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 Wyoming-based friend Irish Patti and ...... well, each of you at Cheers and Jeers. Have a fabulous weekend .... and week ahead. And let’s not only hope and pray for favorable election results ….. may we also have a violence-free Election Day. And a peaceful Thanksgiving later on.
ART NOTES — a collection of paintings, photographs, drawings and sculptural works in an exhibition entitled Domestic Seen is at the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art in Overland Park, Kansas through March 26th.
On view: Kansas City suburbsHAIL and FAREWELL to the Broadway star Tammy Grimes— the original “Unsinkable Molly Brown” and who had her own (short-lived) TV show for a time — who has died at the age of 82 … and to the jazz bassist Bob Cranshaw— was musical director for The Dick Cavett Show, The Merv Griffin Show and The David Frost Show, worked on Sesame Street, was in the first Saturday Night Live band, plus recording with Ella Fitzgerald to Rod Stewart to Frank Sinatra — who has died at the age of 83.
PROGRAMMING NOTE — as I will be away for the extended Veterans Day weekend coming up, there will not be an edition of Odds & Ends (either on Friday or Sunday) at that time. (Rest assured, after the election there will be no shortage of diaries to peruse on this site). I will be back in two weeks’ time.
THURSDAY's CHILD is named Swissy the Cat— a Tennessee kitteh who became separated from his family while they were staying at a Greenville, SC hotel …. but was returned home when Swissy showed up at a local TV news host’s home.
Swissy the CatONE OF THE LESS-DISCUSSED aspects of Britain’s Brexit vote will be how to disengage with Ireland— determined to remain in the European Union — and whether this will affect the future of Northern Ireland.
Unless, of course, the Brexit judicial decision…. means even more chaos.
FOR OVER 125 YEARS the embodiment of German financial values (reliable and safe) was expressed in Deutsche Bank— until the past twenty years, when a rush to join the world banking elite paved the way for its own downfall.
FRIDAY's CHILD is one of the stars of the new photography-laden book Shop Cats of New York— who are considered more than just mousers on the job.
Shop Cats of New YorkBRAIN TEASER - try this Quiz of the Week's News from the BBC.
THE OTHER NIGHT yours truly hosted the Top Comments diary with a look at Conservative Empathy— which I do not consider an oxymoron, just something that is limited to personal experience.
THIS PAST MARCH … here was (of all people) the voice of Young Marco:
“I would point out there isn’t violence at my events, there isn’t violence at Ted’s events, there isn’t violence at a Kasich event, there isn’t violence at a Sanders event, there isn’t violence at a Clinton event,” he told reporters.
“There’s only one presidential candidate who has violence at their events.”
SEPARATED at BIRTH — Trump campaign chief executive Steve Bannon and Academy Award winner Robert Redford— who might yet be offered the role of Bannon in the event of a Trump campaign feature film.
Steve Bannon Robert Redford...... and finally, for a song of the week ...........................… although this space normally focuses on musical offerings, the career of Anthony Newley spans into the world of theater and films equally (as a composer as well as performer). Bruce Eder from the All-Music Guide notes the improbability of a working-class Cockney personality becoming a success outside Britain – but over a fifteen-year span: Anthony Newley truly achieved world-wide fame, and was an influence on a young David Bowie.
Born in 1931 in a working-class section of London, his parents split in his youth and was raised by his stepfather. Then he was evacuated during the WW-II blitzkrieg to Brighton, where a retired music-hall performer introduced him to a wide swath of the performing arts. Back in London after the war, he entered acting school in his mid-teens and won a spot in a children’s serial film series, leading to his break-out role: in David Lean’s 1948 film Oliver Twist– as the Artful Dodger.
After appearing in numerous British films during the 1950’s, his first pop chart exposure came from "I’ve Waited So Long" - a song (loosely based upon Elvis Presley) that he sang in a 1959 film– that reached #3 in the UK charts. He also had UK hits with covers of the Lloyd Price song "Personality" and the Frankie Avalon hit "Why".
