Sean Connery [1930-2020] / Matt Monro

Artist: Matt Monro / John Barry
 LP: From Russia With Love

Song: "From Russia With Love"

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Song: "James Bond With Bongos"

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Song: "Opening Titles - James Bond Is Back"

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This morning I woke to the sad news that actor Sean Connery had died; he was 90 years old. I grew up watching the 007 films and for me Connery was the REAL James Bond. "From Russia With Love" is my favorite Bond film. British crooner Matt Monro does a fine job on the film's theme song (with John Barry doing dynamite work with the music for the film), but sadly, the Bond film tradition of having the vocal version of the theme song blazing hypnotically over the film's sexy opening title sequence hadn't yet taken hold when this second 007 film was released in 1963. (It was the next film that began the trend, when Shirley Bassey crooned the immortal "Goldfinger" over that film's opening credits in 1964.) If I remember correctly, Matt Monro's theme song for "From Russia With Love" is merely heard (only partially) in a beach scene, playing through the speaker of an AM radio stuck in the sand. 

 

Unfortunately, when I told my work colleague Amir, who is from the Middle East, about Connery's passing, I ended up with my foot in my mouth again in another of my infamous and regrettable situations where I'm accidentally racist because I'm just no good at comprehending foreign accents. Amir expressed sadness over Connery's passing, and then told me he really liked the actor in the film "Zurock." He asked me if I'd seen it, and I repeated the title several times aloud, trying to recall if I'd even heard of it before: "Zurock...Zurock..." I told Amir I'd seen Connery in the strange '70s sci-fi film "Zardoz" and asked it that's the movie he was talking about. It wasn't. As I was busy assuming that "Zurock" was some small-scale, made-for-cable film Connery had been in, probably about some conflict in an Iraqi city called Zurock that I'd never heard of before, Amir was on his phone looking up the film he was trying to tell me about: It was this one. Embarrassed, I told him I absolutely loved it. 

 

You can read about Sean Connery's life and career on Wikipedia here, find his BBC obituary here, see a sexy photo of Sean without a shirt on here, and read all about singer Matt Monro over here.

 

[ Matt Monro: December 1, 1930 — February 7, 1985 ]

 

Sean Connery

[ August 25, 1930 — October 31, 2020 ]

We will miss you, Sean.

Society of Seven

Artist: Society of Seven

LP: Simply Ourselves

Song: "I Gotcha"
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Song: "Love Theme from 'The Godfather'"
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"Society of Seven" has become a household word around my apartment over the past 48 hours, ever since I found this LP of theirs in the bargain bin at Sonic Boom in Ballard the other day. And they're still performing! ...as you can read here. "I Gotcha" is actually kinda' rapey, and "Love Theme from 'The Godfather'" actually sounds more like the theme to a low-budget early-'70s Bond film, but it's still got a sort of rinky-dink classy kind of charm.

Sum Sum & Bun Bun Sisters

Artist: Sum Sum & Bun Bun Sisters

LP: 7" single

Song: "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" 
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Have I ever told you about the time I was working at Scarecrow Video and a group of young Asian college students came in and asked if we had the film "Chicky Chicky Boom Boom?" I honestly thought they were looking for some rare soft-core Russ Meyer film that had never been released on video. 

Anyway, I figured my upstate New York record hunting was finished once I left Ithaca, since I'd found a notice online that the one and only vinyl shop in Jamestown, NY had closed in 2015. But I had to visit Jamestown anyhow, since that's where Lucille Ball comes from and they've got a museum, her grave, the "Scary Lucy" statue, and other things like that strewn all over town. As I was walking through downtown Jamestown to take a gander at a humongous I Love Lucy mural painted on the side of a building...
 

...my eyes were instinctively drawn to the word "RECORDS" painted on a column outside Collector's Paradise, a store with a treasure trove of odds and ends assembled inside. 

As I browsed through the bins, I heard the store owner bragging about how he'd taken over the shop from the previous owner, a woman who, according to him, "was just giving things away. She didn't know the value of anything! You have to know what you've got so people don't swindle you! Now I know what things are worth. You won't find any deals here!"

"You won't find any deals here." Not the most effective advertising slogan I've ever heard. When I came across a batch of 45s from Singapore in the 1960s that didn't have prices on them, I was prepared for the worst. The owner had left by the time I brought my few records to the counter, and the friendly gal working there wasn't allowed to do any pricing. She couldn't reach the owner by phone, so I had to leave my name and number. She was going to have him come back in to price the records, and then I could stop by again after visiting the Lucy & Desi Museum to see what sort of deal I wasn't going to get (my words, not hers). 

Of course it's hard to imagine that the good people of Jamestown have been scrambling over each other, forming lines around the block to acquire 1960s vinyl singles from Singapore, but evidently the owner posts things like this on e-Bay and they go for a pretty penny—a pretty penny, indeed. I'd found about ten singles in all, and when I returned from the museum and saw what some of them had been priced at I had to stifle a scream...not a scream of joy. Let me just say this: I'd suggest changing the name of the shop from 'Collector's Paradise' to 'Collector's Quandary.'

I picked out three of the singles that I was most excited about that didn't have six-figure prices on them and made an offer for the trio. The nice gal I was working with, who did seem to really want me to have the singles, I must say, called the owner to present my counter-offer. (I tried to sweeten the deal by also purchasing a nice vinyl copy of The Beatles' "Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band," which wasn't overpriced there any more than it is at every other record shop in America.) My offer was accepted. So I guess you really can find deals at Collector's Paradise. Well, actually, no. You can't. But things can be arranged in such a way that you feel like you got a deal at Collector's Paradise, and sometimes that will just have to do.

