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Issue 970 - September 2022
SNIPPETZ INVESTIGATES MOTHER GOOSE! by Michael Wayne 
Most of us have fond memories of listening to our parents, teachers or others, reading nursery rhymes to us before we were able to read them ourselves. Our imaginations running wild as we layed upon the floor, wrapped in a blanket, visualizing a prince and princess riding in an elaborate carriage through a magical land of make believe, or possibly poor old Humpty Dumpty taking a nasty spill off a wall, and literally falling to pieces.
Well there is a story behind the story of each nursery rhyme we have ever heard, and not the story you would have expected as a child. But you are all grown up now, so it is time to throw your "blankie" aside and face the facts. Oh, go ahead and grab a blanket if you prefer, sit back and enjoy this issue of Snippetz, as we take a deeper look into nursery rhymes. WILL THE REAL MOTHER GOOSE PLEASE STAND UP? Most of the stories behind the Mother Goose nursery rhymes originated in the distant past as folk stories told to children. Many believe that there was an actual mother goose, and she might have been an 8th Century noblewoman named Bertrada II of Laon. Bertrada, married Pepin the Short (King of the Franks,) in 740 AD. In 742 she gave birth to a son Charles, who became known as Charlemagne, the founder of the Holy Roman Empire. Bertrada taught her son tirelessly, providing him with an education otherwise unavailable at the time. She became known as the patroness of children and referred to by many as Queen Goosefoot. Whether “Queen Goosefoot” was the actual model for the mythical Mother Goose acknowledged by the mid 17th Century, no one is certain, but it was during that period, when young French and Italian children began enjoying the tales of Mother Goose. The first collection of stories to bear the name “Mother Goose” was produced by Charles Perrault in 1697. His book of ten fairy tales was entitled Tales from the Past with Morals, and under the frontispiece picture of an old woman telling stories to children and a cat appeared a subtitle for the book: Contes de ma mère l’oye, or “Tales from My Mother Goose.” By 1729, Perrault’s book was translated into English as Mother Goose’s Fairy Tales. In addition to launching a newspaper in 1760 (The Public Ledger), John Newbery, considered the father of children’s literature, published the first English version of Charles Perrault’s Tales from the Past with Morals, subtitled “Tales from Mother Goose.” MOTHER GOOSE COMES TO AMERICA In 1787 Isaiah Thomas published the first American edition, entitled Mother Goose’s Melody: or Sonnets for the Cradle, which included such favorites as Little Tommy Tucker and Jack and Jill, along with half a hundred others. INTENDED FOR MATURE LISTENING Though children have been reciting verse from nursery rhymes for centuries, they were originally intended for adults, referring to events and politics during the period in which they were written. HUMPTY GO BOOM! Since we brought up Humpty Dumpty, we thought that might be a great place to start. So let's get started... The most popular theory for the rhyme, ‘Humpty Dumpty,” is that it refers to a powerful cannon used during the English Civil War (1642-49). It was mounted on top of the wall at St Mary’s Church in Colchester defending the city against seige in the summer of 1648 which fell ‘off the wall’ and couldn’t be mended. MARY WHO? A child named Rawlston actually wrote this very familiar poem about a classmate, Mary Elizabeth Sawyer, who, not only owned a little lamb, but allowed it to follow her to school one day, which was against the rules. So she hid the lamb under her shawl, which was placed under her desk. If Mary had stayed at her desk, there probably would never have been a poem at all, but everywhere that Mary went the lamb was sure to go. When it followed her to spelling class, it was discovered and thrown out by the teacher. Rawlston, died shortly after the incident, but Mary’s Little Lamb and Rawlston’s poem about it live on. And what about Mary? She grew up, and went on to sell pieces of wool from the little lamb at 10 cents each to raise money for the Old South Church in Boston. Hey, you asked! FEELING LUCKY? “Jack Be Nimble” was based on a tradition of candle leaping in England, which had been practiced for a very long time. It was both a sport and a way of telling fortunes. If a person could leap over a lit candle without the flame blowing out that person would supposedly have good luck over the next year. AND WHAT A PLUM JACK PULLED OUT! During the reign of Henry VIII at the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries, many Roman Catholic priests were in fear of their lives. In order to curry favour with the King, Richard Whiting, the Abbot of Glastonbury in Somerset which was then the richest abbey in the kingdom, sent him a gift. The gift was a pie which contained the title deeds to twelve manor houses, and the person entrusted with delivering this gift to the King was Jack Horner, the abbot’s steward. On his way to London, Jack Horner stole one of the deeds and soon after the Dissolution, the Manor of Mells became the residence of Thomas Horner, whose descendants lived there until 1975. The Horners always claimed that Mells Manor was bought along with various other manors and nearby farms for the sum of 3 farthings and that the rhyme has nothing to do with their ancestor. It is true that their ancestor’s name was Thomas Horner but the common name for someone who was a rogue or a knave was then, (and is still now) Jack! The idea of carrying such important items in a pie was not as silly as it may seem, for in those days the countryside was rife with highwaymen and common theives. In order to disguise their valuables, travellers used many different and ingenious ways of hiding them including sewing them to the inside of their clothes and putting them in pies. It is an interesting addition to the story to note that Thomas Horner was in fact one of the jurors who condemned Abbot Whiting at his hearing. Conflict of interest? LONDON BRIDGE WAS FALLING DOWN The original bridge built by the Romans in AD 80 was replaced with a stone bridge in 1176. By 1358 there were 138 shops on the bridge and houses and shops were three to seven stories high. The road across the bridge was about 12 feet wide. In the middle of the bridge was the chapel of St. Thomas Becket. It was a scene of lavish celebrations and once a tourney was held there. Living on London Bridge was hazardous. In 1212, a disaster occurred when a crowd of people were trapped on the bridge between two fires. Every so often, barges would break loose and crash into the bridge putting prows through walls of houses. Fire again struck the Bridge in 1623. This fire started when a maid servant left a pail of ashes under wooden stairs. Forty-three houses were destroyed and many of the shops were also burned and damaged. Soon the merchants began moving, as the bridge was getting dilapidated. In 1666 a fire broke out in the King Bakery in Pudding Lane. It swept through the city and onto the bridge. The foundations of the bridge were loosened and the fire had caused the stonework arches to weaken. The bridge was declared a public nuisance, and on July 4th 1823, it was demolished and the New London Bridge, which we see today, was built by John Rennie 1824-34. The new bridge was built 100 feet west of the old bridge. Issue 971 - October 2022
A FEW THINGS YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT OUR FAVORITE COMEDIANS by Michael Wayne 
“He who smiles rather than
