care. For whatever reason, Nimoy's "If I Had a Hammer" always makes me smile.
(Of course if he WERE a carpenter, he WOULD have a hammer, wouldn't he?)
What's YOUR favorite Nimoy number?
Posted by Sigerson Holmes @ 12/19/2002 10:22 AM PST

Here are the correct words:
If I were a miller
And a mill wheel grinding
Would you miss your colored blouse
And your soft shoes shinning
Posted by Laura @ 12/19/2002 10:32 AM PST

Jrand55,
Don't get your hopes up too high for that Bert I. Gordon flick. I had to turn it off after 35 minutes -- it's dreck.
I heard from Robert Armin that "The Boy and The Pirates" is fairly good. Give that one a look-see.
Posted by A Kvetch @ 12/19/2002 10:38 AM PST

Dear A Kvetch - if you're speaking of Picture Mommy Dead, yes, it's a bit of a trial, although our very own Susan Gordon does very well in it (as always). I found The Boy and the Pirates to be endless and not very charming, but again Susan does a wonderful job and so does the "Boy" Charles Hebert (who I am currently watching in Houseboat).
Posted by bk @ 12/19/2002 10:58 AM PST

Thanks for the warning, Kvetch, but I just bought DVD's of She Demons and Frankenstein's Daughter, I THINK I can make it through PMD! I will let you know, though.
Workshops and readings really can't take the place of rehearsals and previews, IMHO. A paying audience there to see theatre will let you know quickly what doesn't work.
Oh, and I guess the mondegreen I most recall is being SURE Petula Clark was singing 'Don't sleep in the sun with Johnny' when in fact she was imploring, 'Don't sleep in the subway, darling.'
Posted by Jrand55 @ 12/19/2002 11:00 AM PST

Charles Herbert was a STAR in the above mentioned movies AND The Invisible Boy AND 13 Ghosts! And yes, Miss Susan Gordon is the MAJOR reason I will be watching PMD!
Posted by Jrand55 @ 12/19/2002 11:02 AM PST

A Christmas song I always misunderstood as a child was "Winter Wonderland" and I thought the lyric was "later on we'll PERSPIRE as we dream by the fire". But I came to find out that the word is CONSPIRE. I used to think to myself how gross it was that two people would sit by the fire and sweat and we'd all sing about it.
A few weeks ago on another site I posted about lyrics I misconstrued from ANNIE. I had several, one of which was I thought the orphans were singing "the snowflakes are rising and falling" which never made sense to me until I did the show and saw the score said "the snow flakes are frightened of falling". And suddenly it all became very clear to me.
Posted by Mark L. @ 12/19/2002 11:03 AM PST

Hey, BK, my sparkling prize arrived today. Thanks so much. Love that Bacharach score!
Posted by JMK @ 12/19/2002 11:16 AM PST

It's not a song lyric, but I remember when I was a child and suffered spells of naughtiness that upset my mother, it took me a long time to figure out she was saying "I'm warning you!" I thought she was saying "I'm mourning you!" If you think about it, you'll understand why I thought the latter carried more punch.
Posted by Jay @ 12/19/2002 11:20 AM PST

I once won a free breakfast after betting my friend that the lyrics to a particular 80s pop song were not "Poisonous Summer" but "Boys of Summer".
And it was mighty tasty too! (oh.. a Free To Be, You and Me reference)
Posted by Craig @ 12/19/2002 12:17 PM PST

Incidently - my name dropped off the answer list above. Bruce did a great job answering my questions that began with "Do I remember what song was playing when I had my first kiss?"
Posted by Craig @ 12/19/2002 12:18 PM PST

I've never understood that song in Spanish that goes, "One ton tomato. I need a one ton tomato. One ton tomato..."
Posted by Sandra @ 12/19/2002 12:34 PM PST

4 days until William, Craig and Bruce's Brother's Birthday!!
Bruce can certainly help the long arm of the law by reminding us of his dear brother's name...
Posted by The Birthday Police @ 12/19/2002 01:01 PM PST

Thanks for so many smiles today.
Tim Hardin's song "If I Were a Capenter" was a hit for Bobby Darin, The Four Tops, Johnny & June Cash and a hit here in Oz by John Swann. A top 40 hits four times in its life is success in my book. ("Sealed With a Kiss" and "The Locomotion" have managed the honour too).
My next door neighbour kids used to sing "Almost Heaven, West of Ginger". We are Australian after all.
Loved the mention of "Pineapple Princess". Everyone should grow up with that knowledge. I would be more likley to remember that than all those strange symblols (cymbals) that interest Bill Orr.
(Thanks for the message Bill - well said -Oh that my sister would come and bake cookies. Then again . No way).
Posted by Tom Guest @ 12/19/2002 01:15 PM PST

