Posted on 04/01/2018 8:48:55 AM PDT by Twotone
Happy Easter and Happy Passover to our readers around the world. We moved our Saturday movie night to Good Friday for Mel Gibson's blockbuster The Passion Of The Christ. So, for the weekend proper, here's a special podcast, audiophonically adapted from an essay that appears in Mark's book A Song For The Season: the story of the most famous pop hit about Easter - sort of.
Irving Berlin's "Easter Parade" has its beginnings in a very obscure chin-up song from the Great War written in 1917. In this audio special, Mark traces its origins as a First World War morale booster to its re-emergence a generation later as the American Songbook's only Easter standard. Along the way, we'll also explore the long languished tradition of Easter parades, the meaning of the word "rotogravure", and whether anyone actually could write a sonnet about your Easter bonnet. To accompany Mark on the trail of this American anthem, there are musical performers from Al Jolson and John McCormack to Frank Sinatra and Rosemary Clooney - plus Irving Berlin himself and a young George Gershwin. And we'll also touch on a few other numbers that played a role in this song's story, from "God Bless America" and "Pack Up Your Troubles In Your Old Kit Bag" to "Hooray For Hollywood" and the haunting "Supper Time".
To listen to our "Easter Parade" podcast, simply click the button above...
(Excerpt) Read more at steynonline.com ...
The Fred Astaire musical isn’t one of my favorites by any stretch (I prefer Gene Kelly), but it’s still charming.
It’s also not actually an Easter movie. But at least it has some portion of it, including another Easter song.
It actually is a good solid musical, but again, could be watched any time.
Judy Garland & Fred Astaire - A Couple Of Swells (Easter Parade, 1948)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQdzrJUb-yE
Easter Parade (1948) Drum Crazy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7xuk_hYkQI
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