rages is always the stronger.” - Japanese Proverb They say laughing is good for your health. I believe that. I laugh a lot, and I’m still kicking! I have a true appreciation for comedy. A good comedian can help you forget all the craziness you are dealing with in life. Even if it’s just for a short while, it’s still very much needed, and I’m thankful for the brief escape they provide. Many of the comedians who have passed, such as Bob Hope, Lucille Ball, and some of the other greats are not in this issue, since writer Deborah Stumpf had covered them so thoroughly in issue 542 , but I’m sure every comic we mention here will not be unfamiliar to you. This month’s Snippetz explores nuggets of information about some of the more prominent funny people we have laughed with in the past, and others we are still enjoying today. IN THE BEGINNING Everyone has to start somewhere. That goes for comedians as well. No matter how funny you are, you have to be discovered. Sometimes that happens early in your life, but many times success arrives much later. Imagine, having Steve Martin approach you to sell a Disneyland guidebook, or Jerry Seinfeld offer you the latest in lightbulbs. That’s what they did before they evolved into incredible entertainers. Were they funny then? I would suspect so! Carol Burnett sold handbags in a shoe store, David Hyde Pierce sold clothing, and Jerry Van Dyke sold Bibles. Rodney Dangerfield was a late bloomer in the comedy world, and sold aluminum siding until he got some respect. The late Phil Hartman worked as a graphic designer before he became a big name in TV comedy. He had such a creative talent in fact, that he designed the logo for Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. Drew Carey worked as a waiter at a Denny’s in Las Vegas before he pursued a career as a comedian. He also worked for a time as a bank teller, and served in the United States Marine Corps. Semper Fi Drew! One of the funniest comedians I grew up watching was Bob Newhart. He graduated with a B.S. in commerce from Loyola University, and worked as an accountant and a copywriter before he tried his hand at comedy. The world lost an accountant, but gained many hours of laughter. In 1957, 40-year-old Phyllis Diller, made a wildly funny debut at San Francisco’s Purple Onion. Quite a transition from an advertising copywriter for a California radio station... and a mother of five! TURN THAT TV OFF As a child, I was a big fan, but my mother had a completely different view on Moe, Larry and Curly. I guess she didn’t appreciate my younger sister being referred to as “Puddin’ Head.” She was right of course, but they were still my guys! The Three Stooges appeared in more movies than any other comedy team in U.S. film history. The Stooges were featured in 174 shorts produced at Columbia between the years 1934 and 1958 (the longest running series in Hollywood history). “Curly,” was always my favorite, but little did I know that Moe, who would rough him up on a regular basis, was in fact his brother. Poor Jerome! (Oh yea, that was his real name, Jerome Horwitz.) IT WAS A CLASSIC I doubt if anyone who has ever seen the classic sketch, “Who’s On First” could stop laughing through the entire skit. Though I wasn’t around in 1945 when it first appeared in the movie, “The Naughty Nineties,” I have seen it many times on television, and I still can’t stop laughing every time I watch it! The hilarious comedy duo that performed “Who’s On First,” Abbott & Costello, received a Gold Record for that gem. It was so popular in fact, that in 1956 the boys were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. They were the first non-baseball playing celebrities to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. “If it weren’t for Abbott & Costello, many of the wonderful burlesque routines which is a part of the American fabric, would have been lost forever. They were giants of their time who truly immortalized burlesque forever. Maybe that artform is largely lost, but I try and keep it alive in my own show.” --Jerry Seinfeld MAYBE JUST A THANK YOU? Sometimes you just have to give your best for the greater good, and not be concerned with personal accolades. TV star and veteran, Andy Griffith, never won an Emmy for his role as sheriff Andy Taylor on the 1960’s hit series, “The Andy Griffith Show.” Andy was happy to give praise to comedy sidekick Don Knotts (Deputy Barney Fife) for winning the award five times for his supporting role on The Andy Griffith Show. I can still recall Andy grinning at his deputy as he spoke the familiar phrase, “Barney, you beat all, you know that?” We think they both “beat all” and we know that! Oh, by the way, actress Frances Bavier also won an Emmy for her supporting role as Aunt Bee. TRULY A PEARL Sarah Ophelia Colley Cannon, better known to country music fans as singer/comedienne Minnie Pearl, was awarded a National Medal of Arts by President George Bush in 1992. A couple of years later, in 1994, she became the first woman to be inducted into the Comedy Hall of Fame, but due to her failing health, she was unable to attend the ceremony. Her good friend, George Lindsey (you remember “Goober” from the Andy Griffith Show, don’t you?) accepted the award for her. In 1996, we had to say goodbye to Minnie, as she passed at the age of 83. LOOKS CAN BE DECEIVING Cheech Marin of the comedy duo Cheech and Chong, surprised many with a very impressive showing on the TV show Jeopardy, as he won the Celebrity Championship in 1992. His selected charity collected $25,000 for his performance. Far out man! NOT FUNNY TO EVERYONE Back in the mid to late 1970’s John Belushi played a Greek diner owner on a recurring Saturday Night Live skit. When customers would request a Coke with their Cheeseburger, Belushi would grumble, “No Coke - Pepsi.” This of course caught the attention of some higher ups at the Coca-Cola Company, who decided to boycott the NBC comedy show for several years. Apparently, they failed to see the humor in having someone say their rival company’s name repeatedly. Keep in mind, this was a very popular skit, and remained for many episodes. In 1946, the movie production company, Warner Brothers, was unhappy with the Marx Brothers newest film title “A Night in Casablanca.” Their complaint was that it was too similar to the Bogart-Bergman film “Casablanca.” They even went further, and threatened to sue Groucho Marx. Groucho, who was the leader of the popular comedy team, snapped back in his usual manner, “I’ll sue you for using the word ‘Brothers’.” READY EDDIE When he was only 15 years old, Eddie Murphy began writing comic routines for himself. By the time he reached 20, Eddie was selected to be a cast member of TV’s late-night comedy show Saturday Night Live. HE MADE IT HAPPEN Peter Ustinov was slated to play French Inspector Clouseau in the 1964 movie, The Pink Panther.Ustinov dropped out before filming began. After several recent movie successes, Peter Sellers was cast to replace Ustinov. Amazingly, the part was only a supporting role, but turned out to be the first of seven Panther sequels. Students of the series would have to agree that there might not have been a series at all if not for Peter Sellers’ stellar performance. COMEDY SNIPPETZ On a final note, let’s get back to Jerry, one of my all time favorites! In 1995, the TV comedy Seinfeld was Number 1 among the 18-49 age group and was TV’s most expensive show for advertising - the producers demanded, and got, an unprecedented $390,000 for a 30-second commercial that year. Issue 972 - November 2022
LISTEN TO THE MUSIC by Michael Wayne 
“Music hath charms to sooth a savage breast”
by William Congreve British Poet - from the play “The Mourning Bride - 1697” Yes, you read that right, “savage breast.” A line which has been misquoted countless times as, “Music Soothes the Savage Beast.” For this writer, nothing can be more relaxing than an easy chair, the lighting turned down low, possibly holding a glass of Cabernet, and the soothing sounds of Nat “King” Cole, or Dean Martin filling the air, to complete the perfect evening. Well, almost perfect! Of course, there would be no music without someone to write the songs. So, let’s begin by recognizing the great talents that brought so much enjoyment to us over the years. A FEW OF THE GREAT COMPOSERS
MUSICALS ON AND OFF BROADWAY
A BIT OF RAGTIME Ragtime music was tremendously popular, and it flourished for more than 20 years. When the music publishing industry, called “Tin Pan Alley,” began selling rags in the late 1800s, the music was too complicated for the average pianist to play. Sheet music had to be considerably simplified for sales. The most prolific composer of ragtime music was Scott Joplin. He published approximately 50 rags, and it has been estimated that he composed about 600. The most famous of Joplin’s rags was “Maple Leaf Rag” which sold hundreds of thousands of copies in the first ten years it was published. Scott Joplin was a schooled musician. Many jazz critics are not aware that he composed a symphony and two operas, in addition to the countless popular rags he wrote. One opera, Treemonisha, is still performed today. ROCK AND ROLL BAD FOR TEENS AND COWS?