Joel
Posted by The Name Police @ 12/19/2002 01:25 PM PST

The Name Police beat me to it. I always like getting to "it" first, but his time The Name Police got there before me. Joel is correct. And speaking of correct, I have corrected the little mistake wherein I didn't attribute Craig's name to his answers.
Posted by bk @ 12/19/2002 01:31 PM PST

As it happens, December 23rd is also the birthday of Bryan Lassner, the dear son of dear friends Jane (Wagner) and Keith Lassner. What a great day for a birthday!
To all the birthday boys, a very happy and a healthy.
Posted by Susan Gordon @ 12/19/2002 01:36 PM PST

It's also my Grandaughter Alex's birthday. All these people who have to celebrate Christmas and their birthday at once!
Posted by William E. Lurie @ 12/19/2002 01:41 PM PST

BK,
Okie dokie, I stand corrected -- The Boy and The Pirates is NOT fairly good. Thanks for the warning that it's "endless and not very charming". You've saved me the trouble of tracking that one down on eBay.
Posted by A Kvetch @ 12/19/2002 01:49 PM PST

"Pineapple Princess, I love you
You're the sweetest girl I've seen
Someday we're gonna marry
And you'll be my pineapple queen.
We'll settle down in a bamboo hut.
And you will be my own little cocoanut.
Then we'll be beach-combing royalty
On wicky wicky wacky Waikiki!"
Maybe if they put that song into Dance of the Vampires, it might add something.
Posted by Jrand55 @ 12/19/2002 01:56 PM PST

Ah yes. Joel. That is correct of course. I suppose I could have used the handy dandy search box here at Haines His Way and found that out from last year, but alas, I did not. Thanks to Bruce and a fellow colleague - The Name Police for providing that bit of information.
Posted by The Birthday Police @ 12/19/2002 02:02 PM PST

There is a Steely Dan song, with the lyric
"She took a little with sugar.
She took the money from my old man."
I always thought that it was
"She was a little Meshugah,
She took the money from my old man."
Some Sondheim songs have confused me. In "Could I Leave You?" When she sang
"Honey, I'll take the grand,
Sugar, you keep the spinet..."
I would always wonder "What is a "Grand Sugar"?
Posted by Hapgood @ 12/19/2002 03:49 PM PST

For the longest time, I thought the lyrics from "Come Fly With Me" recorded by Frank Sinatra, were "When I get you up there, where the air is rare of fire" instead of "...where the air is rarefied..."
Of course, there's the theme song from the TV show, ALL IN THE FAMILY: After there were several comments that some of the lyrics sung by Archie and Edith couldn't be understood, they went back and re-recorded it -- really punching out, "Gee, our old LaSalle ran great." Those were the days.
Posted by Donna - Cabaret West @ 12/19/2002 03:57 PM PST

I for one was very surprised in BK's S & M interpretation of the Beach Boys, "wish they all could beat California girls eight to the bar."
And by the bye (BTB in Internet Lingo), you skipped my late-posted question, Mr. BK, so here it is again:
Will you be doing Disney/ASCAP again this year, or will your multitudinous projects interfere with that?
Posted by William F. Orr @ 12/19/2002 05:33 PM PST

A lull.
If I'm here and available and I'm asked by Mr. Michael Kerker, yes I'll do the workshop because I really have a good time doing it.
Now, speaking of errant and truant, just where in tarnation are Ben, S. Woody and der Brucer, and several other MIA Hainsies/Kimlets. Stand forth and speak proudly.
Posted by bk @ 12/19/2002 06:39 PM PST

Here I stand! Speaking (or typing as it were) proudly! Errant and truant I am. I have admitted that much too often lately. But, I'm also sleeping until 9AM (believe me, for me that's late) and now that the volunteer work is over, I'm not doin' nuttin. We get up and have leisurely breakfast, tea and something else, whatever we fancy, and we listen to Christmas CDs and tapes. Then we just sit back and read the paper or nap or watch videos (we really must get a DVD player other than my computer). Anthony went up to Bridgeport today for Babes in Toyland (it's an odd run, only Thursdays-Sundays) and I went to my office Holiday party. I just returned from the merriment. Last night (Wednesday) we say the amazing Fiona Shaw in Medea (Thank You Actor's Equity for the free tickets). I know the play very well, having played Aegeus (I was a character actor even when I was young) but it's still a shocker when the deed happens.
That's a quick catch up for me. I need to go back and read the posts I have missed. I will be out on the Isle of Long from Monday the 23rd through Monday the 30th. I will try to post when I can but there are people to visit, there is food to eat and dogs (MacGregor) to play with! I do want to be part of the HHW Holiday celebration so I will make a point to check in as often as I can. In preparation for tomorrow's topic, I'm listening right now to Harry Connick's When My Heart Finds Christmas. Since Anthony will be up in Bridgeport tomorrow as well, I'll probably be on to tell you what I'm listening to then as well.
Posted by Ben @ 12/19/2002 07:21 PM PST

