Tuesday Tunes

I assure you, I have no idea why, but I've been thinking "they've gone about as fur as they can go" all day long.

Cursed by Rodgers and Hammerstein earworms!

Kansas City - from the musical OKLAHOMA



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A great song about impending motherhood, by adoption.

I Had Something - Lucy Kaplansky



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Great mid-70s art-rock tune, with lyrics by Kurt Vonnegut!

Nice, nice, very nice - Ambrosia



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I never truly appreciated this song until I no longer identified as a Christian. And now, I just love it. Thanks to the indispensable WPCI!

Where to now, St Peter? - Elton John

Thursday tunes

A variety of old tunes, excavated from Daisy's dusty memory vaults.


Listen to this woman's pipes! Outstanding! This is from Melba Moore's Tony-award winning performance in the musical "Purlie" in 1970. She was also in the famous hippie musical HAIR (both stage and movie versions). I am guessing this is from the TV broadcast of the Tony Awards, since this is also the year she won the Tony.

I Got Love - Melba Moore



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Listen to this woman's pipes! Outstanding! From the TV special "A Concert Behind Prison Walls" hosted by Johnny Cash, taped in 1976 in the Tennessee State Prison, and first broadcast in 1977. (On piano is Andrew Gold, writer of "Thank you for being a friend"--which you've heard at the beginning of every "Golden Girls" episode.) I do passionately love this weepy ballad, but I confess, I associate it with too much drinking. I'm sure I'm not the only one! (Written by Libby Titus and Eric Kaz.)

Love has no pride - Linda Ronstadt



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Nice 70s classic rock anthem from Canadian band April Wine.

Roller - April Wine



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Decades ago, I heard that this extraordinary song was written by "a blind guy dressed like a Viking, who walks around New York reciting his poems"--which is not something you readily forget. Like many legends, it turned out to be true; his name was Moondog, and a documentary about his life titled "The Viking of 6th Avenue" is currently in production. I can't wait to see it.

In the meantime, enjoy:

All Is Loneliness - Janis Joplin with Big Brother and the Holding Company



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Even all the awful violins cannot ruin this lovely 60s melody from Jimmy Webb, sang beautifully by Glen Campbell. (He also plays the lovely guitar break, showing off his celebrated session-musician chops.)

Wichita Lineman - Glen Campbell

Ann Romney and class war

Apparently, I upset some people with the 7-minute intro to my radio show this morning. Wow, really? And I try so hard to be nice, too.

I usually start my show with a summation of whatever the other talk-radio hosts have been discussing, then give my take on it. And then we segue into other subjects. I long ago decided this would be my pattern, to let people know that this is not your ordinary South Carolina talk radio. In fact, we are the only self-identified lefty radio show in the entire upstate. So, my choice to begin my shows this way is quite deliberate. I want people to know who they are listening to, right out of the box. Unlike many conservative radio hosts, I don't try to fake people out and lead them to believe I am "objective" (since of course there is no such thing as objectivity, as the post-modernists have correctly counseled us) or "fair and balanced"--since what I try to do is make up for the fact that local media in Greenville County is overwhelmingly conservative.

Today I started my show trashing Ann Romney, which seems to have upset people. It also means they weren't listening. And its that last part that upsets me.

The scandal of the week is about the words of liberal journalist Hilary Rosen (not a Democratic party operative, although you certainly wouldn't know that from all the conservative media coverage) stating the obvious, that Ann Romney, who owns a couple of Cadillacs and is married to extremely-wealthy presidential candidate Mitt Romney (a proud member of the fabled 1%), has never worked a day in her life, which of course, is absolutely true.

