Topic: FREAKS (Read 14882 times)

bk · « **on:** August 19, 2004, 12:00:19 AM »

Well, you've read the notes, the notes haven't freaked you, you haven't freaked the notes, all is well and well is all and now it is time to post until the freakin' cows come home.

Ron Pulliam · « **Reply #1 on:** August 19, 2004, 12:03:50 AM »

Dang! I just finished a long post, submitted it and got the message that it's lost in the ether.

Gizzafratz and ratzandatz.

Tomovoz · « **Reply #2 on:** August 19, 2004, 12:28:12 AM »

We've been though the Original Cast and Soundtrack albums so I'll go to the "others".

"All I Want To Do In Life" by country singer/song writer Jack Clement is a disc I would really like to have on CD.
Melanie Safka's "Candles In The Rain" is also a CD I would really like to see. It's certainly not available now if it ever was issued.
The Cameo/Parkway recordings of the 60's are well overdue for a "legitimate" release too.

JoseSPiano · « **Reply #3 on:** August 19, 2004, 12:43:07 AM »

Good Morning!

It was very interesting watching the Olympics coverage tonight. I had caught some of the headlines while I was on-line earlier, and I knew who had won the Gold in the Men's Gymnastics All Around. But as I started watching the competition, I started second-guessing what I had seen on-line due to the way the competition was going. In any case... The situation provided some nice anticipation and excitement for me while watching the competition.

JoseSPiano · « **Reply #4 on:** August 19, 2004, 12:56:51 AM »

As for Vinyl to CD... I think anything I ever had on vinyl is now - or has been - on CD. However, I do remember buying a couple of heavily discounted LP boxed sets of various classical works at Tower as CDs started taking over more and more shelf space. And I still have those - and a bunch of cast albums... How I miss those large booklets... and not having to squint to look at the pictures.

Panni · « **Reply #5 on:** August 19, 2004, 02:57:38 AM »

Well, it's almost 3 AM - and here I am. Went to bed early and fell asleep. Yummy. ...Until a neighbor's burglar alarm went off around 1:30. It was LOUD and LONG. (The word should be "LOUND.") That finally ended and I started to fall asleep when the phone rang. DD took me at my word when I told her to let me know that she had arrived safely in Budapest. I forgot to add that the 9 hour time difference should be kept in mind. I was still glad to hear from her, nevertheless. The apartment she and her bf are renting is gorgeous, she tells me. It's very hot in Budapest, she also tells me.
I'm wide awake, I'm telling you.

Albums I cherish: I have a faux Al Jolson album ("A Tribute to... with Fonatana and his Orchestra, vocals by Jimmy Dee) which I used to sing along with and perform to in front of the mirror as a kid.
The original soundtrack recording of REMEMBER MY NAME, featuring Alberta Hunter. She signed the album cover (at the Cookery).
An original soundtrack recording of THE MISFITS and other themes by Alex North.
And a Nichols and May album that is not in my possession at the moment and I must get back.
...It's interesting how looking at an album, touching it, even smelling it, can evoke all sorts of emotions that a CD cannot.

Jrand73 · « **Reply #6 on:** August 19, 2004, 04:11:21 AM »

Whew! Albums....well okay!

DRPANNI, I also have THE MISFITS soundtrack that features some other Alex North themes on the "b" side. Lots of fun.

And yes, Mr BK - it is correct that having the mic receivers behind "glass" can give you problems. We set ours on the ledge of the loft so they can get a straight signal.

Okay.....

All the Annette LP's (even though she has an official CD Box Set) - because of the pictures and the inserts! Patty Duke Sings Valley of the Dolls (sort of like if Natalie Wood had released a West Side Story LP). An album of the songs from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang featuring (I think) the Leroy Holmes Chorus & orchestra.

Anita Darian Sings.

And my favorite non-show albums - Eric Burdon and the Animals! All the MGM albums from the 1960's!

Jrand73 · « **Reply #7 on:** August 19, 2004, 04:24:06 AM »

I like them all - but I will choose Winds of Change - a really wacky and psychedelic LP!

Here is Eric Burdon - with The Animals!

Dan-in-Toronto · « **Reply #8 on:** August 19, 2004, 04:50:59 AM »

I didn't know Dennis Clancy. But his many reviews at Amazon say a lot about him and what he read, listened to, and watched.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/cdp/member-reviews/A24Z6PF3RTPDVX/ref

Here's a sample:

*****
The First Nudie Musical

Christmas came early with this DVD, June 28, 2002.

