Roland Shaw and His Orchestra

Artist: Roland Shaw and His Orchestra

LP: The Return of James Bond — In "Diamonds Are Forever"...and Other Secret Agent Themes

Song: "Diamonds Are Forever"

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I grew up watching the '60s and '70s James Bond films on TV. Even when I was a kiddo I loved the films' theme songs and the sensual opening credits sequences. Roland Shaw must have loved them too, since he was rather prolific when it came to releasing James Bond movie music records in the 1960s and early '70s. I picked up this two-LP collection a few years ago at Daybreak Records (according to the price sticker anyway; my memory is shot) but until this evening I hadn't opened the album (or had I?) to reveal, not only its full gate-fold centerpiece glory, but also a signed head-shot of Sean Connery somebody stuck inside my copy! (You know, the marketing team might have put one of these in every copy of this record when it came out back in 1971. Who knows.) (But still...)

[ Sean Connery Is Forever ]

DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER is notable for marking Connery's return to the screen as British Secret Agent 007 after model George Lazenby took on the role for ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE, released in 1969. I think most 007 aficionados would agree that DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER has one of the most riveting theme songs of any in the Bond franchise (sung, of course, by the legendary Shirley Bassey...it also happens to be one of my own karaoke greatest hits!) Likewise, I don't think anyone could argue over the fact that the film has one of the most dynamite 007 posters of any ever made. And though DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER is certainly of interest for featuring an early appearance in cinema of a gay male couple (as a pair of villains...played mostly for laughs, unfortunately and of course), I'm fairly certain Bond fans and critics alike would solemnly nod in agreement when I say... This film stinks.

I don't need love...

For what good would love do me?

Diamonds never lie to me.

And, when love's gone... 

They luster on!

[ Roland Shaw: May 26, 1920 — May 11, 2012 ]

Doris Day

Artist: Doris Day

LP: By the Light of the Silvery Moon [10" EP]

Song: "Be My Little Baby Bumble Bee"

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Song: "King Chanticleer"

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Happy 100th Birthday to Doris Day! If you're like me, you always hoped someone would lure Doris out of retirement (her last movie was released in 1968) to star in one last comedy...or maybe even to star in one of those horror movies featuring a formerly-super-famous actress! (I bet Doris was good with an axe well into her 70s and 80s.) Anyway, it seems appropriate that Doris and her centennial birthday have brought me out of retirement here on the blog. 

This year I revived my tradition of bringing a Doris Day birthday cake to work...but now, working at USPS with 40 or 50 colleagues, I had to supply a much larger cake than I've ever had to before. Sadly, of those 40 or 50 at work, only about 5 of them had ever even HEARD of Doris Day before, with one colleague actually even able to reference something about not eating the daisies. But if someone has to drag these youngsters, many of them raised outside the USA, kicking and screaming into mid-20th-century America, then I'm happy to be assigned the role. 

In addition to the Doris Day shrine in the break-room, the cake was accompanied by a Doris Day playlist I'd put together on my phone the night before. I couldn't figure out how to photograph my phone with the playlist on the table by the cake, since I also needed my phone to take the photos. (I bet somebody younger and more tech-savvy could've shown me how to do it.) Anyway, in spite of nobody having heard of her, and in spite of somebody pausing my Doris Day playlist every time I left the break-room, the cake was a hit with the USPS crew and it was gone by the end of the day!

[ Doris Day: April 3, 1922 — May 13, 2019 ]

Doris Day

Artist: Doris Day

LP: Love Me Or Leave Me

Song: "Stay On the Right Side, Sister"

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Song: "Love Me Or Leave Me"

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I loved Doris Day...but she left me anyway. If Doris hadn't died in the spring of 2019 (or anytime thereafter), she would be celebrating her 99th birthday today! Is anyone else taken aback by the fact that James Cagney's ham-fisted turn in "Love Me Or Leave Me" was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar in 1955, whereas Doris' moving and highly dramatic performance as singer Ruth Etting was ignored? It's preposterous! Happy Birthday, Doris Day. You deserve the gold.

[ Doris Day: April 3, 1922 — May 13, 2019 ]

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.

Yevgeni Doga

Artist: Yevgeni Doga

LP: The Gypsy Camp Disappears In the Skies
Song: "Malyarkitsa"

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While spending my day off this week in Gig Harbor visiting my parents yesterday (bemasked and socially distant, but emotionally close; I hadn't seen them since Christmas!), I was thrilled to get a text from work telling me to take the next day off too, since I'd been working so many hours! That helped me relax, and I ended up staying for a later dinner than planned, and then played games and watched inspiring YouTube videos with them until I finally headed home to Seattle after 10:30pm.

