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Simon Smith And The Amazing Dancing Bear
"Simon Smith and the Amazing Dancing Bear" is a song written by Randy Newman, about a sincere young man of modest means named Simon Smith who entertains affluent ("well-fed") diners with his dancing bear. A recording by the Alan Price Set reached No 4 on the UK Singles Chart in April 1967. Newman later recorded the song himself. History Randy Newman wrote the ragtime-influenced song in 1964. He considered it a major stepping point in his songwriting, telling ''Performing Songwriter'' "I was writing a song, believe it or not, for Frank Sinatra Jr. And it was called something like "Susie" or "Mary" and I just all of a sudden couldn’t do it. So I ended up somewhere with "coat to wear" and "dancing bear"... ...and then I was never the same. And I never wrote particularly conventional songs after that." Sinatra Jr. never recorded the finished song. ''Simon Smith and the Amazing Dancing Bear'' was popularised in the UK by a recording by the Alan Price Set, issued 24 February 1967. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alan Price Set
Alan Price (born 19 April 1942) is an English musician. He was the original keyboardist for the British band the Animals before he left to form his own band the Alan Price Set. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994 as a member of the Animals. He is also known for his solo work. His best known songs include "Jarrow Song" and "The House That Jack Built". Early life and career Price was born in Fatfield, Washington, County Durham. He was educated at Jarrow Grammar School, County Durham. He is a self-taught musician and was a founding member of the Tyneside group the Alan Price Rhythm and Blues Combo, which was later renamed the Animals. His organ-playing on songs by The Animals, such as "The House of the Rising Sun", "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood", and " Bring It On Home to Me" was a key element in the group's success. After leaving the Animals, Price went on to have success with his own band the Alan Price Set and later with Georgie Fame. He introduced ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sunshine Pop
Sunshine pop (originally known as soft pop) is a subgenre of pop music that originated in Southern California in the mid-1960s. Rooted in easy listening and advertising jingles, sunshine pop acts combined nostalgic or anxious moods with "an appreciation for the beauty of the world". It largely consisted of lesser-known artists who imitated more popular groups such as the Mamas & the Papas and the 5th Dimension. While the Beach Boys are noted as prominent influences, the band's own music was rarely representative of the genre. Sunshine pop enjoyed mainstream success in the latter half of the decade, with many of its top 40 hits peaking in the spring and summer of 1967, especially just before the Summer of Love. Popular acts include the Turtles, and the Association. Other groups, like the Millennium, Sagittarius, and the Yellow Balloon were less successful but gained a cult following years later with albums like '' Begin'' (Millennium, 1968) and ''Present Tense'' (Sagittarius, 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fozzie Bear
Fozzie Bear is a Muppet character best known as the insecure and comedically fruitless stand-up comic on ''The Muppet Show.'' Fozzie is an orange-brown bear who often wears a brown pork pie hat and a pink and white polka dot necktie. The character debuted on ''The Muppet Show'', as the series' resident comedian, a role where he uses the catchphrase "Wocka wocka!" to indicate that he'd completed a joke. He was often the target of ridicule, particularly from balcony hecklers Statler and Waldorf. Fozzie was performed by Frank Oz until 2001, after which Eric Jacobson became the character's principal performer. History The origin of Fozzie's name has been traditionally thought to be a pun of performer Frank Oz's name (F.Oz). It was also believed that the character was actually named after Al Fuzzie, the mascot of the Alpha Xi Delta sorority in the mid-1970s; Henson's wife, Jane, was a member of the sorority. However, Oz confirmed on Twitter in 2018 that Fozzie was named after Franz ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scooter (Muppet)
Scooter is a Muppet character known for being the backstage stage manager, utility stage crew member, and general all-around "gofer" on ''The Muppet Show.'' He was originally performed by Richard Hunt until his death in 1992, and is currently performed by David Rudman. Characteristics Scooter is orange with a darker orange sprout of hair. In keeping with the jokes about bespectacled Muppets such as Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, Scooter's eyes are actually the lenses of his glasses. Behind the glasses frames, there's nothing but his orange skin (although unlike Bunsen, whose glasses were transparent, Scooter had actual "eyes" with pupils that were attached to the glasses' lenses). Hunt based Scooter's personality on his own self from when he was younger and his voice is a western accent. A few things have been revealed about Scooter's family. As cited in ''Of Muppets and Men'', when pressed about his family, he explained that his mother was a parrot but he didn't know about his father. H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Muppet Show
''The Muppet Show'' is a sketch comedy television series created by Jim Henson and featuring the Muppets. The series originated as two pilot episodes produced by Henson for ABC in 1974 and 1975. While neither episode was moved forward as a series and other networks in the United States rejected Henson's proposals, British producer Lew Grade expressed enthusiasm for the project and agreed to co-produce ''The Muppet Show'' for the British channel ATV. Five seasons, totalling 120 episodes, were broadcast on ATV and other ITV franchises in the United Kingdom and in later first-run syndication in the US from 1976 to 1981. The programme was produced and recorded at ATV Elstree Studios, England. ''The Muppet Show'' is presented as a variety show, featuring recurring sketches and musical numbers interspersed with plotlines taking place backstage and in other areas of the venue. Within its context, Kermit the Frog (performed by Henson) acts as showrunner and host, who tries to mainta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bobbie Gentry
