Random Memorial for Monday 12/19/16

Gone but not forgotten:  Prince Rogers Nelson.

With that announcement, and on the heels of the last two posts for Sharon Jones and Davey Jones/Bowie, this concludes the 2016 edition of my annual "dead celebrity tune trilogy".

Although this year, the trilogy has been doubly different -- it has been posted on Memorial Monday instead of on Tune Tuesday because Tune Tuesdays are changing in the new year so Memorial Mondays will be its new permanent home ... and, as "luck" would have it, all three dead celebrities have random Christmas songs with which they are affiliated.

Mind you -- I had absolutely NO idea that this one even existed until I started googling and youtubing, but this sad very Princey song popped up on my radar (it looks like it was once the Bside to "I Would Die 4 U" -- something only those of a certain age even understand any more).

He who is now with the person about whom this song was sung (who apparently died on Christmas of pneumonia [ummm ... Happy Holidays?!]), you will be missed.

DON'T KNOW WHY IT'S NOT INCLUDED ON MORE HOLIDAY COMPILATIONS:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqd-jkQTyB8

Random Memorial for Monday 12/12/16

Gone but not forgotten:  Davey Jones (and no, he's not related to last week's entry of Sharon Jones).

Mind you, I know I posted about him almost eleven months ago to the day ... AND that I even included the song below as one of the three companion links when I did (on Jan 11) ... BUT I'm currently in the middle of my annual dead celebrity tune trilogy (songs from three of those who have died in the year that is almost ending) ... SO a mention of David Bowie fits in again right here.

He who is known for many many things -- including participating in the Most.  Awkward.  Duet.  Ever! -- you will most definitely be missed!

'TIS THE SEASON (PERHAPS WE'LL SEE PEACE ON EARTH SOME DAY):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADbJLo4x-tk

Random Memorial for Monday 12/5/16

Gone but not forgotten:  Sharon Jones!

It's that time of year again ... time for my dead celebrity tune trilogy.  In the past, it's been on three *Tuesdays* in a row, but with a change-a-comin' for Tuesdays in the new year (more about that in a later post at a later time), the annual tuneful celebration of those who died in the year that is rapidly drawing to a close will happen over the next three *Mondays* instead.

First up is *this* national treasure, who passed from pancreatic cancer just last month -- but not after first filling up the world with her brand of funk soul (I do love me some funk).  Some called her the "female James Brown" ... but I'm going to posit that he was the "male Sharon Jones".

She who had her eyes opened with regards to how "Santa" took care of the kids in the projects in the ghetto what with there being no chimneys there -- if you haven't ever heard that holiday tune, it's linked below/to follow -- you will most definitely be missed!

THERE AIN'T NO CHIMNEYS IN THE PROJECTS:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MKCR8FVAxI

Random Tune for Tuesday 1/5/16

A trilogy, by definition, is a thing of three.

Which is just the fancy way to say that it's time for the third and final entry in the 2015 Dead Celebrity Tune Trilogy ... an annual tradition honoring three celebrities who passed in the year that just ended.

If you haven't been following along with the 2015 edition, it's had tunes from Percy Sledge and Maureen O'Hara so far ... and the final entry is hinted at by the image accompanying this post.

Indeed, Ms. Lynn Anderson passed in 2015, and although I considered going for one of her other hits ... since they were mostly just before I was born, I did circle back to settle on her most famous ditty ... with its reality-based outlook on a life of ups and downs AND the exhortation to "smile for awhile and let's be jolly" (made all the more better because the clip I located on the youtube is a duet between Lynn and the incomparable Martina McBride [one of the artists most frequently chosen for my Tuesday Tune series]).

I BEG YOUR PARDON:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NL6qhVMh6s

Random Tune for Tuesday 12/22/15

And ... the Dead Celebrity Tune Trilogy continues ... with the second of three tunes at the end of the year from celebrities who passed in 2015.

You haven't heard of it?  I've been doing it for seven years ... so where you been?

The 2015 edition kicked off two weeks ago with a song from Maureen O'Hara ... and tonight, it's Percy Sledge's turn.  Anyone else might have selected the uber-popular 'When A Man Loves A Woman' to feature (which, sadly, being a child of the 80's, I first learned as a Bolton song) ... but once I saw that he covered 'Whiter Shade of Pale' (which, happily, I first learned as a Lennox song ... despite it being originally a Procol Harum song), I knew *that* was the tune for tonight.

The trilogy closes in two weeks ... who will be the third?

