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April Showers (song)
"April Showers" is a 1921 popular song composed by Louis Silvers with lyrics by B. G. De Sylva. History The song was introduced in the 1921 Broadway musical '' Bombo,'' where it was performed by Al Jolson. It became a well-known Jolson standard: the first of his several recordings of the song was on Columbia Records in October 1921. It has also been recorded by many other artists. Spike Jones and Doodles Weaver produced a parody that began with the lyrics: "When April showers, she never closes the curtain..." The British comedians Morecambe and Wise performed a skit featuring the song, which involved a light sprinkling of water drizzling on straight man Ernie Wise whenever he sang it, but a bucket of water being thrown over Eric Morecambe whenever he did the same. Film appearances *1926 '' A Plantation Act'' sung by Al Jolson *1936 '' The Singing Kid'' sung by Al Jolson *1939 '' Rose of Washington Square'' sung by Al Jolson *1946 '' The Jolson Story'' sung by Al Jol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Margie (1946 Film)
''Margie'' is a 1946 American romantic comedy film directed by Henry King and starring Jeanne Crain, about a high school girl in the 1920s who develops a crush on her French teacher. ''Margie'' was a box-office hit, ranking in the top 15 highest-grossing films of the year, and established Crain as an important Fox star. Although not a true movie musical (as it uses period recordings, with only a few songs being partially performed by characters in the film), it is sometimes classified with musicals due to the large number of 1920s-era popular songs incorporated as nostalgic background in the film. The film was the basis for the 1961 television sitcom ''Margie'', featuring Cynthia Pepper. Plot In 1946, Margie (Jeanne Crain) is a housewife reminiscing about her high school days with her own teenage daughter, who has just discovered her mother's old photo album in the attic. In a flashback to the 1920s, Margie is a high-spirited girl living with her dominant but good-hearted Gr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Les Brown (bandleader)
Lester Raymond Brown (March 14, 1912 – January 4, 2001) was an American jazz musician who for over six decades (1938-2000) led his big band, later called Les Brown and His Band of Renown. Biography Brown was born in Reinerton-Orwin-Muir, Pennsylvania, Reinerton, Pennsylvania. He enrolled in the Conway Military Band School (later part of Ithaca College) in 1926, studying with famous bandleader Patrick Conway for three years before receiving a music scholarship to the New York Military Academy, where he graduated in 1932. Brown attended college at Duke University from 1932 to 1936. There he led the group Duke Ambassadors, Les Brown and His Blue Devils, who performed regularly on Duke's campus and up and down the east coast. Brown took the band on an extensive summer tour in 1936. At the end of the tour, while some of the band members returned to Duke to continue their education, others stayed on with Brown and continued to tour, becoming in 1938 the Les Brown Orchestra. The band ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chris Barber
Donald Christopher Barber (17 April 1930 – 2 March 2021) was an English jazz musician, best known as a bandleader and Trombone, trombonist. He helped many musicians with their careers and had a UK top twenty trad jazz hit with "Petite Fleur" in 1959. These musicians included the blues singer Ottilie Patterson, who was at one time his wife, and Lonnie Donegan, whose appearances with Barber triggered the skiffle craze of the mid-1950s and who had his first transatlantic hit, "Rock Island Line", while with Barber's band. He provided an audience for Donegan and, later, Alexis Korner, and sponsored African-American blues musicians to visit Britain, making Barber a significant figure in launching the British rhythm and blues and "beat boom" of the 1960s. Early life Barber was born in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, on 17 April 1930. His father, Donald Barber, was an actuary, insurance statistician who a few years later became secretary of the Socialist League (UK, 1932)#Execu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Arpin
John Francis Oscar Arpin (3 December 1936 – 8 November 2007) was a Canadian composer, recording artist and entertainer, best known for his work as a virtuoso ragtime pianist. Born in Port McNicoll, Ontario Arpin studied piano at The Royal Conservatory of Music, earning his ARCT diploma in 1953. He also studied at the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto. Arpin performed and toured widely. He died 8 November 2007 in Toronto, Ontario. Recording career Arpin recorded more than sixty albums, mostly of ragtime, but also played Broadway music, pop music, and classical music. In 2002, he recorded seven CDs of piano solo music on the April Avenue record label. These albums consisted of favorite Broadway themes and familiar pop tunes. While just two compilations are still available in CD format, most of the other tracks can still be found on iTunes. Here is a complete list: *A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square *All The Way *An Affair To Remember *Any Dream Will Do *As Time ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Victor Arden
Victor Arden was the stage name of American pianist Lewis John Fuiks (8 March 1893 – 31 July 1962)DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . Pp. 14-15. who was best known as the piano duo partner of and co-orchestra leader with Phil Ohman from 1922 to 1932. He was the pianist in the All-Star Trio, who made several hits for Victor Records between 1919 and 1921. Early years Arden was born March 8, 1893, in Wenona, Illinois. Radio In 1935, Arden was described in a newspaper article as "well-known to music lovers and radio listeners." At the time, Arden's orchestra was featured on ''Musical Moments'', which was carried on over 300 stations weekly. Arden and his orchestra also provided the music for ''Mr. Chameleon'', a detective fiction radio drama that ran on CBS Radio from the late 1940s to the early 1950s. Recording Before 1920, Arden was making piano rolls to be reprodu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bugs Bunny