Ben,
Whereabouts in Long Island? We are, as you know, also LI people. But of course I think we will all be too busy seeing people, doing things, and going hither and yon, and also yon and hither in this busy season--too busy, I say, to get together.
Ah, well!
Posted by William F. Orr @ 12/19/2002 08:52 PM PST

I'm in Indiana visiting family for the holidays, but I had to share about this topic.
I was a bit of a comic book geek when I was younger (okay, still am), but I swore the song was "Life in the Batplane" not "Life in the Fastlane"
Posted by jb @ 12/19/2002 08:55 PM PST

William,
We will be in Centereach and thereabouts with friends in Selden and Setauket and Ronkonkoma. I've become accustomed to the BIG fish dinner on Christmas eve with enough fish to feed the Italian army, then talk over black coffee and dessert and around midnight, the opening of the gifts! Quite a change for a quiet Episcopalian from Minnesota. We had Christmas on the 25th after Santa had made his visit then we ate a big dinner/supper and snacked the rest of the day.
Posted by Ben @ 12/19/2002 09:04 PM PST

Ah, "mondegreens" - If I recall, correctly, the term is derived from a mis-hearing of a medieval song where the lyric was "laid him on the green"....
-And the "Blinded By The Light" lyric still to this day puzzles me. -"wrapped up like a douche..."
Well, that's all for me for today. Hopefully, I won't spend most of the night coughing again - and not sleeping. UGH!
Posted by Jose C. Simbulan @ 12/19/2002 09:24 PM PST

I suppose you'd have to be familiar with Japanese cartoons to understand this mondegreen. When we lived in Japan, and my eldest daughter was three, her favorite Japanese television program was Draimon (pronounced dra-ee-mon), a funny blue charachter with an oversized head. Well, it was only right, then, that when she sang 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,' it came out like this:
Twinkle, twinkle, little star
How I wonder what you are
Uppa uppa sky so high
Like a Draimon in the sky . . .
And she will probably never speak to me again for posting this story on the internet.
Shhhhh! Don't tell her!
;-)
Posted by Susan Gordon @ 12/19/2002 10:31 PM PST

Errant and truant the last
couple days, but now back
with a vengeance (oh damn...
not V day anymore).
I'm with JMK and Jose... that
"...douche in the middle of the
night..." lyric has never made
sense to my ear. Does
anybody know what it really is?
Also the one Mark L.
mentioned from "Winter
Wonderland." Could have
sworn as a kid that they were
planning to perspire later on.
Posted by Jed @ 12/19/2002 11:04 PM PST

This sounds silly, but when do you cross the line between silly and witty? When Steven Tyler of Aerosmith sings "Walk This Way", I always thought he said "chee-a-lee-ah", and it turns out that he is saying "cheerleader". All the Chee-A-Lee-Ahs in the world must be very disappointed.
There's your problem with Luckie! Some dogs have a phobia about stiletto heels; don't wear them.
Do Golems do windows??
Posted by KT @ 12/19/2002 11:13 PM PST

Wow! Where The Boys Are...I remember that. Don't laugh, but I recently bought a CD of Connie Francis' greatest hits. She really sang some lovely songs, and the ones like "Stupid Cupid" and "Lipstick On Your Collar" are fun to hear again. She appears in Las Vegas every now and then at smaller hotels, and I've really been meaning to go see the show.
Posted by KT @ 12/19/2002 11:24 PM PST

I hope you'll respect me in the morning, but I have a collection of Jerry Vale music too. I love the Italian songs.
Posted by KT @ 12/19/2002 11:37 PM PST

There have been several "mondegreens" that I'd finally decifered, but for the life of me, I can't think of any right now. I hate it when that happens.
Posted by George @ 12/19/2002 11:47 PM PST