WHO *HASN'T* SKIPPED THE LIGHTS FANDANGO AT LEAST ONCE?:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P04QGS78QdQ

Random Tune for Tuesday 12/8/15

It's time.

For the SEVENTH year in a row, as 2015 draws to a close ... it's time for the annual Dead Celebrity Tune Trilogy.

In case you don't remember how it works, for three of the next six weeks (interspersed with the other ongoing series on Tune Tuesdays known as 'Discarded Cassettes'), I'll feature a song associated with a celebrity* who passed sometime in the year that is ending.

[*I reserve the right to define celebrity as I see fit.]

It seems like the perfect person to start things off this holiday season is one of the stars of 'Miracle on 34th Street' ... singing her version of a classic funereal dirge.  Here's 'Danny Boy', from she who lived to be 95, the late Maureen O'Hara!

THE PIPES, THE PIPES ARE CALLING (AKA SOMEBODY GET A PLUMBER!):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r4DJOgrI3s

Random Tune for Tuesday 1/13/15

Mixed tape madness resumes next Tuesday ... but first -- today concludes my annual tradition known as the dead celebrity tune trilogy.

As much as I wanted to have Joan Rivers be the third (paired with Robin Williams and Jan Hooks, those featured the last two weeks), I couldn't really find any clips of her singing on the youtube.

Not to fear though ... there are plenty of celebrities who died back in 2014, including Ms. Stritch.  At first I thought there would be something dickish about posting her tune 'I'm Still Here' (you know, seeing as how she's not) ... until I looked at it again and realized that, courtesy of her art, she kind of is still here beyond her passing ... as proven at the link below ...

FEISTY IS AS FEISTY DOES (WORDS REMEMBERED OR NOT):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--u0kxITaBU

Random Tune for Tuesday 1/6/15

The ongoing presentation of those songs from my college era mixed tape will resume with cassette 2 on the 20th of this month ... but first, I have to complete my annual tradition:  the dead celebrity tune trilogy.

For years now, I've paused over the holidays to remember three celebrities who passed in the year that was ending.  For 2014, the trilogy kicked off last week with Robin Williams, and now continues with the dearly missed Jan Hooks, with one more to be featured next week.

When Jan passed, I previously posted what is actually my favorite tune of hers ... the mostly black and white 'Love is a Dream' with the late Phil Hartman..  So tonight I went seeking *other* images and tunes.  I was pleasantly surprised to be reminded that Jan was in the '92 Batman Returns (the quartet of films that pre-dated the Nolan trilogy), which is why the image accompanying this post has her in front of the Oswald Cobblepot posters ... and then I learned something completely new when I found this tune from Tush (a comedy showcase that pre-dated her appearances on SNL).

Bottom line ... I'm oh so grateful to the youtube so that these fine folks can live forever ...

SHE IS WOMAN, HEAR HER ROAR:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8T7i7c6WrfQ

Random Tune for Tuesday 12/30/14

We interrupt this weekly presentation of all of those songs from that mixed tape back in college to continue an annual tradition of mine ... the dead celebrity tune trilogy with which I bridge every change of calendar.

In case you aren't familiar, as partially inspired by all of those "in memoriam" segments of all of those "awards" shows prevalent around this time, for the last few years, I have devoted three consecutive Tuesdays to finding tunes from three celebrities who passed in the past twelve months.

And, as I'm getting older, it seems like I "know" more and more of the faces each year (sigh).  To kick us off, on behalf of Robin Williams, and in light of the fact that I just (finally) got around to watching Happy Feet 1 and 2 this recent holiday season ... here's the little spark of madness he put into the penguin Ramon, and that version of the classic My Way!

A MI MANERA BABY:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3tJBX2206w

Random Tune for Tuesday 1/28/14

And, with this post today, so ends another year of my annual series "dead celebrity tune trilogy" featuring those who passed in the year that just closed.

Why not feature this guy (if it were somehow fifteen years ago in '98, I could have featured this woman with whom he duets)?  And why not feature a song that features the great town of Chicago (and the pawn shops therein), what with me being less than 48 hours away from the big move?

No one does story songs better than country music, and no one does love gone wrong better than Ms. Wynette ... and Mr. Jones (RIP).

[Now here's hoping some random famous people die in 2014 so that I have good tunes to randomly choose next year this time.  Wait a minute ... perhaps I have a priority or two out of whack ...]

