I post a weekly diary of historical notes, arts & science items, foreign news (often receiving little notice in the US) and whimsical pieces from the outside world that I often feature in "Cheers & Jeers".
OK, you've been warned - here is this week's tomfoolery material that I posted.
CHEERS to Bill and Michael in PWM, our Laramie, Wyoming-based friend Irish Patti and ...... well, each of you at Cheers and Jeers. Have a fabulous weekend .... and week ahead.
ART NOTES— an exhibition entitled Van Gogh, Monet, Degas and Their Times is at the Mississippi Museum of Art in Jackson through January 21st.
WITH THE RECENT UNREST in Hong Kong: in addition to Britain, another country receiving its citizens fleeing the territory is Taiwan— quite sympathetic, yet trying to do so quietly, unlike Britain’s more public offers of increased immigration.
NO, YOU CAN’T IMAGINE anything like this forthcoming ... can you?
THURSDAY's CHILD is named Avery the Cat Burglar— an English klepto kitteh who has (so far) limited his recently-begun thefts to … swimming goggles.
YOUR WEEKEND READ #1 is this essay on the rise of dollar stores: how something initially thought to end ‘food deserts’ … simply reinforce them.
FRIDAY's CHILD is named Fisher the Maine Coon Cat— a Florida kitteh whose ability to swim has made him a spokescat for various outdoor/aquatic firms.
YOUR WEEKEND READ #2 is this by CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin (who had worked in the Iran-Contra independent counsel’s office) about why the Mueller investigation had failed.
THE OTHER NIGHT yours truly hosted the Top Comments diary … with a second look at books and movies, as seen years after my childhood.
READERS, NEED YOUR HELP:
Most of these (late 70’s — early 80’s?) are easily identifiable, but two are not.
(Seated)— the first man: I think it’s Eddie Fisher — your thoughts?
Then comes Danny Thomas, Louis Nye, director Glenn Ford and Ed McMahon.
(Back Row)— Shecky Greene (who at age 94 may be the only survivor in this photo?), Joey Bishop, Jan Murray, Harvey Korman, Buddy Hackett, Dick Martin, Dom DeLuise, then the fellow in the captain’s hat (?????)… and Anthony Newley.
Leading candidates for the captain’s hat are: Charles Nelson Reilly and Sid Gould. Until-and-unless Marlo weighs in, we’re unclear — for now, your thoughts?
BRAIN TEASER— try this Quiz of the Week's News from the BBC ...… and the easier, USA-centered NY Times quiz.
SEPARATED at BIRTH— defeated former Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper and disgraced former Penn State athletic director Tim Curley.
...... and finally, for a song of the week ...........................… with the recent death of the music composer Johnny Mandel (whom I profiled later that week) — it only seems fair to look at two of his long-time collaborators: Marilyn & Alan Bergman, who have composed the lyrics of some of the most memorable film and TV shows the past half-century.
What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life?, You Must Believe in Spring, How Do You Keep the Music Playing?, “Yellow Bird” and the Barbra Streisand-Neil Diamond hit You Don't Bring Me Flowers are among their most popular songs ... and that's only scratching the surface.
Alan (born 1925) and Marilyn (born 1929) grew-up in the same Brooklyn neighborhood ... were even born in the same hospital .... yet did not meet until they relocated to Los Angeles in adulthood. Alan attended the University of North Carolina and Marilyn was a psychology/English major at NYU. After attending UCLA to study music, Alan got his start overseeing children's television (during its advent in the early 1950's) in Philadelphia before returning to songwriting at the urging of Johnny Mercer. Marilyn moved to LA after suffering a shoulder injury so that she could be nursed back to health by her mother (who had relocated there).
A friend suggested she try songwriting during her recuperation, and she met Alan while he was working with a particular music writer - and have continued as songwriting partners (and a married couple) ever since.
Someone they have worked with closely over the years has been Barbra Streisand - whom they nearly passed on meeting in the 1960's:
“We had spent the whole day auditioning girls for the juvenile lead for a show that we were doing that Jule Styne was producing and directing," recalled Marilyn. After hearing about 50 girl singers, Jule said, 'Come on, we are going downtown. There is a girl singer you have got to hear.'
We said, 'Jule …... we have been listening to girls sing all day!!'
But he said ….. 'Not like this.'
He was right".
Said Alan, "As soon as she started to sing, Marilyn started to cry."
In the interest of time: let's look at their career highlights in stages.
Some of the music writers they have teamed with are: Michel Legrand, Henry Mancini, Cy Coleman, Marvin Hamlisch, Quincy Jones and John Williams. Besides Barbra Streisand, some of the others who have sang their songs include Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, Fred Astaire, Gladys Knight, Kenny Loggins and Mary-Chapin Carpenter.
