Famous Today, Forgotten Tomorrow (We've forgotten Hope & Crosby. Will we forget the Beatles?)

The Wall Street Journal ^ | Dec. 9, 2014 | Jim Fusilli

[chrisser]

I started listening to the recordings that Sinatra made in the 1950’s with the Nelson Riddle orchestra.

Linda Rondstadt made 3 albums with Nelson Riddle before he passed away. What's New was the first. Can't recall the name of the other two. Mostly 30s/40s/Great American Songbook type music. Really good stuff - she's an amazing vocalist and that music really brings her abilities out.

And you can't really go wrong with Nelson Riddle backing you up.

[forgotten man]

Nat King Cole was the first black entertainer to have a prime time show. His show was a big hit. His audience was primarily white. Nat King Cole had the best talent on his show. He had a lot of friends in Hollywood. People like Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Dean Martin etc all came on his show. Bill Cosby is nothing compared to Nat King Cole.

[morphing libertarian]

He wasn’t just a performer he was one of the all-time greats. Acting and song style require creativity. He started the off beat jazz style of popular singing, which Rudy Valee before him didn’t have just singing on each beat.

You don’t know what you’re talking about and now you’re trying to spin your opinion. No one said anything about current CD sales.

[from occupied ga]

One can only hope that we will soon forget Yoko Ono

[morphing libertarian]

IIRC it was all singing. And yes the greats went on the show. We also watched Durante, Como, Dinah Shore, the Grand Ole Opery, Les Paul and Mary Ford, Tennessee Ernie Ford and whatever else was on.

I think Dinah and Les Paul each did 15 minutes and they split a half hour.

[presidio9]

I believe the disconnect to our earlier, shared culture is becoming greater and greater. Partly due to technology, which has created a fragmentation of outlets and put people into smaller, ghetto-ized hollows of their own makings.

Last night, I found out by accident who PewDiePie is. If you have never heard of him don't bother Googling. You only need to know that he is THE most popular personality on Youtube. His videos have been viewed a BILLION (with a "B") times. His "talent" is watching people play video games and commenting on it. Kids today LOVE him. I tried watching three of his videos, and I flat-out did not get it. It is not entertaining even for a second or two. Made me think that I finally belong on the Muppet Show balcony, next to Stadtler and Waldorf. This is the best example that I can think of of our disconnect.

[TexasGator]

“At the end of the day, he was just a performer.”

Obviously, you have no knowledge of who Bing Crosby was.

[BenLurkin]

Will we forget the Beatles?

Who?

[presidio9]

Correcting my own mistake: PewDiePie has 6.6 billion YouTube views. And 35 million subscribers...

[Hot Tabasco]

The artists of the 50's and 60's will remain popular for as long as our children live, that's a testament to how good they were.

I can't imagine the lovers of today's rap-crap listening to that when they're in their own 50's, 60's and beyond. That's assuming they're still alive and haven't been killed or imprisoned for life.........

[Liberty Valance]

Ha! Yes, on all counts.

[MeganC]

The only reason I know that name is because of the movie with Clark Gable. I saw it on TCM.

[Clemenza]

And nobody cares about doo wop anymore, except for aging Italian American proles on social security. Good riddance, but when will we be rid of Taylor Underwood and Carrie Swift?

[Clemenza]

The point is there are more people alive today who know and love the Beatles than there are who even remember the crooners.

[presidio9]

And nobody cares about doo wop anymore, except for aging Italian American proles on social security.

Clint Eastwood did a major biopic on a do-wop group last year.

In fairness, it did terrible in the box office.

And kids today probably have no idea who Clint Eastwood is either.

[greene66]

You’re quite right. A lot of people don’t know the huge changes that electrical amplification brought to singing. Singers used to really have to belt things out, so even the back rows of the music halls could hear. With the advent of electric recordings in 1925 and advances in amplification, there was suddenly the ability to experiment and innovate with more subtle singing stylistics. They were breaking new ground all over the place.

Crosby was a big part of that. Along with females singers like Marion Harris and Ruth Etting, and others. A lot of it incorporated the burgeoning jazz styles and improvisation. Some things became quickly dated and were dropped, while other things pointed the way to decades of popular music. But, I suppose like the case with “movie cliches,” which were clever and original when first done, but became so common through the years that they become dismissed and derided, a lot of those earlier vocalists don’t really get the credit I think they are due.

[mowowie]

most kids have no idea who Bugs Bunny is let alone these guys....

[morphing libertarian]

Crosby caught the wave. Microphones and radio.

[Yardstick]

Can you post a link to a great piece of recent music?

I feel like I’ve become a grumpy old man music-wise. I’ve tried looking for great new music and I’m not finding it. People tell me this or that is great, but then I listen and it’s meh. I fear we may truly be in a musical doldrums right now.

[Billthedrill]

Jim, Peter, George and Ringo will never be forgotten!