Great. Now these songs will be on my mind 24/7. Not that I mind, I think the songs (and killer dancing moves) are adorable. They’re from the wonderful 1974 Christmas special The Year Without a Santa Claus. Enjoy – and good luck getting the tunes out of your head.
You know the old saying, “If I had a dollar for every ____,” filling in the blank with what ever excessive thing you could hit pay day with?! Well, the Brady Bunch would pay off big time for me. Truly, if I had a dollar for every Brady Bunch episode I’ve ever watched, I’d be a millionaire. Like Gilligan, Andy Griffith, Sanford & Son, I Love Lucy, and Good Times, I could trade my hours for oodles of cash.
Do you remember the scene above? It’s from a 1973 episode titled ‘Amateur Night.’ The kids want to buy a silver platter for their parent’s anniversary but fall short of the required money. They form a group, call themselves the Silver Platters, and enter an amateur singing contest. I actually really like their harmony and voices. ,’ Did you know that, in real life, the Brady kids recorded four albums and did a variety show?
I just can’t stay inside all day… I gotta get out, get me some of those ra-ays….
Boom chicka boom boom!
The fabulous, sexy, charismatic, and muchly under-celebrated Josephine Baker had style before style was even a word. If you’re a fan (and how could you not be) of Josephine Baker’s or of jazz music (again, how could you not be), you’ll love these Josephine Baker art prints. Start your collection today!
Josephine Baker Jazz Band Giclee Print
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Josephine Baker Giclee Print
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Josephine Baker, Bakerfix Giclee Print
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Josephine Baker Giclee Print
, Zig (Louis…)
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Josephine Baker Revue Giclee Print
Neumann, Hans
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And, quite possibly, my favorite Josephine Baker art print EVER:
Josephine Baker’s Banana Dance:
I’ve gotten to the point where I can’t get through the day without a little (or a lotta) Johnny Cash in the background. Great music – and what a voice!
If you’re a huge Johnny Cash fan – you’re sure to love the Johnny Cash T-Shirts below, not to mention the videos! If you’re pretty new to Johnny Cash music, sit back and enjoy – I know you’ll be a huge fan in no time at all.
You won’t be able to help yourself, once the man in black casts his spell, you’re done for.
Ray Charles would have been 80 years old this year and there’s no doubt in my mind he would have still been smiling and making music!
Come to think of it… isn’t he? Whenever you see a picture of the legendary singer, he’s smiling and if you want to hear one of his heartfelt songs, they’re always within reach.
In fact, there’s a Ray Charles song very much within reach right now! To celebrate his 80th birthday, his life, and his legacy, a free Ray Charles song download is offered to fans. What a beautiful way to keep the music alive. Just click HERE for more information.
Ray Charles Sings America the Beautiful unlike anyone else ever could:
Lena Horne Framed Art Print
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The elegant, talented, graceful, and lovely Lena Horne passed away this past Sunday.
Lena Mary Calhoun Horne was born on June 30, 1917 (“The era of smoking cigarettes and playing bingo.”) in Brooklyn, New York. In her biography, Lena Horne stated that on the day she was born, her father was in the midst of a card game trying to get money to pay the hospital costs.
Her parents divorced while she was very young and her mother left when Lena was a little older (hoping to find work as an actress), leaving Lena in the care of her grandparents. When Lena was seven her mother returned and the two traveled around the state, which meant that Lena was enrolled in numerous schools (for a time she also attended schools in Florida, Georgia and Ohio).
Lena quit school when she was 14 and got her first stage job at 16, dancing and later singing at the famed Cotton Club in Harlem. This club was later immortalized in the movie, The Cotton Club (1984).
Thanks to her talent – and I”m certain her beauty didn’t hurt – she was soon playing to packed houses.
Lena appeared on Broadway, then her star really took off when she took Hollywood by storm. When she was just 21 years old, Lena made her first film, The Duke Is Tops (1938). Four years later, in 1942, she appeared in Panama Hattie, playing a singer in a nightclub. By this time, Lena had signed with MGM.