MUSICAL SNIPPETZ
Issue 973 - December 2022
WISHING YOU A BLESSED CHRISTMAS by Michael Wayne 
And so, Christmas is upon us once again, bringing memories of those special moments we shared with our loved ones, filling us with joy and anticipation of those yet to come. A celebration of the birth of our lord, the baby Jesus. A blessing to share with the entire world! In honor of this holy time for reflection, we have compiled a plethora of fun and interesting facts about this very special holiday for you.
WHAT A CARD! As early as 1822, the postmaster in Washington, D.C. was worried about the amount of extra mail at Christmas time. His preferred solution to the problem was to limit by law the number of cards a person could send. Even though commercial cards were not available at that time, people were already sending so many home-made cards that sixteen extra postmen had to be hired in the city. Postmen in Victorian England were popularly called “robins.” This was because their uniforms were red. The British Post Office grew out of the carrying of royal dispatches. Red was considered a royal color, so uniforms and letter-boxes were red. Christmas cards often showed a robin delivering Christmas mail. In the United States, Christmas is the peak time to send cards. In fact, Americans will send out a combined 2.6 billion cards at Christmas time, and an average household, in America, will mail out 28 Christmas cards each year and see 28 eight cards return in their place. AND THEN THERE WAS MUSIC... Christmas caroling began as an old English custom called Wassailing — toasting neighbors to a long and healthy life. It is believed that the earliest collection of Christmas carols was published in 1521. Though the Puritans forbade the singing of Christmas carols, it nonetheless prevailed... at least until 1996, when Christmas caroling was banned at two major malls in Pensacola, Florida. Apparently, shoppers and merchants complained the carolers were too loud and took up too much space. How many times have you sung the song “Jingle Bells?” Were you visualizing pilgrims, turkey and cranberry sauce? Maybe you should have been! This popular Christmas song was composed in 1857 by James Pierpont, and was originally called “One-Horse Open Sleigh,” and was actually written for Thanksgiving. About one hundred years later,child singer Jimmy Boyd was only 12 years and 11 months old when he sang the Christmas favorite, “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus.” The song hit the top of the pop charts. On Christmas Day, 1941, “White Christmas” aired for the first time on the Kraft Music Hall radio show. Sung by Bing Crosby, and written by Irving Berlin for the musical film, “Holiday Inn,” the song continues as the best-selling Christmas song of all time (selling over 50 million copies) and according to Guinness World Records, the best selling single ever. Have you ever counted the total of gifts named in “The Twelve Days of Christmas?” No, neither did I. But, in case you were wondering, there are 364 gifts named in the song. A KISS FOR GOOD LUCK Long before it was used as a “kiss encourager” during the Christmas season, mistletoe had long been considered to have magic powers by Celtic and Teutonic peoples. It was said to have the ability to heal wounds and increase fertility. In fact, mistle toe was so sacred that it had to be cut with a golden sickle. Celts hung mistletoe in their homes in order to bring themselves good luck and ward off evil spirits. LET US SHOP, LET US SHOP, LET US SHOP Launched in 1926, retailer Macy’s annual parade was immortalized in the film Miracle on 34th Street, and has become a symbol of the official beginning of the Christmas shopping season. A Christmas club savings account in which a person deposits a fixed amount of money regularly to be used at Christmas for shopping, came about around 1905. CHRISTMAS AROUND THE WORLD HOLLAND In North America, children put stockings out at Christmas time, but their Dutch counterparts, use shoes. Dutch children set out shoes to receive gifts any time between mid-November and December 5, St. Nicholas’ birthday. I guess if you’re Dutch, having big feet as a child was a good thing! THE UKRAINE Christmas Day in the Ukraine can be celebrated on either December 25, in faithful alliance with the Roman Catholic Gregorian calendar, or on January 7, which is the Orthodox or Eastern Rite (Julian calendar), the church holy day. THE PHILIPPINES According to historical accounts, the first Christmas in the Philippines was celebrated 200 years before Ferdinand Magellan discovered the country for the western world, likely between the years 1280 and 1320 AD. SCOTLAND Christmas is not widely celebrated in Scotland. Some historians believe that Christmas is downplayed in Scotland because of the influence of the Presbyterian Church (or Kirk), which considered Christmas a “Papist,” or Catholic event. As a result, Christmas in Scotland tends to be somber. BE CAREFUL! It is estimated that 400,000 people in the U.S. become sick each year from eating tainted Christmas leftovers. If the food has been sitting out for a long period of time, it’s best not to consume it. Holiday Headaches: Nearly one in four people said they have more headaches during the Christmas season than any other time of the year. Of those surveyed, the top two reasons were not having enough time and having to deal with the crowds and traffic. Reason number three was skipping meals. HISTORICAL FACTS AND TRADITIONS “Hot cockles” was a popular game at Christmas in medieval times. It was a game in which the other players took turns striking the blindfolded player, who had to guess the name of the person delivering each blow. “Hot cockles” was still a Christmas pastime until the Victorian era. A boar’s head is a traditional Christmas dish. According to a popular story, the unlucky boar whose head began the custom in the Middle Ages was killed by choking to death on a book of Greek philosophy. The story claims that a university student saved himself from a charging boar by ramming a book of Aristotle’s writings down its throat. He then cut off the boar’s head and brought it back to his college. At lavish Christmas feasts in the Middle Ages, swans and peacocks were sometimes served “endored.” This meant the flesh was painted with saffron dissolved in melted butter. In addition to their painted flesh, endored birds were served wrapped in their own skin and feathers, which had been removed and set aside prior to roasting. In 1647, the English parliament passed a law that made Christmas illegal. Festivities were banned by Puritan leader, Oliver Cromwell, who considered feasting and revelry, on what was supposed to be a holy day, to be immoral. The ban was lifted only when the Puritans lost power in 1660. Christmas was once a moveable feast celebrated at many different times during the year. The choice of December 25, was made by Pope Julius I, in the 4th century A.D., because this coincided with the pagan rituals of Winter Solstice, or Return of the Sun. The intent was to replace the pagan celebration with the Christian one. During the ancient 12-day Christmas celebration, the log burned was called the “Yule log.” Sometimes a piece of the Yule log would be kept to kindle the fire the following winter, to ensure that the good luck carried on from year to year. The Yule log custom was handed down from the Druids. SOME FINAL CHRISTMAS SNIPPETZ
Issue 974 - January 2023
NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS TIME TO GET SERIOUS! 
Someone once said, “A New Year’s resolution is something that goes in one year and out the other.”
