Awesome, Odd Fosse Choreography And 1960s Cool On Video Fascinates Me

A scene from Bob Fosse's choreography of "Rich Man's Frug 

There's extra attention these days on the legendary choreographer Bob Fosse given that televised series on FX called Fosse/Verdon.

The show involves the life of Fosse and his romantic and creative partner, the dancer Gwen Verdon.

As my mind tends to wander into unexpected corners, I recently heard a snippet of the song "Rich Man's Frug" from Sweet Charity, the 1966 musical by Neil Simon and choreographed by Fosse. (It was later made into a movie released in 1969.

I was very young in the mid and late 1960s, and I always admired what to my mind were the sophisticated adults in the room. Or more accurately, not in the room, but out there in the world, somewhere. In some alluring city that was not West Rutland, Vermont, where I was.

I'd see glimpses of televised variety show performances from shows like "Sweet Charity" and others during the rapidly changing 1960s. Even as a five or seven or eight year old, I could feel the fever of that era, even if I didn't fully understand it.

These were exotic people doing exotic things in exotic times. There was precious little of that in the small Vermont town where I grew up. As an adult, I love the little town of West Rutland. Back then, not so much.

All those feelings about the worldly matters I craved came back to me when I looked up Rich Man's Frug and found this 1960s, very awesome Fosse choreography to that song from Sweet Charity. The video is simultaneously dated and so modern cool and wonderful that I can't resist.

It might be the best Fosse number I've seen. I love the odd physical movements, the fake air of snootiness on the faces of those dancers, the humor in all that athleticism.

Here's the video.  Totally worth the watch:

When Times Are Scary, Let's Retreat Into Old Songs That Make Us Happy

The great Ronettes in the big-haired 1960s

I went on a 1960s female singer binge listen yesterday.

The news is scary for everyone, and it's always comforting to go back to nostalgia land and dredge up the music you heard when you were a kid, before you were aware of how awful the world can be.

Anybody can do this, and it's therapeutic. Try it.   

It doesn't matter which era of music you had when you were five or 10 years old. Could be 1950s rock and roll, 1990s grunge, 1940s Big Band, 1970s disco or pop hits of the 2000s.

I retreated down memory lane with nice, strong female singers in the 1960s.

You really should check out the several videos below, because I think anybody of any age would like this music. And it's fun checking out the, uh, intersting big hair styles, and the kitschy productions and sketches in the videos.

First, let's go "Downtown" wth Petula Clark: 




Here's the VERY great Dusty Springfield. Hard to choose which song of hers is best, but this tie I went with "I Only Wanna Be With You"



Next, let's bring in the Ronettes in these conservative looking business dresses, but oh! that teased hair! It's just perfect. How'd you like to carry that weight on your shoulders.

Still, "Be My Baby" is a wonderful classic:


This next one might be my favorite of the bunch. This is early feminism, it's Lesley Gore asserting herself, being her own person. This song was a total breakthrough. They're still using the song
in car ads today, of all things. But I still adore the son.  Here is "You Don't Own Me."



We can't ignore country music, either, no siree! And there's a lot of great feminism here, too.

This next one is classic, and that intentional tackiness of the video, and the intentional tackiness of the small mindedness of some of small town America circa the late 60s is just perfect.

Here's Jeannie C. Riley with "Harper Valley PTA"



Then we have our cry in your beer country song from the great Tammy Wynette:



Finally, Lynn Anderson never promised us a rose garden, but she did give us some great songs like this one:

I'm On A Talking Heads Nostalgia Binge

For some reason over the past week, I kept hearing old Talking Heads gems that I haven't heard in ages.

I'm in a Talking Heads kinda mood lately.  

Just leading a charmed life, I guess.

Some of these tunes conjure up the Talking Heads Stop Making Sense tour from the early 1980s. One of the highlights is "Girlfriend Is Better"

You can't beat the huge suit David Byrne wore in the Stop Making Sense tour and concert movie.

 Watch:





And even more fun highlight of Stop Making Sense is the song Swamp.

"Hi, Hi, Hi Hi Hi HIII!  Woohoo!!!"


The day after "Girlfriend is Better" and "Swamp" entered my head again, the almost-as-good Talking Heads song "Road To Nowhere" came on the radio.

I love the goofiness of it all.  Should I run like David Byrne in the video?

RIP Joe South, Known Most for "Games People Play"

Joe South has died at age 72.

A lot of you never heard of him, of course. But he was a big singer/songwriter whose heyday was in the 1960s and 1970s.

