Merrie Melodies

Greetings readers! This week’s MusicPhile is all about cartoons. I realize the blog is supposed to be about music, but I have learned a lot about life and music from cartoons. These are valuable lessons, such as making the correct directional turn at Albuquerque, never buying anything from the ACME Corporation, and dressing up like a woman to get out of troubling situations.  But I’ve also learned a lot about music from cartoons. Before we begin, keep in mind that I’m focusing on music from Warner Bros. and MGM cartoons, so you Disney fans will have to wait a little bit longer for me to tell you my favorite Disney songs.

So here is a list of cartoons whose songs are still stuck in my head years after my initial exposure:

One Froggy Evening

Michigan J. Frog singing “Hello Ma Baby”, written in 1899 by the team of Joseph E. Howard and Ida Emerson ("Howard and Emerson"). Its subject is a man who has a girlfriend he knows only through the telephone.  The cartoon debuted in 1955 and also includes famous songs from the early 1900s such as “I’m Just Wild about Harry” and a play on the “Varsity Drag” written for the frog as “The Michigan Rag.”

An Itch In Time

Another cartoon song that I enjoy and often find myself humming is sung by, of all things, a flea.  The 1943 cartoon features a flea, named A. Flea, singing “Food Around The Corner” and is a catchy tune that I often sing while driving to Chick-Fil-A. If you watch this cartoon, the part that makes me LOL is around 5:47-6:10.

Horton Hatches the Egg

In this 1942 cartoon, the only classic Warner Brothers cartoon adapted from a book (Dr. Seuss), faithful elephant Horton promises to sit on an egg for Maisie, a lazy, irresponsible bird while she goes on vacation. Horton sings a version of “The Hut Sut Song.” The song is a novelty from the 1940s with nonsense lyrics. The lyrics state that a Swedish boy skipped school to sit by a stream and sing what is purportedly a Swedish folk song. The chorus goes in part: Hut-Sut Rawlson on the rillerah and a brawla, brawla sooit. It is also featured in the movies From Here to Eternity, Ace in the Hole, and A Christmas Story. If you are looking for a great version of the song I recommend Mel Torme’s.

Solid Serenade

Who doesn’t love Tom and Jerry? In this 1946 cartoon, Tom tries to woo a lovely female cat by singing “Is You Is Or Is You Ain’t My Baby”. The song has become something of a jazz standard with versions recorded by artists including The Andrews Sisters, Bing Crosby, Nat "King" Cole, Buster Brown, Renee Olstead, Dinah Washington, Joe Williams, B.B. King, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, and Joe Jackson.

The Cat Concerto or Rhapsody Rabbit

In 1946 there was a controversy brewing between both MGM and Warner Bros. studios as these two cartoons were released with similar themes, frames, and ideas.  The plagiarism controversy is still being discussed today in certain forums. Both use a great classical piece of music, Lizt’s “Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2.” Classical music is a common device in many cartoons, and I wager that if you re-watch some of your childhood cartoons you will hear many famous works from composers long gone. As for the controversy, I will let you decide which version is better.

So there you have it readers, the cartoon songs that are stuck in my head. Which songs from cartoons do you remember? What would you like to have my opinions on?  I look forward til next time, but for now tha…tha…that’s all folks.

Born to Post

Well here it is! The first post of the MusicPhile blog, I know you are as excited as I.  So why another blog about music, when there are hundreds already out on the information superhighway? Well I hope this one is different as it will show you my take on music, some fun facts, and what I am currently digging in case you are in a musical hump with nothing else to listen to.  So thanks for taking this “exit ramp” and I hope you’ll visit often.

I wanted to have the first blog posted this week of September 20^th, because there are two special occasions to celebrate for me personally and musically.  First I would like to give a “shout out” to my dad Ray who is turning the big 65 this week, and also to my favorite artist of all time Bruce Springsteen who turns 61 this week.

Let’s start with Ray.  Because of my dad (and mom) I have this thirst for music.  I remember as a kid and as a teen, there were no restrictions on what I could and couldn’t listen to.  Of course there was the occasional “Turn that down”, but never a “We don’t allow that music in this house”.  I remember listening to everything from Three Dog Night to Anne Murray with my parents around.  By them taking the time to get interested in my music and me being interested in what they liked, a nice discussion about music would happen.  Even today, my dad and I often share what we are listening to in order to get each other’s opinion. I am still hoping one day Ray will ask if I have checked out the new Jay-Z album as I am sure he is waiting for me to ask him if he has checked out the new Bill Gaither album, but until then, we still are meeting on common ground.

Let’s move onto The Boss.  Those of you who know me well know that Bruce Springsteen is my top choice of greatest musician of all time. I have had the opportunity to see Bruce (or should I say Mr. Springsteen?) 5 times in concert and let me tell you if you ever get a chance to you definitively should, no matter what you think of him. The Boss puts on a great show. I am a fan of Springsteen because the music he writes can either make you think, make you cry, or make you belt it out with him, much to your girlfriend’s dismay. For those of you who may only know Springsteen from what you hear on the radio, I would like to give you my top 5 Bruce recommendations to show you his range and skill:

1.       Kitty’s Back (more like three songs, a true masterpiece)

2.       Tenth Avenue Freezeout (an autobiographical song about the formation of the E Street Band)

3.       Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) ( another great song with different sections, and the closing concert number for years)

4.       Racing in the Street (one of my favorite ballads and a great example of Bruce’s recurring theme about the working class)

5.       Badlands (has one of the best lines ever written “all men wanna be rich, rich men wanna be king, and a king ain’t satisfied till he rules everything, I wanna go out tonight, find out what I got”)

So readers, there you go. The first blog posting of the MusicPhile.  You can rest assured we have not heard the last of Bruce Springsteen, or Ray for that matter, in these posts. I am curious to find out your favorite artist of all time. Who should I write about? What top 5 songs would you want to read about? Till next time-keep on rocking!