But no more! We are going to help you change that. It’s Jan. 5, 2023. Do you know what happened to your New Year’s resolutions? If you are like half the population, your resolutions have already gone by the wayside and another fourth of us will have completely forgotten those goals in another week. However, we at Snippetz think it’s never too late for a good old fashioned New Year’s resolution. EVOLUTION OF THE RESOLUTION Making New Year’s resolutions goes back many centuries to as early as 2000 B.C. when the Babylonian New Year began with the first new moon after the first day of spring in March. The time of the year signaled the beginning of the planting season and a good time to start the new year. A typical resolution at the time was to return borrowed farm equipment from neighbors. By 153 B.C., Jan. 1 was declared to be the official New Year by the Romans after years of changing the date on the whim of the emperor of the time. January was eventually selected because the month was named after Janus, the mythical god of beginnings and guardian of entrances. Janus was said to have two faces – one in the front and one in the back in order to see the past and look forward to the future. Even after 153 B.C. the calendar would change somewhat until Julius Caesar finally established the Julian Calendar and declared Jan. 1 to be the official start of the year beginning in 46 B.C. to be synchronized with the sun. Interestingly enough, in order to make this change, 47 B.C. had to be 445 days long. RESOLUTION NUMBERS
POPULAR RESOLUTIONS Most resolutions involve doing something positive to improve our lives. Others involve not doing something to make life better, e.g. not smoking. Those of us who indulge in resolutions usually make more than one:
KEEPING IT SIMPLE Statistics also show that only about a quarter of us actually stick with our resolutions for more than a week or two. Most people get caught up in the New Year’s spirit, then lose their momentum after they return to the daily grind post-holidays. Resolutions involving major changes may fall by the wayside if they are too difficult and too far reaching to accomplish with ease. Keeping the resolution simple and breaking goals into baby steps might be the key to making progress toward improvement. LOSING WEIGHT, AND GETTING HEALTHIER Here’s a few simple things that you can do to start feeling better in fairly short order:
GETTING FINANCIALLY HEALTHIER
SELF-IMPROVEMENT
IMPROVING RELATIONSHIPS If you have been dealing with a busy schedule, you know how easy it is to lose track of your family and friends. Here is a simple plan to help avoid losing touch with the special people in our lives:
HELPING OTHERS
GETTING ORGANIZED
KEEPING A RESOLUTION Not keeping a resolution is a source of guilt and makes one feel like a failure, so if you stray from the goal of the resolution, just get back to it. People who stick to their resolutions for a two-year period are said to have up to 14 slip-ups or setbacks. Issue 975 - February 2023
SEE YOU IN THE FUNNY PAGES! by Michael Wayne 
As a lad, I looked forward to the arrival of the Chicago Tribune every Sunday. Why you may ask... two full pages of color comics!
All the great comic strips, and the funny characters who populated them. Popeye, Blondie, the Peanut gang, and Li’l Abner, just to name a few. It was a cumbersome paper to carry up to the second floor, but well worth the effort. The trick was to take possession before my sisters woke up. Mission accomplished every week! HE STOLE THE SHOW • Popeye made his first public appearance Jan. 17, 1929, in Elzie Segar’s then 10-year-old comic strip, “Thimble Theatre,” which originally revolved around Olive Oyl’s family. Although he was introduced as a minor walk-on character, Popeye quickly “muskled” his way into the limelight and eclipsed the older characters to become the star of “Thimble Theatre.” • The seaport hometown of Popeye the Sailor is Sweetwater. EVEN HIS STATUE WAS TOUGH Vandals in Chester Illinois once lassoed the six-foot bronze statue that honored Popeye the Sailor, chained it to a pickup truck, and drove off. Popeye was ripped from his stone pedestal and landed on his face. Sure, any other statue couldn’t have endured such punishment, but the statue of Popeye proved as tough as its namesake; damage was minor. The AP picked up the story and soon Popeye fans from all over were calling Chester, offering money to restore the $10,000 statue. Happily the statue was restored, and the human Blutos were apprehended and prosecuted. RADISHES? • The popular American comic strip “Peanuts” is known as “Radishes” in Denmark. • Everybody’s favorite Beagle, Snoopy was born at the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm. THE YOUNGER GENERATION? In 1938, a comic strip was used to advertise Pepsi-cola. It was titled “Pepsi and Pete.” SO THAT’S WHERE IT STARTED The first comic weekly was The John Donkey. Published by G.B. Zieber & Company, the sixteen page paper sold for six cents. Unfortunately, it only lasted from January 1848 to October 1848. NAMELESS, BUT FAMOUS Suzie Derkins is the only character in Bill Watterson’s comic strip, “Calvin and Hobbes,” to have a first and last name. Calvin’s parents have no names at all. NO APPRECIATION • Former Pacific Bell employee Scott Adams created Dilbert in 1989, the popular under-appreciated-over-worked “every employee” comic strip character. Dilbert was chosen as one of “People” magazine’s 25 Most Intriguing People in 1996. • The “Dilbert Zone” web site was the first syndicated comic strip site available on the Internet, and was one of the first web sites to realize a profit. The site was managed by United Media. DOGPATCH U.S.A. In 1934 Andy Capp took an idea he had about a hillbilly comic strip to United Features Syndicate, and “Li’l Abner was born. Abner was carried at first by only eight newspapers, but his hapless Dogpatchers hit a nerve in Depression-era America. Within three short years it climbed to 253 newspapers, reaching over 15,000,000 readers. YOU’VE COME A LONG WAY BABY It was way back in 1930 when Dagwood Bumstead first met Blondie. Created by Chic Young during the dark days of the Depression, Blondie was introduced to readers as a flighty gold-digger -- a “screwball” heroine with many beaus, including Dagwood, heir to the lucrative Bumstead Locomotive Works. A natural bungler, Dagwood was wonderfully inept as a suitor. WOULD YOU BELIEVE.. Larry Hama, who wrote the 155 issues of the “G.I. Joe” comic book, played a North Korean soldier who stole a jeep that Maj. Frank Burns was riding in a M*A*S*H episode. BINGO BING Bing Crosby’s name wasn’t really Bing. His real name was Harry Lillis Crosby. The nickname was given to him by a childhood friend who thought that young Harry resembled “Bingo,” the lead character in their favorite comic book, “The Bingville Bugle.” PRETTY AND SMART The first career-girl comic strip was Winnie Winkle, debuting in 1920. RELATIVELY SPEAKING Since its first appearance in 1954, “Hi and Lois” has grown steadily in popularity through more than four decades.The original idea for the strip sprang from the fertile mind of Mort Walker, one of comic history’s most prolific cartoonists. In his popular Beetle Bailey strip, Walker created an episode in which his lazy Army private took a furlough from Camp Swampy to visit his sister, Lois. The character so intrigued him that he asked Dik Browne, whose work he admired, to collaborate with him in developing the characters in the Flagston family. The rest, as they say, is history. ALMOST FINISHED IN FINLAND Donald Duck comics were nearly banned years ago in Finland because he didn’t wear pants. HOW OLD ARE THESE KIDS? Rudolph Dirks created The Katzenjammer Kids in 1897 for the American Humorist, the famed Sunday supplement of the New York Journal. Inspired in part by Max Und Moritz, the famous German children’s stories writer of the 1860s, The Katzenjammer Kids featured the adventures of Hans and Fritz, twins