Sam Smith’s recent hit “Stay With Me” has such a timeless sound that I am repeatedly forgetting that it is a new song and has not been around for decades. Smith recently used his unique voice to reinterpret Whitney Houston’s 1985 hit song, “How Will I Know.”
“How Will I Know” — written by George Merrill, Shannon Rubicam, Narada Michael Walden — appeared on Houston’s debut album, Whitney Houston (1085) after Janet Jackson had turned down the opportunity to record it. While Houston’s wonderful version is uplifting, Smith takes an aching soulful approach, giving the song a different meaning. Check it out.
What is your favorite Sam Smith song? Leave your two cents in the comments.
Some of the highlights of this season’s America’s Got Talent have been several talented magicians, including David and Leeman, Mike Super, Smoothini, and Mat Franco. In this week’s semi-finalist show of the NBC series, the Rhode Island native Mat Franco did a pretty amazing trick with Mel B‘s cell phone.
In the performance, Franco makes the cell phone disappear and reappear in an impossibly unusual place. Franco’s way of proving that it was the same cell phone was pretty cool too.
If you are an inquiring person who does not want to be left with the amazement of magic, Reddit has a discussion speculating about how Franco may have done the trick. In addition to Franco, several other artists had a good week too, including dance duo Blue Journey.
September 4, 2014 Update: The following night after Franco’s cell phone trick, both he and Blue Journey advanced to the next round, putting them among the top twelve acts.
In this new video from the Weekly Feed, country singer-songwriter Dwight Yoakam discusses acting, country music, and his next CD. Yoakam explains to interviewer Kyle Meredith how he came to sing a Creedance Clearwater Revival song recently as a character on CBS’s Under The Dome.
In the video, Yoakam also explains why when he does cover songs, he usually tries to avoid iconic recordings. Other topics include Yoakam’s thoughts on David Bowie, Buck Owens, T-Rex, and the state of the music industry.
Yoakam is one of the more intelligent artists around and he has a great understanding of history. So it is always enlightening to hear him talk about various subjects. Check out this interview from the WFPK studios in Louisville, Kentucky.
Below is the clip from Under the Dome that he discusses, where his character sits in jail and sings “Who’ll Stop the Rain.”
If all that leaves you wanting more Yoakam, below is the song he mentions at the end of the interview, “A Heart Like Mine,” from his 3 Pears (2012) CD. The song was co-produced by Beck.
What is your favorite Dwight Yoakam song? Leave your two cents in the comments.
On September 1, 1914, the last passenger pigeon on earth passed away. The passenger pigeon once was the most numerous species in North America and perhaps the world.
In the mid and late 1800s, there were millions of passenger pigeons in the United States. But the species dwindled down from hunting and other reasons, until on this date a passenger pigeon named Martha died in the Cincinnati Zoo.
According to a New Yorker book review of Joe Greenberg’s A Feathered River Across the Sky, the last pair of passenger pigeons, George and Martha, lived in captivity at the Cincinnati Zoo. After George died in 1910, Martha lived on four more years as a sad attraction, reminding visitors of the destruction of a once widespread species.
Although officials offered a $1000 reward for a male passenger pigeon, no more were found. And Martha passed away in 1914, ending the species. (Jonathan Rosen, “The Birds,” New Yorker 6 Jan. 2014: 62)
Below is a short video about passenger pigeons, featuring a song about Martha called “Martha (Last of the Passenger Pigeons),” written and sung by singer-songwriter John Herald.
Singer John Herald was one of the founders of the bluegrass group Greenbriar Boys, and he worked as a session guitarist for a number of artists like Bonnie Raitt and Doc Watson. He wrote the classic song about a drunk racehorse, “Stewball,” which was recorded by Peter, Paul and Mary. Herald passed away in 2005.
As for Martha, after her death, she was frozen in ice and sent by train to Washington, D.C. There, she was stuffed and put on display at the Smithsonian. She is now part of a special exhibit at the Cincinnati Zoo.
Meanwhile, Project Passenger Pigeon works to educate about the loss of the species. Although Martha has died, we have kept her body to forever haunt humans and remind us that nobody — and no species — survives forever.
Photo of Martha, the last passenger pigeon, via public domain.
What species extinction do you think most about? Leave your two cents in the comments.
On August 31, 1948, the 16-year-old William Robert “Billy” Laughlin was delivering newspapers riding on the back of his scooter, operated by a friend. Suddenly, a truck collided into the scooter when the boys were making a U-turn, sending Laughlin to the hospital where he passed away six hours later. Although his friend survived and no charges were filed against the truck driver, it was the end of the short life of one of the most memorable “Our Gang” characters.
Laughlin had played Froggy in Our Gang shorts from 1940-1944. The character was known for his deep frog-like voice, which was actually done by Laughlin.
This video below of Waldo’s Last Stand, a short comedy film directed by Edward Cahn, features Laughlin in one of his early appearances on the show in 1940. Although Laughlin appears early in the episode, he does not say anything until he delivers a punch line in his great voice at around the nine-minute mark.
Reportedly, Laughlin’s mother first got him into acting as a way to boost the confidence of the little boy who had been teased for his crossed eyes and thick glasses. Through that work, Laughlin came up with various voices, including his “Froggy” voice.
After MGM discontinued Our Gang in April 1944 and after Laughlin’s appearance in the movie Johnny Doesn’t Live Here Any More (1944), the boy moved away from the acting life to enjoy a normal teenage life. Unfortunately, his normal life did not last as long as it should have.
Some other “Our Gang” actors suffered tragic deaths. For example, Carl Dean Switzer (“Alfalfa”) died at age 31 from a gunshot wound during an argument over $50. Robert Hutchins (“Wheezer”) died at the age of 20 during military training. But according to Snopes, it is not true that when you look across the lives of the cast members that you can find any kind of curse. Froggy’s Laughlin, though, died at the youngest age of any of the “Our Gang” actors. Even if there is no “curse,” sometimes life is just unfair.
What is your favorite Our Gang or Little Rascals memory? Leave your two cents in the comments.
(2012) CD. The song was co-produced by Beck.
, the last pair of passenger pigeons, George and Martha, lived in captivity at the Cincinnati Zoo. After George died in 1910, Martha lived on four more years as a sad attraction, reminding visitors of the destruction of a once widespread species.
