Doodle Doo Doo

Playing in dance bands can lead you down a lot of roads.  Literally and historically.  By "dance band" I mean a big band style band that is employed to provide 1940s era music for people to dance to (You know, dancing.  As a social activity.  That people did for fun before Internet and video games.  And what the really cool people still do now!).  In the literal sense, it is not uncommon to be loaded into a van with the rest of the band and driven all over the surrounding area to get to a small dance hall out in the middle of nowhere.  Historically, and probably much more interestingly, playing in dance bands means that one is introduced to a rich history of other dance bands, large and small, that had traversed the same roads that you may now be traveling (referring again to the literal part).

One name that has continually popped up since I started playing with such bands is that of Tiny Hill.  Not to be confused with Tiny Tim.  Harry Lawrence "Tiny" Hill, was a large, large man (you know how people give inappropriate nicknames because they think it's funny.  On the other hand, calling him "Fatso" may not have been as endearing).  Born July 19, 1906 in Sullivan, IL, he began drumming with a trio while attending Illinois State Normal College.  In 1931, he formed his first big band, eventually gaining enough popularity to tour the Midwest circuit, playing in Nebraska, Iowa, and Missouri.  He used sandpaper blocks and a guiro to create rhythms that made people want to get up and dance.  He and his band were experts at playing happy dance music.

One of the tunes he made popular is one that usually remains stuck in my head for many days after playing it: Doodle Doo Doo is a novelty song, written in 1924, words by Art Kassel and music by Mel Stitzel.  It's a perky little tune, bouncing along: "Please play for me that sweet melody, called Doodle Doo Doo, Doodle Doo Doo!  I like the rest but what I like best is Doodle Doo Doo, Doodle Doo Doo!"  You can easily find a recording on YouTube.  I recommend it; then you'll be singing it all day, too.

Tiny Hill's theme song was another bouncy (some of the best tunes really bounce) song called Angry.  Which now usually reminds me of a certain bird-flinging game.  Other popular Tiny Hill hit was Skirts, Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone, and Dream Girl.

Call me!

I love big band music.  You know this.  Unfortunately, there are a few tunes are played (and requested) to death.  The anthems, like In the Mood, come to mind.  Another popular song that is oft-requested is Pennsylvania 6-5000.  The song was written by Jerry Gray and Carl Sigman and released in 1940.  The song is a typical fox-trot beat, with opportunities for the band to shout "Pennsylvania six-five-thousand!"

Ever wondered what it means?  I didn't really give it too much thought (there are a lot of songs out there with inconsequential names) until I read about the history of telephones and telephone numbers.  "Pennsylvania 6-5000" is the old telephone exchange system number for the Hotel Pennsylvania in New York City.  Telephone numbers have letters on them, as you will have noticed.  The letters were originally placed there for the call exchange system that was used when telephones first came into normal use.  Under the old system, with the old rotary dials, the first two letters of the address were used as part of the phone number.  P and E are 7 and 3, making the phone number 736-5000.  This system was eventually phased out (sometime around the 1970s) as more locations made the system too complex and the letters are now more of a mnemonic aid.

The phone number became a smash hit because the Glenn Miller Orchestra (and many other big bands of that era) played at the Cafe Rouge Ballroom in the Hotel Pennsylvania, and the phone number was the inspiration for the tune.  There are more lyrics for the song, but the only one that anyone ever seems to know is the refrain, "PENNSYLVANIA 6-5-0-0-0!"

A couple of other phone number songs:   

Beechwood 4-5789 by The Marvelettes (1962)
Jenny (867-5309) by Tommy Tutone (1982)

Not to be confused with calling the operator:  Operator --Mary Wells and Brenda Holloway, written by Smokey Robinson  (1965)

Open wide

I've written about my favourite musical already (see the"Feed Me" post).  In honor of a great show, today, if you'll indulge me, I would like to perform a selection from The Little Shop of Horrors.

