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Screen Gems (Elkie Brooks Album)
''Screen Gems'' is a 1984 album by Elkie Brooks comprising Brooks' interpretations of songs from the movies from the 1920s and 1930s. The album's title references all of the selections being introduced, or prominently featured, in mid-20th century movie releases. Background ''Screen Gems'' had its release October 1, 1984 on CD: vinyl and cassette versions of the album were issued a month into its release. Brooks' label A&M Records assigned marketing of ''Screen Gems'' to EMI who had recently set up a "television exploitation" department, a national televised advertising campaign commencing at the end of October 1984 when the album had its release in vinyl and cassette formats. It was anticipated that ''Screen Gems'' would "prove Brook's biggest seller to date"; however the album failed to chart until December 1984 and was not one of Brooks' most successful albums with a No. 35 peak in the UK Albums Chart - matching that of Brook's precedent album release ''Minutes'' - during ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elkie Brooks
Elkie Brooks (born Elaine Bookbinder; 25 February 1946) is an English rock, blues and jazz singer. She was a vocalist with the bands Dada and Vinegar Joe, and later became a solo artist. She gained her biggest success in the late 1970s and 1980s, releasing 13 UK Top 75 singles, and reached the top ten with "Pearl's a Singer", "Sunshine After the Rain" and the title track of the album '' No More the Fool'' (1986). She has been nominated twice for the Brit Awards. Brooks is a Gold Badge Award of Merit winner from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA) (now The Ivors Academy) and is generally referred to as the "British Queen of Blues". Life and career Early career and Vinegar Joe Brooks was born Elaine Bookbinder in Salford, to a Jewish family. Her father's grandparents emigrated to Britain from Poland at the start of the 20th century to escape the pogroms. Her older brothers are Raymond Bookbinder (born 1938) and Anthony Bookbinder (born 28 May 1943), ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Al Jolson
Al Jolson (born Eizer Yoelson; June 9, 1886 – October 23, 1950) was a Lithuanian-American Jews, Jewish singer, comedian, actor, and vaudevillian. He was one of the United States' most famous and highest-paid stars of the 1920s, and was self-billed as "The World's Greatest Entertainer." Jolson was known for his "shamelessly sentimental, melodramatic approach" towards performing, as well as for popularizing many of the songs he sang. Jolson has been referred to by modern critics as "the king of blackface performers." Although best remembered today as the star of the first talking picture, ''The Jazz Singer'' (1927), he starred in a series of successful musical films during the 1930s. After the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, he was the first star to entertain troops overseas during World War II. After a period of inactivity, his stardom returned with ''The Jolson Story'' (1946), in which Larry Parks played Jolson, with the singer dubbing for Parks. The formula was repeat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harry Warren
Harry Warren (born Salvatore Antonio Guaragna; December 24, 1893 – September 22, 1981) was an American composer and the first major American songwriter to write primarily for film. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song eleven times and won three Oscars for composing " Lullaby of Broadway", "You'll Never Know" and "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe". He wrote the music for the first blockbuster film musical, '' 42nd Street'', choreographed by Busby Berkeley, with whom he would collaborate on many musical films. Over a career spanning six decades, Warren wrote more than 800 songs. Other well known Warren hits included "I Only Have Eyes for You", "You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby", " Jeepers Creepers", "The Gold Diggers' Song (We're in the Money)", "That's Amore", "There Will Never Be Another You", "The More I See You", "At Last" and "Chattanooga Choo Choo" (the last of which was the first gold record in history). Warren was one of America's most ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
You'll Never Know