This true statement is considered a scandal. Why? Because the Rethuglicans have successfully spun her comments as "mommy wars" comments, implying that Rosen impugns the beleaguered stay-at-home mamas (which note, I have also been, as I was careful to mention on the air). MOMS DO TOO WORK, comes the chorus. Well, duh, of course we do. But a woman worth "$290-odd million" (in her husband's amusing estimate) is not a "stay-at-home-mom"--she is the mistress of the plantation. As F. Scott Fitzgerald so memorably said, the very rich are different from you and me. And a woman who "raised five boys" certainly DOES work hard... but a woman with maids, nannies, secretaries and yard workers, DOES NOT.

In fact, what DOES she do?

THIS is what Rosen was saying... and if she wasn't, it is what *I* am saying.

Ann Romney is a rich woman who has done nothing but hire nannies, and that is not tantamount to raising five boys, or even five houseplants. Sorry, but it just isn't. Are we to believe she is Shirley Jones in THE PARTRIDGE FAMILY, hauling five kids around in her used-schoolbus? Right. She has drivers, she has car-elevators, she has EMPLOYEES. And no, that is not "working"--in fact, the very idea is a JOKE.

My question is: why would regular folks want to identify with such a person? My consigliere pointed out to me that people in trailer parks will vote for Mitt Romney... and he is 100% correct, although the logic here totally escapes me. Have we working-class people been so brainwashed to hate ourselves and believe ourselves inferior, that we automatically think anyone rich must be superior, must have the answers, MUST be smarter than we are? (This concept always reminds me of a line from FIDDLER ON THE ROOF: "When you're rich, they think you really know!")

Do we believe such a thing about a rich person who inherited everything and did nothing himself to deserve it? WHERE do we get this bias for the rich? WHY is it bad to point out that Romney has not raised her children herself?

Let me make it clear: nothing pisses me off more than "I built this house" or "my dad built this company" or "FDR built the Lincoln Tunnel" etc. Workers built your house, workers built your father's company, and workers built the Lincoln Tunnel. The erasure of workers, the fact that people died building the railroads and the Panama Canal and the bridges, is something I keep front and center in my consciousness, because those people were me and my family. Likewise, I always correct people when they name some rich slave-owner as the man who BUILT one of the countless beautiful homes of the South. NO, SLAVES BUILT THAT HOUSE. FOR FREE, TOO.

Likewise, I am annoyed when Ann Romney or another rich woman comes forth to claim she raised 5 boys, or 5 houseplants, or whatever she is claiming to have done. NO, NANNIES RAISED YOUR CHILDREN FOR YOU. MAIDS WASHED THEIR CLOTHES. DRIVERS PICKED THEM UP FROM SCHOOL. To say otherwise is to actively erase these workers, and I won't do it. I will certainly give credit where it is due, and it is not due to Ann Romney, but it IS due to the women she erases with her lying statements of having "worked" at home. Bullshit. Rich women with nannies have hired employees to raise their kids, period. If they don't like me saying that and daring to recognize the actual workers who have done the actual work, then they shouldn't LIE about it. What do you suppose Ann's nannies are thinking, the women who actually stayed up late with the feverish, puking babies while Ann cozily slept in? Let's hear from THEM. And by the way, did she pay Social Security taxes on all of her domestic workers? What is their immigration status; is it as nefarious as those yard-workers her husband claimed not to know were illegals? And why didn't he know that? Because he doesn't even HIRE his own yard workers, he hires out other people to do his hiring.

And where is the mainstream media, and why aren't they asking these questions? Because rich people are sacrosanct in America. Their choices are not to be questioned. They can do anything and everything they please, with no repercussions. To point out that they are liars (and lazy people who have never worked) is considered RUDE.

Well, let me continue to be rude, since someone has to do it, and as we see, the regular media is too busy chastising Rosen for saying the obvious, and fawning all over the 1%. Hey, if the 1% does it, it MUST be okay. How dare we suggest otherwise.

And then we wonder where they get the power to erase us and walk all over us and steal $800 million in bail-out money from us? We have given them the power, in our fear and reticence to question them. We genuflect at their lifestyles, we tell ourselves it is our failing that we are not more like them.

