Tag Archives: Ethel Merman

WEEK 42 / 10 – 16 APRIL 2015

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288 FRIDAY 10 APRIL 2015

There’s No Business Like Show Business – Ethel Merman

The Ethel Merman Disco Album

I’ve always been fond of La Merman. I’m unsure if she reminds me of my mother’s favourite cousin, Isabel, or if Ethel was the first diva I ever became aware of.

I’m sure I first saw her on a rerun of “The Lucy Show”, where she played herself but pretended to be someone else. In typical Lucy fashion, she tries to get Merman to perform in a PTA benefit or something like that; not only was I charmed by her, but what a set of pipes she had. Probably around the same time, I saw her on an episode of “That Girl” with Marlo Thomas. Again, she played herself doing some sort of show where Thomas’ Anne Marie had a walk-on. Once again, she charmed me.

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WEEK 13 – 19 SEPTEMBER TO 25 SEPTEMBER 2014

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85 FRIDAY 19 SEPTEMBER 2014

No One Is Alone – Kim Crosby, Danielle Ferland, Ben Wright, Chip Zien

085 Into the Woods (Musical Cast Recording)

Even when we are on our own, we’re not totally alone. We all live in a community and have an impact each other’s lives. From the person who holds the lift’s door when you’re carrying bags. Or the person who chases you down the street to hand you the umbrella you’ve dropped one block away. Even the person who is rude to you on the bus for no apparent reason; we all feed on the community we live in. It doesn’t matter how much we want to protect ourselves, others will always have an influence on us, and there’s basically nothing we can do about it. The person who holds the lift’s door will help you arrive faster to your destination. The one who hands you the umbrella will help you stay dry when the rain comes. The one who’s been rude may wreck your day for a bit, but another person will brighten it. In a matter of minutes, everything can change. You’ll be the one holding the lift’s door, handing the umbrella, and being rude to someone on the bus.

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WEEK 11 – 5 SEPTEMBER TO 11 SEPTEMBER 2014

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71 FRIDAY 5 SEPTEMBER 2014

Easy to Love – Lee Wiley with Paul Weston & His Orchestra – Top 10 Contender

071 Greatest Hits

I’m definitely feeling the love for Cole Porter.

I first heard Easy To Love in 1991; it was a version by Sinatra, which I instantly liked. Since then I’ve acquired different versions by different performers. As a young man, I thought of it as the epitome of being in love and planning a perfect future with a chosen one.

As I’ve grown older, I’ve come to appreciate it under a very different light. It is not about being in love, the singer is not in love yet. It is about the business of falling in love, and how it is not as random and magical as Hollywood and Hallmark have led us to believe.

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WEEK 02 – 4 JULY TO 10 JULY 2014

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08 FRIDAY 4 JULY 2014

I Got The Sun In The Morning – Ethel Merman

008 Annie Get Your Gun (Original Cast Recording) [1988 Remaster]

People! Turn down the volume on your iPods; Ethel Merman has arrived at the list. Oh! Don’t act surprised, you knew La Merman would be on the list, how could she not? Yes, there’ll be more belters joining her.
For almost 25 years I Got The Sun In The Morning has been one of my all-time favourites. It is kind of poetic that it comes on the list on the 4th of July. You see, that is the day I left Venezuela in 1990, exactly a week after my 25th birthday.
At the end of the summer, I arrived in Washington, D.C. I had been accepted in the Film and Video Master’s program at AU (American University.)

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