Country Legend Eddy Arnold Dies At 89

I was a bit saddened this morning when I read that country singer Eddy Arnold had died at the age of 89. Although no cause of death was given, Arnold was at a care facility near Nashville when he passed away. In March of this year, he fell outside his home, injuring his hip.

As a kid, the extent of my knowledge of Eddy Arnold didn't go beyond hearing snippets of his songs included in one of those mail order greatest hits compilations advertised on TV. However, when I subscribed to the digital service Music Choice in the mid 90s, I immersed myself in various types of music... one of which was classic country from the mid 40s through the early 70s. Along with artists such as Hank Williams Sr, Connie Smith, Buck Owens, and Patsy Cline, one of my favorites was Eddy Arnold. I really enjoyed the recordings he made during the "Tennessee Plowboy" phase of his career of the 1940s and early 1950s (songs such as "Full Time Job", "There' s Been A Change In Me", and "I Wanna Play House With You"). Along with these three chart toppers, Eddy had 25 other #1 hits on the Billboard Country chart. In fact, he ranks as the #1 artist in the history of the Billboard Country chart.

Eddy Arnold's death comes a couple of months after the death of his wife of 66 years, Sally. He is survived by a son and daughter, as well as two grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Below is a clip of Eddy performing his 1948 hit "Anytime".

"Marvin Gaye: What's Going On" Premieres On PBS On Wed May 7th

As part of the PBS series "American Masters" series, "Marvin Gaye: What's Going On" will premiere on Wednesday May 7th at 9 PM EST and be repeated thereafter. Along with clips of Marvin both on and offstage, the documentary will also feature interviews with artists such as Smokey Robinson, Gladys Knight, and Mos Def. My only complaint is the program's length: it's only 60 minutes! Surely they could have given more airtime to an artist of Marvin Gaye's stature. For more information on Marvin Gaye as well as future airings of the documentary, please click here.

Below is a clip of Marvin performing his hit "Hitch-Hike" on the 1964-66 ABC series "Shindig".

Dance, Ellen Dance!!

On Saturday May 3rd, I did a post about the 75th anniversary of James Brown's birthday. Holly (a regular visitor and commenter whose blog is titled Mama Pajama) mentioned that one of her favorite JB tunes is "Get Up Offa That Thing". Holly added that Ellen Degeneres dances to this tune all the time. Since I am at work during the day and don't record "The Ellen Degeneres Show", I don't see it often. However, when I do watch, one of my favorite parts is when Ellen dances after her monologue.

Holly's comments led me to pay a visit to cyber crack (aka You Tube) and see if there were any clips of Ellen dancing available. Here is a montage of clips of Ellen dancing, set to "Get Up Offa That Thing". Props to lunaep11 for putting the montage together. Just watching this makes me smile... I hope it does the same for you.

Tuesday Tunes - Week 31

From Music Memoirs, Tuesday Tunes - Week 31. Word associations again! Remember, answer with the first band/artist/song/album etc that you think of when you see these 10 words:

Rocking: Rockin' Robin by Bobby Day














Bird: Surfin' Bird by The Trashmen

















Art: You Don't Have To Paint Me A Picture by Gary Lewis & the Playboys
















Mountain: Ain't No Mountain High Enough by Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell
















Road: Why Don't We Do It In the Road by The Beatles
















Animal: We Gotta Get Out of This Place by The Animals
















Car: Fast Car by Tracy Chapman
















Walk: I'm Walkin' by Fats Domino
















Cloud: Cloud Nine by The Temptations

















Wilderness: A Forest by The Cure

Final Results of the Recent Celeb/Politics Poll

By a very slim margin, a majority of voters said that they were in favor of celebrities voicing their political opinions. For the record, I feel the same way. To me, celebrities are no better or worse than the rest of us and have as much right to voice their opinions as we do.

In the comments section, there were a couple of points that were brought up repeatedly by voters:

1. Celebrities who feel that their status gives their opinions more weight.

2. The danger in people listening to the political opinions of celebrities without educating themselves on the issue(s).

As I mentioned when I replied to the comments of voters, it all comes down to people learning to think for themselves.

Here are the final poll results:

Question: Are you in favor of celebrities voicing their political beliefs?

Yes- 41%
No- 39%
No opinion- 18%

Below is a clip from an episode of the late, great political talk show "Politically Incorrect". The clip features host Bill Maher and his guests (author Christina Hoff Summers, actress Sandra Bernhard, filmmaker Michael Moore, and actress Yancy Butler) discussing feminism and how it's evolved.

James Brown's 75th Birthday Anniversary

Had he lived, James Brown would have been 75 years old today. What can I say in regards to the greatness of James Brown that hasn't been said and that you don't know? Since the answer to that question is not much, here are my top 5 tunes by The Godfather of Soul (in no particular order):

Say It Loud- I'm Black and I'm Proud-1968
Think-1960
Cold Sweat-1967
Get Up Offa That Thing (Release the Pressure)- 1976
The Payback-1974

Shit, narrowing it down to just a quintet is hard. Here are five more:

Papa's Got A Brand New Bag-1965
I'll Go Crazy-1960
Out of Sight- 1964
I Got Ants In My Pants- 1973
Body Heat- 1976

What are some of your favorite James Brown songs?

Below is a clip of JB from the 1964 concert film "The T.A.M.I. Show". This is one of the most dynamic performances ever committed to film!