I do not WANT to be like them. They are morally bankrupt, lazy, parasitic rich people living off the HARD WORK of the rest of us. Ann included. If that message bothers you, you are not ready for class war, even though it has already been declared on us when they took our money to bail out the rich. And be advised: they intend to take more of your money and give it directly to the rich. Romney is warning you, daily, that he intends to do this. If you vote for him to pick your pocket to give another tax break to him and his staggeringly-affluent friends, you are a fool. If you think it's PERMISSIBLE for a man who keeps huge amounts in a Swiss bank to run this country, you deserve everything you get. I just wish you wouldn't take down the rest of the country with you.

And his wife? A tool. His "consultant on women's economic issues"--a woman who has never worked a day in her life.

This is the truth, and Rosen should not be shamed or vilified for reminding us. I only wish we could be reminded of their fraudulent statements more often.

A Mark, a Yen, a Buck or a Pound

Unfortunately, all the YouTube clips from the actual film, have "embedding disabled by request"--which means this one will probably get pulled eventually too. But I thought I'd try anyway... I played this on my radio show! I LOVE THIS!!!!

From the film Cabaret (1972)--here is a song we can all relate to in these harsh economic times.

Money - Liza Minelli and Joel Grey (from "Cabaret")



For the entire movie clip in context, featuring wonderful Bob Fosse-choreography and fabulous Weimar Republic-inspired fashions--go here.

Sing Out Louise! Smile, Baby!

Graphic from Yellowdog Granny.









I am hoping to make it down to Columbia for the Republican CNN dog-and-pony-show (debate, I mean), but so far, no vehicular luck. Still panhandling for a ride, if any of you brave souls plan to go down there tomorrow to check out the Democratic Process In Action (grunts for emphasis). The Ron Paul people are having their rally directly afterwards, and that sounds like a good place to start witnessing the Third Party Gospel. I'm on it! Well okay, I would ordinarily be on it, if I had a car that could safely sustain a hundred-mile round trip without a thorough examination, which I don't.

Yes, yes, I know, if I had been a conscientious DoBee [1] I would have gotten my oil changed and tires rotated and what-all, but as an unemployed person I have not seen THE POINT. (See, she pauses to point out, HOW UNEMPLOYMENT NEGATIVELY INFLUENCES THE ECONOMY?!?) At any rate, here I am, send notes and emails and Twitters and Facebook IMs and what-have-you, if you are going down to our illustrious state capital to protest or hang out with the Ron Paul people tomorrow.

My first radio excursion on Saturday morning went well. Gregg roused himself from his cardiologist's floor and aided me wonderfully! I was scared to death, and had the proverbial death-grip on my old wooden antique rosary from Notre Dame (Indiana, not France), which was left to me by a deceased female neighbor named Butch, so its very lucky. In addition, I inexplicably required a huge Double Mocha Frappucino to get it done, but I did it! (Next week, will probably be able to make do with a regular single Vanilla.)

PLEASE DROP IN AND LISTEN! WFISradio.com, 1600 AM or 94.9 FM on your radio dial... or online. 9:00 AM on Saturday mornings, which is an ungodly weekend hour, and I apologize for that.

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Be-bopping around the internet today, whilst watching Doris Day (yall know how much I love Doris) in With Six You Get Eggroll. A bad movie that nonetheless fascinated me as a wide-eyed, gullible youngster... as Single Mom-with-kids marries Single Dad-with-kids, and they wholesomely "blend" their families. As many of you know, I desperately wanted my mother to get married and behave in this wonderfully-domestic fashion, particularly if it meant she would stop wearing the bubble hairdos, popping amphetamines, singing in the country and western bands every night, drinking and smoking like a rat-pack member, marrying people she had just met and dammit, ACT LIKE SHE WAS SUPPOSED TO. [2] Ha.

Of course, now I realize, neither did Doris. If I had only known!