**Ahem**Ahem**

**haaack!  cough! sputter!!**

CUE THE MUSIC!  *60s style doo-wop, with back up singrrrss!*

When I was younger, just a bad little kid.
My mama noticed funny things that I did.
Like shootin' puppies with a BB gun,
I'd poison guppies, and when I was done.
I'd find a pussy cat and bash in its head!
That's when my mama said:

(Backup singrrrs) What did she say?

She said "My boy, I think someday you'll
find a way
to make your natural tendencies pay
You'll be a dentiiiist!
*smacks bystander in the face*
You have a talent for causing things pain!
Son, be a dentiiiiiiiiist!!
*throws hot coffee at barista*
People will pay you to be inhumane!
Your temperament's wrong for the priesthooood,
and teaching would suit you still less!
Son, be a dentiiiiiiiiist!
You'll be a success!!

*casually trips little old, lady.  HAHAHAHA!*

(Backup gals) Here he is folks, the leader of the plaque!
Watch him suck up that gas!  Oh my God!
He's a dentist and he'll never, ever be any good.
Who wants their teeth done by the Marquis de Sade?

(Hapless, unsuspecting patient, strapped to the chair)  Oh, that hurts!  I'm not numb!

Oh, shut up, open wide!  Here I come!!
*stabs gleefully at patient's teeth*
I'll be your de-entiiiiiiist!
And I enjoy the career that I picked!

I am your de-entiiiiiiist!
*knees patient in the groin*
And I get off on the pain I inflict!

I thrill when I drill a bicuspiiiid!
It's swell, though they tell me I'm mal-ad-justed!
And though it may cause my patients distress
*yanks patient from underneath the desk, plops him back down in the chair*
Somewhere, somewhere in heaven above me
I know, I know that my mama's proud of me!

*dances The Bird down stage right*

Cuz I am a dentiiiiiist!  And a success!

*shimmies back over to patient, holding a large drill*

Say "AH!"

*jazz hands*

Song by Alan Menken 1982

 P.S. No actual puppies, guppies, cats, baristas, little old ladies, bystanders, or dental patients were harmed in the writing of this post.

Actually

I watched the 2003 movie Love Actually last night.  I hadn't seen it before, but had heard some good things about it, despite my reluctance to sit through a smarmy love comedy/dramedy.  This movie is actually pretty good (Actually!); full of great British wit and a rather amusing turn at a nativity play (why aren't there more lobsters in nativity plays?  And why can't they all feature the song Catch a Falling Star?  Cute tune!) And, Alan Rickman is in it.   :-) 

The soundtrack isn't too bad.  Joni Mitchell and Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas Is You, along with some other Christmas-y music, is part of plot, and one of the characters is a washed up rocker trying to revitalize his career with a Christmas-y reworking of The Trogg's Love is All Around.  What caught my ear, though, was the song that played over the ending.  God Only Knows by The Beach Boys was released on the band's 11th album, Pet Sounds (1966).  It was also released as the B-side on the Wouldn't It Be Nice single.  Pet Sounds is a masterpiece in itself, but more on that later.  God Only Knows was composed by Bryan Wilson and Tony Asher.  The lead vocal on the recording is Carl Wilson.  This song also carries the distinction of being one of the first pop tunes with "God" in the title.  Wilson and Asher worried over this, fearing that the song wouldn't get airplay for it.

The song is also notable for its unusual instrumentation (for a rock band hit, anyway) that includes harpsichord and French horns.  Also, for a band mostly associated with songs about girls, cars, and surfing, the song was a bit of an oddball, reflecting Wilson's interest in spirituality.  Frankly, from an orchestration standpoint, I think the song is genius.  It retains a pop music feel, the different timbres from the harpsichord and the horns add a gravity to it that is not often found in radio music.  The end of the song is fabulous.  Layers and layers of (only three!!) voices, repeating the lyric "God only knows what I'd be without you".  It's just really beautifully done.  Actually.

