Can't Get Enough Melodrama in Music

Hound Dog: The Leiber and Stoller Autobiography,

Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller with David Ritz,

Simon & Schuster, 2009.

When Jerry Leiber was a kid, he and his mom moved from Baltimore to L.A., where he learned to "dream big."  Here's a story from back then, told by Leiber himself:

          Our neighbourhood, Larchmont, was close to the famous gates that guard Paramount Studios.

          Once I saw a man in a pinstripe suit and fedora hat approaching the gates. He was looking up at the sky and mouthing words.

          "Is that man nuts?" I asked one of the guards for whom I fetched cigarettes.

          "You should be so nuts, kid.  That's Irving Berlin, the greatest songwriter in the world."

          "Can I tell him hello?"

          "Just make it short.  He's busy writing a song."

          I went up to him and said, "Mr. Berlin, may I shake your hand?"

          "Sure, put it there, pal."

   

The Snark playlist for TUESDAY, JUNE 29, 2010.
(Artist/SONG/Album, etc.)

Suicide -- GHOST RIDER -- Suicide (2002, Mute Reissue) [orig. 1977, Red Star Records]
Cindy & The Playmates -- NOW THAT SCHOOL IS THROUGH -- Home Schooled: The ABCs of Kid Soul (2007, Numero Group) [orig. 1974, Jaypee]

Spoonie Gee -- SPOONIE IS BACK -- The Sugar Hill Records Story (1999, Rhino/Wea) [orig. 1981, Sugar Hill Records]
Big Daddy A & The Merves -- THE ANSWERS ARE RIGHT HERE -- We Stole Your Wallet (1997, 1984 Records)
Abe Ellstein Orchestra, feat. Dave Tarras -- 2ND AVENUE SQUARE DANCE -- Dave Tarras: Yiddish-American Klezmer Music: 1925-56 (1992, Yazoo) [orig. 1950]
FM Belfast -- VHS -- How To Make Friends (2010, Kimi Records)
George Manury -- DEAR ARLENE -- George M (2010, Vstuff)

Willie Nelson & Wynton Marsalis -- NIGHT LIFE -- Two Men With The Blues (2008, Blue Note Records)
Platon Et Les Caves -- VIVRE AVEC TOI -- Time Machine: The History of Canadian 60s Garage Punk & Surf, 1985-95 (1996, Stomp)
Funky Porcini -- BRIGHT LITTLE THINGS -- On (2010, Ninja Tunes)
Tickled Pink -- REACH OUT (& GIVE ME YOUR HAND) -- Texas Funk: Black Gold From The Lone Star State (2005, Now-Again) [orig. 1972]
Trash Can Sinatras -- EARLIES -- I've Seen Everything (1993, Go! Discs)

Ron Leary -- EVERYDAY I THINK OF YOU -- Lapse E.P. (2010, Bootbrush)
Early B -- HISTORY OF JAMAICA -- Dancehall 2: The Rise of Jamaican Dancehall Culture (2009, Soul Jazz Records) [orig. 1982, Moa Anbessa International Records]
Papa San -- MONEY A FE CIRCLE -- Dancehall 2 (2009, Soul Jazz) [orig. 1986, Supreme Records]
High Mother -- MY CREATION -- From The Tank: 17 Unreleased Tracks from the Windsor Music Collective (2010, Sharktank Productions)
Chadio -- DROP 4 BIZKID -- Stolen Moments (2010, Neferiu)
Nomo -- NOVA -- Ghost Rock (2008, Ubiquity Records)
Wareika Hill Sounds -- AFRICA FREEDOM MARCH -- Wareika Hill Sounds (2007, Honest Jon's Records)
Barmy Army -- SHARP AS A NEEDLE (PT. 2) -- Barmy Army (12" single) (1988, On-U Sound)
The Coasters -- DOWN IN MEXICO -- Uncut Magazine: Radio Bob, Vol. 2 (2008, Uncut) [orig. 1956, Atlantic Records]

Del Barber -- LOVE SONGS FOR THE LAST 20 -- Love Songs For The Last 20 (2010, Broken Ground)


Thanks for listening!

That should be the right order of tunes... Nomo is the only band who may be in the wrong place. There was quite a bit of last minute playlist reshuffling today, like someone smacked the table in a game of dominos.

Oh no! Oh yes.

I like melodrama in everything, I guess.