He made his composing debut in 1961 when he met the lyricist Leslie Bricusse (who is still alive at age 85). Together they wrote the play Stop the World: I Want to Get Off– which spawned several hit singles including “Gonna Build a Mountain” and "Once in a Lifetime". It ran on Broadway for 556 performances (with Newley in the lead role) and made the two men’s careers.
Newley (along with his second wife Joan Collins and Peter Sellers) wrote a 1963 musical comedy Fool Brittania– based upon the sex scandal of John Profumo, forced to resign from the MacMillan government. Newley and Bricusse also wrote the theme song for the James Bond film "Goldfinger" in 1964.
In 1965, they wrote their next stage production: The Roar of the Greasepaint, the Smell of the Crowd– which had a six-month run on Broadway and featured songs such as “A Wonderful Day Like Today” and especially Feeling Good– a hit for Nina Simone (and was later covered by Steve Winwood with Traffic).
In 1967, Newley had a supporting role opposite Rex Harrison in Dr. Doolittle– a commercial disaster, but which gained Leslie Bricusse an Oscar for Best Original Song. Although Harrison sung it in the film: years later on the Tonight Show set, I recall Don Rickles just looked at fellow guest Newley and said, "Talk to the Animals!" - which broke up the audience.
Newley went onto other films, when in 1971 he and Leslie Bricusse wrote the score for the film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory– based upon the Roald Dahl book. The film generated led to a hit single for Sammy Davis Jr. with Candy Man reaching the Top Ten.
Newley and Bricusse worked on an NBC re-make of Peter Pan - with Mia Farrow and Danny Kaye - in 1976 as well as one final play The Good Old Bad Old Days– but did not work together afterwards. Newley wrote the score for the UK television show The Old Curiosity Shop and later in life had a guest role in the long-running EastEnders as an amorous used car salesman (and very apropos, as Newley came from London's East End).
Newley continued to work in theater (often as a director or producer), recording as late as 1978 and as an occasional talk show host – but his career on-stage stalled, and he often worked in Las Vegas cabaret, dinner theater or the Borsch Belt resorts (in part since his mother was Jewish).
In his later years he often appeared in a musical revue entitled Once Upon a Song but Anthony Newley’s career was curtailed when he was first diagnosed with renal cancer in 1985, and had one kidney removed. The cancer returned in 1997, this time attacking his lungs, then spreading to his liver when he died in 1999 at the age of 67.
He left behind a legacy that includes a Tony Award in 1963 (for Best Actor in “Stop the World”), a Grammy Hall of Fame award for Shirley Bassey for the song Goldfinger that he and Bricusse wrote and induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1989. He was the subject of Stop the World: The Biography of Anthony Newley in 2003, and has several compilation albums of his music.
The British performer Jon Peterson wrote and stars in a one-man show about the life of Anthony Newley entitled He Wrote Good Songs— which is currently in performance in Hartford, Connecticut.
The All-Music Guide listing concludes that since Newley's death, his recordings "have acquired a new generation of listeners in England, and his albums are much sought after, following years of languishing in cut-out and bargain bins".
Anthony Newley: circa 1963 … and in the late 1990’sAnd while "Feeling Good" is my all-time favorite song of his: I also recall an old Far Side cartoon that reminded me of another Newley-Bricusse tune from "Stop the World" – one that won the 1962 Grammy Award for Song of the Year. It was recorded by performers as diverse as Shirley Bassey, Lesley Gore, James Brown,Tony Bennett, Clay Aiken and even … Kermit the Frog. Most notably, Sammy Davis Jr. had a #17 hit with it in 1962.
The Far Side (from many years ago)And below – if you skip to the 1:30 mark of the video – you can hear Anthony Newley perform …. What Kind of Fool Am I?
What kind of fool am I? Who never fell in love It seems that I'm the only one that I have been thinking ofWhat kind of man is this? An empty shell….. a lonely cell in which an empty heart must dwell
What kind of clown am I? — What do I know of life? — Why can't I cast away the mask of play and live my life?
Why can't I fall in love? Till I don't give a damn ….. And maybe then I'll know …… what kind of fool I am
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