Quickies

• “Music imprints itself on the brain deeper than any other human experience,” says neurologist Oliver Sacks. “Music evokes emotion, and emotion can bring with it memory.”

•   Life-long musicians (characterized by those who started learning music by age 16 and had at least 6 years of formal lessons) were able to process sounds in a noisy environment better than non-musicians, even as they aged.  So, while hearing loss is still a risk, how your brain interprets the sounds you hear is improved.

• Teenagers who listen to "pro-social" and "positive message" music are more apt to help others than those who listen to neutral message songs.  So make your teenager listen to more John Denver and they might wash the dishes for you. 

•  Read the full text here: http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/126415#ixzz1ugB6gJKN

--brought to you by mental_floss!

Hold on

This is what you get when you have a store run by musicians.

Superbone!!

I just learned about an instrument called a Superbone.  A Superbone is a hybrid valve and slide trombone.  It has the traditional slide mechanism of normal trombones, plus the valve mechanism like a trumpet.  I've heard of valve trombones, but those trombones are more like big, low trumpets.

The TR 395 Superbone was developed in the 1970s by the Holton company in collaboration with jazz monster-trumpeter Maynard Ferguson, and other companies made similar instruments.  It wasn't the first of its kind though.  A "Valide" trombone (valve + slide) was invented by jazz trombonist Brad Gowans, who played one with from the 1920s through the 1950s, even while with the Jimmy Dorsey band.  Duke Ellington's trombonist, Juan Tizol, used a valve/slide hybrid bone after joining Ellington's band in 1929.

What makes the Superbone unique from the previous designs is its fully functional, 7-position slide, the three-valve mechanism positioned alongside, and a slide lock.  The valves are gripped with the left hand, supporting the instrument and leaving the right hand free to operate the slide.

On a related note, there is also something called a Firebird, also developed by Ferguson.  The Firebird the trumpet counterpart to the Superbone.  It is a trumpet (valves and all) with up to a 4-position slide mechanism.  The valves can be gripped by either the right or the left hand, leaving the other hand free to operate the slide.  On some models, the bell is bent upward at a 20 degree angle to allow room to move the slide.

The brass world is even weirder than we thought.   ;-)

AND THEY'RE OFF!!!

As loyal readers will know, I don't live anywhere near Kentucky.  I plan on road tripping into Louisville for a few days this summer to attend a jazz workshop, though (more on that later), and the more I research the place I'm visiting, the more I feel like I need to plan a longer trip in the future.  But Kentucky is on my mind for other reasons, too.  Namely, Derby Day!!

Derby Day is that day in spring when a bunch of horses, with sometimes outlandish names, run a 1.25 mile race with small-statured humans on their backs.  The race takes place at Churchill Downs in Louisville.  Tomorrow, I will be attending a fundraising function for the local symphony, that celebrates Derby Day.  While the Derby is mostly about the horses, Kentucky, big hats, mint juleps and roses, the musical theme of the event is Stephen Foster's My Old Kentucky Home. 

My Old Kentucky Home was written in 1921 (probably) for the 47th race.  As per the Kentucky Derby website:  "The Louisville Courier-Journal in its May 8, 1921, edition reported, "To the strains of 'My Old Kentucky Home,' Kentuckians gave vent their delight. For Kentucky triumphed in the Derby."  It is now traditionally sung before the big race, and is Kentucky's state song.  It was given state song status in 1928, and remained so until 1986, when Carl Hines, the lone black member of the Kentucky House of Representatives, felt that the song contained unacceptable racial connotations.  He was right, of course, and the term "darkies" was replaced with "people."  The song retains its state song status.

The song describes an idyllic day on a plantation and was a popular with minstrel shows and vaudevillians.

The sun shines bright in the old Kentucky home,

'Tis summer, the people are gay;

The corn top's ripe and the meadow's in the bloom

While the birds make music all the day .