When this little film turned up in 1975 I was living in one of the few cities it was first released to. I remember sitting in a huge theatre with 9 other people and we were all howling our heads off. The run was about 2 weeks and I saw this movie 11 times. In the ensuing years I taped it on cable. My video tape is wearing out and this DVD is like Christmas Day.

The main feature is in remarkably good shape. In an interview writer, director and producer Bruce Kimmel said that the master was literally unusable in some areas. It had to be completely rebuilt. The joys of the digital age. In a nutshell it centers around a movie studio that is going to be reposessed unless they put on a movie that is a success. The brilliant young head of the studio decides a porno nude film would put them in the black. One of the creditors insists that his nephew direct the film. Just the beginning of the trouble. A colorful, funny group of characters sing and dance their way across the screen for 94 minutes. It is a truly funny movie. "Dancing Dildos" is a hoot.

Also on this DVD is the standard photo gallery, theatrical trailer. However a "making" of the film documentary is very funny indeed. Great interviews and film scenes with Cindy Williams, Bruce Kimmel, Stephen Nathan and others associated with the film. Rumor has it that Ms Williams wanted to buy every print of the film after Laverne and Shirley became popular.

Also included in this deluxe package is a cd of the soundtrack. It has a very funny, bright melodious score. In fact, it would make a great Broadway musical. What a novel idea.

If you want to have a fun 2 hours watch "The First Nudie Musical".

beckon · « **Reply #9 on:** August 19, 2004, 05:39:39 AM »

LPS: I remember back in the late 1980s when CDs were appearing and records were on the way out. My record player was old and rather...shall we say, shaky. So being young and naive, I decided to get rid of my record player. I mean, I never thought I'd find any "new" records to play. Right? Fast forward six years later. I was now much more into show music and one day I visited the Brand music library in Glendale at a friend's suggestion. I was floored! There were tons of cast albums I never thought I would ever hear or see. The Mad Show, Billy, Dorothy Loudon At The Blue Angel, etc. Unfortunately, they were all LPs!
Oh, how I miss my record player.

beckon · « **Reply #10 on:** August 19, 2004, 06:00:37 AM »

I am very sorry to hear of the passing of Dennis Clancy. Though I did not know him, I do remember seeing some of his postings on HHW when I first discovered this site about a year ago.

My condolences to all DRs out there who knew/spoke with Mr. Clancy.

beckon · « **Reply #11 on:** August 19, 2004, 06:02:21 AM »

On a more positive note:

I guess this is my first "solo posting frenzy."

It pays to wake up early!

Ben · « **Reply #12 on:** August 19, 2004, 06:07:52 AM »

I (we) have been putting some LPs to CD thanks to the generosity of a friend and though we now have Julie and Carol at Carnegie Hall on CD I won't be getting rid of the album. I also have almost everything Peter, Paul and Mary did on CD (I have a record and a tape to transfer to CD at some point) but I won't get rid of those records either or my Chad Mitchell Trio collection or my Oh, Coward and Cowardy Custard. I have those on CD thanks to two wonderful H/Ks, the upstanding and reliable TomofOz and the lately missing Jason.

Dan-in-Toronto · « **Reply #13 on:** August 19, 2004, 06:13:24 AM »

My phonograph is kaput, yet I won't be getting rid of any records either. I have quite an assortment - folk, OCR, soundtrack, classical, jazz, spoken word. If anyone's looking for something specific, don't hesitate to check with me.

td · « **Reply #14 on:** August 19, 2004, 06:14:34 AM »

i still treasure my Joseph Papp production recording of THE THREEPENNY OPERA with Raul Julia, Ellen Greene, Blair Brown and Tony Azito. i think that the Weill estate is keeping this one off cd.

Jennifer Warnes' self-titled album, which featured her first US hit - "Right Time of the Night," which is the album's weakest cut.
Jennifer Warnes' SHOT THROUGH THE HEART, which has a fine a capella finish with Stephen Foster's "Hard Times, Come Again No More."

I'd like official releases of the Janis Ian Columbia/CBS/Sony catalogue.

I also still treasure two OBCs which were modified for cd:
OVER HERE! and PUMP BOYS AND DINETTES.

td · « **Reply #15 on:** August 19, 2004, 06:17:38 AM »

Figure nothing is as bad as Caroline O'Connor as Aldonza.