Will somebody tell me: Did wholesome TV-dad Brian Keith die of AIDS or is that just a rumor? Am I mixing him up with Robert Reed, since the plot of this movie is where they obviously came up with THE BRADY BUNCH? (It seemed that after Robert Reed died, it was suddenly open season on the nice TV-dads and magically, they all became gay overnight.)

Okay, checked Wikipedia: No, not true. Suicide. I knew it was something uncommon.

A shame. I always liked him.

The sweet, precocious little child-star, Anissa Jones, whom I liked so much on Brian Keith's old show, Family Affair, was an accidental drug death at age 18. We were only 6 months apart in age. The other child on the show, Johnny Whitaker, has spoken at length about his addiction problems, also, and is now a drug counselor.

I guess these Hollywood-fantasy families really were fake, weren't they?

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[1] To the non-baby boomers, this is from the children's TV show Romper Room and has no relationship to the word DOOBIE as a joint or the Doobie Brothers. There were Do Bees and Don't Bees, and of course, we all tried to be good DO BEES! (We marginally succeeded.)

[2] Mama! Get out your white dress/you've done it before/without much success (Stephen Sondheim to the rescue). When I first heard this song as a kid, at maybe 8 years old, I sobbed my little heart out. (And it's where we get today's blog post title.)

See, I thought, the stipper's children understand!

What you see is what you get

Happy birthday to me!

The following song was used over the credits of the film WATTSTAX (1973), which of course, you have seen many times and own the special-edition, re-issued DVD and everything.

Wait, you haven't?!?

Well, have a listen then. :)

This song totally expresses how I feel and always has, from the time I first heard it as a young 70s ruffian. It always reminds me of who I am, as they say. (My late friend Van always said, you either instantly identify with the song, or you don't.) I decided to use it as my official birthday tune... also, I know lots of you kidz never heard it before, and YOU MUST.

Have a good weekend, everyone!

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What you see is what you get - The Dramatics (opening credits from WATTSTAX, 1973)

In this life, one thing counts, in the bank, large amounts...

Vivien Leigh and Hattie McDaniel in GONE WITH THE WIND, for which McDaniel won an Oscar, the first for an African-American.


Discussion question:

What do we do about works of art that engage in harmful stereotyping, but we don't want to get rid of the art?

I have included one example below, for no other reason than it was the example that started me thinking--and because it's on Turner Classic Movies today. Whether you think this musical necessarily constitutes great art, is not where I want to go with this. I chose this for the example of stereotyping, in this case, pretty blatant antisemitism. What is pertinent is that this movie got the Oscar for Best Picture (1968) and is a staple of mass-culture; the musical OLIVER! is also performed by high-schools and small-town theater groups throughout the land.

It is also notable that the movie was based on the novel OLIVER TWIST by Charles Dickens, still widely read and circulated. Also notable is that the (Jewish) actor who plays Fagin (Ron Moody) was nominated for an Oscar as Best Actor, and won a Golden Globe award. (For all of the talk of Jews running Hollywood, can anyone explain that?)

In this discussion, we could also add such mass-culture staples as (of course) GONE WITH THE WIND and John Ford's numerous John Wayne-kicks-Indian-butt movies. I love THE SEARCHERS, but I have very mixed feelings about loving it. (I am smart enough to know that if I were Native American, I would NOT love it.)

What about old movies/plays that display severe sexism? I am terribly partial to (example) the old Doris Day movie THE THRILL OF IT ALL. Doris really shows herself to be a first-class comedienne, and brings down the house. But by the end, would-be career-mom is dutifully chastened, quits her job and goes back to being James Garner's obedient wifey, and my blood just boils. But until this happens? The movie is funny and very good.

(sigh)

And so, what's a mother to do? And indeed, as a movie-addict, I always wanted to show my daughter these movies, but felt like I had to conduct a freaking political seminar every time.

Okay, at the risk of offending, here are the OLIVER! clips... And to make it worse, I just love this, too. (There, I admitted it.)

But I have guilt for loving it. Does that count?