Yay! It's finished! It's finished! My school project is finally finished! Now I can get some sleep.
Goodnight.
:-)
Posted by Susan Gordon @ 12/20/2002 12:56 AM PST

I won't wait until the morning KT. I respect you already. Connie & Jerry are very well represented in my collection and I'M PROUD.
Posted by Tom Guest (from OZ) @ 12/20/2002 01:02 AM PST

JB welcome to Indiana! Nice place to visit - but I wouldn't want to....oh, wait a minute....I do. Nevermind.
Connie Francis? 8-D I have that Greatest Hits CD - but also a Rhino Cd titled Connie Francis in Hollywood that has all the songs from the MGM movies she did. My favorite is Looking for Love! If you really like Concetta - try to find it. Fun stuff! And I don't think it's on CD (could be) - there was a Connie Francis on Broadway LP. She sings some songs from 1960's Broadway and really sounds great.
Posted by Jrand55 @ 12/20/2002 02:20 AM PST

When Bruce Springsteen wrote and recorded Blinded By The Light the lyric was quite clearly -- "Cut loose like a deuce another runner in the night." Then, for some bizarre reason known only to the fools responsible for the Manfred Mann's Earth Band cover-version of the song, the lyric was changed to "wrapped up like a douche". Since these fools spawned a mega-hit in 1976 with this screwy new lyric, perhaps they were fools savant, capable of knowing what the kooky public would want played on the radio?
Blinded By The Light appeared on Bruce's Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ album. An album which contains a plethora of Dylanesque metaphorical lyrics. I particularly like the line -- "I was born blue and weathered but I burst just like a supernova". That line has always reminded me of the image of "the Phoenix rising from the ashes" which, coincidentally, reminds me of Bruce Kimmel, for he seems to enjoy that image as well.
By the way, I believe that the line -- "Cut loose like a deuce another runner in the night" -- is a reference to the "Little Deuce Coupe" immortalized by The Beach Boys.
"Mama always told me not to look into the sights of the sun
Oh but mama that's where the fun is."
And we'll have fun fun fun 'til her daddy....oh, nevermind.
Posted by A Kvetch @ 12/20/2002 02:34 AM PST

Otay, Jose!
Knowing nothing about The Boss myself (I feel curturally ignorant on that point), but adept at Google searches, I found a site:
http://www.yimpan.com/Songsite/Lyric/index.asp?sid=3157
I have e-mailed you the lyrics. So dense, you could stick 'em in the ground and use 'em for a fence--oops, an Alan Chapman reference!
Anyway, it seems this is a site where people are disputing about the lyrics, and depending on who recorded the song there are differences. Where the site says "cut loose like a deuce" one poster says it should be "revved up like a douce".
Well, you know in college, all my friends used to say "Irma la Douche", which might be the name a of compeditor to Summer's Eve.
Posted by William F. Orr @ 12/20/2002 02:41 AM PST

WFO,
Actually, there is no dispute about the lyric if you go directly to the source -- on the Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ LP itself, Bruce Springsteen included the lyric to the song -- "Cut loose like a deuce another runner in the night."
The lyric isn't so much dense as it is written in a street vernacular that one would need to be familiar with to easily understand. I suppose it's an early-70's Jersey gutter-speak, unfamiliar to most. I only know of it from knowing many Jerseyans of that type. You probably know the type of folks I mean -- the one's who might begin a conversation with the line -- "How much do you bench?"
Posted by A Kvetch @ 12/20/2002 04:27 AM PST

"I'm Dorothy Provine and this is my first television commercial...
but I just had to tell you about a new product...."
Posted by Jrand55 @ 12/20/2002 04:36 AM PST

Congratulations to Susan! Sandra finished her finals yesterday too.
BK, you saw the Crate and Barrel delivery truck drive by; I saw a leopard-spotted delivery truck drive through my town one day.
Posted by Laura @ 12/20/2002 06:19 AM PST

Yes congratulations to Reader Susan and Reader Sandra!
Draimons are a girl's best friend.
Posted by Jrand55 @ 12/20/2002 06:24 AM PST

Whenever I think of Connie Francis, all I can think of was her lawsuit against a motel when she was raped while staying there. It wasn't a motel employee or anything. That's as stupid as people suing McDonalds because they gained weight from their food. Yes the rape was a terrible thing, but blaming the motel trivialized the whole thing and made me lose all respect for Ms. Francis. By the way, did you know that her secret desire was to star in the life story of Judy Garland?
***
Susan - When did you live in Japan? Was it to make a movie or what? Is it really the most expensive city in the world to live in?
Posted by William E. Lurie @ 12/20/2002 06:25 AM PST

