Category Archives: Turning 50

WEEK 33 / 6 – 12 FEBRUARY 2015

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225 FRIDAY 6 FEBRUARY 2015

Proud – Heather Small – Top 10 Contender

Queer As Folk

I’ll always associate Proud with “Queer As Folk”, the TV show.

It is a nice coincidence that I write about this song in the week I’ve just finished binge watching “Queer As Folk”, the American series. I watched and enjoyed the original run from 2000 to 2005. However, it was only this second time around that I’ve come to appreciate the cultural and, in a way, the historical significance of the show. Before 2000, no TV show had ever addressed so openly the issues of the gay community in any city, USA. For the first time, many young gay people saw themselves mirrored in real characters that captured with precision the reality of their lives.

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WEEK 32 / 30 JANUARY – 5 FEBRUARY 2015

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218 FRIDAY 30 JANUARY 2015

There’s No Place Like Home – Orchestra

Lost - Season 4 (Original Television Soundtrack)

Nothing says “Lost” as this flawless evocative composition by Michael Giacchino. It was first used as the ‘Oceanic Six’, the only survivors who are able to make it out of the island, return to civilisation. From then on, the theme became an intrinsic part of the rest of the show’s run. It was repeatedly used with different variations.

Just as last week’s “King’s Fate – Prince’s Future – Kralahome’s Demise – Anna’s Surprise” was in the background while I wrote a passage of my novel, “The Return Of The Army Of Light”; There’s No Place Like Home also played a role while I wrote another extract of the story.

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WEEK 31 / 23 – 29 JANUARY 2015

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211 FRIDAY 23 JANUARY 2015

More I Cannot Wish You – John Carpenter

Guys and Dolls

Summer of 1992 has a special place in my memories. I had finished my masters in the spring, and the organisation I had been working for a few months had extended my contract for another six months. I had moved to a new place near DuPont Circle in DC. This was the early 1990s and it would take another four or five years for the area to become chic.

So, there I was in a small efficiency apartment at the Chastleton, at 16th and R, where as legend has it The Duke and Duchess of Windsor stayed for a while.

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WEEK 30 / 16 – 22 JANUARY 2015

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204 FRIDAY 16 JANUARY 2015

Tara’s Theme from Gone With the Wind – John Williams and the Boston Pops Orchestra

Encore!_ Best of the Boston Pops

The Roxy was probably the largest movie house in Maracaibo when I was growing up; it even had a balcony, although it was never used. I remember seeing many movies at The Roxy, like “Dumbo”, “E.T.”, and “Back To The Future”. However, the most vivid memory I have of The Roxy is the Sunday afternoon my father dropped off my sister, brother and me, to watch “Gone With The Wind”.

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WEEK 29 – 9 – 15 JANUARY 2015

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197 FRIDAY 9 JANUARY 2015

The Glory Of Love – Bette Midler

Beaches

This is the second time The Glory Of Love appears on the list. The first time was during week two, on that occasion, it was Jimmy Durante’s version that made it to the list. (See Week 2, Number 11)

Durante’s version came in as a sort of sound and reliable advice from a wise man, telling novice lovers what to expect from love. However, Bette Middler’s The Glory Of Love presents consolation, its words offer solace after love has done a number on you. There’s sadness, melancholy, and regret, but there’s also acceptance of your fate.

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WEEK 28 – 2 – 8 JANUARY 2015

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190 FRIDAY 2 JANUARY 2015

Usted Abusó – Celia Cruz & Willie Colón

Anthology

I believe this is the first Celia Cruz song I remember hearing and liking. I guess it was also the first time I heard of Willie Colón. Like most of the songs from this week, I chose this one because I like it; nothing much to say about it.

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WEEK 27 – 26 DECEMBER 2014 TO 1 JANUARY 2015

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183 FRIDAY 26 DECEMBER 2014

Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive – Johnny Mercer

Your Hit Parade - 1945

Here’s another song from the “Your Hit Parade” series. I’ve always liked the attention-grabber solo trumpet at the start of the song. It asks you to listen carefully to the advice they’re about to impart. It has a very church-parable type of narrative. It is one of the few songs from that era that I’m sure would still resonate with younger generations.

I first heard Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive on “Bugsy”, the 1991 film directed by American University alumni Barry Levinson. The film starred Warren Beatty as Benjamin Siegel, the notorious American gangster who basically created Las Vegas. The song is used within the first minutes of the movie to establish Bugsy’s first days in Los Angeles. It was an effective way to introduce Siegel’s positive attitude in life, even if he only applied it to his criminal life.

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COMING UP – WEEK 27 PREVIEW

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Week 27

These are the songs I picked between 26 December 2014 and 1 January 2015. I’ll talk about them next time.

Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive – Johnny Mercer

My Red-Letter Day – Bob Walton, Jim Walton, Karen Ziemba … I considered briefly giving it to Sigourney Weaver but decided against it. Yes, you didn’t misread, Sigourney Weaver, the actress; I worked with her a few years back.  

Overture To “Pretty Lady”/With Plenty Of Money And You – Kate Levering (Dance) and Men …The curtain went up, and musical number after musical number, I could hear the man sitting next to me, gasping in delight when he recognised each one of the songs.  

Concierto de Aranjuez for Guitar and Orchestra: II. Adagio – Pepe Romero, Barry Davis, Academy of St. Martin In the Fields & Sir Neville Marriner

Praeludium and Allegro in the Style of Pugnani – Henryk Szeryng & Charles Reiner

El Año Víejo – Tony Camargo … My parents didn’t throw too many parties, but when they did they were epic. 

Boom Ditty Boom – “70, Girls, 70” 1991 Original London Cast

WEEK 26 – 19 TO 25 DECEMBER 2014

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176 FRIDAY 19 DECEMBER 2014

Le Jazz Hot – Julie Andrews

Victor_Victoria Soundtrack

If “Les Uns Et Les Autres” (See Week 15 No. 100) was the movie the made me want to be a filmmaker in 1983; the year before that, “Victor/Victoria” was the film that taught me that you can tell any story you want to tell as long as you know how to do it.

A woman pretending to be a man, pretending to be a woman, seemed like a very convoluted story to tell, but director Blake Edwards managed to pull it off brilliantly. Under the guidance of Toddy, Victoria Grant, an out-of-work opera singer in Paris, poses as a drag queen in order to find a job as an entertainer in a cabaret. On the night of her debut at Cassel’s, she captivates the audience with her rendition of Le Jazz Hot. Everybody is impressed, including King Marchand, a gangster from Chicago who doubts if Victor is really a man.

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COMING UP – WEEK 26 PREVIEW

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Week 26

These are the songs I picked between 19 and 25 December 2014. I’ll talk about them next time.

Le Jazz Hot – Julie Andrews

Wonderful – Joel Grey, Idina Menzel … I can say with confidence that this is the only song from “Wicked” that I’ll include. I kind of don’t like the musical, it never grew on me. 

Gin/Wild – Mandy Patinkin, Toni Collette, Eartha Kitt … However, an alcohol and drugs infested party and populated with egotistical depraved characters may not have been the best place I could escape the Summer of 2000.

Our Favorite Son * – Keith Carradine, Caddy Huffman

Magic – Olivia Newton-John … I stopped being a dreamer many years ago, but I don’t think I’ve ever stopped being a hopeful, in a way I still believe in destiny.

(I’ve Got a Gal In) Kalamazoo – Glenn Miller Orchestra

Why Don’t You Do Right – Peggy Lee & The Benny Goodman Orchestra

* Top 10 Contender