The Retro Mix Playlist For 5/2/08

7 pm hour

Ballroom Blitz- Sweet
Too Tight- Con Funk Shun
Atomic Dog- George Clinton
Take Me Home- Cher
No Matter What- Badfinger
She Was Hot- The Rolling Stones
When Doves Cry- Prince & the Revolution

Now & Then segment's feat. artist: The B-52's
Pump (from their new CD "Funplex")
52 Girls

Let's Go- The Cars
Outa-Space- Billy Preston
One of A Kind (Love Affair)- The Spinners
Nice & Slow- Freddie Jackson
I Eat Cannibals- Total Coelo

8 pm hour

(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party!)- The Beastie Boys
Surrender- Cheap Trick
Slippin' Into Darkness- War
Ravers- Steel Pulse
Situation- Yaz
Happy- Brick
Rock and Roll Never Forgets- Bob Seger

With or Without You Segment's feat. artist: Peter Wolf
Come Back (w/ The J. Geils Band)
Come As You Are (solo)

It's Tricky- Run DMC
Car Wash- Rose Royce
Way Out West- Big Star
London Calling- The Clash
Doctor's Orders- Carol Douglas
Shock the Monkey- Peter Gabriel

Retro Mix videos:

Top 5 On Friday: Week 173

From Music Memoirs, Top 5 On Friday - Week 173

Top 5 songs that get you ready for the end of the day/weekend

1. Livin' For the Weekend- The O'Jays











2. Bang On the Drum All Day- Todd Rundgren













3. Love Shack- The B-52's














4. Bustin' Out- Rick James













5. Wooly Bully- Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs

Please Take A Moment To Vote In the Current Celebrity/Politics Poll... Thank You.

Thursday Thirteen #42: My DVD Collection

Using Thirteen DVDs in my collection to spell out my name.

This week's Thursday Thirteen theme is all about the alphabet. The authors of the Thursday Thirteen site asked us to choose a letter of the alphabet and write thirteen words that describe us that begin with that letter. Since my blog is pop culture based, I had planned to use the first letter of my first name and pick out some of my favorite things in the world of music, movies, and TV using that letter.

However, on the way home from work Tuesday evening, I came up with another idea. Since my first and last names equal 13 letters, I decided to use that baker's dozen to list some of the DVDs in my collection. If you were to take the first letter from each DVD title below, it would spell my name.


1. Murder My Sweet- This 1944 mystery features former song and dance man Dick Powell in the lead role of private eye Phillip Marlowe. On the trail of a hulking ex-con's girl, Marlowe runs into all sorts of trouble and periodically has to deal with the dreaded bottomless black pool opening up at his feet.
















2. All the King's Men- This 1949 Best Picture winner features a dynamic Oscar-winning performance by Broderick Crawford as a politician whose increasing corruptness is in lockstep with his rise to power. The features a top-notch cast, including John Ireland, Joanne Dru, John Derek, and Best Supporting Actress Oscar winner Mercedes McCambridge.


















3. Lean On Me- One of the best of the "educator who reaches delinquent kids" films, Morgan Freeman is outstanding as New Jersey high school principal Joe Clark.

















4. Claudine- This underrated 1974 comedy drama stars James Earl Jones and Diahann Carroll as a garbage man and a single working mother of six trying to make a relationship work despite overwhelming obstacles. This film also has an outstanding soundtrack with Gladys Knight and the Pips performing songs written and produced by Curtis Mayfield.

















5. Odd Couple Season One- Arguably, Jack Klugman and Tony Randall were the best sitcom duo in TV history.

















6. Legally Blonde- When I bought my first DVD player over 5 years ago, I rented this one weekend when I was recovering from dental surgery. My favorite scene is how Elle Woods (Reese Witherspoon) reacts when she learns that a prank was played on her and the shindig she is attending is a not a costume party. The copy of "Legally Blonde" that I have was part of a prize package that I won from Sports Radio 1130 WDFN last year.

















7. Mo' Better Blues- This 1990 Spike Lee joint (who also appears as the jazz band's manager with a gambling problem) stars Denzel Washington as a trumpet player who can't decide between two women. Wesley Snipes and Samuel L. Jackson also have supporting roles; as a bandmate/rival of Denzel's and a legbreaker for a bookie, respectively.
















8. Bound- This sexy mystery stars Jennifer Tilly and Gina Gershon as a moll and an ex-con who hook up romantically and plot to steal money from the mob. I remember watching this with a lady friend a few years ago and she turned away during a scene involving fingers and wire cutters. I can hardly blame her.

















9. Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War On Journalism- This revealing documentary demonstrates the alleged conservative bias employed by the Fox News Channel. Depending on your point of view, you will think that this is a "fair and balanced" portrayal or a complete hatchet job.


















10. Naked Gun Gift Set- This set features all 3 of the hilarious films in the "Naked Gun" franchise starring Leslie Nielsen, Priscilla Presley, O.J. Simpson, and George Kennedy.
















11. Days of Wine and Roses- Oscar nominees Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick star in this 1962 drama about a young couple whose lives are torn apart by alcoholism. Although alcoholism isn't necessarily a laughing matter, this film does feature some bits of humor to offset the seriousness.
















12. Out of the Past- This 1947 film noir stars Robert Mitchum as a private eye and Jane Greer as one of the most duplicitous femme fatales you are likely to see.

















13. Naked City: New York To L.A.: One of the reasons that I love the DVD format is that it gives new life to old series that never show up in reruns anymore. Originally airing on ABC from 1958-1963, this police drama often featured up-and-coming performers in guest-starring roles. Martin Sheen, Peter Fonda, and Rip Torn are some of the actors who appear in the 4 episodes included on this single-disc set.
















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