Reading The Fine Print…
RCA Victor recording featuring Frank Sinatra
A while ago, my wife’s Aunt was “downsizing” her house… and while we were over for a visit, as she knows I am a music buff… she asked if I wanted to have a look through her old LP records (that otherwise were going to the Sally Ann)
I was delighted, so she showed me where they were, and I started flipping through them.
Most of them were her son’s records… and most of the records were albums that all of us who were around in the 70’s and 80’s have… Foreigner, Asia, Blondie, Toto, etc.
Anyway, I had gone through most of them, when I found an older vintage record… a Big Band album from Tommy Dorsey !
Having grown up in a house where all types of music were welcome, but Big Band or Vera Lynn were especially well received.
I confirmed that this album was “up for grabs”… and brought it home, when we left.
As life often does… things got in the way, and it got put aside until recently, when I came across it, while I was moving stuff around in my studio.
I looked at it, and on the “B” side, in the tiniest letters… with as little “TADA” as possible, it announced that the singer was Frank Sinatra !
Back in the day, before he was “above the title”… Before the Ratpack… Before Frank was Frank !!!
And now, it hangs as in a place of honour on my wall… Serving as a visual reminder that even the great ones were, at one point or another, written in small print.
Now, before you think I am deluded, and relating my talent to FS… Nosiree Bob !!!
I just take it as a reminder that from tiny acorns, mighty Oaks grow.
You just have to read the fine print…
(And what fine print it is !!!)
Sorry, I’m Miss Poke…
What started as a perfectly harmless eveing of Korean BBQ and Soju, spending time with dear friends and colleagues, took a turn for the worse, when someone suggested heading for the Bar in the Hotel Lobby, where a hot band from the Phillipines was playing Hit Cover Songs !
The quality of the singing was quite good… and the keyboard player was doing a great job. Perhaps it was the Soju… maybe the Beer… Perhaps the Scotches ?!? But something was grating on my last nerve, but I couldn’t place it, at first.
But, whatever it was, was getting under my skin something fierce.
Finally, I was able to break the surface of my alcoholic stupor, long enough to realize that we have expectations, which are shaped by the conditions of our environment, and affect how we perceive situations, and thus form “judgements”
Tonight’s renditions were, by no means the worst I’ve heard… that I was able to deal with.
I could deal with the smokey atmosphere… The drunken business men who were openly drooling over the singers… the intoxicated couples slow-dancing totally out of time to the music… the laser lights that occassionally caused blindness… I could deal with ALL of that. What I couldn’t face, was the mangling and twisting of language that was going on.
It started subtly… and with an accent, some of the issues may have been interpretive, rather than real. Roxette’s “Sleeping In My Car” became “Slipping In My Car”, and Ben E. King’s classic “Stand By Me” became what sounded like “Stan, Buy Me” As I say, those could be forgiven, or put down to the songs being sung in a second language.
(My three foreign language songs are Frere Jacques, Allouetta and Mon Payee Blue, so I am ABSOLUTELY throwing rocks inside my Glass House)
As a lyricist, the mangling of words…. whether by a foreign tongue, or by our own malapropism, is something that I find untenable, moreso because they were being paid to perform, and ostensibly, sing. More than a few folks have gotten rich, putting together compilations of “murdered” lyrics… “Scuze Me, While I Kiss This Guy” and such….
But here I was, and there were more than a few songs in a row, where the Lyrics were, apparently, not understood by the singer, and as such, were being abused, but with a ferocity that was hard to endure… so, despite the Whiskey Haze, we knew it was time to go. Kindly, the Destructive Power of Single Malt Scotch, combined with having to re-type this to make it comprehensible, have removed the last vestiges of the worst memories… the next day… Motrin… coffee… and time have cleared most details from my brain… although I know I shall never again hear Stevie Wonders “Overjoyed” without a twitch developing.
And now, hopefully, the song CAN remain the same !!!
Shades Of Gray…
So, let’s get it RIGHT out of the way… I have Gray hair.
Genetically, my physical appearance comes from the Buchanan Clan. I come from a long line of short people, with dark deepset eyes, and black-brown hair, that starts to go gray, then white, in our early 20’s.
I’ve put it out there, and I embrace it… It’s my history… It’s who I am, and the road map that makes up my Genetic Being.
My Genetic Being just got back from a vacation in Las Vegas, where my wife and I had a great time… but we happened to be there at the same time as a large contingent of convention-goers.
The Convention, as I found out later, was the AARP.
The AARP, is the American Association of Retired People.
