Rodgers & Hammerstein – There is Nothin’ Like A Dame
An evening pause: Some honest humanity, from the 1958 film South Pacific.
Hat tip Judd Clark.
Tag: entertainment
Emma Kok with Andre Rieu’s orchestra – Voilà
An evening pause: She is 15 years old, and has an interesting backstory. I have cued the video to begin at the song’s start, because you should judge her solely on her talent. If you replay from the start Rieu explains that backstory.
Hat tip Tom Donohue.
Thomas Dolby – One of Our Submarines
An evening pause: Performed live 2012. Dolby sings and plays keyboards. Mat Hector is on drums and Kevin Armstrong is on guitar.
Hat tip Diane Zimmerman.
Ray Manzarek – the creation of “Riders on the Storm”
An evening pause: The pianist from the Doors describes how this song was created. If you want to hear it as performed, go here, which notes, “This was the last song recorded by the members of The Doors, according to Manzarek, as well as Morrison’s last recorded song to be released.”
Hat tip Doug Johnson
LuLu & Maurice Gibb – First of May
An evening pause: Hat tip Diane Zimmerman.
Moby – Extreme Ways
An evening pause: Performed live 2014.
Hat tip Doug Johnson.
Uriah Heep – The Wizard
An evening pause: Recorded sometimes in the 1970s, very obviously.
Hat tip Diane Zimmerman.
Yamma Ensemble – Kondja mia
An evening pause: This song is an example of what the group calls the tribal music of Sephardic Jews. The title of the song means “My rose.” Leave the closed captions on to see an English translation of the lyrics, which are quite beautiful. It is all very Middle Eastern, and something the Palestinians would recognize and like, until you told them it was by their fellow Semites, the Jews.
Hat tip Judd Clark.
Ed Sussman – How the Beach Boys used the Theremin
An evening pause: Some intriguing music history centered on the electronic instrument called the Theremin, which you play electronically by moving your hands through an electric field (go here to see two previous evening pause examples).
Hat tip Mike Nelson.
Dave Brubeck Quartet – Golden Brown
An evening pause: This video is not what it seems. The sax player, Lawrence Mason, has created a cover of this Dave Brubeck song by editing and playing over the Dave Brubeck quartet playing another song in 1965. As he notes on the youtube page, he did it as a tribute to “Paul Desmond (saxophonist with the Dave Brubeck quartet – the anniversary of his death is at the end of this month) [May 2020].”
Hat tip Alton Blevins.
Secretariat – Triple Crown Races
An evening pause: If you have never seen the Triple Crown victories by Secretariat in 1973, you need to watch this video. It will take your breath away. In the first two races jockey Ron Turcotte appears to let the pack take the lead at the start because he knows Secretariat can’t stand being behind. In the last, it is as if the horse wanted to prove to everyone that there was no horse now or ever that was faster. From the youtube webpage:
Secretariat (March 30, 1970 – October 4, 1989), also known as Big Red, was a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who is the ninth winner of the American Triple Crown, setting and still holding the fastest time record in all three races. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest racehorses of all time. He became the first Triple Crown winner in 25 years and his record-breaking victory in the Belmont Stakes, which he won by 31 lengths, is widely regarded as one of the greatest races in history.
Nightwish – Last Ride of the Day
An evening pause: Performed live 2015. The song’s lyrics are beautiful, but I especially like the first line: “What’s God if not the spark that started life”.
Hat tip Alton Blevins.