Category: Music

Calling Petula Clark Again

A while ago I posted a video of Petula Clark on a Dean Martin show from, I’m pretty sure, 1970. It was after Goodbye Mr. Chips, because there are a couple of references to the movie.

I was bugged by the poor quality of the video that I’d snagged from YouTube. I tend to get obsessive about such things, and I like to fix them when I can. So here is “Call Me” again, but this time the transfer was done right, by yours truly, complete and without cuts, edits, or distracting overlays. This is silly fun, and what a time capsule it is! The influence of Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In — a show I absolutely loved — is apparent.

[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/AUG07/PetCallMe.flv 400 300]

My mother’s old chum Ernie is in there. Ernest Borgnine.

35 Years of Ray Smith

Ray Smith - The Jazz Decades, WGBH 89.7 BostonI’ve received a nice note from a representative of WGBH Radio in Boston. Sunday evening is something that I’ve been looking forward to — the 35th anniversary of Ray Smith’s show on ‘GBH, The Jazz Decades. I have the FM tuner in my computer programmed to record it. If you don’t live near Boston, you can hear it streaming on the Web.

Greetings–
Hope all is well with you. I thought this might be of interest for you, either for your blog or personally. I hope you’ll have the chance to check out this interview on the website at http://wgbh.org/raysmith and tune in to the broadcast this Sunday. Ray Smith is truly one-of-a-kind.
All the best–
Edgar

Ray Smith Celebrates Three-and-a-Half Jazz Decades on WGBH 89.7

Record collector. World War II veteran. Jazz drummer. These are just a few of the many sides of Ray Smith, host of WGBH’s Jazz Decades. Each Sunday at 7pm, Ray shares his passion for jazz, big band, and swing with listeners all over the world, culling music for the program from the more than 90,000 titles in his personal collection.

This Sunday, Ray and WGBH celebrate 35 years producing Jazz Decades for public radio stations across the country. In honor of the occasion, we asked Ray to describe his lifelong love affair with music. You can hear the man behind the music, in his own words on this special webpage at http://wgbh.org/raysmith

And don’t miss Ray’s 35th anniversary broadcast this Sunday, August 5, at 7pm on WGBH 89.7 FM in New England and worldwide at http://wgbh.org/jazz

Some Fun Facts about Jazz Decades

  • The Jazz Decades’ first broadcast was August 5, 1972
  • Ray Smith and Jazz Decades celebrate 35 years on WGBH 89.7 on August 5, 2007
  • For the past few years, Ray has recorded the show at his home studio in South Carolina and it is produced, engineered, and mixed at WGBH 89.7 in Boston.
  • 35 years of Jazz Decades, once a week = 1,820 programs
  • At an average of 12 songs per show, Ray Smith has spun approximately 21,840 tracks
  • Ray has approximately 90,000 titles in his collection
  • This means that in 35 years, Ray has played less than 25% of his entire collection, assuming he has never played the same song twice.
  • At this rate, Ray will have to be on the air for over 105 more years to exhaust his entire collection, assuming he adds no new titles over this century-long period.

Pet To Perfection

Before the Petula Clark blog links to a particular video, I’d like to post it here. This is from an appearance in France, early in 1973, after Pet had her son and had turned 40. She appeared with the late Claude François, who she obviously liked very much.

[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/JUL07/Pet1973.flv 400 300]

If this isn’t sexy and fun, I don’t know what is. Contrast this captivating performance with the video I posted of Pet from about 12 years earlier.

Pet Sings for the Queen

Petula Clark, July 10, 2007

The blog “Petula Clark: Drive by Emotion” has a post about a special performance that Pet gave in commemoration of the end of World War II for Britain. There’s a link to a recording of her performing just three weeks ago, but for convenience I’ll post it here. CORRECTION: Denro pointed out that as it’s been 62 years since the end of the war, it seemed odd this performance happened this month. He is correct. It was July 10, 2005.

[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/JUL07/ANightingaleSangInBerkeleySquare.mp3]

Pet turns 75 in November, and considering that, the tricky notes she hits perfectly spot-on more than make up for the few that present more of a challenge for her than they once did.

C’mon, UK residents! Sign the online PETition to award this very special lady the acknowledgment that she deserves. Let there be Dame Petula Clark! Sir Michael Caine has spoken up. Perhaps Dame Julie Andrews could lend her support to the cause, as well.