and fellow warriors in the battle against any form of authority. “The Katzies” rebelled against Mama (their own mother, of course), der Captain (the shipwrecked sailor who acted as their surrogate father) and der Inspector (dreaded representative of the school authorities). The oldest comic strip still in syndication, The Katzenjammer Kids was adapted to the stage in 1903 and inspired countless animated cartoons. Today the feature is drawn by Hy Eisman. The U.S. Postal Service also saluted the Katzies with a commemorative stamp. WHAT DIDN’T HE DO? Benjamin Franklin was America’s first political cartoonist. His drawing of a snake divided into eight parts was published in Philadelphia in 1754. EVEN BEFORE RUDOLF In the Thomas Nast cartoon that first depicted Santa Claus with a sleigh and reindeer, he was delivering Christmas gifts to soldiers fighting in the U.S. Civil War. The cartoon, entitled “Santa Claus in Camp,” appeared in Harper’s Weekly on January 3, 1863. FROM PAPER TO FILM The characters in The Addams Family began as cartoons in the New Yorker. Though the characters had no names, Charles Addams created their names when the television series in the 1960s was developed. WE GREW TOGETHER Many remember growing up with “Gasoline Alley.” One of the reasons you may remember it so well, is that this strip grew with you. It marked the first time in comics history that an infant had grown in chronological time to adulthood. Yep, baby Skeezix, who was left on Walt Wallet’s doorstep in 1921, had celebrated his 75th birthday on February 14, 1996. MORE POWERFUL THAN KRYPTONITE Captain Marvel was one of the most popular comic characters of all time, outselling even Superman. A TRUE SCI-FI PIONEER Buck Rogers was the science fiction strip that started it all! First appearing on January 7, 1929, Buck Rogers set the tone for all science fiction comics to follow. The Sunday page first appeared on March 30, 1930, and although signed by Calkins (busy with the daily) it was actually drawn by Russell Keaton until 1933. MAYBE THE SHADOW KNOWS, BUT NOT THIS TIME Though it had virtually unprecedented success as a radio show, “The Shadow” enjoyed a mere four year newspaper career from 1938 to 1942 in a strip drawn by Vernon Greene. A GRAY AREA Little Orphan Annie was one of the five top strips of its time. It began on August 24, 1924 and ran for decades after the death of Harold Gray. Gray wrote novels in comic strip form. His tales were morality plays, parables of good vs. evil, right and wrong, and the strength, courage, foibles, and weaknesses of man. THE ORIGINAL CRIME STOPPER Chester Gould, a veteran cartoonist, began drawing his most legendary character, the dashing and daring Dick Tracy for the newspaper comic page in 1931. Modeled in the image of the innovative Sherlock Holmes, Gould was inspired to create new crime-fighting technology, including the two-way wrist TV, closed circuit TV police line-up and the engineless car that took Dick Tracy to the moon (both literally and figuratively). Issue 976 - March 2023
WONDERING ABOUT ONE-HIT WONDERS? by Deborah Stumpf 
"Fame is a fickle food – Upon a shifting plate."
-Emily Dickinson We at Snippetz love to reminisce and today we’re thinking back on those music’s “one-hit wonders” of long ago and some from more recent times. Do you remember any or all of these? Can you get through the day today without humming a few of these oldies? Oh, life could be a dream (sh-boom) If I could take you up in paradise up above (sh-boom) In 1954, the song “Sh-Boom” was recorded by a doo-wop group that called themselves The Chords. The song was on both the rhythm & blues as well as the pop charts that year. It was so popular that other publishing companies were clamoring to purchase the rights. After The Chords began appearing on television, it was discovered that there was another group calling themselves by the same name. This prompted The Chords to change their name to the Chordcats. The group’s 15 minutes of fame was soon over and after many more attempts and a name change to The Sh-Booms, the group never returned to the hit charts. However, “Sh-Boom” lives on. The song was used in Disney/Pixar’s “Cars” in 2006. It was a one-eyed, one-horned, flyin' purple people eater In 1958, actor, cowboy, rodeo rider and country-western singer Sheb Wooley (1921-2003) ventured into the pop charts with “Purple People Eater.” Although well known for his purple hit, he was also a successful actor, playing in western films such as “The Outlaw Josey Wales” and “High Noon,” as well as TV’s “Rawhide” and “Hee Haw.” He also wrote the theme song for the TV hit show “Hee Haw” and played the character of Ben Colder. Under the name Ben Colder, he produced parody recordings such as “Shaky Breaky Car” (“Achy Breaky Heart”) as well as one of his own with “Purple People Eater 2.” The day my momma socked it to the Harper Valley PTA Jeannie C. Riley was best known for her simultaneous appearance on both the country-western and pop charts in 1968 with her No. 1 hit, “Harper Valley PTA.” She was the first woman to achieve this milestone. It was 1981 before Dolly Parton repeated this achievement with her No. 1 hit, “9 to 5.” “Harper Valley PTA” was hugely popular, winning the Single of the Year Award from the Country Music Association, as well as earning Riley Best Female Country Vocal Performance at the Grammy awards. And that’s not all. The song launched Riley’s career into television and movies. She was the first female country-western singer to host her own variety show, “Harper Valley USA,” which she hosted with country singer and guitarist Jerry Reed. Tired of her mini skirt and go-go boot image, she donned more conservative attire in the 1970’s when she became a born again Christian and focused her attention on gospel music. She describes her career in her 1980 autobiography, “From Harper Valley to the Mountain Top.” They're coming to take me away, Ho ho, hee hee, ha ha, To the funny farm Where life is beautiful all the time It was 1966 when Jerry Samuels, a record producer and songwriter recording under the name Napoleon XIV, produced “They’re Coming To Take Me Away Ha-Haaa.” The song climbed to No. 1 on the pop charts within a week of release, but dropped off the charts almost as quickly. There was much pressure put on the radio stations from advocacy groups for the mentally ill to pull the plug on this novel hit. Samuels’ career was not over, as he continued to write and record songs, never again making the Top 40. In the summer time when the weather is high You can chase right up and touch the sky Mungo Jerry is the name of an English folk music/rock group, not a person, lead by musician Ray Dorset. It was 1970 when “In The Summertime” hit the pop charts in both the U.K. and the U.S., as well as many other countries around the world. Although Mungo Jerry never had another No. 1 hit in the U.S., their popularity remained strong in the U.K. and Europe, as well as behind the iron curtain where the group performed on television, the first western band to break that barrier. Over the years, the group evolved and changed with many new members and styles, always headed by Ray Dorset. They also recorded the first reggae version of Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door.” Mungo Jerry is still producing music, more recently releasing a single “Mr. Midnight” from “Phantom of the Opera on Ice,” as well as two new albums in 2007. Do the hustle…Do the hustle… Yes, those are all the words in this song – the same three repeated over and over. Wish you came up with this snappy tune and lyrics? Van Allen Clinton McCoy (1940-1979) was sure happy he did so in 1975 and the song is still playing for dancers today. “The Hustle” was his one and only hit; however, his real life’s work was as a music producer, songwriter and orchestra conductor. He produced records for many famous recording artists such as Aretha Franklin, Peaches & Herb, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Melba Moore and the Stylistics. Lay down the boogie and play that funky music til you die Rob Parissi led his band Wild Cherry (named after a cough drop flavor) to stardom for the one hit wonder, “Play That Funky Music” in 1976. The No. 1 hit made it on the pop, R&B and Billboard charts that year and the group received Top R&B Single of the Year, an American Music Award, and received two Grammy nominations. The group made three more albums with limited success and the group eventually disbanded. “Play That Funky Music” is still a requested song on dance floors everywhere. 