Dinah Shore, Burt Reynolds, Al Pacino, Marvin Hamlisch, Ann-Margret, Roger Smith, Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Susan George, Jack Jones, Felicia Farr, Jack Lemmon, Jill Ireland, Charles Bronson, Linda Blair, Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney, Raquel Welch & Damon Welch at the 46th Academy Awards at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, California on April 2nd 1974.
i gotta say, there’s something about getting to hear the demos from musicals sung by the songwriters that just get me. the “i don’t care much (demo)” from cabaret? the “unusual way” demo from nine? the “it’s all in here” bonus track from a chorus line? just to name a few! its a whole other level of musical intimacy. to hear it how it was originally heard in the songwriters brain, and in their voice? god. i will always love hearing cast recordings, but it’s always super special getting to hear the songwriter doing it too.
Nobody Does It Better - Roger Moore filming the opening credits to The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) along with dancer (and bodybuilder) Carolyn Cheshire and Maurice Binder, the title designer behind 16 Bond movies (he also created the opening gun barrel effect for the franchise). Carolyn can be seen throughout the title sequence both with Roger and solo doing various gymnastics (there were a couple of other girls in the opening titles and I don't know who did what).
I believe this was also the first movie in the franchise in which the Bond actor appears as part of the opening credits but I stand to be corrected on that one. Best bit for me is where Bond pushes the marching soldiers over. If that's put you in the mood for what, to me, may be the best Bond opening credits then look no further.
The #1 song from 50 years ago was Barbra Streisand's "The Way We Were" which went on to become the #1 song ofthe year.
__________________
The Way We Were
Songwriters: Marvin Hamlisch, Marilyn Bergman and Alan Bergman
Memories
Light the corners of my mind
Misty watercolor memories
Of the way we were
Scattered pictures
Of the smiles we left behind
Smiles we gave to one another
For the way we were
Can it be that it was all so simple then?
Or has time re-written every line?
If we had the chance to do it all again
Tell me, would we?
Could we?
Memories
May be beautiful and yet
What's too painful to remember
We simply to choose to forget
So it's the laughter
We will remember
Whenever we remember
The way we were
The way we were
- “Here’s to the joy of music and the magic it brings to our lives,” pianist says
That’s Sir Elton John, EGOT, thank you very much.
After winning an Emmy award for his “Elton John Live: Farewell from Dodger Stadium” streaming special, the self-proclaimed bitch - who’s stone-cold sober as a matter of fact - became just the 19th person to win at least one Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony award.
“Thank you to all the fans, friends and collaborators who have supported me throughout the years,” John, who missed the Jan. 15 ceremony as he recovers from knee surgery, said in a statement.
“Honored to have joined the hallowed ranks of EGOT winners; here’s to the joy of music and the magic it brings to our lives.”
Previous EGOT club members include Richard Rodgers, Marvin Hamlisch, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tim Rice, John Legend and Jennifer Hudson.
The Sting was released this day in 1973 — 50 years ago.
I had just turned 8 when the film came out. It was definitely one of the key films in that heavy period of Hollywood nostalgia of the early ’70s which I wrote about here. Its ultimate source was David Maurer’s 1940 book The Big Con: The Story of the Confidence Man. Maurer had interviewed scores of real-life grifters for his book, getting…
My “to do” calendar for this June 2 boasts a whopping seven potential people for me to write about today, including two bona fide vaudevillians and a performing “freak”; I may or may not get to some of those others, but I had little internal debate about moving the much later Marvin Hamlisch (1944-2012) to the top of the list.
I prioritize Hamlisch because he was a crucial, influential link in…