Bugs Bunny is a cartoon character created in the late 1930s at Warner Bros. Cartoons (originally Leon Schlesinger, Leon Schlesinger Productions) and Voice acting, voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his featured roles in the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of animated short films, produced by Warner Bros. Earlier iterations of the character first appeared in Ben Hardaway's ''Porky's Hare Hunt'' (1938) and subsequent shorts before Bugs's definitive characterization debuted in Tex Avery's ''A Wild Hare'' (1940). Bob Givens, Chuck Jones, and Robert McKimson are credited for defining Bugs's design. Bugs is an anthropomorphic gray-and-white List of fictional hares and rabbits, rabbit or hare who is characterized by his flippant, insouciant personality. He is also characterized by a New York City English, Brooklyn accent, his portrayal as a trickster, and his catchphrase "Eh... What's up, doc?". Through his popularity during the golden age of American ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mel Blanc
Melvin Jerome Blanc (born Blank ; May 30, 1908 – July 10, 1989) was an American voice actor and radio personality whose career spanned over 60 years. During the Golden Age of Radio, he provided character voices and vocal sound effects for comedy radio programs, including those of Jack Benny, Abbott and Costello, Burns and Allen, The Great Gildersleeve, Judy Canova and his own short-lived sitcom. Blanc became known worldwide for his work in the Golden Age of American Animation as the voices of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Tweety, Sylvester the Cat, Yosemite Sam, Foghorn Leghorn, the Tasmanian Devil, and numerous other characters from the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' theatrical cartoons. Blanc also voiced the ''Looney Tunes'' characters Porky Pig and Elmer Fudd after replacing their original performers, Joe Dougherty and Arthur Q. Bryan, respectively, although he occasionally voiced Elmer during Bryan's lifetime as well. He later voiced characters for Hanna-Barbera ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wet Hare
''Wet Hare'' is a 1962 Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' cartoon directed by Robert McKimson. The short was released on January 20, 1962, and stars Bugs Bunny. In the cartoon, Bugs finds himself at odds with a ruthless lumberjack who wants to control the water supply by building a series of dams. Plot Bugs Bunny is taking his morning shower under a waterfall and singing " April Showers" in the style of Al Jolson when the water stops flowing. The source of the problem turns out to be the villainous Blacque Jacque Shellacque, who has built an illegal rock dam in an effort to control the water supply and sell it at inflated prices. Bugs tricks Jacque into removing a tiny rock, at the dam's base, which then dislodges the dam. Shellacque builds a series of dams, each one bigger than the last, with Bugs destroying them all. Shellacque builds a steel dam only to find that there is no water flowing as finally, Bugs turns the tables and builds a series of rock dams of his own (in revenge for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Eddy Duchin Story
''The Eddy Duchin Story'' is a 1956 American biopic film of band leader and pianist Eddy Duchin starring Tyrone Power and Kim Novak. Filmed in CinemaScope, the Technicolor production was directed by George Sidney and written by Samuel A. Taylor from a story by Leo Katcher. Harry Stradling received an Academy Award nomination for his cinematography. The picture received four nominations in total and was one of the highest-grossing films of 1956. Incorporating signature elements of Duchin's style into his own, Carmen Cavallaro performed the piano music for the film. Some of the film's box office success can be attributed to the appearance of Novak in ads for No-Cal diet soda. Novak became one of the first celebrities to be featured in advertisements for soft drinks, and each ad also featured a reminder to see Novak in ''The Eddy Duchin Story''. Musician Peter Duchin, whose relationship with his father is a major subject of the film, has written very negatively about the s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jolson Sings Again
''Jolson Sings Again'' is a 1949 American musical biographical film directed by Henry Levin, and the sequel to '' The Jolson Story'' (1946), both of which cover the life of singer Al Jolson. It was the highest-grossing film of 1949 and received three Oscar nominations at the 22nd Academy Awards. Plot In this follow-up to ''The Jolson Story'', we pick up the singer's career where the original film ends: Jolson returns home after an unexpected nightclub performance, only to find that his wife has left him. Devastated, Jolson runs away from his problems, trading show business for life in the fast lane: women, horses, prizefighters, travel. His father becomes increasingly concerned about his frivolous lifestyle. With the death of his mother and the beginning of World War II, Jolson comes back to earth—and returns to the stage. Once again teamed with manager Steve Martin, Jolson travels the world entertaining troops everywhere from Alaska to Africa. When he finally collapses f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Milton Berle
Milton Berle (born Mendel Berlinger; ; July 12, 1908 – March 27, 2002) was an American actor and comedian. His career as an entertainer spanned over eight decades, first in silent films and on stage as a child actor, then in radio, movies and television. As the host of NBC's '' Texaco Star Theatre'' (1948–1953), he was the first major American television star and was known to millions of viewers as "Uncle Miltie" and "Mr. Television" during the first Golden Age of Television. He was honored with two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work in both radio and TV. Early life Milton Berle was born into a Jewish family in a five-story walkup in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan. His given name was Mendel Berlinger, but he chose Milton Berle as his professional name when he was 16. His father, Moses Berlinger (1872–1938), was of German-Jewish descent and worked as a paint and varnish salesman. His mother, Sarah (Sadie) Glantz Berlinger (1877–1954), who was of Poli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