Some of the TV theme songs they have written (or co-written): "And Then There's Maude", "Good Times", "In the Heat of the Night", "The Sandy Duncan Show" and "Ironsides." They also have three Emmy Awards: for "Queen of the Stardust Ballroom", "Sybil" and the theme for the TV movie "Ordinary Miracles".
Some of the films their lyrics appear in are: "The Thomas Crown Affair", "Sabrina", "A Star Is Born", "Wuthering Heights", "Tootsie", "The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean", "Micki & Maude", "Major League", "Never Say Never Again", "Same Time Next Year" and "Summer of '42".
They have been nominated for sixteen Oscars, and have won three: two of which are The Way We Were (which also won a Grammy), and the score for the film Yentl - both sung by Barbra Streisand, of course. In fact, at the 1983 Academy Awards: although they did not win, they had three of the five nominated songs: "How Do You Keep the Music Playing?", "It Might be You" (from Tootsie) and "If We Were in Love" (from Yes, Giorgio).
In recent years, they put together a 'photo-symphony' called Visions of America - which has been performed by the Boston Pops, among many orchestras.
As for other awards .... again, too numerous to mention. They were both inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1980 and have numerous honorary degrees. Alan has served as a member of the Library of Congress Film Preservation Boardand Marilyn was the first female president of ASCAP - the performing rights organization. She was also awarded France's highest cultural honor, the Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters.
Perhaps the best tribute paid to them (as Alan is now age 94 and Marilyn 90) came in 2013, when the couple were awarded a Grammy Trustee Award - and appropriately enough, it came from part of another famed duo who combine both songwriting as well as marriage. Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil have written (or co-written) songs such as "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling", "On Broadway", "Walking In The Rain", "Soul And Inspiration" and "We Gotta Get Out Of This Place" so they recognize a kindred spirit. Here is Cynthia Weil:
Those who have attempted either would say the two most difficult things to accomplish in life are a successful partnership and a successful marriage. Combine both endeavors and the odds against you rise appreciably, but this year we proudly honor two people who have beaten those very odds and excelled gloriously at both undertakings. The fact that they both write the lyrics and have to debate titles, rhymes and concepts boggles the mind. They have managed to create the soundtrack to our lives in film, theater, TV and on radio, and the fact that they have done this without bloodshed speaks volumes to their personal strength, angelic nature and extraordinary talent.Then there's the stage and their wonderful work for the musical "Ballroom," both touching and literate, in other words very "Bergmanesque." And now for radio: "That Face," "What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life?," "Nice 'N' Easy," "How Do You Keep The Music Playing?"… how do they do it?
Inquiring couples who also write want to know. How do they continue to produce work that is timeless and outstanding and continue to create with an enthusiasm that never diminishes? The truth is they are so special and so perfect, we'd like to slap them around a little, but then, they are so gracious, kind and elegant that we want to sing their praises and worship at their computer.
Having already looked at my favorite song of theirs (“Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams”, the coda to my profile of Johnny Mandel) — here is their third Oscar-winning song: The Windmills of your Mind with music by the French composer Michel Legrand. It was featured in the 1968 Steve McQueen movie The Thomas Crown Affair and was reprised in a 1999 remake of the film (sung by Sting).
It has been covered by others, including José Feliciano, Dusty Springfield, Johnny Mathis, Eva Mendes and (of course) Barbra Streisand. Here is the original, sung by Noel Harrison ... who was offered it only after Andy Williams had passed on it.
Round like a circle in a spiral, like a wheel within a wheel Never ending or beginning on an ever spinning reel Like a snowball down a mountain, or a carnival balloon Like a carousel that's turning running rings around the moonLike a tunnel that you follow to a tunnel of its own Down a hollow to a cavern where the sun has never shone Like a door that keeps revolving in a half forgotten dream Or the ripples from a pebble someone tosses in a stream
Like a clock whose hands are sweeping past the minutes of its face And the world is like an apple whirling silently in space Like the circles that you find … in the windmills of your mind
Keys that jingle in your pocket, words that jangle in your head Why did summer go so quickly, was it something that you said? Lovers walking along a shore and leave their footprints in the sand Is the sound of distant drumming just the fingers of your hand? Pictures hanging in a hallway and the fragment of a song Half remembered names and faces, but to whom do they belong?
When you knew that it was over you were suddenly aware That the autumn leaves were turning to the color of her hair Like a circle in a spiral, like a wheel within a wheel Never ending or beginning on an ever spinning reel As the images unwind, like the circles that you find In the windmills of your mind