Nbp Jukebox

Miss Otis Regrets composed by the incomparable Cole Porter, vocalized by illustrious Alberta Hunter, and melodized by the dulcet sounds of Jack Jackson and His Orchestra.

A Triple-Shot of Petula Clark

The pert 1960s British songbird musically entices with two songs about the invigorating thrills of metropolitan ambience* and swinging nightclubs**. In the third offering, she changes her tune with a touching and heartbreaking torch song.

The 1936 Richard Rogers and George Balanchine ballet Slaughter on Tenth Avenue is excellently given the Rock treatment by Mick Ronson, former lead guitarist of David Bowie's backup band The Spiders from Mars. Dreamy piano glissandos by keyboardist Mike Garson.

Garson also played in Bowie's band, The Spiders From Mars. My fav memory of Garson's playing is his piano background to Bowie's singing and acoustic guitar playing, on his cover of Jacque Brel's song, My Death.... BTW, my brother used to have that Ronson album on vinyl..

. . . and here it is!

Bowie and Garson and My Death

Believe it or not, I used to sing that song at karaoke, and got lots of stares and head-scratching... Never heard this version before, thanks for sharing it mac. I actually like it better than his early 70s version, when he was still doing his Ziggy character, singing it in costume with his acoustic guitar and Garson on piano. In this later version, he is able to concentrate even more on his vocal and add more dramatic, theatrical stuff to it, same with Garson. And being much older than in '73, probably adds even more perspective and poignance to the song for Bowie..

Movie Music

For my money, the preeminent composer for American movies during the 1960s was Henry Mancini.* The six selections, not all from the sixties, are offered to showcase Mancini's versatility and range. Whether he was recruited to score poignant dramas, comedies slapstick and frothy , spine-tingling thrillers, outré Sci-Fi chillers, or noir-ish TV crime-dramas, Mancini always consummately proved that he was more than up to the task at hand.

My father sits at night with no lights on
His cigarette glows in the dark
The living room is still
I walk by, no remark
I tiptoe past the master bedroom where
My mother reads her magazines
I hear her call sweet dreams
But I forget how to dream

For me, That's the Way I've Always Heard It Should Be has always had a horror movie vibe. When it was getting played on the radio, I watched a television broadcast of The Couch, a 1962 "psychological horror film" (screenplay by Robert Bloch, author of Psycho). The mélange of Carly Simon's (to me) eerie, mournful music and her haunted rendition of collaborator Jacob Brackman's bleak lyrics struck the right creepy note to accompany the late-night "fright flick."

Particularly resonant with me is the song's ambivalent tone about marriage and the precariousness and soul-killing confinement of connubial commitment. "Till Death do us part"* can sound like a promise . . . or a threat.

You say that we can keep our love alive
Babe, all I know is what I see
The couples cling and claw
And drown in love's debris
You say we'll soar like two birds through the clouds
But soon you'll cage me on your shelf
I'll never learn to be just me first
By myself

* Cue Milton Berle's gag: The bride and groom vow "Till Death do us part" and then eventually start thinking of ways to rapidly speed up the process.

Yet another example of my dark taste in music, as I used to sing this song at karaoke shows, and surprisingly, most audiences seemed to like and identify with the song.. Go figure...

I knew there was something about you that I liked, BD!

In celebration of St. Valentine's Day . . .

A Triple-Shot of Gene Pitney

. . . and Gene Pitney's vocal clone: Billy Joe Royal!

Down in the Boondocks

POP Goes the Bubblegum!

By the mid-1970s I was leaving Rock Music behind and advancing to Jazz, thanks to a friend who had eclectic tastes in music. With the exception of Summer Madness by Kool & the Gang, the offered selections were the foundations of my Jazz library.

Woman, Thou Art Loosed!

In memoriam of Bud Cort who died February 11, 2026: my favorite vignette and favorite Cat Stevens song from Harold and Maude.

My all-time fav cult film...

Mars, The Bringer of War
by Gustav Holst

Sometimes the snow comes down in June
Sometimes the sun goes 'round the moon
Just when I thought our chance had passed
You go and save the best for last

Music and lyrics by Phil Galdston, Jon Lind, and Wendy Waldman

They Had Voices Then

All great songs, and so eclectic. As usual, mac, your taste is impeccable... And the Cocker song is the first one of his I ever heard that didn't have him rasping all the way thru it, showing he could actually sing with a clear tone in his voice..

Not unlike, it seems, many people, I was introduced to More Me Than Ever by a television commercial featuring the song.

Like singer Tayla Parx, I am more me than ever. However in my case, that's because of late-night snacking (sigh!).