So then I was a little annoyed when, this morning at 6:51 I got a text from the supervisor at work saying that, because there were so many call-outs, the manager wanted me to come in to work after all. "...at 9:30?" I texted in reply. I was thrilled to get a response ten minutes later saying never mind, they'd be able to get along without me and to take the day off after all. I jokingly replied that they were putting me on an emotional roller-coaster! 

Then at 8:02am I was annoyed to get a text from the manager saying that three pallets of Amazon parcels had just been delivered to the station and they needed me to come in to work after all to help deliver them...and that they didn't have a truck for me, so I'd likely need to go pick one up somewhere, and they'd be in touch again with further instructions. 

I was thrilled to get another text at 8:31am saying that they had decided to hold off delivering the new Amazon parcels until tomorrow, so I should go ahead and take the day off after all! So as of now (almost 1pm) it looks like I'll have the day off, but I'm still wearing my USPS uniform, just in case. 

I'm also posting this lovely number from Moldovian composer Yevgeni Doga; it's one of the pieces he wrote for the 1976 Russian film THE GYPSY CAMP DISAPPEARS IN THE SKIES (aka. QUEEN OF THE GYPSIES). I found this (slightly warped) copy in the dollar bins out in front of Beats and Bohos sometime last year. You can read all about Yevgeni "Eugen" Doga here, and go here to find some fun places to visit if you're ever in Moldova.

[ Yevgeni Doga ]

Doris Day

Artist: Doris Day w/ Jack Smith

LP: 7" single

Song: "Cuddle Up a Little Closer"
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I think what Doris and Jack mean is that if you're like 9 or 10 feet away, cuddle up until you're only six feet away to create the greatest possible amount of intimacy while still maintaining adequate social distancing. Oy vey. A global pandemic. 

The only good thing about Doris Day passing away last May and not being around to turn 98 today is that, if she WERE still alive, I'd constantly be worrying that this goddamn virus was gonna' get her. She's too dignified for that. Happy Birthday, Doris Day. I miss you.

[ Doris Day: April 3, 1922 — May 13, 2019 ]

Doris Day

Artist: Doris Day

LP: 7" EP

Song: "I'm Gonna Ring the Bell Tonight"
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I'm kinda' sick today, but I still went to work. I'd picked up a cake at Fred Meyer that looked like one of the hats Doris Day might have worn in ROMANCE ON THE HIGH SEAS, and I wanted to share it with my co-workers today for Doris' 96th birthday! Even though half of them (in their 20s, you know) have only a vague idea of who Doris Day is. But they got pictures in their email inboxes today, you can rest assured. Anyhow, it was a white cake with lemon filling, small and round like this one, but it was done up with a sort of '50s green frosting with pink highlights, with a pink candy flower in the center. Why didn't I take a picture of it before it was devoured? I do not know. Life is full of regrets. Now I'm heading over to the sofa for a film festival.

[ Happy Birthday, Doris Day! ]

Freddie Bell & Roberta Linn with the Bell Boys

Artist: Freddie Bell & Roberta Linn with the Bell Boys

LP: Get Yourself a College Girl

Song: "Talkin' About Love"
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There's a new record store in town! Fat Cat Records, located in Seattle's Wallingford neighborhood, is about midway between Golden Oldies, which is just down the hill by Dick's Drive-In, and Daybreak Records over in Fremont. Fat Cat has only been open a little over a month, but it's already starting to get that comfortable, kinda' messy, lived-in feel of a joint that's been there for ages. 

I dropped by after getting my taxes done at the United Way Free Tax Preparation site up the street (I recommend the service, if you haven't already done your taxes) and found a couple of gems, including this dazzling 'various artists' soundtrack to the hip and happy 1964 cinematic oddity GET YOURSELF A COLLEGE GIRL. It's got Nancy Sinatra in it!

Roberta Linn was born in a scrappy little Iowa town called Gravity in 1931 (when the population was 465, but today it's just 187). She graduated from her days as a Lawrence Welk "Champagne Lady" in the 1950s and teamed up with early-rock-n-roll musician Freddie Bell in 1961. They had a show together at the Sands and other Vegas casinos for a few years but divorced in 1972 after Bell began hitting the bottle. He passed away in 2008 at age 76. I'm delighted to see Roberta still going strong, performing with the Sun City Singers in Palm Desert, CA just last week! You can read more about the lovely Ms. Linn here and here and visit her website here.

 

[ Freddie Bell & Roberta Linn w/ the Bell Boys ]

[ Fat Cat Records — Seattle, WA ]