I believe in Random Acts of Kindness, and helping out where I can… and there were numerous opportunities on our trip, to help folks by explaining touch screens on slot machines, I helped a lady with a bank machine that she wasn’t able to understand, I took a bunch of group photos. I’m not trying to toot my own horn, but my parents raised me to jump to help when I see someone who could use assistance. I want, nor expect kudos… It’s just the right thing to do.
My wife and I were, however, taken aback, when a stranger, OLDER THAN US, on an elevator ride, asked “Are you here with the AARP Conference ?” We said “No”, and at that point, arrived at his floor. We wished him well with his stay, and after the doors closed… looked at each other.
My wife is a wonderful caring, loving lady, and I am her only child… a 47 year old, juvenile delinquent who, on a regular basis, embarrases his nieces, and takes friends outside their comfort zones.
I am far from mature, and waaaay far from retired.
Still smarting from that encounter, I returned home a few days later… and as is my custom on Twitter, I sent out a few #FollowFriday Tweets. One of them, was a 30 Year Old whose comments I found amusing. She sent me back a “Thank you, Sir” tweet. So, I, being an escapee from Juvenile Hall, of course replied… “You’re welcome, Ma’am”
OUCH !!!
I have a healthy belief that we should respect our Elders, and have reverence for the Aged.
However…
I also believe that, while I am (apparently) middle aged, I have done nothing to deserve reverence from folks younger, nor should I be receiving undue respect from folks who are older than I am !!!
I am not yet setting off airport Metal Detectors with my Iron Supplements… nor am I using furniture or bedding with motors to “help me” get comfortable and increase circulation. I do not own a scooter. I do not seek to eat dinner in the middle of the afternoon. I have never asked “those darn kids” to turn down their music… (although my wife has often asked me “What the %$#% are you listening to ?!?”)
I feel that my actions and my attitude reflect my younger self… by which I mean no disrespect to our older citizens… I just ain’t ONE OF THEM !!!
I guess my problem is the opposite of what Rodney Dangerfield (young kids say “who ?”) used to say…
I get TOO MUCH respect !!!
Sunny Sunday Afternoon in September…
It’s a Sunny Sunday Afternoon in September, here at BobSongs headquarters… (hopefully you aren’t feeling tricked by the Blog title) …and I’m kind of at sixes and sevens. (A British term, meaning rudderless, or without direction or motivation)
Y’see, I’ve been overcome with a sense of the malaise that Sunday sometimes brings. I work REALLY hard Monday through Friday. Often starting early, and working into the evenings. By the time I catch up with my Sweetie, TV, Hockey, and stuff around the house… it is often quite late. Next day, get up, and do it all again.
Saturday is another beast, altogether. It is a day of go-go trips, getting stuff, doing the running around, visiting family… things that aren’t possible, during the weekdays.
Which brings us to Sunday… and in particular… this Sunny Sunday Afternoon in September.
I am looking at a desk that is covered in paper… (as is a large portion of the floor) The dust on the monitor is thick enough that I can still see the X’s and O’s game my niece started… but is starting to get fuzzy from the layer of dust that has added itself, since then. The leaves outside are fairly insistent that they are NOT going to rake themselves, nor is the deck furniture going to stack itself, in preparation for Fall. I’m 7/8’s of the way through cleaning up the Garage, but the car doesn’t QUITE fit inside yet… (and I haven’t yet received the motivation of that first frosted window scrape.)
But, instead of doing any of these things… or just enjoying the sunshine… I am seeking the solace and companionship of a computer keyboard, and trying to justify to myself (and you, gentle reader) why I’m not getting off my tookus… getting out, and getting stuff done.
It MAY have something to do with being tired, worn out and weary… Or it may be an early symptom of some oncoming disease.
Perhaps a nap would help… I’ll let you know !
Project “Impact”…
Was stunned today to hear that WalMart has turned a corner, in terms of their approach, and are openly and aggressively going to be trying, in the next 18 months, to drive their largest competitors out of business.
For quite a few years, I ran a store, and in all our endeavours, while we may not have thought highly of our competition… the number one focus was never to eradicate competition. It was product quality, product availability, customer service, product price… and if we kept to our goals, and maintained a good position on ALL of these points… it would possibly make it more difficult for our competition… and if they aren’t well positioned, they may fail.
I took Marketing in University… (back in the day) …and one of the tenets of Marketing, was the “Four P’s“… Product, Place, Promotion and Price. These four factors, when combined with the “T” of Timely delivery, was the key to a successful marketing strategy.
Now, apparently, it is down to the “One K“… Kill your competition !!!
(And, as an aside, KMart is one of the first targets)
I think it is scary when a retailer becomes SO big, that they do not have to be cagey, or circumspect in their attempts to take over the world, and stamp every inch of the planet with their “mark” !