Posted on 03/09/2020 1:23:21 PM PDT by Twotone
Fifty years ago, the dawn of the Seventies, the sound of spring on the British Hit Parade: There was rock (Canned Heat, "Let's Work Together"), soft rock (Simon & Garfunkel, "Bridge Over Troubled Water"), folk-rock (Judy Collins, "Both Sides Now"), pop (Steam, "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye"), session-group pop (Edison Lighthouse, "Love Grows Where My Rosemary Goes"), Motown (Jackson Five, "I Want You Back"), country (Bobbie Gentry & Glen Campbell, "All I Have to Do Is Dream"), all to one degree or another the soundtrack of the era.
But the Number One bestselling record exactly half a century ago, the one that beat out all the above, was a two-decade-old showtune from a so-so forgotten musical revived for an embarrassingly awful flop film and growled by a guy who is the apotheosis of one-hit wonderdom. One-hit wonders have a certain pathos because, for the most part, they seek regular recording careers: they make singles and albums just like anybody else, but only once does lightning strike. Not this singer: This is not only his only Number One, and his only chart single, but (with one very obscure exception) the entirety of his recording career. And it's not even "his" record in the fullest sense: The B-side is by someone else entirely - Clint Eastwood - and most critics would credit Clint the better singer.
Yet the A-side swept all before it, including the Beatles' farewell single. Because let's face it, if you were the Fab Four, wouldn't you want to call it a day if you were kept out of the Number One spot by this?
(Excerpt) Read more at steynonline.com ...
“Only people make you cry”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sReW8bb_8eE
I read the first quarter of Steyn’s essay (saving rest for later). His fertile mind never ceases to amaze.
“So, if you’ve ever wondered about the degrees of separation between the Archduke Franz Ferdinand and Sid Vicious, this song will get you there quicker than you might have expected.”
How can that not be tantalizing?
Place mark. TY
I can’t explain it, but I get chills every time I hear the Lee Marvin version of Wand’rin Star.
That’s because it’s the audio equivalent of the coronavirus.
I remember when that song was on the radio a lot, and I also remember my mother asking how they could let “that guy” sing.
Another interesting article by Steyn.
I actually like the movie.
Come to think of it, I like most movies with Lee Marvin.
‘pop (Steam, “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye”), session-group
pop (Edison Lighthouse, “Love Grows Where My Rosemary Goes”)’
Umm, Steam was totally a session group too! After they had a hit they had to rush to put a touring band together to capitalize on it.
Yeah, me too. I don’t think it was an embarrassingly awful film.
It was a film from a Broadway show. You expect too much if you think such a film would be an Oscar winning film...
I actually sort of liked the film and don’t recall it being three hours.
Same here.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.