An Update

                                                                           

Here we are again kids...an update on my page. Thought I would mention a few things that are happening.
I am being "ushered" into the technology age by the demand for certain tools needed for my trade. For example, as little as a year or 2 ago, I had no "cellphone"...but because of the demands of my music teaching, I was forced to get one..I opted for the cheapest possible solution, one of Carlos SLim's "Tracfones" which uses a prepaid card. Another aspect of my technological updating is having a brother who is heavily into it, and he is trying to get me "with it" Aside from having the expertise to help me when I get in a jam(this comes in very helpful) he has donated some refurbished items...this has given me a taste of what I can do given certain peripherals...My latest and greatest item is a "tablet" which was purchased for my birthday.
So now, I am Mr. Mobile, having a few items I can use away from my home...Their is a love/hate relationship I have with technology, but I've been doing the desktop computer thing for years...The desktop has aided me greatly, and transplanted my presence in a physical "Library" to the "library at home, via the internet.
I am also grateful to an old friend who taught me the basics of computers and told me "Steve, there is more than one way to do the same thing on a computer"...This helps me relax when I sit at the desktop, knowing that I can find ways of fixing problems that may occur when computing...The self help aspect (looking up computer problem solutions) is also another wonderful thing.
Anyway, I can confidently say that I have been "ushered in" to this technological world by brother and gf.

I will try to continue to voice my "take" on social issues- things that irritate me, and others that amuse me...
Please remember my other blogs..."Mimizan" and "Steveo's Blogdog" Look for one of my typical posts on here very soon...until then...."Ciao".....

Happy New Year Message From Steveo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kxe5SuFwRF4

Welcome Back, Me!

Well....it's been awhile folks, but here I am again....I hope you are having a good summer....Its been hot here in Los Angeles lately..a heat wave, actually...and its supposed to wind down a bit starting tomorrow...

A couple of items..I wan to mention my friend Lloyd Price has a new CD due out later this month, and Amazon.com is taking pre-orders.
Lloyd sings some jazz standards with about a 12 piece band....nothing fancy in the backing, but some real solid vocal interpetations of some great old songs! The name of the cd is "I'm Feeling Good"..and its on the Lloyd Price Music label...Great to have you recording agian, Lloyd!

In other news, I pulled out an old Video camera that my brother gave me some time ago, and decided to tape myself one hot day up in the attic...talking about my musical influences...and it turned into a 4 or 5 parter...
you can view parts 1 and 2 on youtube - here are the links:

pt 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gntCINrvJGA&feature=g-upl


..



pt 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gRw-fY6Q1I&feature=plcp

..   Been following the presidential race a bit, and it's getting a bit gritty as we get closer to November...with each candidate making counterclaims..I am not a fan of Romney, but I also think that Mr. Obama could do more in his leadership. I don't have to tell you that unemployment is really a big problem, but this is not entirely to the president... It's going to be an interesting time, to see what happens...I feel that this is a critical time in our history. I plan to retrn more often to give you a blast of what I'm feeling and thinking, so stay tuned...in the meantime, enjoy the videos if you so care to check them out...more will be put up as time goes by...   Steveo

The Great Joey Bishop Show Theme

HI Y'all,
Here I am again after somewhat of an absence, to blog about an old tv
theme...
The theme in question is for the "JOey Bishop Show"(sitcom)

This show ran from 1961 to about 1965...all but the last season was in
color.
NBC, at that time was owned by RCA, and they were pushing color tv sets, and featured The Bishop Show in color.

When NBC cancelled the show, CBS picked it up for one more season, and decided to relegate it to BLack and White. CBS didn't have that many color shows at the time, and for whatever reason, decided to feature this show in glorious Black and White.
The musical theme is a lost gem, in my humble opinion. Not many people
remember this show, probably because it was not available on rerun, as other classic shows of it's time were.
The show was produced by the legendary Danny Thomas, who was quite an
enrtrepanuer. Danny had his fingers silently in many shows, and was somewhat of a tv
mogul.
Since Joey was a member of the rat pack, his fellow members often sang or requested songs from friend Jimmy Van Heusen, who ran with Sinatra and company...So it was that Van Heusen wrote the theme for Joey's Show..probably at the behest of Bishop.
The music and the arrangements for the show were done by the late Herb Spencer, one of Hollywood's greatest orchestrators..a true legend in the industry. Herb, previous to this, was doing tv scoring for many Desilu Shows with his then partner Earle Hagen...they had a music scoring company called "MSI"(Music Scoring, Inc.)
But it was at this point in time that Herb went solo from Hagen to do the
Bishop show..So, in essence, Herb wrote the arrangment for the theme,
as well as the underscore. Herb gives this theme a similar treatment that he gave The Dick Van Dyke Show theme...
Kind a a jazzy mid tempo beat with a nice drum beat, slightly delayed,
or layed back...I think Herb did the chart for the Van Dyke ahow, although
its composer was Earle Hagen...
We dont hear scoring like this today...with big band and strings so
expertly arranged...
On the bridge of the Bishop show Theme, the strings take over and after a bar and a half the unison violins shift into a "singing" high register..
Another expertly arranged element in this chart are the saxes that
blend so efforlessly with the brass...
This chart also kind of mirrors the similar arranging that Spencer-Hagen
did on The Danny Thomas Show theme.

WEll, when I hear this music I am overjoyed, for 2 reasons..one, it
takes me back to another era...
and two, its just arranged so damn good! Jimmy Van Heusen did an
excellent job at providing a wonderful theme for JOey.
Of course, as Earle once told me back in the day, after the show
music was recorded, the production companies "threw out the physical
scores.." The studios didn't feel that they had any value - The nostalgia
era had yet to occur, and without a thought, these musical cues, including
the theme to That Girl, another excellent theme, were thrown out to
make space at the studio. Sad.
The show is now available on DVD(finally) and is available on Amazon.com.


Here is a link to the main and end credit themes as heard and seen on
youtube.


www.youtube.com/watch?v=vS7DOEsToAM


Steveo

Message to Kay Weeks
Dear Kay,
Thank you for responding to my post on your site about your dad Julian Davidson...
He was a wonderful man...
Best to you,
Steveo

911 Abuses

911 Abuses

I'm blogging about the people who call 911(emergency telephone line) for everything
EXCEPT what they should be calling it for, and to point out some ridiculous circumstances for which calls were placed.

A man calls 911, and when the crew gets there, it turns out a strange cat has wandered into in his house.

A woman calls 911 and when she is asked why she is calling, she states that the crows outside in the trees and sitting on the telephone lines making too much noise(cawing too loudly..)

The 911 crew listens to a frantic call where a man and a woman are yelling, and carrying on...and when they get there, it turns out that the couple was arguing over who was going to do the dishes..Im not making this stuff up!

Want more? here ya go...

A man calls 911 because an employee at Burger King messed up his order!
A woman calls 911 to get a date with a policeman...she is needy, and likes cops...

"I cant find the movie theatre, and the film starts in 5 minutes...help!"
A woman calls 911 because she says time has stopped...its been 3 pm for
over 2 hours now...
A four year old calls because she is having a problem with a math question....

ok, nuff said..there are many, many more...but people, dont call 911 unless it's life threatening or for some sort of medical emergency..just sitting in traffic and being in a traffic jam is not a good excuse...;)

Steveo