I know I put myself through an awful lot of trouble for three measly 7" singles. But I just couldn't imagine pulling out of Jamestown knowing that I'd left behind a copy of "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" as recorded by the Sum Sum & Bun Bun Sisters of Singapore in 1969. It was worth it. The record is more than spectacular! (Or, to use the vernacular, it's wizard; it's smashing; it's keen.) Go ahead and look for more pics of these sisters, but all you're likely to come up with is a bunch of photos of these.
 

[ Sum Sum & Bun Bun Sisters ]

[ Collector's Paradise — Jamestown, NY ]

Dead Ringer (1964)

Artist: Andre Previn

LP: Dead Ringer

Song: "Main Title" 
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Song: "Maggie's Murder"
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Song: "The Fireplace Poker" 
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Song: "The Dog Attacks" 
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Song: "You're Not Margaret" 
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Song: "Figueroa"
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Song: "End Title" 
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In honor of the 88th annual Academy Awards telecast that I'll be tuning into tonight, here are a bunch of songs from the soundtrack of the terrific 1964 shocker DEAD RINGER. This highly dramatic picture, starring two-time Best Actress Academy Award-winner Bette Davis in dual roles, would surely have been a top Oscar contender if '64 hadn't been a year simply overflowing with awards-quality cinema. I've posted seven tracks that I hope will help create the appropriate level of dramatic tension as you read through the film's synopsis, included below from the back of the LP. "Figueroa" is a jazzy organ number that doesn't quite fit in with the others, but I've thrown it in too since it's pretty awesome. I think it might be something we hear in the background when we visit Edith's "small cocktail bar, a losing venture in a blighted section of Los Angeles." God knows in 1964 you wouldn't have heard electric organ jazz music in the nice part of town.

 Can I say that I would give just about anything to be able to drop in for a gin and tonic at Edith's small cocktail bar after the Oscars show tonight? Especially if there's jazzy Hammond organ music in the background. 

Ok, I just re-watched the film, and Edie's Bar is located at Figueroa and Temple, if anyone would care to join me. Edie gave directions to her rich sister's chauffeur.

It's interesting to note that, though Edith lives in a blighted neighborhood of Los Angeles and can't pay her rent, whereas Margaret lives in a sprawling mansion and collects expensive jewelry, both go to the very same hair-stylist! In any case, the film's special effects alone are worthy of an Oscar, as you can plainly see here.

This is where things start to get complicated. 
Fortunately they don't show Edith trading clothes with the corpse of her dead twin sister, an exchange that takes place off-screen. 

After further review, I regretfully report that we actually do see Edie trading clothes with her dead sister's corpse. I'd blocked it out, and for good reason. Say, have I mentioned that I actually met Karl Malden in person back in January of 2007?

It pays to hire dim-witted servants. 
Interesting bit of trivia: When Bette Davis' anguished, blood-curdling cry is played backwards (the one when she intentionally burns her hand with the red-hot fireplace poker), you can actually hear her screaming, "Give me another fucking Oscar!"

Have you ever been bear-hugged by a pro golfer? There's nothing quite like it.

What they fail to mention here is that, with the camera poised directly above the attack, viewers can plainly see that Tony is not mauled by Thor at all (nor by Duke, the name of the dog in the movie). He is actually killed by this dog, which of course makes no sense whatsoever. I'm certain this is what ruined DEAD RINGER's chances at the Oscars.

Let's see if I can get a screen grab.

So anyway, meanwhile...

Nobody was more delighted by Edith's downbeat demise than Andre Previn, since it gave him a good reason to really go to town with the string section of his orchestra.

[ 'Dead Ringer' — aka. 'Who Is Buried In My Grave?' ]

The Story of Star Wars

Artist: The Cast of Star Wars

LP: The Story of Star Wars: From the Original Soundtrack

Song: "The Story of Star Wars (excerpt)" 
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In case you haven't heard, there's a new STAR WARS movie playing in theaters. This is evidently episode #7, but I honestly can't remember what happened in episodes #1-6. (I know I've seen movie #3, which I believe is episode #6, the one with all the Muppets in the woods, but I missed movie #4, which may be episode #1 if I'm not mistaken; it's the one with Jar-Jar Binkus or whatever, the one that flopped. If I've seen episode #4, which I think is movie #1, it was years ago. I've seen either episode #2 or #3, which would be movies #5 and #6, but I can't recall which one! And it's hard to imagine I'd have gone without seeing movie #2 in the cinemas when I was a kid, which as far as I can tell would be episode #5, but if I saw it I still can't tell you a single thing about it.) 

Anyway, I desperately need a Star Wars refresher course before watching THE FORCE AWAKENS or I'll be completely at a loss. Good thing I found "The Story of Star Wars" at a thrift shop up in Alaska earlier this year. If you're in the same boat as I am, this might help you too! Before we dive headlong into the story, it's important to re-familiarize ourselves with all of the players:

"The Story of Star Wars" takes place

The entire ordeal begins when

And then suddenly

Things seem to be looking up when

But then

Everyone knows what horrors this signifies. Their worst fears are confirmed when

Without wasting a single precious moment,

Meanwhile, as everyone had anticipated,

Momentarily sidetracking everyone, R2-D2 provides a dazzling demonstration of technical brilliance by repeatedly presenting a 

Seizing a golden opportunity while everyone's busy watching the hologram,

Meanwhile, as if from out of nowhere,

Once again,

Knowing full well that time is of the essence,

As

And then, as if they didn't already have enough to do,

Which keeps them out of the way as

But then

And helps him to understand that choking the rebel officer was wrong!
Suddenly

Thankfully, he escapes with just enough time to shower and dress for the

Where, as a reward for his bravery,