In 1943 MGM loaned her to 20th Century-Fox to play the role of Selina Rogers in the all-black musical Stormy Weather, which did extremely well at the box-office. Her rendition of the title song became a major hit on the musical charts.
Also in 1943, Lena appeared in Cabin in the Sky. Her character was Georgia Brown. Also starring in this ground-breaking film were Ethel Waters and Eddie ‘Rochester’ Anderson.
Lena’s musical career flourished, but her movie career sort of fizzled out. Whether it was a sad (pathetic, really) sign of the times or simply a case of her focusing on her musical gifts – one career took off while the other fell off. As a fan, I like to think she simply chose to focus on her music. She made her mark on the film industry and now it was music’s turn!
Certain experiences in Lena Horne’s life (such as the fact that she lost her father, husband, and son in one year), led to her ability to convey such deep emotions in her singing. This is one performer I would have LOVED to have hear live – I’m certain she caused goosebumps and gave performances that those, lucky enough to witness them, would never forget.
I like to think of her giving Heavenly concerts these days. As a fan, I’m thrilled to see her getting the respect and credit she deserves. She’s one of the bold trailblazers that helped move our country out of the dark ages and opened a door so wide that anyone could walk through – male, female, black, white, Hispanic… or a little bit of each!
Rest in Peace, Lena Horne. We’ll be listening to your music forever.
I could listen to this song all day!
Blondie Premium Giclee Print
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BLONDIE, ROCK ‘N’ ROLL LEGENDS, TO PERFORM AND RECEIVE THE ICON AWARD AT THE “8th ANNUAL TV LAND AWARDS”
Award Show to Premiere on TV Land on Sunday, April 25th at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT
April 15, 2010, Los Angeles, CA — Blondie, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees, and the pioneers of rock and new wave, will be honored at the “8th Annual TV Land Awards” that will be held on Saturday, April 17th, 2010 on the historic stage 15 of the Sony Studios Culver City lot. The band will receive the Icon Award for its contributions to music and pop culture through their long and successful career in the music industry. In addition to receiving the Icon Award, the band will be performing one of their classic hits. The TV Land Awards premieres on Sunday, April 25th at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT.
Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006, music, style and pop culture icons and best selling recording artists, Blondie emerged from the late ’70s new wave punk scene in New York City and defied easy categorization. With great rock hooks and brilliant, ironic lyrics, they were also known for their hip clothes and the cool hair. Lead singer, Debbie Harry went from the pages of Punk magazines to the cover of just about every mainstream publication on the newsstands. With multiple #1 smash hits like “Heart of Glass,” “One Way Or Another,” “Call Me,” “Rapture” and “Maria,” the band has sold more than 40 million albums worldwide. Their “Maria” made Blondie the only artist to have a #1 hit in the UK in each of 3 decades, further proving their relevance and staying power. Blondie is currently finishing a brand new album to be released later this year, their first release with new music since The Curse of Blondie in 2003.
Blondie at Mabuhay Poster
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Blondie will be heading out on a world tour beginning in June. For more information on Blondie, please visit http://www.blondie.net/.
TV Land announced yesterday that some of television and film’s most iconic names — Billy Crystal, Jane Leeves, Jay Leno, Wendie Malick, Bob Newhart, Betty White and more will be presenters at the “8th Annual TV Land Awards.”
The following honorees were announced to participate in the “8th Annual TV Land Awards” including the entire cast of “Everybody Loves Raymond” who will receive the Impact Award, “Glee” which will receive this year’s Future Classic Award and Mel Brooks (“Blazing Saddles”) and Carl Reiner (“The Dick Van Dyke Show” and “Ocean’s Eleven”) who will each receive the Legend Award. Stars of the 1970s TV phenomenon “Charlie’s Angels” will be on hand to receive the Pop Culture Award and to pay tribute to their cast member Farrah Fawcett, who passed away in June 2009. Also scheduled to appear are Academy® Award-winner Tom Hanks and Emmy® Award-nominee Peter Scolari who will reunite to accept the Anniversary Award for the 30th anniversary of the comedy, “Bosom Buddies,” along with fellow cast members Donna Dixon, Telma Hopkins and Holland Taylor, marking the first time that the cast has been together publicly since the show went off the air. The cast of “ The Love Boat” will be on hand to receive the Fan Favorite Award, which was executive produced by Aaron Spelling and set on a cruise ship where the boat’s crew encouraged its weekly guest stars to find romance on the high seas, usually on its voyage between Los Angeles and Puerto Vallarta.
