Ok. Deep breath. Exhale. It’s 12:30 AM. Two of my three youngest are still awake. Apparently they’ve found Starbucks, or something. My daughter keeps on running into our room (where the baby is very tickled to see her), with the latest in her laundry list of reasons why she cannot stay in her bed: It’s hot, she’s scared, there’s a bug (just one?) on the window screen, her twin brother annoys her (apparently even while sound asleep – he’s the treat this evening), she’s lonely, she can’t make her body behave (God help me when she’s 14), etc. I’m beginning to feel like this.
The baby, as cute as he is at 2, is sitting up in our bed at the moment, rending pieces out of some already-been-chewed kids book, and then whipping us in the head with them. What he is not is asleep.
So – now – this is a Nanny 9-1-1 moment, right? Except it isn’t working, or it’s working very, very slowly. I think we’ve firmly, but silently, put our daughter back into bed two dozen times. So, we’ve decided that the minute everybody is asleep – it’s time for a cocktail. But what to have: Tequila? Vodka? Don’t spill the wine! No matter what, we agree with Marie Lloyd – A Little of What You Fancy Does You Good!
A technical note: Marie Lloyd, the legendary English Music Hall performer, actually died in 1922. Her daughter, also a great performer, is who you see in the clip here. And the vodka clip? That’s Dorothy Loudon in the funniest performance in the history of – well – live performances.
Current Events Soundtracks:
I know I said not every tropical storm this year – but who’s counting. Here comes Hurricane Bill. No? What about this Bill? Wow, I could have saved that for the health care debate, instead of this one.
Happy Independence Day in Gabon and Indonesia. They are both nice national anthems, but I think Indonesia’s contribution to world music, the Gamelan, is far more compelling – don’t you?
Soundtracks for this date in history:
In 1959, Miles Davis releases his landmark album, Kind of Blue. Here is So What from that album.
In 1969, Hurricane Camille hit the Gulf Coast of the US. Oh, no, there is no Camille song. But wait – how about a bit of La Traviata, based on the book Camille? See, tropical weather can be so musical.
In 1982, the first CD’s were released – in Germany. And what says Germany and CD’s better than Peter Schilling?
In 2004, the nation of Serbia adopted a new national anthem, (along with numerous other new national symbols).
Birthday Soundtracks
Hans Leo Hassler (1562), composer of high renaissance polyphony in Germany. Here is his Ave Maris Stella. Note that the choir first lays down the original plain chant, something that had been out of practice for a number of years outside of Germany, but there remained through the Baroque period.
Nicola Porpera (1686), a lesser known composer of the Italian baroque, who specialized in vocal music.
Davy Crockett (1786), American pioneer and hero. How could I possibly let this slide by without Fess Parker?
Mae West (1893), actress, comedienne, the last hootchy-kootchy girl, and the first sex symbol. And she could really belt one out.
Larry Clinton (1909), swing band leader. His big hit: The Dipsy Doodle.
Robert DeNiro (1943), actor. Truly a master of his craft.
Belinda Carlisle (1958), lead singer for the Gogo’s. When I was in college, Belinda was all that and a bag of chips. She got the beat.
Memorial Soundtracks:
Ole Bull (1880), great Norwegian violinist and composer.
Billy Murray (1954., Murray was one of the premiere recording artists from the dawn of recorded music. Here he is singing In My Merry Oldsmobile from 1909.
Ira Gershwin (1983). Lyricist, who with his brother George, wrote some of the great standards of all time. After George died tragically in 1937, Ira soldiered on, pairing with some of the greats of popular song: Kurt Weill, Harold Arlen and Jerome Kern. Here is a recording of William Bolcom and Joan Morris performing Long Ago and Far Away, a song Ira wrote with Jerome Kern.
Pearl Bailey (1990), singer and actress. Here is an interesting vocal pairing – Pearl Bailey and Carol Channing – singing a medley from the hit musical Hello Dolly, in which both played the title role at different points.
More notes on notes, tomorrow.
Posted by jbtakenote 
Taking Note 