Today's earworm and birthday all in one: Walk Hand In Hand

I grew up hearing the Gerry and the Pacemakers version of this song. It was pretty darned good, after all.

Now I discover what I've missed, all those years: Roy Hamilton.


Stylistic and general influence on Elvis Presley, as well as the man who inspired Sam Cooke to switch from gospel to  his famous secular sound, Hamilton combined elements of classical and gospel vocal training, to create his own unique handprint on American music.

Plus, he was one of the first to make a hit record of what has since become one of the most overdone tunes of the 1950s, "Unchained Melody".

He would have been celebrating his 92nd birthday, today.

Earworm of the Day: Castles in the Air

I'm city born, but I love the country life.

I suppose this might have come, in a round-about manner, from somebody having made me watch several Doctor Who episodes in recent days (that somebody being myself). After all, this scene has staying power, in all its manipulative majesty, and it, quite naturally, would lead one to hear this song. And, for me, there's a natural progression from one of his songs to the next.

Or, maybe it's still just a residual effect from having gotten stuck, off and on, for several decades, on a song about a mummy.

Nevertheless.

Enjoy.

Rituals Must Be Observed

It's that time, again.

Not an earworm. Just a part of my life, annually appreciated.

Earworm of the Day: Does Your Chewing Gum Lose it's Flavour?

Imagine this getting stuck… in one's head.

I managed to surf through more of the late Lonnie Donegan's songs, pushing the gum out of my ear... if it didn't work for you, have a drink on me. If it does work, rockin' Hallelujah!

Earworm of the Day: Ghost Riders In The Sky

Happy Halloween.

Yippee-yi-yay.

That is all.

Earworm of the Day: St James Infirmary Blues

BOO!

The Hallowday season is finally taking hold, for me. How about you? Ready to scare the stuffing out of innocent little kids?

Earworm of the Day: Apeman

There's nothing quite like being on social media discussing 1960s animated kids' shows to bring up strange associations. I blame Chuck, again, for this. I was hoping the theme from one of those cartoons would be today's winner, but not even the Mach 5 could beat Ray and Dave Davies.

Earworm of the Day: Hey Good Lookin'

Nothing much cookin', today... Moving some furniture, doing some household chores, throwing some plant bulbs on the ground and covering them with dirt, and I'm out of steam, so dinner will be simple. And maybe about twenty hours late. And nothing like anything in this. Probably leftover soup with toast. If I can push down the little doohickey on the toaster to make it start.

Okay, maybe not toast. That's probably too much cookin' for my day, today.

Hank also had entirely too much cookin' in his day.

Earworm of the Day: I Hate Men

I went with a friend to see the Met Live in HD broadcast of Turandot, because I love a good fairy tale, and this one was on the magical classic Zeffirelli-designed production. The funny thing is, although the Puccini music is memorable enough that you'd expect me to walk out at least humming the strains of "Nessun Dorma", but I'm apparently not that kind of girl. I had been thinking there was strong comparison between Turandot and Kate, from the Taming of the Shrew (in which, while in college, I'd performed a bit part and frustrated the heck out of the poor young woman who'd had to style my short, uncooperative hair nightly). If Puccini had had another half hour of music in him before he'd died, I wonder if he might have come around to the same conclusion Shakespeare and Cole Porter had, about the relationship between the brassy young man and the man-hating beauty... Oh, wait. His heirs' choice for finishing it pretty much did.

Earworm of the Day: (Lookie Lookie Lookie) Here Comes Cookie

I was well into adulthood before I realized that the band on WGN's broadcasts of Bozo's Circus usually played this tune when Cooky the kooky cook clown entered…

I was today years old when I learned about the amazing Cleo Brown as a human being, and not just a voice occasionally heard on my playlist. She was not only the remarkable pianist who replaced Fats Waller when he left NY's radio station WABC, she subsequently (reportedly) inspired Dave Brubeck in the early days of his career.

As she matured, she left show business, got baptized, and went on to pursue a career as a nurse, and only later returned to music...  to sing gospel for her church and a small few other performances.