'Cause I got Pac-Man Fever It's driving me crazy The duo Buckner (Jerry) and Garcia (Gary) recorded “Pac-Man Fever” in 1982, followed by an entire album of songs about arcade video games. And if that’s not enough, the song was re-recorded in 1999. Enough said. Don't worry, be happy Bobby McFerrin was enjoying a career as a pianist and singer in the 1970’s and 1980’s when he produced the 1988 album “Simple Pleasures,” which spawned the No. 1 hit “Don’t Worry Be Happy.” The single was also featured in the movie “Cocktail.” McFerrin is best known for his musical talent with vocal range, switching from falsetto to normal to perform melody and the accompanying portions of songs. He also uses his mouth and taps his chest to make music. “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” won McFerrin acclaim for Song of the Year, Record of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Performance. I’m too sexy for my love…shirt…car…cat In 1992, Right Said Fred, an English pop band hit the charts with “I’m Too Sexy,” a fun song about a very confident male fashion model. The band leaders, Fairbrass brothers Richard and Fred, appeared in the Daz Detergent’s (a U.K. product) advertising campaign, renaming the song, “I’m Too Sexy For My Whites,” as new band name “White Said Fred.” The No. 1 hit also had the distinction of being named by Blender as No. 49 on the “Run for Your Life! It’s the 50 Worst Songs Ever!” list. A little bit of Monica…Erica…Rita…Tina… Sandra…Mary…Jessica…Angela…Pamela Lou Bega, a West German born Latin-pop musician, remade Mambo No. 5 in 1999 from the early 1950’s Perez Prado instrumental. The song became a hit on the European charts almost instantly and was No. 3 on the American pop charts. Mambo No. 5 has prompted many versions and remakes since it’s 1999 debut including a Radio Disney version which replaced the ladies’ names with Disney Character names, as well as replacing some lyrics such as the “liquor store around the corner” with the “candy store around the corner.” The ladies’ names were replaced with types of cars in a CarMax commercial, as well as with New York Yankee player names during a version written for the 2000 World Series. The song was also awarded 6th place in Rolling Stone Magazine’s 10 most annoying songs. Don't tell my heart, my achy breaky heart Today, Billy Ray Cyrus may be more famous for being the father of Miley Cyrus, but the country singer and actor has enjoyed great success of his own. His most notable on the pop charts was his crossover tune, “Achy Breaky Heart” recorded in 1992. Cyrus has also starred in movies and TV shows such as Love Boat, The Nanny and co-starred with his daughter Miley in Disney’s Hannah Montana. Although cited as a one-hit wonder on the pop charts due to “Achy Breaky Heart,” Cyrus’ career may be far from finished and the future may hold more pop chart hits, eliminating his place on the one-hit wonder list. “Fame is like a shaved pig with a greased tail, and it is only after it has slipped through the hands of some thousands, that some fellow, by mere chance, holds on to it!” Davy Crockett Issue 977 - April 2023
THE ADVENTURES OF MARK TWAIN by Michael Wayne 
“In the Spring, I have counted 136 different
kinds of weather inside of 24 hours.” -Mark Twain, Author He was born on November 30, 1835 in Florida, Missouri. Samuel Langhorne Clemens was his birth name, but he would later be known by some as Josh or Thomas Jefferson Snodgrass, but by most as Mark Twain. THE EARLY YEARS He was the sixth of seven children of Jane Lampton (1803-1890), a native of Kentucky, and John Marshall Clemens (1798-1847), a native of Virginia. His parents met when his father moved to Missouri, and they married in 1823. Of the seven children, only four survived childhood. Samuel, who was born two months prematurely, spent the first ten years of his life in poor health. His mother tried various remedies on him during that period. Many of Samuel’s memories of his early years would be revisited in his writings such as “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.” Due to a series of business failures, the Clemens family would move from Florida, Missouri when Samuel reached the tender age of four. They took up residence about 30 miles east in Hannibal, Missouri, a busy rivertown. This would be the town which would provide the background for the future adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer. His father, John Clemens, opened a store in Hannibal, and later became a justice of the peace, but he never broke free of the debt he had accumulated, and sadly, four years after moving to their new town, John Clemens passed away, leaving his wife, Jane, and family to live in destitution. By the time Samuel turned twelve, he began working as an apprentice printer at the local newspaper, the Hannibal Courier, to help his mom and family through the difficult period they were experiencing. Within three years, Twain was able to secure a position as a writer and editor with the Hannibal Western Union, owned by his brother Orion. ON THE MIGHTY MISSISSIPPI In 1857, Clemens became an accomplished, licensed pilot on a steamboat on the Mississippi. He served on the steamer A.B. Chambers with another young pilot, Grant Marsh, who became a famous steamboat captain on the Missouri River. The two became friends, and corresponded for many years. In 1861, Clemen’s riverboat adventure was cut short, for fate had other plans for him. The Civil War was quickly approaching. Samuel, and a few friends enlisted for a short time in a local Confederate unit. Unfortunately (or fortunately) the unit disbanded within two weeks. Clemens later wrote about this brief experience in a sketch he wrote, “The Private History of a Campaign That Failed.” HEADING WEST Clemens headed west to be with his brother Orion, who was the Secretary of the Nevada Territory, which he later describes in his book, “Roughing It.” For over two weeks, the brothers traveled on a stagecoach across the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains, where they visited the Mormon community in Salt Lake City. Their journey led them back to Virginia City, Nevada, where Clemens became a miner on the Comstock Lode. That turned out to be somewhat less than successful, and he once again found his calling wielding a pen instead of an axe, as he became a journalist for the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise. This was where he began writing as “Mark Twain,” which is a steamboat term referring to twelve feet of water. Twain’s wit and humor soon became apparent with “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” published in 1865. The story was based on one he had heard during his short stint as a miner. The story, was printed in publications around the country, and gained attention internationally. Mr. Twain was on his way! LOVE ARRIVES! Yes, there was a romantic side to Twain. He met a young lady by the name of Olivia Langdon. She was the one! They fell in love and were married in 1870 (after she initially rejected his proposal.. but that’s another story) They brought a son, and three daughters into the world. Tragically their son Langdon died of diptheria when he was only 19 months old. Their daughters were Suzy (1872-1896), Clara (1874-1962), and Jean (1880-1909). The couple were married for 34 years, until Olivia’s death in 1904. THE WRITER It didn’t take