IN A PAWNSHOP IN CHICAGO ... :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9KniULwvjE

Random Tune for Tuesday 1/21/14

Week number two of my annual series accurately named as the "dead celebrity tune trilogy" ... and I stumbled on this youtube video featuring a track from the 1973 vinyl LP pictured to the side ... which I had no idea even existed.

I mean sure, I knew that Archie and his dingbat liked to gather around the piano and sing about Glenn Miller and Herbert Hoover and exclaim "gee, our old LaSalle ran great" (exact lyrics I didn't decipher until quite late in life) ... but I just simply didn't know they put out a whole album of tunes.

Truth be told, while googling to see if I knew any songs of Mindy McCready for tonight's post (the original post I thought I'd be randomly mentioning, but it turns out I didn't ... I only knew from her seizure on Celebrity Rehab) ... I just kept on googling and found another famous person who passed last year who was probably even more deserving of this spot ... Jean Stapleton.

Oh ... and now I have something to look for at flea markets!

JEAN STAPLETON, UNSTIFLED:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fThKSNRy8o

Random Tune for Tuesday 1/14/14

I sure do love a tradition (almost as much as I love a countdown) ... and so, without any further ado, tonight I'm launching my fifth annual "dead celebrity tune trilogy" (yep, this tradition has been with me for the FIVE years I've been posting).

The rules are simple ... for the next three weeks of Tuesdays, the random tunes will each be somehow connected to a celebrity (as I define the word) who passed in the year that just ended.

And I have to kick it off with Lou Reed, if only because I was at the Pearl Jam concert in Baltimore this past October when Eddie added a tune or two that night in honor of the legend.  (Also because I secretly hoped that, at his funeral, there was a row of african american women in a semi-circle behind his casket, saying ... "doo, da doo, da doo, do da do doo, da doo, da doo, doo da doo dooooo".)

THOSE WHO HAVEN'T WALKED ON THE WILD SIDE HAVEN'T YET LIVED:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUntj4z3v0w

Random Tune for Tuesday 1/22/13

And now the last in the 2012 version of the Dead Celebrity Tune Trilogy, honoring those who have passed in the year that just ended (for the record, 2012's edition also included Whitney Houston and Robert B Sherman).

One of the problems with getting older is that I recognize more and more names on those morbid lists that get published in late December, so I have too many from which to choose -- but I'll reach back to a talent who passed early in 2012, and provide a tune from Etta J that is not her biggest hit -- but one that still "smokes" all the same.

And a twist -- the link is to Adele's cover, a worthy modern take sung in Etta's honor for sure.

IF ONLY FOR RHYMING COQUETTE WITH CIGARETTE ... FOOL THAT I AM:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjhycVMeaQw

Random Tune(s) for Tuesday 1/15/13

Tonight, I'm midway through my annual "dead celebrity tune trilogy", a tradition in three parts where I randomly choose songs from someone we lost in the year that just ended.

[Note:  it's not my job to pass judgment, as we all know that there were interesting and odd choices there toward the end for she whom I've chosen for tonight, so let's focus on the talent that was indisputable ... ]

[Also note:  we're doubling up the tripleness, as tonight, we'll have three songs from this one celebrity, the reason for which will become evident in just a moment ...]

So read/hear this in the voice of a late night radio DJ:  "... these go out to that scared little boy in the hospital tonight who has always been a big fan of Cissy's daughter, with a song from each decade being sent his way accompanied by most happy thoughts to get through the hard parts, best wishes for a speedy recovery once they have passed and constant reminders that we'll all be right here waiting for when he makes it back home."

80's -->  MOST HAPPY THOUGHTS TO GET THROUGH THE HARD PARTS:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEQ4yAFiJkY

00's -->  BEST WISHES FOR A SPEEDY RECOVERY:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLE4w0uA8nY

90's -->  WE'LL ALL BE RIGHT HERE WAITING WHEN YOU COME HOME:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLE4w0uA8nY

Random Tune for Tuesday 1/8/13

I've been doing this for awhile.

How do I know?  ... Because it's time to start my FOURTH annual "dead celebrity tune trilogy".  Since the end of 09, I've dedicated three Tuesday posts in a row to those who passed in the year before (with the definition of celebrity stretched via artistic license as needed).

So for the first in the 2012 trilogy, there's this compilation of sad cartoon images that I found on the old youtube in honor of Disney songwriter Robert B Sherman (who brought us many classic songs -- including some from ChittyChittyBangBang, Mary Poppins, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, etc.).  Robert passed in March 2012, and, at that time, it was mentioned in most places that he also brought us "It's a Small World After All".