Ah, someone who missed the histrionics of Sheena Easton in the role.

[move=left,scroll,6,transparent,100%]!I LOVE FREAKS![/move]

William E. Lurie · « **Reply #16 on:** August 19, 2004, 06:26:00 AM »

Despite the recent new studio cast recording, I will never get rid of the off-Broadwat cast of MAN WITH A LOAD OF MISCHIEF. Also there are LPs of several Al Carmines musicals which I am sure will never make it to CD (except privately burned ones). I wonder why he stopped writing... perhaps the church he transfered to after the Judson did not want him to have an additional career.

But the 2 LPs I will never part with are two revues that I worked on at Northern Illinois University: THE EN NI YOO SHOW OF 1960 and THE EN NI YOO SHOW OF 1961. After working summer stock, it was good to come back to school and immediately immerse myself in a show as I started class... sort of like an easy transition. The shows (and the LPs) weren't very good, but it was a lot of fun and bring back cherished memories.

Stuart · « **Reply #17 on:** August 19, 2004, 06:29:43 AM »

I salute Dennis Clancy and Elmer Bernstein, and all they did to try to make this world a better place.

I was very quiet yesterday, and I suppose all I have to say is that I was pretty busy at the office.

Last night, Dear Partner and I, along with two friends, ventured for some chinese food, and then hied ourselves to see a free summertime concert that was the culmination of the Musical Theatre Workshop program at the very well respected Hochstein School of Music in Rochester, NY. The title of the program was "Sondheim Tonight!" with music and lyrics penned by our fearless leader's close personal friend, Stephen Sondheim. There was only one word for this concert:

Atrocious!

Apparently the Musical Theatre Workshop program at the very well respected Hochstein School of Music in Rochester, NY has no problem taking money from students who apparently not only can't hold a tune, but also have only passing acquaintanceships with tune's good friends, pitch and rhythm. And the number of flubbed lyrics was not to be believed.

Needless to say we left at intermission, and returned home to watch the gymnastics. (We went to bed before the competition was over, and boy, was I surprised to read the results in the paper this morning....!)

DR SWW, during the Olympics last night, I also managed to tune into the earlier episode of "Good Eats" and your summary on last night's posts was TOO too funny! It hit it head on!

Favorite LPs that I won't get rid of? Certainly ones that have not yet come out on CD. But others as well....we still have an LP collection, yet a turntable that seems to have broken in our move upstate, and we have not yet fixed.

In the show category, BAKER STREET (a somewhat mediocre score, but a beautiful album).

In the non-show category (and I believe I still have it....otherwise i'll have to smack myself): "George Maharis Sings," which came with its own gold tone plastic framed copy of the cover portrait as a souvenir. I know I no longer have the framed art.....

I am sure I will think of other albums as the day progresses.

OK, I've just thought of two more....even though one of them was recently released on CD:

The Ethel Merman Disco Album
Ethel Merman at Carnegie Hall (this was a private pressing made of her concert benefitting the Museum of the City of New York's Theatre Collection. Since I was working for the Collection at the time, I was given one as a "bonus.")

OK, one more......
I believe it was called "Unsung Broadway" but I am sure it came from someone's pirated collection. It was issued in a plain white sleeve, but features such gems as Georgia Brown doing "Job Application" (cut from BALLROOM) and a through-the-sound-system recording of Debbie Reynolds doing "Who Would Have Dreamed?" (Added to WOMAN OF THE YEAR for Welch, and then Reynolds). It has some other great stuff, which I can't recall right now.

Stuart · « **Reply #18 on:** August 19, 2004, 06:31:10 AM »

My, that was a long post from me!

Tomovoz · « **Reply #19 on:** August 19, 2004, 06:34:55 AM »

I was wrong wrong wrong.

David Campbell was so right right right.

Beautiful performance. A Billy I believed in and felt for.

Great vocally and a sensitive handling of the role.

Dan (the Man) · « **Reply #20 on:** August 19, 2004, 07:36:31 AM »

Quote from: td on August 19, 2004, 06:14:34 AM

i still treasure my Joseph Papp production recording of THE THREEPENNY OPERA with Raul Julia, Ellen Greene, Blair Brown and Tony Azito. i think that the Weill estate is keeping this one off cd.