long, before Twain published “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,” in 1876, and “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” in 1884. He continued creating novels and essays, becoming a celebrated author. His awards and honors included degrees from Oxford and Yale as well. William Faulkner went as far as to call Twain “the father of American literature,” with which many have agreed. Alas, life wasn’t all it appeared to be for the man many of his peers considered to be “the greatest humorist the United States had ever produced.” While Twain was an exemplary writer, not so much an investor. Though he earned a considerable amount of money from his writings and lectures, the investments he made were at best, questionable. He lost most of what he earned in ventures such as the Paige Compositor, a mechanical typesetter. It was a very complex machine, and not as well designed as it had promised to be. As a result, Twain looked for relief through bankruptcy. In time, he was able to pay back all his creditors, though he was no longer obligated to do so. He was a man of integrity. He was able to resolve his financial woes, yet he was plagued by depression, paranoia and anxiety during the final chapter of his life, as he watched his wife Olivia, and daughters Suzy and Jean pass away. Twain was born shortly after the appearance of Halley’s Comet in 1835. He had predicted that since he arrived with the comet, he would “go out with it.” On April 21, 1910, Mark Twain laid his pen down a final time, just a day after Halley’s Comet made it’s closest approach to Earth. MARK TWAIN SNIPPETZ • Due to Samuel’s ill health as a child, he was often coddled by his mother, and he developed a tendency to test her indulgence and patience through mischievious behavior. When Jane Clemens was in her 80s, Clemens asked her about his poor health when he was a child: “I suppose that during that whole time you were uneasy about me?” “Yes, the whole time,” she answered. “Afraid I wouldn’t live?” “No,” she said, “afraid you would.” • While training as a steamboat pilot, Samuel convinced his younger brother Henry to work with him on the steamboat Pennsylvania. On June 13, 1858, the steamboat’s boiler exploded; Henry died 8 days later on June 21. Twain claimed to have foreseen this death in a dream a month earlier. He was guilt-ridden and felt responsible for his brother’s demise for the rest of his life. It is believed the this incident later inspired his interest in parapsychology. • Twain became friends with Ulysses Grant, and published the former president’s memoir in 1885, which became a best-seller and saved Grant’s widow from poverty. (Apparently, Grant wasn’t much of an investor either) Issue 978 - May 2023
WE ARE BLESSED: MOTHERS by Michael Wayne & Deborah Stumpf 
With all of the “confusion” the mainstream media presents as “truth” we felt it was important this Mother’s Day, to give our readers a large gulp of reality.
There can be no substitute for our mothers, and all they did to bring us health, happiness and security. The warm, loving feeling of being gently cradled in the arms of momma, can not be simulated or duplicated. In point, our mothers are a blessing! So why not dedicate a special day for mom? Well golly gee, there is such a day! And with that dear readers, we felt it was appropriate to reach back to May of 2012, Issue 550, to bring you, “A Snippetz Salute to Moms” written by Deborah Stumpf (also a mom!). “If you bungle raising your children, I don’t think whatever else you do well matters very much.” - Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Someone once said that it’s a mother who, upon seeing only four slices of pie left to feed five people will promptly announce she doesn’t particularly care for that kind of pie anyway. We all want to have that kind of mother and those of us who are mothers probably want to BE that kind of mother. No matter what kind of mother we have, we set aside one day per year to officially honor the mothers in our lives. Paying homage to mothers was a long time coming with lots of blood, sweat and tears shed by some; but once the holiday took hold, the world embraced it with a vengeance, not to mention a lot of dollars – billions each year! MOTHERING SUNDAY Mother’s day as we know it is less than 100 years old. Its roots go back to the ancient Greeks and Romans. The Greeks held annual festivals in the spring to honor Rhea, the mother of deities of Greek mythology and the wife and sister of Cronus. Cronus was the first leader of the Titans and ruled during the Golden Age only to be overthrown by his son Zeus. Although they were a bit untraditional according to today’s standards and not a particularly nice couple, they had six children. Nonetheless, she was considered the mother of the Greek gods and goddesses. The ancient Romans held festivals in the spring to honor Cybele, also a mother goddess. The festival included offerings at her temple, parades and games. Cybele was a Greek goddess with a cult following in both Greece and Rome. Eventually, Christians held festivals on the fourth Sunday in Lent to honor the Virgin Mary, mother of Christ. England picked up this custom in the 16th century. It was tradition to attend church services and then children would honor their mothers with flowers and other small gifts. It became important enough that employers would let their servants go for the day in order to visit their mothers. ALONG CAME WAR Julia Ward Howe (1819-1910), famous for authoring “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” also wrote the Mother’s Day Proclamation in 1870 as a protest to the Civil War and the Franco-Prussian War. She was a champion of a Mother’s Day celebration to be held on the second Sunday in June each year in Boston; she tirelessly dedicated herself to the cause. Anna Jarvis (1864-1948) took up the cause in the early 20th century after the death of her mother, Anna Marie Reeves Jarvis. Never married and without children of her own, Jarvis is universally recognized as the mother or founder of Mother’s Day in the U.S. Her mother was a social worker and activist who believed in honoring mothers by paying tribute to their contributions to society. Jarvis and all the friends she could rally by her side began a letter-writing campaign to lobby for a government resolution of a mother’s day holiday. In just over 10 years of work, she finally got her wish when in 1914 President Woodrow Wilson signed the Joint Resolution authorizing an official Mother’s Day holiday on the second Sunday in May. IT WASN’T MEANT TO BE THIS WAY Jarvis’ Mother’s Day vision was that the day would be one to honor our mothers, both living and dead in activity involving reflection and prayer. She did not get her wish, as the holiday became commercialized very quickly. It was said that she was arrested at one time for disturbing the peace while protesting this commercialization. She and her sister spent all the money they had on a campaign in protest, dyeing penniless without succeeding in their mission. Jarvis said: “A printed card means nothing except that you are too lazy to write to the woman who has done more for you than anyone in the world. And candy! You take a box to Mother – and then eat most of it yourself. A pretty sentiment.” ALL I REALLY WANT FOR MOTHER’S DAY… …are well behaved children! Over 50 percent of moms reported this wish (impossible dream?) in a survey conducted by The Mother Company. Nearly 30 percent wanted time to themselves. Only 3 percent report wanting gifts such as flowers, candy or jewelry. Maybe Jarvis had a point and knew mothers more than we do. The National Retail Federal estimates we spend a whopping $14 billion, yes billion, on Mother’s Day. MOM SNIPPETZ
MOTHER SAYINGS OR MOMISMS To all you moms out there who said you would never say these things to your kids, how many of these have you discovered flying out of your mouth at one time or another, seemingly out of your control?