"You'll Never Know", sometimes referred to as "''You'll Never Know (Just How Much I Love You)''" in later years, is a popular song with music written by Harry Warren and the lyrics by Mack Gordon. The song is based on a poem written by a young Oklahoma war bride named Dorothy Fern Norris. The song was introduced in the 1943 movie ''Hello, Frisco, Hello'' where it was sung by Alice Faye. The song won the 1943 Academy Award for Best Original Song, one of nine nominated songs that year. It was also performed by Faye in the 1944 film ''Four Jills in a Jeep''. The song is often credited as Faye's signature song. However, Faye never released a record of the ballad, and frequent later recordings of the song by other singers diminished her association with it. Renditions *It was recorded in 1943 by, among others, Frank Sinatra and Dick Haymes. Sinatra recorded his version at his first recording session at Columbia as a solo artist (having recorded there in 1939 as a member of Harry J ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Andy Razaf
Andy Razaf (born Andriamanantena Paul Razafinkarefo; December 16, 1895 – February 3, 1973) was an American poet, composer and lyricist of such well-known songs as " Ain't Misbehavin'" and " Honeysuckle Rose". Biography Razaf was born in Washington, D.C., United States. His birth name was Andriamanantena Paul Razafinkarefo. He was the son of Henri Razafinkarefo, nephew of Queen Ranavalona III of the Imerina kingdom in Madagascar, and Jennie Razafinkarefo (née Waller), the daughter of John L. Waller, the first African American consul to Imerina. The French invasion of Madagascar (1894-95) left his father dead, and forced his pregnant 15-year-old mother to escape to the United States, where he was born in 1895. He was raised in Harlem, Manhattan, and at the age of 16 he quit school and took a job as an elevator operator at a Tin Pan Alley office building. A year later he penned his first song text, embarking on his career as a lyricist. During this time he would spend many ni ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harry Brooks (composer)
Harry Brooks (September 20, 1895 – June 22, 1970) was an American writer of popular songs, jazz pianist and composer in the 1920s to the early 1950s. Brooks was born in Homestead, Pennsylvania. After graduating from his hometown high school in 1914, he worked as a pianist with Pittsburgh bands (dance orchestras) and then as a staff composer for a publishing company. He is recalled mostly in the 21st century for his work with his friends Thomas "Fats" Waller and the lyricist Andy Razaf. Brooks was the composer of several hit songs including his composition " Ain't Misbehavin'", written with Waller and Razaf.Larkin, Colin (ed.) (2006) "Razaf, Andy" ''Encyclopedia of Popular Music'' MUZE, Oxford University Press, New York, Also with Razaf and Waller, Brooks scored the Broadway shows ''Snapshots of 1921'' and ''Connie's Hot Chocolates''. He died, aged 74, in Teaneck, New Jersey. Published songs and music All co-composed with Razaf and Waller unless otherwise marked * " Ain't ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fats Waller
Thomas Wright "Fats" Waller (May 21, 1904 – December 15, 1943) was an American jazz pianist, organist, composer, violinist, singer, and comedic entertainer. His innovations in the Harlem stride style laid much of the basis for modern jazz piano. His best-known compositions, " Ain't Misbehavin'" and " Honeysuckle Rose", were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1984 and 1999. Waller copyrighted over 400 songs, many of them co-written with his closest collaborator, Andy Razaf. Razaf described his partner as "the soul of melody... a man who made the piano sing... both big in body and in mind... known for his generosity... a bubbling bundle of joy". It is likely that he composed many more popular songs than he has been credited with: when in financial difficulties he had a habit of selling songs to other writers and performers who claimed them as their own. Waller started playing the piano at the age of six, and became a professional organist at 15. By the age of 18, he was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ain't Misbehavin' (song)
"Ain't Misbehavin" is a 1929 Stride (music), stride jazz/swing music, early swing song. Andy Razaf wrote the lyrics to a score by Fats Waller, Thomas "Fats" Waller and Harry Brooks (composer), Harry Brooks for the Broadway musical comedy play ''Connie's Hot Chocolates''. First performances The song was first performed at the premiere of ''Connie's Hot Chocolates'' in Harlem at Connie's Inn as an opening song by Paul Bass and Margaret Simms, and repeated later in the musical by Russell Wooding's ''Hallelujah Singers''. ''Connie's Hot Chocolates'' was transferred to the Hudson Theatre on Broadway during June 1929, where it was renamed to ''Hot Chocolates'' and where Louis Armstrong became the orchestra director. The script also required Armstrong to play "Ain't Misbehavin" in a trumpet solo, and although this was initially slated only to be a reprise of the opening song, Armstrong's performance was so well received that the trumpeter was asked to climb out of the orchestra pit and p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shelton Brooks
