Had great fun at Divaville this afternoon. Why do I always forget to announce these shows in advance? Oh well, here's the playlist if you're interested. On the way over I hit on the idea to do all songs about food, it being right after Thanksgiving and all. It would have been easier if I had had the idea, say, an hour in advance so I could have done sone research. But I think it turned out pretty well, and Georg said he couldn't tell that I was scrambling behind the scenes to find food songs.
Because of the theme I ended up playing a few artists I'd never thought to try before, like Ivy Anderson and the McGuire Sisters. That always makes me feel good about the show, getting to play someone new to me. I only had one goof: "Juice Head Baby" by Cootie Williams turned out to be a guy bemoaning his alcoholic girlfriend. I swear, I thought it was about juice!
The big relief was "Matzo Balls" by Slim Gaillard. I was worried about it because his version of "Chinatown my Chinatown" turns way offensive somewhere in the middle, and I had played it on the air in a previous show, not realizing he was going to end up chattering in a horrifying imitation of Chinese speech. I didn't have time to preview "Matzo Balls" all the way through beforehand and make sure nothing like that happened, but I took a risk and played it anyway. I was a little anxious, ready to yank it off if Slim started in on anti-semitic sentiments, but he never went there. Just sang about how much he liked to eat matzo balls. Whew!
The inspiration for the food theme was "Sing Before Breakfast," from Broadway Melody of 1936. I was so taken with that song & dance number that I saved the movie on the DVR so I can watch it again. Alas, Christa's library, though immense, doesn't include that song. Good news though: when I got home I looked up "Sing Before Breakfast" on Amazon and found an album with a bunch of songs from Broadway Melody of 1936, Broadway Melody of 1940, and Yolanda the Thief for only $5 including shipping! The song title search on Amazon is the most amazing thing.
Speaking of "Sing Before Breakfast" and my new fascination with Buddy Ebsen, Georg looked up Broadway Melody of 1936 on imdb and discovered that the woman playing Ebsen's sister in the movie really was his sister! They were a vaudeville act together, just like in the movie. No word on whether they really performed with a duck, as they claimed to do in the movie.
In the previous post Paul mentioned that Ebsen was supposed to play the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz, but had to drop out because of a reaction to aluminum in the makeup. I had heard that before, but it didn't make sense once I saw Ebsen's dancing. His fluid, gangly dancing style seems much better suited to the Scarecrow. Well Georg found out that Ebsen was originally cast as the Scarecrow, but for some reason he agreed to do the Tin Man instead so Ray Bolger could play the Scarecrow. Then the aluminum thing happened and Ebsen had to drop out entirely. What a shame, for Ebsen and for us! Jack Haley was good, but I think Ebsen would have been spectacular.
I love the posts that you and Christa put up about your music -- it makes me think about all the new-to-me music I might like to experience (especially if I remember to set an alarm for Divaville) and how much I enjoy having friends with deep knowledge of stuff that I respect but don't know.
Oh and by the way, you've got me humming "Banana Split for My Baby..." :-)
i know i've got a song called "sing for your supper"... is that close enough to "sing before breakfast"? :-)
did you find the food CD in the compilation binder?
sad i missed the show! glad it was fun!
you have a food comp? is that the one with "I like bananas because they have no bones" on it?
Oh, I want to know about banana songs. I collect songs for my friend Kirk who plays Monkey/Jesus/banana songs in his artcar. Suggestions...
sarah, it's a home-made comp. the card might feature a picture of a disgusting foodstuff. i can't remember if it's got that "bananas" song on it, but it for sure has "hot dog" and "potato chips".
i think i have four or five banana songs, paul...
hoosier hot shots, as sarah mentioned, "i like bananas because they have no bones." and also:
louis prima, "banana split for my baby"
louis prima, "please don't squeeze the banana"
billy jones, "yes, we have no bananas"
slim & slam, "when banana skins are falling"
Digging around, I find a pair of Mark Evanier posts about Bolger and Ebsen and the Wizard of Oz on this page, along with a short obituary for Ebsen.
http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2003_07_07.html
There's at least one sf short story where the clue that the person has wandered into an alternate timeline is Buddy Ebsen playing the Tin Man, but I'm not sure if that's Brad Strickland's "Oh Tin Man, Tin Man, There’s No Place Like Home" or not.