DIG THIS WITH BILL MESNIK AND RICH BUCKLAND- THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS

There was something magical about Rosemary Clooney: the girl next door with the velvet tones. A 1950s dreamboat that you imagined might bring you cocoa on a chilly evening, and rub your temples after you had labored for hours, toiling to create the perfect arrangement for her. A game lady. 

I admit I may have been dazzled by the Show Biz glow reflected onto this goddess from her husband, Academy Winning actor, Jose Ferrer; her brother, Nick, the eminent broadcaster; her son, moody Thespian Miguel; and her handsome ne’er-do well nephew, George…

But, bottom line: It was Rosemary’s voice — the dulcet sound from one of the swingiest jazz divas ever, that kept me, and millions like me, listening.  Her career took a dip, but like I said she was “game” — game enough to attempt to make a record with Wild Man Fischer - the psychotic that Frank Zappa had discovered. She eventually made a comeback that had staying power: this recording was made in 1984, and here, the seasoned, knowing conjurer invites us to drink her feel-good potion, and become re-intoxicated. 

https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/communications-satellite-telstar/nasm_A20070113000

The Splendid Bohemians are taking you back to 1962, a time when technology held so much promise for a more peaceful tomorrow. Telstar, the communications satellite was launched, linking one side of the globe to the other; Kennedy announced the good news to the world, and Joe Meek created an eternal musical tribute. 

Of course, we know (sort of) what happened to JFK, and Joe Meek…? Well, there’s a story, and the boys are opening the crypt to interrogate the ghosts. Join us!

“GONE” - JOEY HEATHERTON (MGM, 1972)

It all started with a friendly competition. We had just done an episode about my early crush Bobby Gentry and her iconic “Ode to Billy Joe”. Rich does a counterpunch here with a tribute to his own teen heartthrob, the pulchritudinous Joey Heatherton, daughter of Ray “The Merry Mailman” - a host of one of our after-school staples of kid’s programming. 

When Rich is passionate about something I just have to stand back and let him rhapsodize, and here his eloquence is in top form. Later, as the story turns to a darker hue, he reveals that he actually had met his teen idol - his once forbidden love (because of her support for the Viet Nam war, which he opposed) - that had now come full circle, and could be expressed openly. 

Oh, I know what you’re thinking: the Mez has finally lost it with this twee, Oscar winning anthem to persistence. But, my instincts tell me that someone might need to hear it again. Because, judging from my daily struggle with the urge to chuck it, do nothing, and give in to cynicism, I suspect I’m not alone. The world is just too exhausting. But, then I hear Frankie-boy giving me this nudge, and I figure “what the hell”, I should hang in there a little longer.

It’s also remembered for being John F. Kennedy’s 1960 presidential campaign song, when the world was young, during those halcyon days when Camelot’s Rat Pack assured us that all things were possible.  Later, Frank was bitterly disappointed by Jack’s ingratitude, and Jack was assassinated three years after that. The world was plunged into a cataclysm of despair. But, then, the uproariously joyful Beatles appeared, and we had “High Hopes” once again. 

So, hang in there. Let’s have another cup of coffee, and let’s have another piece of pie, while we wait for daylight. 

Little Willie John was a teenager when he recorded his first hit, “All Around the World,” for King Records, in 1955.

When his career faded in 1962, John was a grizzled veteran of 25. Although rock & roll was once the province of the young, few singers under the age of 20 have been able to communicate more than jittery restlessness or poignant ache.

Little Willie John did much more. Like his contemporaries Sam Cooke, Ray Charles and Clyde McPhatter, Little Willie John was a vanguard of soul.

THE HISSING OF SUMMER LAWNS by Joni Mitchell (Asylum, 1975)

Hail, hail Joni Mitchell! A survivor with a roller-coaster history of adventures, both artistic and existential. She’s still standing, albeit with a cane - (Polio couldn’t fell her; an aneurysm? Piffle!)  From folkie goddess who pierced her madrigals through with a brutal, autobiographical honesty, through her jazzbo period where challenging experimentations were offered with Amazonian bravado. After Blue, my favorite Joni record was Mingus, wherein she introduced me to an hitherto unknown (to me) bass maestro by way of a seamless collaboration. She was loved by many, but was impossible to control, so her romantic paths were marked with scorched earth, but the genius gentlemen left behind could only carry the torch in her name through the ensuing decades. 

The Hissing of Summer Lawns was dissed upon its release, coming, as it did, on the heels of her biggest hit, Court and Spark, but is now recognized as a masterpiece. She’s spreading out here, sonically and vocally. Her fascination with jazz voicing, the impressionist lyrics, a Burundi Drumline, tasty samples and loops - it was all ahead of its time. But, then again, so was Joni. 

August 20, 2012-

Scott sang a gentle song that became a hit and something of a theme song for 1967's "Summer of Love."

Scott McKenzie, best known for San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair, died Saturday in Los Angeles. He was 73. According to the singer's website, he "had been very ill recently and passed away in his home after two weeks in hospital." The Associated Press says he "had battled Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a disease that affects the nervous system, and had been in and out of the hospital since 2010."

San Francisco, the AP reminds us, was written by John Phillips of The Mamas and the Paps. McKenzie could write songs as well. He co-wrote The Beach Boys' 1988 hit Kokomo.

Hang on to your hats, folks, it’s Frank Zappa time! Love ‘im or Hate ‘im, you have to admit that Zappa was an all-American original. Virtuoso guitarist, ground-breaking jazz-fusion orchestral arranger, and scathing social satirist, Zappa stood alone against legions of corporate sycophants, carving out a successful empire built from sheer hubris and talent. Plus, he was funny as hell.

In this cut from his 1973 Over-nite Sensation album, all of the classic Zappa elements are on display: the ironic lead vocal, the blistering guitar solo, the off-beat background harmonies (courtesy of Tina Turner and the Ikettes) and a suite of tempo and time changes. And, all in the service of the silliest, yet most relatable of premises: that fantasy of breaking away from the pack to live life on one’s own terms… as a dental floss rancher. 

I was 11 when the Beatles first appeared in America, and I literallyowe my life, my career, and my marriage to the guitar I bought and learned to play because of their influence. I have the entire Beatles catalogue on 8 Track, including the post break up solo albums, so picking one for the return of Captain Billy’s Magic 8 Ball presented a real quandary.

Rich suggested, and rightfully so, that we celebrate Let It Be, that benighted lesser effort, released at the tail end of their partnership, because of the recent revelations made manifest by Peter Jackson’s Get Back, with its lovingly restored footage, that documents Let It Be’s creation. 

That film put to rest the mistaken belief that the boys were at each other’s throats the whole time that they were grinding this record out. On the contrary, we witnessed them stripping everything back to the basics, and enjoying their collaboration as one of the world’s greatest live bands - even if it was only for one time, on a roof top. 

"I have reached an age when, if someone tells me to wear socks, I don't have to." Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

"How old would you be if you didn't know how old you was*?" Satchel Paige (1906-1982)

"By the time you're eighty years old you've learned everything. You only have to remember it." George Burns (1896-1996)

"The wiser mind mourns less for what age takes away than what it leaves behind." William Wordsworth (1770-1850)

"You can live to be a hundred if you give up all the things that make you want to live to be a hundred." Woody Allen (1935- )

“Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional.” – Chili Davis.