I woke up this morning when the heat came on in the bedroom, with the thermostat set to 65 degrees. It’s June 1st. The temperature outside was 47 degrees. “Global warming” should never have been used to describe climate change.
Original Cast vs. Copy Cast
Multiple versions of a song competing on the record charts at the same time used to be fairly routine. Saturday’s American Top 40 with Casey Kasem on SiriusXM was from 1971. At the time, there were two versions the song ‘I Don’t Know How to Love Him’ on the Billboard chart.
Helen Reddy’s recording peaked at #13. To me it sounds rather rote, almost like she was doing a run-through to check the mic levels.
Yvonne Elliman was an original cast member of Jesus Christ Superstar. In my opinion, this is the vastly superior performance. Yet it only reached #28 on Billboard.
Hearing those records brought to mind another example of two recordings of the same song that were competing on the charts. It’s from the time when I was starting to work as a radio DJ.
Pat Boone’s daughter Debby had a #1 smash hit with ‘You Light Up My Life’. I must have played this single a thousand times.
The original version of the song, for the movie You Light Up My Life, was sung by Kvitka “Kasey” Cisyk. It outshines Debbie’s performance, yet it topped-out at a lowly #80.
Here’s an Idea
Performers have been dropping out of Donny’s self-aggrandizing Freedom250 show.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/trump-declares-bigger-elvis-artists-220109737.html
Let’s get ready to see the Donald on stage, dancing once again to ‘YMCA’. He should invite his pal Putin to join him. It would be a real treat seeing Vlad performing this catchy ditty.
The Small Assassins
Viruses, bacteria, and fungi. Nature’s triple threat.
The PBS Newshour covers critical research into a new generation of antibiotics. Boston’s home team includes the Broad (pronounced “Brode”) Institute, MIT, and Mass General Hospital. I have a niece who works in one of the labs at the Broad.
A significant factor in the rise of drug-resistant bacteria has been the overuse of antibiotics, especially in animals.
Hammer and Billy Club Heroes
A couple random pages of scanned original art from the peak era of Marvel Comics.
From Senior to Freshman
The two happiest years of my childhood were 5th and 6th grade. As a young adult, the two most significant years were my senior year of high school and my freshman year of college. I shall forever carry the chains I forged during that time in my life.
Elton John’s ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’ album appeared in the middle of first semester, freshman year. Kath’s roommate bought it right away, and I’d listen to it in their dorm room on the cheapie stereo they had. When Elton was good, he was great.
Another vivid memory was seeing a preview showing of The Exorcist, before its Christmas release date. I wanted Kath to go with me, but she refused, because the movie was “of Satan.”
Laura’s roommate Mary wanted to see The Exorcist, and how well I remember her clinging to me during the movie. It featured Mike Oldfield’s ‘Tubular Bells’, which is also indelibly associated with freshman year.