Singer Debbie Harry and Musician of Musical Group Blondie Performing Premium Photographic Print
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Now in its eighth year, the “TV Land Awards” pays tribute to classic and contemporary luminaries of television, music and movies. The ninety-minute telecast will feature exhilarating musical performances and will reunite some of the most iconic celebrity TV casts.
Michael Levitt (“Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D List,” “Billboard Music Awards,” “Scream Awards”) is executive producer; Emmy® Award-winning Jeff Margolis is director (“Academy Awards,” “American Music Awards,” “Screen Actors Guild Awards”); Greg Sills serves as supervising producer (“VH1 Rock Honors,” “The Teen Choice Awards,” “Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards”); and TV Land’s Larry W. Jones and Sal Maniaci are executive producers.
Press credential applications for this year’s show may be obtained via the channel’s press Web site, tvlandpress.com.
TV Land and all related logos and titles are trademarks of Viacom International Inc.
Deborah Harry Photo
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Below are some remarkable drawings of celebrities by Pablo Lobato – the famous Argentinian artist. Outstanding! It’s amazing how he captured them with just a few lines. My favorites are probably Madonna and Julia Roberts. I would love to see Lobato print his work on tees, canvas totes, mugs, and so on. I’d want two of each and Julia on everything.
Madonna
The Beatles
Brad Pitt
Julia Roberts
Elton John
Jack Nicholson
It’s all in the eyes, isn’t it? If you go back, you can see that each celeb was captured in the windows to the soul. What must it be like to have so much artistic talent?! Check out http://lobaton.wordpress.com/ for many more outrageously wonderful works of artistic brilliance.
Billie Holiday was born on April 7, 1915 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Nicknamed Lady Day, Billie Holiday was an American jazz singer and song writer that could stop traffic with her voice. She got intimate with songs and music the way most people get intimate with one another. She co-wrote several songs that have gone down in jazz history, notably “God Bless the Child”, “Don’t Explain”, and “Lady Sings the Blues”. She also became famous for singing jazz standards written by others, including “Easy Living” and “Strange Fruit”.
She’s often remembered as the lovely lady with a gardenia in her hair belting out songs like nobody’s business.
Sadly, as was the case with quite a few of the stars from the past, drugs were Billie Holiday’s undoing. She was arrested several times due to an addiction she never overcame. She was even arrested on her death bed – literally. Gilbert Millstein of The New York Times, who had partly written the sleeve notes for the album The Essential Billie Holiday, described her death:
“Billie Holiday died in the Metropolitan Hospital, New York, on Friday, July 17, 1959, in the bed in which she had been arrested for illegal possession of narcotics a little more than a month before, as she lay mortally ill; in the room from which a police guard had been removed – by court order – only a few hours before her death, which, like her life, was disorderly and pitiful. She had been strikingly beautiful, but she was wasted physically to a small, grotesque caricature of herself. The worms of every kind of excess – drugs were only one – had eaten her. … The likelihood exists that among the last thoughts of this cynical, sentimental, profane, generous and greatly talented woman of 44 was the belief that she was to be arraigned the following morning. She would have been, eventually, although possibly not that quickly. In any case, she removed herself finally from the jurisdiction of any court here below.”
An incredibly tragic and sad ending for a woman who left a beautiful mark on our musical history. She deserved better – what a shame that she didn’t realize it.
To learn more about Billie Holiday, buy her autobiography on Amazon: Lady Sings the Blues
One. Talented. Man. Amen.
