Year: 2007

Petula Clark Hosts “My Music: The British Beat”

The British BeatThere’s a PBS TV special that’s starting this week, called My Music: The British Beat. It’s hosted by none other than Petula Clark. No, I haven’t seen it yet! But I will. It sounds like a fun show, but I think it’s one of those specials that’s run in between pledge requests. Here’s a blurb about it:

In February 1964, a young English rock ‘n’ roll quartet called the Beatles arrived on U.S. shores, kicking off a musical explosion that took the country by storm – and reverberates to this day. PBS revisits the time when the nation’s airwaves grooved to the swinging sounds of London in MY MUSIC: THE BRITISH BEAT. Britain’s first lady of song, Petula Clark, hosts this all-star reunion of some of the best of the British Invasion and performs her #1 million-seller “Downtown.” Beloved duo Peter and Gordon reunite for the first time in nearly four decades to perform their hits “World Without Love” and “I Go to Pieces.” Colin Blunstone and Rod Argent of the Zombies bring back the British psychedelic pop sound with the Brit-rock anthems “Time of the Season” and “She’s Not There.”

THE BRITISH BEAT includes numerous #1 Billboard hits such as “Wild Thing” by the Troggs, “To Sir With Love” by Lulu and “Game of Love” by Wayne Fontana, original lead singer of Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders, who also reprises the favorite “A Groovy Kind of Love.” An archival performance of her 1966 worldwide smash “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me” pays tribute to the late Dusty Springfield, while vintage clips from “The Ed Sullivan Show” provide era-defining moments from the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.

Frank Luther Children’s Sing-A-Long

Frank Luther Sing-A-Long

It’s a brother’s lifelong duty to torment his sisters, and this post will most assuredly do that. The picture above was scanned from a very old record from our childhood — Children’s Sing-A-Long, by Frank Luther and the Children’s Chorus.

The audio players below have the record, with each side played through as a single track. The total time is well under 30 minutes. The song titles are given as they appear on the record jacket. Luther is noteworthy in the history of American popular music, and some background information on him is provided at the bottom of this post.

Side One

  1. I’ve Been Workin’ On The Railroad
  2. Shortnin’ Bread
  3. My Darling Clementine
  4. Home On The Range
  5. Goodbye, Old Paint
  6. Old MacDonald Had A Farm
  7. Oh Susanna
  8. America The Beautiful
[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/MAR07/FrankLuther1.mp3]
 

Side Two

  1. Skip To My Lou
  2. Swing Low Sweet Chariot
  3. A Tree In The Wood
  4. Billy Boy
  5. She’s Be Comin’ Round The Mountain
  6. The Bear Went Over The Mountain
  7. Froggy Went A-Courtin’
  8. My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean
  9. Sidewalks Of New York
  10. Daisy Bell
  11. Little Liza Jane
  12. Buffalo Gals
[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/MAR07/FrankLuther2.mp3]

Frank LutherOne of the first urban cowboys, Frank Luther (August 4, 1905 – November 16, 1980) made a career out of supplying urban listeners with their fix of traditional country music. A Kansas native, Luther was a professionally trained pianist who played in several vocal groups in his home state before moving to New York in 1928 and meeting fellow Kansas transplant Carson Robinson. The duo wrote and recorded several songs targeted at urbanites [including “Barnacle Bill The Sailor” – DogRat] and regularly guested on a country radio program hosted by Ethel Park Richardson. When Luther met and married a fiddler who had once played with Robinson named Zora Lyman, he began to move away from country music, preferring to write and perform children’s music. ~ Steve Kurutz, All Music Guide

Lost Tomb of Jesus?

[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/MAR07/LostTomb.flv 400 250]

I admit that I didn’t watch the show closely, but every time I glanced at it I heard the word “could” repeated, as in:

  • Could the grouping of these names be more than mere coincidence?
  • Could this be the tomb of the family of Jesus?
  • Could Jesus and Mary Magdalene have been married and had a son?

Yesterday, I said An Inconvenient Truth presents a compelling case for its assertions. Tonight, in The Lost Tomb of Jesus, what I heard was pure speculation, based on some shaky assumptions.

The tone of the show reminded me of “In Search Of…”, the 70’s TV series narrated by Leonard Nimoy. The presentation is a lot slicker today, of course, but as far as I’m concerned James Cameron and his associates may as well be asking, “Could we be descended from alien astronauts, who came to Earth millions of years ago?”

It’s the same, old tactic that’s employed by Fox news when the facts aren’t there to support the assertion. “Hey, we’re just asking the questions. You decide for yourself.”

The best thing that could have happened to these guys was having the chamber sealed up, as shown in the video clip. I wouldn’t be surprised if they staged the scene where they were told to stop. Because now it seems there’s talk about opening the chamber to the public. Could the Lost Tomb of Jesus be a tourist attraction? Click here.