Shelton Brooks (May 4, 1886September 6, 1975) was a Canadian-born African American composer of popular music and jazz. He was known for his ragtime and vaudeville style, and wrote some of the biggest hits of the first third of the 20th century. Early life and education Brooks was born in Amherstburg, Canada in 1886. His father was a preacher, and Brooks taught himself music on their church's pump organ. His family moved to Detroit, Michigan, in 1901 and that was where Brooks first made a name for himself in music and comedy. While he never learned to read music, his works were highly sought after for their brash style, which contrasted the previous restrictive styles of Victorian era music. Towards the end of his life, his style of music had lost popularity. Career Brooks sang, played piano, and performed on the vaudeville circuit (notably, as a Bert Williams imitator) as well as having a successful songwriting career. His first hit song was "Some of These Days", which he was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Some Of These Days
"Some of These Days" is a popular song, written and composed by Shelton Brooks, published in 1910, and associated with the performer Sophie Tucker. Background Shelton Brooks and "Some of These Days" was brought to Sophie Tucker's attention in 1910 by her maid, who insisted she meet Brooks and hear the song. Tucker instantly recognized its hit potential, performed and recorded many versions throughout the years, and eventually it became her signature song—including landing movie appearances to perform it. Tucker first recorded the song along with others on wax cylinder format in 1910–11. In 1926, on 78 RPM record format and backed by Ted Lewis and his band, Tucker recorded her classic, million-selling 1926 version, which stayed in the #1 position on the charts for five weeks beginning November 23, 1926, and re-affirmed her lasting association with the song. "Some of These Days" has been recorded by many other artists, including Ethel Waters, Louis Armstrong, Coco Briaval, E ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lorenz Hart
Lorenz Milton Hart (May 2, 1895 – November 22, 1943) was an American lyricist and half of the Broadway songwriting team Rodgers and Hart. Some of his more famous lyrics include " Blue Moon", " The Lady Is a Tramp", "Manhattan", "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered", and "My Funny Valentine". Life and career Hart was born in Harlem, New York City, the elder of two sons, to Jewish immigrant parents, Max M. and Frieda (Isenberg) Hart, of German background. Through his mother, he was a great-grandnephew of the German poet Heinrich Heine. His father, a business promoter, sent Hart and his brother to private schools. (His brother, Teddy Hart, also went into theatre and became a musical comedy star. Teddy Hart's wife, Dorothy Hart, wrote a biography of Lorenz Hart.) Hart received his early education from Columbia Grammar School and entered Columbia College in 1913, before switching to Columbia University School of Journalism, where he attended for two years. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Rodgers
Richard Charles Rodgers (June 28, 1902 – December 30, 1979) was an American Musical composition, composer who worked primarily in musical theater. With 43 Broadway musicals and over 900 songs to his credit, Rodgers was one of the most well-known American composers of the 20th century, and his compositions had a significant influence on popular music. Rodgers is known for his songwriting partnerships, first with lyricist Lorenz Hart and then with Oscar Hammerstein II. With Hart he wrote musicals throughout the 1920s and 1930s, including ''Pal Joey (musical), Pal Joey'', ''A Connecticut Yankee (musical), A Connecticut Yankee'', ''On Your Toes'' and ''Babes in Arms.'' With Hammerstein he wrote musicals through the 1940s and 1950s, such as ''Oklahoma!'', ''Flower Drum Song'', ''Carousel (musical), Carousel'', ''South Pacific (musical), South Pacific'', ''The King and I'', and ''The Sound of Music''. His collaborations with Hammerstein, in particular, are celebrated for brin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