Bobbie Gentry (born Roberta Lee Streeter; July 27, 1942) is a retired American singer-songwriter, who was one of the first female artists in America to compose and produce her own material. Gentry rose to international fame in 1967 with her Southern Gothic narrative " Ode to Billie Joe". The track spent four weeks at No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and was third in the Billboard year-end chart of 1967, earning Gentry Grammy awards for Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 1968. Gentry charted 11 singles on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and four singles on the United Kingdom Top 40. Her album ''Fancy'' brought her a Grammy nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. After her first albums, she had a successful run of variety shows on the Las Vegas Strip. In the late 1970s Gentry lost interest in performing, and subsequently retired from the music industry. News reports conflict on the subject of where she lives. Early life Gentry was born Roberta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Okkervil River
Okkervil River is an American rock band led by singer-songwriter Will Sheff. Formed in Austin, Texas, in 1998, the band takes its name from a short story by Russian author Tatyana Tolstaya set on the river Okkervil in Saint Petersburg. They began as a trio made up of Sheff and friends he had met in his native state of New Hampshire but, over time, have gone through many lineups. Okkervil River self-released their first album, ''Stars Too Small to Use,'' which led them to the South by Southwest music festival. After recording their first album in a garage, they signed with Jagjaguwar. They continued by releasing four more albums, including the critically lauded concept album ''Black Sheep Boy''. After a period of touring for ''Black Sheep Boy'', Okkervil River followed up with ''The Stage Names''. The album sold 10,000 in its opening week in the United States. The group released a free covers album, ''Golden Opportunities Mixtape'' from their live performances. The band has garn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Akiko Yano
is a Japanese pop and jazz musician and singer born in Tokyo and raised in Aomori and later began her singing career in the mid-1970s. She has been called "one of the major musical talents of the Japanese popular music world", and her vocals and singing style have been compared to British singer Kate Bush. She has recorded with Yellow Magic Orchestra and its members Ryuichi Sakamoto, Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi, as well as with Swing Out Sister, Pat Metheny, The Chieftains, Lyle Mays, members of Little Feat, David Sylvian, Mick Karn, Kenji Omura, Gil Goldstein, Toninho Horta, Mino Cinelu, Jeff Bova, Charlie Haden, Peter Erskine, Anthony Jackson, David Rhodes, Bill Frisell, Thomas Dolby, the band Quruli, Rei Harakami as Yanokami and her daughter Miu Sakamoto. Biography Early life Akiko Yano was born Akiko Suzuki in Tokyo in 1955. She grew up in Aomori, Japan, and learned to play the piano when she was three. She dropped out of high school and moved to Tokyo at th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bobby Short
Robert Waltrip Short (September 15, 1924 – March 21, 2005) was an American cabaret singer and pianist, who interpreted songs by popular composers from the first half of the 20th century such as Rodgers and Hart, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Harold Arlen, Richard A. Whiting, Vernon Duke, Noël Coward and George and Ira Gershwin. Short also championed African-American composers of the same period such as Eubie Blake, James P. Johnson, Andy Razaf, Fats Waller, Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn, presenting their work not in a polemical way, but as simply the obvious equal of that of their white contemporaries. Short's dedication to his great love – what he called the "Great American Song" – left him equally adept at performing the witty lyrics of Bessie Smith's "Gimme a Pigfoot (And a Bottle of Beer)" or Gershwin and Duke's "I Can't Get Started". Short stated his favorite songwriters were Ellington, Arlen and Kern, and he was instrumental in spearheading the construction of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Morrissey
Steven Patrick Morrissey (; born 22 May 1959), known professionally as Morrissey, is an English singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the frontman and lyricist of rock band the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. Since then, he has pursued a successful solo career. Morrissey's music is characterised by his baritone voice and distinctive lyrics with recurring themes of emotional isolation, sexual longing, self-deprecating and dark humour, and anti-establishment stances. Born to working-class Irish immigrants in Davyhulme, Lancashire, Morrissey grew up in nearby Manchester. As a child, he developed a love of literature, kitchen sink realism, and 1960s pop music. In the late 1970s, he fronted punk rock band the Nosebleeds with little success before beginning a career in music journalism and writing several books on music and film in the early 1980s. He formed the Smiths with Johnny Marr in 1982 and the band soon attracted national recognition for their epo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harry Nilsson
Harry Edward Nilsson III (June 15, 1941 – January 15, 1994), sometimes credited as Nilsson, was an American singer-songwriter who reached the peak of his commercial success in the early 1970s. His work is characterized by pioneering vocal overdub experiments, returns to the Great American Songbook The Great American Songbook is the loosely defined canon of significant early-20th-century American jazz standards, popular songs, and show tunes. Definition According to the Great American Songbook Foundation: The "Great American Songbook" i ..., and fusions of Caribbean music, Caribbean sounds. A tenor with a octave range, Nilsson was one of the few major pop-rock recording artists to achieve significant commercial success without ever performing major public concerts or undertaking regular tours. Born in Brooklyn, Nilsson moved to Los Angeles as a teenager to escape his family's poor financial situation. While working as a computer programmer at a bank, he grew interested ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sail Away (Randy Newman Album)
''Sail Away'' is an album by Randy Newman, released on May 23, 1972. It was produced by Lenny Waronker and Russ Titelman and issued on Reprise Records. While all of its songs were written and composed by Newman, several had already been recorded by other artists. Composition As with all of Newman's early albums, several of its songs had been previously recorded by other artists. In this case, " Simon Smith and the Amazing Dancing Bear" had been a UK hit for Alan Price in 1967 and was recorded by Harry Nilsson on his 1969 album ''Harry.'' "Dayton, Ohio - 1903" had been recorded by Billy J. Kramer as a single in 1969, while Newman and Nilsson recorded a version together for Nilsson's 1970 album '' Nilsson Sings Newman''. Newman himself had also previously recorded "Last Night I Had a Dream" as a single, issued in September 1968. The version heard on ''Sail Away'' is a re-recording with a notably different arrangement. "You Can Leave Your Hat On" was later recorded by Joe Cocker in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
