The Random Comic Strip

The Random Comic Strip

Words to live by...

"How beautiful it is to do nothing, and to rest afterward."

[Spanish Proverb]

Ius luxuriae publice datum est

(The right to looseness has been officially given)

"Everyone carries a part of society on his shoulders," wrote Ludwig von Mises, "no one is relieved of his share of responsibility by others. And no one can find a safe way for himself if society is sweeping towards destruction. Therefore everyone, in his own interest, must thrust himself vigorously into the intellectual battle."

Apparently, the crossword puzzle that disappeared from the blog, came back.


Friday, November 14, 2008

I Hear Music

As I was browsing through the blogs I follow, I ran across a reference to coffee in a comment (thanks, Argentum) that kicked off a thought about a song as sung by the Andrews Sisters. It, the song, rattled around in my brain and I had to go find a link to it playing somewhere on the web. It's called "The Coffee Song" and I hope you will click on this link and go listen to it. And then I hope you will become intrigued by the vocalizations of the Andrews Sisters and listen to more of their songs. And then I hope you will start to become fascinated by the sounds of the Big Band and Swing Era and listen to more and more by all of the artists of that period. I would have embedded that video into this post but I like to think that people learn better by doing.

I was born at the end of that era and was only slightly aware of the music. While there were still many of the artists around, the popularity had waned by the time I was actively thinking about the music playing on radio and TV and in the movies. and the new Rock and Roll was quickly displacing the melodies of the Swing Era. My father had a number of albums left over from the War. (I still have many of those old Victory LPs.) So, I did get to listen to them. I also grew up watching old movies on TV that were filled with these. I rediscovered them a few years ago and began collecting as many as I could off the internet and anywhere else I could find them.

So, now I burn CDs full of MP3s of this Swing and Big Band and older jazz, put them into my car's stereo system and listen to them whenever I drive. Before I got re-acquainted with that music of a bygone era, I hadn't been much interested in burning CDs. This rebirth in my interest in music kicked an interest in burning music onto those little plastic dishes. It is fascinating to me how one thing so often leads to another, how curiosity draws us down so many paths.

3 comments:

M. Bail said...

I love the Andrews Sisters! I think I'm only a few years younger than you, but my mom played the big band/swing era music all the time, and I'd sit and listen with her. Now, one of my favorite Christmas CDs is Andrews Sisters and I look forward to pulling it out and listening to it every holiday!

(another good coffee song is Java Jive by Manhattan Transfer)

Douglas said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Douglas said...

You mean, like this one?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pULXnVTRynY

It is an old standard, done by many greats in the past. One of my favorites is the Ink Spots.

Look over at the related links and you'll find a version they did.