WARNING: DO NOT WATCH IF YOU WILL BE OFFENDED. FAGIN IS AN ANTISEMITIC STEREOTYPE. Even the music (by Lionel Bart, also Jewish) is designed to "sound Jewish"--as Fagin's hat is also an obvious reference to his station in life. In the novel, Dickens actually referred to Fagin as "a merry Jew"--but the movie never does, using these cultural symbols instead. (And as always, there is Fagin's obsession with money.)



Check out Ron Moody's fabulous singing and dancing in this one. (Watch how the boys salute the flag as they leave; I just love that.) Moody made no apologies for playing the role.



What is your guilty pleasure? Yes, we all have them. Don't fib to me! :P

What can we do about this situation? Any ideas? Just continue the endless political seminars?

Okay, consider this post as one.

Dead Air Church - Easy to be Hard

Our hymn this sabbath comes from the musical HAIR, by James Rado and Gerome Ragni, which you may have seen. It was a huge hit on Broadway, but not at the cinema. It's still worth watching, although I agree with the critics who say the movie, directed by Milos Forman, was seriously flawed. (Rado and Ragni believe the definitive film version has yet to be made, and I agree.)

HAIR was one of the first stage productions to go "mainstream" that invited audience participation (during the famous "Let the Sunshine In" finale). There was also a brief nude scene, which made nationwide headlines in 1968. Sermons were preached against it and teachers singled it out for major moral ridicule, thus guaranteeing that the kids would go right out and buy the record.

Among the original stage-casts in 1968 included hippies right off the street, as well as others who became well-known later: Melba Moore, Ronnie Dyson (the late, great voice that first gave us "Aquarius" before the song was re-recorded by The 5th Dimension), Paul Jabara, Diane Keaton (legendarily refusing to take her clothes off in aforementioned scene), Ben Vereen, Keith Carradine, Barry McGuire, Ted Lange, Joe Butler, Peppy Castro, Táta Vega, Dobie Gray, Ted Neeley, Meat Loaf, Philip Michael Thomas, Joe Mantegna, Jennifer Warnes and the always-unforgettable David Patrick Kelly.

There were several major hits from this musical, including the title song by the Cowsills (a song, it should be noted, that I have always tried to live by), as well as the exceedingly delightful Good Morning Starshine. According to the New York Times, "Hair was one of the last Broadway musicals to saturate the culture as shows from the golden age once regularly did."(2007 quote)

The following song has the distinction of being the first top-ten hit by Three Dog Night, which moved me as a 12-year-old entering Junior High School, as it was then called. I wasn't fitting in, and the song seemed to be speaking directly to me.

This time marked my first confusion over people's professed ideals and what they actually DO. As I heard young women talk earnestly about Jesus and Mary and then snottily snub the fat girls; as I saw so-called "holy" people who wouldn't give to the poor or who pointedly didn't care about the ongoing war; as I saw hippies who still wouldn't talk to the geeks because they were so embarrassingly unhip... yes, I saw clearly, and the song spoke directly to me.

And as I said last Sunday, I am still hurting from recent events that I still don't fully understand, and so... I realized, it still does.

This version, set to contemporary war images, is just perfect.

~*~

How can people be so heartless
How can people be so cruel
Easy to be hard
Easy to be cold

How can people have no feelings
How can they ignore their friends
Easy to be proud
Easy to say no

Especially people who care about strangers
Who care about evil and social injustice
Do you only care about the bleeding crowd
How about a needing friend
I need a friend

How can people be so heartless
You know I'm hung up on you
Easy to be proud
Easy to say no

Especially people who care about strangers
Who care about evil and social injustice
Do you only care about the bleeding crowd
How about a needing friend
We all need a friend

How can people be so heartless
How can people be so cruel
Easy to be proud
Easy to say no
Easy to be cold
Easy to say no
Easy to give in
Easy to say no
Easy to be cold
Easy to say no

Much too easy to say no

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Easy to be Hard - Three Dog Night

[via FoxyTunes / Three Dog Night]