Quote

I also still treasure two OBCs which were modified for cd:
OVER HERE! and PUMP BOYS AND DINETTES.

Yes! The Papp Threepenny Opera has been one of my favorites since it was first released. Aside from the wonderful performances, it's the only Columbia release (that I know of) that was recorded in that "SQ" quadrophonic sound that doesn't sound awful when played on a normal stereo. I guess we'll be waiting in vain for this one to make it to CD. In the meantime, I made my own copy.

I was likewise deeply disappointed in the Over Here! CD release. The Big Band sound of the LP recording is missing--everything sounds flat. And Patty Andrews "Where Did the Good Times Go" replaced with a pop version of the song. What was Sony Masterworks thinking when they transfered this one for CD?

Those with newsgroup access (and cable internet access) should check out alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.musicals. That's all I will say about that.

Panni · « **Reply #21 on:** August 19, 2004, 07:39:19 AM »

For the DRs who posted about mourning their record players -- why not buy a new one? I bought one a couple of years ago to replace the one I got rid of many years ago, and it was pretty inexpensive. (Okay, it's not a great one, but it plays the records -- a better idea than trying to run my finger nails along the grooves...)

Dan (the Man) · « **Reply #22 on:** August 19, 2004, 07:41:44 AM »

Quote from: td on August 19, 2004, 06:17:38 AM

[move=left,scroll,6,transparent,100%]!I LOVE FREAKS![/move]

Everytime I hear the word freaks, I'm reminded of the awful lyrics in Side Show:

"Come look at the freaks
Come gape at the geeks
Come examine these aberrations
Their malformations
Grotesque physiques
Only pennies for peeks
Come look at the freaks
Come look at the freaks
They'll haunt you for weeks
Come explore why they fascinate you
Exasperate you
And flush your cheeks
Come hear how love speaks
Come look at the freaks"

I'm guessing that one of the missing lines here is:
"What else rhymes with freaks?"

Panni · « **Reply #23 on:** August 19, 2004, 07:41:54 AM »

Thank you for posting the Dennis Clancy review of Nudie Musical, Dan in TO. I, too, found some of his reviews on Amazon, and they do say a great deal about the man. I wish I'd had the pleasure of knowing him.

Matt H. · « **Reply #24 on:** August 19, 2004, 08:00:00 AM »

Yes, I've been toying with getting a new turntable for over a year now, and I've just never sat down and ordered it. It would make life SO much easier to have it rather than the combo unit I have now which has a defunct CD player in it and dual tape players which play but can't record any more. But the turntable part of it still works fine.

Matt H. · « **Reply #25 on:** August 19, 2004, 08:03:35 AM »

As for LPs I treasure, I know you folks are SICK TO DEATH of my mentioning it, but I have one LP that I prize above all others:

STARS OF THE SILVER SCREEN 1929-1930. It's on RCA Victor, and if I think about it I'll scan part of it this afternon so you can see what I've been talking about and boring you folks with for months on end.

As for OBCs, I really prize those glistening foil covers of ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY and A CHORUS LINE even though the CDs have better sound and, with the latest ACL, more material. I also think the CAMELOT original cast LP with that blue half sheet inside is one of the classiest original cast albums ever issued. It just LOOKS regal.

Stuart · « **Reply #26 on:** August 19, 2004, 08:08:37 AM »

I forgot another LP that I would never let go: My SWEENEY TODD set, autographed by Miss Lansbury and Mr. Cariou.

Stuart · « **Reply #27 on:** August 19, 2004, 08:09:19 AM »

Quote from: Stuart on August 19, 2004, 08:08:37 AM

I forgot another LP that I would never let go: My SWEENEY TODD set, autographed by Miss Lansbury and Mr. Cariou.

Actually, I guess that means that I remembered it.....

Stuart · « **Reply #28 on:** August 19, 2004, 08:09:42 AM »

I think I am making up for my lurking self yesterday......

Matt H. · « **Reply #29 on:** August 19, 2004, 08:28:01 AM »

I have always found FREAKS a very affecting and involving movie, but I can't put it on the highest rung because of the truly awful Olga Baclanova. It's not just her poor command of the English language; I think she's a miserable actress telegraphing reactions and emotions so badly as to be laughable. I guess Norma Shearer wasn't available!

News:

Author Topic: FREAKS (Read 14882 times)

Ben