An old picture of Joe South

There's one song by South in particular I've always liked, and I think about from time to time. It's called "Games People Play."  I first heard it when it came out in 1969 and I was a wee lad of  7.

Often songs I loved when I was little became awful when I was an adult, or vice versa. But this one stuck with me.

Some lyrics of "Games People Play" have extra resonance now, in this political season and in these times when so many people are telling us their god is better than our god.

Here's two examples of the song's lyrics to show you what I mean:

"Oh the games people play now
 Every night and every day now
Never meaning what they say now
Never saying what they mean"

 And:
"People walking up to you 
Singing glory hallelulia 
And they're trying to sock it to you In the name of the Lord."

Sad to say, I guess times didn't change all that much in the four decades since South wrote that song, huh?
Here's the song/video to jog your memory

American Top 40!!!!!!!

It's a chore, sometimes, driving through rural Vermont if you don't have decent music in the car, and you have to rely on radio stations to keep you entertained.  Consider my experience as I drove the two hours home from Rutland to St. Albans the other night:

Hmm, the oldies station. Click:
The Carpenters wail, "Don't you remember you told me you love me baby. Baby, baby, baby baby, oh baybeeee!!"

Click. The top 40 station.
Some pop tart's on: "Sticks and Stones will break my bones but chains and whips excite me."
CLICK!

A country station?
".....I took a Louisville slugger to both headlights...."
Click 

A familiar radio jingle: .American..Top 40!!!!!"
It was a rerun, of all things, of American Top 40 with Casey Kasem from April 5, 1986.

Casey Kasem kept me company the
other night with a 1986 blast from the past

Wow, a time warp from the 1980s. I need somebody with big hair and parachute pants, pronto!

I quickly got immersed in Casey's minutae of the chart toppers of 1986.

This particular Top 40, had two differents songs with the same name, Casey tells us, both called "I Can't Wait."  What fun! I can't wait to hear them, to see if I remember the songs

I do remember them! Stevie Nicks angrily warbles through one of the "I Can't Wait" songs, over a background of urgent '80s era thunks and clanks and fake drums. Fun Fact: Her "I Can't Wait" is off her "Rock A Little " album. "Rock A Little" is also the current name of Nick's official Web site.

Turns out I recalled the other "I Can't Wait,"  by a now-forgotten group called Nu Shooz. I actually like this danceable song, even if it does sound a bit like a really bad earthquake at a wind chime factory. It turns out Nu Shooz is still going strong, though their sound has changed to something they call pop/jazz/cinema. The reviews look good, though.

Another blast from the past follows almost immediately after "I Can't Wait as Casey plays something called "Beat's So Lonely," by Charlie Sexton, who, when he was on the chart in April, 1986, was a 17-year old wunderkind who apparently was on his way to being a huge superstar.

I hadn't  heard of Sexton since 1986, though I've learned, upon looking him up, is that he is still a well-respected musician, band members for big acts like Bob Dylan, and has been producing many hit records. So good for him!

I remember loving the song "Beats so Lonely" in 1986, but upon hearing it again the other night, it sounded so overwrought. Which is what you'd expect from a 17-year old.

Then it was time for the highlight of the snow, the Long Distance Dedication. It was from a guy from North Dakota, who was sending it out to his wife, who presumably lived in the guy's house, so there wasn't much of a distance to carry.

No matter. Mr. Fargo wrote that he was cleaning out his garage and found some eight track tapes, one of which featured Bobby Vinton's song, "I Love How You Love Me."

Bobby Vinton helped soothe my drive home the other night

Good gawd, I thought that song was so cheesy and hokey back in my wild semi-youthful days in 1986. Casey Kasem sure is old school, I thought.

Then the song played. It immediately made me think of my lover, and I melted. What a beautiful tune. Yes, it's cheesy as hell,  but since it conjures up great thoughts, what the hell.

Radio stations obviously play Casey Kasem reruns to appeal to our nostalgia, of course. That's OK. Indulging in "American Top 40" gives us a chance to indulge in assessing where we've been, where we're going, and provides a soundtrack to get the juices flowing with those thoughts.

I see the musicians in the 1986 Top 40 countdown have also evolved and grown and changed, so we're all in this together.  As I neared home, Van Halen's song "Why Can't This Be Love" blasted from my truck's radio (The biggest mover within the countdown!,"  Casey gushed)

I pulled into the driveway, took one last look at 1986, and pronounced myself happy to be home, alive and well in 2011.