Jrand55:
Sometimes I have that not-so-fresh feeling. Tell me more about it.
You are too warped! :>)
Posted by Kerry @ 12/20/2002 06:41 AM PST

Go to www.amiright.com for misheard lyrics and the correct ones. "Louie, Louie" always seems to be the most common.
Posted by Kerry @ 12/20/2002 06:44 AM PST

uh... William E. Lurie...Japan is not a city.
Posted by William F. Orr @ 12/20/2002 07:00 AM PST

I meant country... You expect Geography this early in the morning?
[I might add that since BK is posting his new notes later at least there are more postings at the end of the previous day's notes now.]
Posted by William E. Lurie @ 12/20/2002 07:11 AM PST

LOL.
Actually the Connie Francis Hollywood Cd is called Where the Boys Are - if you are searching the Internet for it.
Yup - that lawsuit dragged on for years and was probably as traumatic as the crime...well...maybe not. I think the basis for her suit was that she telephoned the Front Desk as soon as she realized that the sliding door to her patio would not close all the way and that there was no way for her to secure her room and they NEVER sent anyone to help her or offered to move her to a safer room.
I don't think her attacker was EVER caught, and the motel WAS negligent. Scary!
Her autobiography is really a pretty good read, although she is just as likely to turn up in the Enquirer these days as Billboard. More likely.
Connie as Judy might have had something to it in the 1960's. But now it would be difficult to find anyone to play Connie!
Wasn't it Drew Barrymore who was going to play Sandra Dee at one time? Whatever happened to that project?
Posted by Jrand55 @ 12/20/2002 07:20 AM PST

Reader Kerry - Dorothy will have to explain it to you - I think she is on the Roaring Twenties set - check with William F Orr.
Posted by Jrand55 @ 12/20/2002 07:22 AM PST

William E. Lurie, I moved to Japan after finishing college and lived there for 13 years, working for different Japanese companies. Unfortunately, I never had an opportunity to do a movie there, although I did participate in the productions of the Tokyo International Players. To answer your question, yes, Tokyo is extremely expensive, but more so for the tourist, who doesn't know the lay of the land. As a resident, I survived there very nicely.
Posted by Susan Gordon @ 12/20/2002 08:33 AM PST

Dear Reader Jrand55: Why me? I vaguely remember Dorothy from "The Roaring 20s" (and I am a Friend of Dorothy), but I don't remember the television commercial. Betty Furness, yes.
Posted by William F. Orr @ 12/20/2002 09:03 AM PST

I remember back in the early 70s CBS Morning News did a thing on the cost of living in various cities. They went to each city and bought a "typical" weekly supply in a grocery store.
Tokyo came out very, very expensive. Of course, they were buying typical American foods. Peanut butter was really outrageous in price. After all, it was an imported gourmet delicacy.
Posted by William F. Orr @ 12/20/2002 09:05 AM PST

For Jose-- (Google is a wonderful thing)
The term "mondegreen" was coined by Sylvia Wright in a 1954 Atlantic article. As a child, young Sylvia had listened to a folk song that included the lines "They had slain the Earl of Moray/And Lady Mondegreen." As is customary with misheard lyrics, she didn't realize her mistake for years. The song was not about the tragic fate of Lady Mondegreen, but rather, the continuing plight of the good earl: "They had slain the Earl of Moray/And laid him on the green."
Posted by Pam @ 12/20/2002 09:11 AM PST

Thanks Susan. Too bad you never got to make a movie there. You could then have done your own dubbing when it was released in the States. I can just imagine: "Godzilla Vs. The Fifth Penny"!
As for Dorothy Provine, I remember her most from her part in "The Great Race". And while we are on the subject of 60s commercial actresses... does the name Rula Lenska ring a bell with anyone?
Posted by William E. Lurie @ 12/20/2002 09:12 AM PST

Delightful! Hehehe.
Oh, sorry William F Orr, you DON'T work at Warner Bros.
That was William T. Orr...but then we have been through this all before. >8-/
Lady Mondegrene - I thought that usually happened at cast parties.
Posted by Jrand55 @ 12/20/2002 09:18 AM PST

You don't know me but I am famous in Europe...and I owe it all to Alberto VO5 hairdressing.
Posted by Rula Lenska @ 12/20/2002 09:21 AM PST

Ask BK: Got a question? Ask Bruce Kimmel...

© Copyright 2001-2003 Bruce Kimmel.
All Rights Reserved. Site design by hijinks design.