I dare not link to that song -- and not because I fear the Disney copyright police.  It's just that I had the misfortune of getting stuck on that ride when I visited my good friend Holly in Orlando in November 1996, and although I don't begrudge Mr. Sherman the genius of the song, repeated play of a repetitive tune in the company of animatronic figures from whom you can't escape created a different uniquely uncomfortable feeling of a memory that I wish not to recall (any more than I just did to type it out for this post).  Coincidentally enough, that memory of visiting Florida is somewhat ironic for today, as I just had to pull the trigger and completely cancel the week's vacation I was to have started tomorrow (hey -- we survived the apocalypse, so Florida will still be there next month when the timing is better [fingers-crossed]).

Which brings me back to this song, as I've been in a more reflective somber mood since my father's passing this past weekend, making images of cartoon characters crying decidedly appropo ...

RIP ROBERT B SHERMAN (1925-2012):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JK7FkWgBGTI

Random Tune for Tuesday 12/20/11

It's time for my second of three postings honoring those who passed in 2011 (my so called annual dead celebrity tune trilogy). And, since the concept of "celebrity" is super-stretched in our society right now, I feel OK about providing a tune on which the late Marion Holmes Defore was featured (along with Art Kassel and his Kassels in the Air). She was 93 when she passed last month (which explains the black and white images in the youtube video at the link below) -- and I settled on this song after not being able to find a copy of her singing "I'm a Little Teapot" (my first choice and her most well known tune).

I DIDN'T WANNA DO IT ... I DIDN'T WANNA DO IT ...:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogNhw1zSME4

Random Tune for Tuesday 12/6/11

For at least the third year in a row ... it's time to bring back (not because anybody asked ... just because I'm a little odd) ... the Dead Celebrity Tune Trilogy. First up -- a tune from Joseph Brooks, who passed this summer.

And, since I am just as much twisted as I am a little odd, I guess I feel comfortable sharing that it turns out Joseph died from self-inflicted asphyxiation by helium, just before he was headed to trial for allegedly being a serial casting couch assaultist in his older age.

So even though I usually only provide one link ... I'll include both the now dead composer in a clip and the more famous Debby Boone version (who, to be clear, is NOT DEAD -- and, at the rate her daddy Pat is going, has quite a few years to go if the genetic trait was passed on to her), just in case you'd rather have your life lit up by one over the other.

IN THE STUDIO (WITH NO COUCH IN SIGHT):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQTOcdU88fg

THE ONE ASSOCIATED WITH THIS SONG WHO DIDN'T DIE LAST YEAR:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQpl_JFHya0

Random Tune for Tuesday 2/1/11

Here it is, the third and final post of this year's Dead Celebrity Tune Trilogy (this morbid menage-a-tois, this terribly-missed triumvirate) -- Stormy Weather from the late great Lena Horne. And with a blizzard a-blowing outside, what a perfect fit. [Thanks to those who've reached out to me. I have blankets and food and candles and I feel prepared for the thundersnows and 18 ft waves off the lake and 4 ft drifts. The only thing I didn't add was a clothesline from my door to my car, cause that seemed a little bit too much (and too reminiscent of Little House on the Prairie)].

BABY ITs COLD OUTSIDE:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzLkXdkuhX8

Random Tune for Tuesday 1/18/11

With this post, I'm two dead celebrities into this year's tune trilogy honoring those who have passed on. I commented when she left us this spring very respectfully (see Memorial Monday on 4/12/10), and so I'll attempt to balance the snarkiness of today's introduction by choosing a little more reverent clip. Below, find the amazing Dixie Carter performing a soaring How Great Thou Art. [And now I'm two for two in this series with clips from classic TV shows around four strong women!]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLImJDf2PII

Random Tune for Tuesday 1/4/11

"After my boom comes your boom".

And it's time for the annual tribute in trilogy to those celebrities that passed in 2010. With Bea gone last year and Rue passing this year (not to mention Leslie too), I am most worried for Betty. Perhaps she can strike a deal with the Grim Golden Girls Reaper for extra longevity. But enough about the living ... it's just comforting to know that although we may never get to see the musical version of her autobiography My First Five Husbands (on which she was working when she died), we can catch her on Maude and Mama's Family and Golden Palace and Sordid Lives on occasion, and in the show that brings us this clip which is seemingly on multiple times a day!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diXtiuVCcr0&feature=related