In The Wall Street Journal this week, my "House Call" interview was with British comedian Eddie Izzard and the trauma he went through as a child after his mother took ill (go here). My interview with Mike Tyson for the "Playlist" column looks at his favorite song—MFSB's Love Is the Message— and why it's so special to him (go here). And finally, I wrote the Off Duty section's "Copy Cat" design column this weekend on what I lusted after (pictured above) during a recent trip to Miami (go here).
A special thanks to Giovanni Russonello of The New York Times, who included parts of my JazzWax interview with Geri Allen in his obit of the late pianist last week (go here).
Talkin' Spinners. A warm thanks to SiriusXM hosts Nik Carter and Lori Majewski for having me on their Feedback radio show (Channel 106), to talk about my recent WSJ "Anatomy of a Song" column on the Spinners' I'll Be Around. If you missed hearing the broadcast, you can catch it for free here.
Sue Raney. Last week, singer Sue Raney sent along an email thanking me for posting on her videos from Australia in 1963 and asking me to thank her fans at JazzWax for being so supportive:
"Dear Marc, thanks for those video clips. My husband and I enjoyed watching them. I wondered, “Was that really me?” Ha! So long ago. Regarding the backup on those clips, Fly Me to the Moon was done live with musicians from Australia. I was lip-syncing to the other two tracks that were on my 1963 Capitol album All By Myself, backed by the Ralph Carmichael Orchestra. I've had lots of response to your post. Thanks again, Sue."
Terry Teachout has a fabulous essay in Commentary on trumpeter Bunny Berigan. Go here.
Louis Armstrong radio. WKCR will present its annual Louis Armstrong birthday broadcast on July 4th playing his music around the clock starting on Monday night at 11:59 p.m. (EDT) and continuing all day until midnight. Tune in from anywhere in the world on your computer or phone by going here.
Richard Barone at Joe's Pub. If you're in New York next Thursday, July 6, and you dig the folk sound of Greenwich Village in the 1960s, check out Richard's show at Joe's Pub. He will be joined by David Amram, Tammy Faye, the Kennedys and a crowd of others. Richards' new album is Sorrows & Promises: Greenwich Village in the 1960s. The Joe's Pub gig starts at 7 p.m. For information and tickets ($18 each), go here.
Vee-Jay Records. Director Raymond De Felitta (Madoff, 'Tis Autmn: The Search for Jackie Paris, Rob the Mob, City Island and others) has just put up a quick blog on Vee-Jay Records and the label's recording artists. Go here.
Chart hounds. If you love pop over the decades, then you surely love the charts of Billboard, Cash Box and other publications that tracked the music. Here's a tip: These charts and information about hit songs and artists are sold in book form at Joel Whitburn's Record Research. I love these books and use them all the time when researching my WSJ articles. A great starter is Top Pop Singles, 1955-2015, organized by artist and their songs that made the Billboard Hot 100 Go here.
The Old Dark House. When I was a kid, my father used to take me to see classic horror movies in the basement theater of New York's Museum of Modern Art. One of my favorites was The Old Dark House (1932), with Boris Karloff, Melvyn Douglas and Charles Laughton. I found a decent print at YouTube, so now you can be scared, too...
What the heck: Here's Gene Krupa in George White's Scandals (1945)...
Oddball album covers of the week.
In the 1950s, modern furniture design was so radical and futuristic that minimalist geometric sofas and chairs wound up as the stars of album covers. One example is above. Below are a handful of others...