And the all-time favorite: “Just you wait until you have kids of your own – then you’ll understand.” Happy Mother’s Day! Issue 979 - June 2023
SNIPPETZ IS SWOONIN' OVER THE CROONIN' by Deborah Stumpf 
Oh, but you’re lovely, with your smile so warm
And your cheeks so soft There is nothing for me but to love you Just the way you look tonight Just the way you look tonight - Bing Crosby, “The Way You Look Tonight” The advent of amplifier systems spawned a new genre of music. Crooners – solo music artists – pulled at the heartstrings of audiences with songs like “You’re Breaking my Heart” by Vic Damone or “That’s Amore” by Dean Martin. Crooners were suave and sexy, with soul and savvy. Webster’s defines crooners as those who “sing or speak in a gentle murmuring manner … who sing in a soft intimate manner adapted to amplifying systems.” Prior to microphones, vocal entertainers had to belt out songs using their entire body so audiences could hear them. Big bands and jazz groups were popular in the 1920s and 1930s, but crooners gained fame toward the beginning of World War II. After the war, crooners were in high demand on radios throughout the country. The 1940s catapulted some of the best to a revered place in music’s history, and the crooner’s sound has been everlasting through the decades. Bing Crosby Toss a coin for the title of “original crooner,” but Bing Crosby stands out for his album, appropriately called, “The Original Crooner,” which featured iconic songs like “Pennies from Heaven,” “You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby” and “Sweet Georgia Brown.” Crosby was a household name, especially around the holidays. Crosby’s “Silver Bells,” “Silent Night and “White Christmas” (the latter was at the top of the charts for most of 1942) have more than withstood the test of time. His annual televised Christmas show became an American holiday ritual. Also an actor, Crosby won an Oscar for best actor in the 1944 movie, “Going My Way.” Crosby made more than 1,500 records during his career, which lasted until he died Oct. 14, 1977, while playing golf in Madrid, Spain. Did you know? Crosby studied law at Gonzaga University in Washington and left law school two months before graduating. Tony Bennett Tony Bennett is 85 years young and going strong, really strong. Bennett will release a new album in September. “Duet’s II” is a joint effort with some of this country’s most glorified musicians. Singing Bennett’s greatest hits with him on his new album are Andrea Bocelli, Faith Hill, Aretha Franklin, Mariah Carey, John Mayer, K.D. Lang, Lady Gaga, Natalie Cole, John Mayer, Willie Nelson and more. As Crosby and many of the other crooners, Bennett got his start in jazz, integrating jazz into his solos by imitating the instruments with his own voice. Today, Bennett has been embraced by the music industry in an unprecedented way. He’s appeared on reality shows like “American Idol,” and has sung with music icons like Bono, The Red Hot Chili Peppers and Elvis Costello. His resilience also has won him roles in movies: “Analyze This,” “The Scout” and “Bruce Almighty.” Bennett’s signature song is a classic: “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.” Other hits include “Because of You,” “Blue Velvet,” “Rags to Riches” and “Stranger in Paradise.” Among other awards, he received the Kennedy Center Honor, and the United Nations recognized him with “Citizen of the World.” Bennett was inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame in 1997. Did you know? In 1949, Bob Hope invited Bennett on a concert tour, suggesting that he use the name Tony Bennett, instead of his birth name, Antonio Benedetto. He also is an accomplished painter and has an art studio in New York City. Nat "King" Cole Who can forget Nat King Cole and his signature song, “Unforgettable?” Years later, Cole added his daughter Natalie’s vocals to “Unforgettable,” which it was indeed. Also known for his Christmas songs, Cole has been touted as one of America’s finest crooners, with a “voice as rich as black velvet.” He had a host of No. 1 hits, including “Mona Lisa” and “Love is the Thing.” Cole started early, leaving school at age 15 to pursue a career as a jazz pianist. He had been playing piano since he was 4 years old. His first professional gig was in Los Angeles, and when the show closed, he found work in a club on Santa Monica Boulevard. The rest, as they say, is history. At a time when black singers were identified with jazz and bebop, Cole had a presence and voice that led him beyond the black community. He was the first black man to host a television variety show, although short lived because the network couldn’t find sponsors. Cole also became fast friends with Sinatra and adjusted well to the white world, much to the chagrin of many civil rights activists. However, Cole was always a champion for the rights of blacks and others and a passionate advocate for justice throughout his entire life. Did you know? Television producers often put makeup on Cole to make him look more “white” to please the white audiences. Cole felt the prejudices of the 1950s, especially. He was once attacked on stage in Birmingham, Ala., and promised from then on he would never play another club in the South. Article on Nat "King" Cole - ISSUE 653 The List Goes On – and On Many of America’s beloved crooners were versatile, spanning musical styles; but the following memorable artists fit the bill as those who also “sing (or sang) in a gentle murmuring manner.” Perry Como In 1946, Billboard voted Perry Como second best male vocalist, with Crosby grabbing the No. 1 spot. Como had his own television show, “The Perry Como Show,” and like other crooners, his Christmas specials were as much of a tradition as mistletoe and Santa Claus. One of Como’s hit songs: “Catch a Falling Star” Johnny Mathis Johnny Mathis’ latest release, “Let It Be Me: Mathis in Nashville” was nominated for 2011 in the category of “best traditional pop vocal album.” Mathis’ first album was released in 1956, “Johnny Mathis, a New Sound in Popular Song.” Besides longevity, Mathis is an eclectic singer as well, from jazz to crooning. In December 2010, Mathis sang a Christmas medley with pop-classical music star Josh Grobin on the “Oprah Winfrey Show.” To quote the title of one his huge hits, Mathis has had a “Wonderful, Wonderful” run as an entertainer. Bobby Darin In 1959, Bobby Darin received a Grammy for “best new artist” and “record of the year” for his notorious hit, “Mack the Knife.” In 2010, Darin received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. His son accepted the award for his dad, who died at age 37 in 1973 following heart surgery. Darin’s heart – and music – lives on forever. Today’s Crooners Amid hip hop, pop, rock, country, blues; crooners remain a big part of modern-day music culture – like these artists. Julio Iglesias When a car accident ended Julio Iglesias’s dream of becoming a professional soccer player, he turned to the guitar. In 2010, the Latin idol had sold more than 300 million records. In 1983, Iglesias joined the Guinness Book of World Records for having sold the most records in the most languages in history. Iglesias is still touring worldwide. Harry Connick Jr. At age 5, Harry Connick Jr. was performing in his hometown, New Orleans. Since then, Connick has received a plethora of awards, including Grammy awards and an Emmy. He first reached widespread fame with the score to “When Harry Met Sally.” The film led to Connick’s first multi-platinum album. Barry Manilow “Mandy,” “Copacabana,” “Can’t Smile Without You” – it’s crooning – Barry Manilow style. In the 1970s, Sinatra said of Manilow, “He’s next.” In 1978, Manilow lived up to Sinatra’s prediction when five of his albums were on the best-selling charts simultaneously – an accomplishment that put him in the same exclusive circle as Sinatra, Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen and Johnny Mathis. Manilow has also produced and arranged music for other renowned singers like Bette Midler, as well as musicals, films and commercials. He has entertained Las Vegas crowds for years. In 2004, Oprah Winfrey reported that Manilow was one of the most requested guests of all time on her show. Article on Barry Manilow - ISSUE 645 These crooners and others like Mel Torme, Dean Martin; and, not to leave out the ladies, Judy Garland are inscribed in the music scene forever and a day. |
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