Crooner Culture

Okay, one more thing…

I just wanted to let you guys know that I’m still blogging with b5media! You can check out my profile page to see where…

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Leaving you with this… Just like Frankie did.

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b5media Music Channel Sunday Link Love - 7/27/08

Sending out the link love to all the b5media Music Channels today, as this will be the last Sunday Link Love post on Crooner Culture. As business is business, the music channel is losing over a dozen blogs this month, and Crooner Culture is one of them. The traffic just isn’t there, so it’s to be presumed (and I can’t disagree) that the interest isn’t there.

I’m a huge fan of this music. I have been for many years, and have always known that at 31 years of age, there weren’t too many people around me who agree with me. But then again, “I was country when country wasn’t cool” and I never did get into N*Sync of any of those boys. I don’t even know which guy was in which band!

It’s possible that this blog will see a resurrection at some point in time. I can’t make any guarantees, and I really don’t know for sure what the details could or would need to be in order to make that happen just yet.

Just know that I’ll be sittin’ here, not feeling so good about it, but letting My Bubble’s voice soothe me.

I’m not sure which blogs are staying and which are going, so here they all are… Go check them out, and please… support them. Link to them. Read them every day and leave them lots of comments. Subscribe to their RSS feeds. It’s important!

• 52 Bands
• Austin Sound Check
• Big Apple Music Scene
• Brit Music Scene
• Canadian Music News
• Christian Music Fan
• Country Music Stop
• Ear Sucker
• Hip Hop Roll
• Industrial Addiction
• Jazz & Blues Lounge
• Killed by the Video Star
• Metal Martyr
• New Age Vibe
• News in Punk
• Our Digital Music
• Oz Music Scene
• Pop Music Scene
• Rumors in Music
• She Plays Music
• Smells Like Alternative
• The Beatles Invasion
• The Good Musician
• The Rock Dose
• The Rock Relic
• Toronto Unplugged

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Crooner Culture Top 8 - Swanky Cocktail Recipes

Here are my favorite “Swanky Cocktails” posts, most courtesy from TheBar.com…

• Hot New Miami Drink - Yellow Tomato Martini
• Michael, Mojitos and The Rumba
• Thirsty Thursdays - Royal Stretch
• Sexy Chocolatini Recipes
• Swanky Cocktails: Caipirissima
• Weekend Song and Drink (Dancing Optional)
• Pool Party Elegance 4th of July
• New Year’s Eve Swank Drink Ideas

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Dean Martin c. 1964

I stand by the fact that I was just born in the wrong era.
It makes me think about things like reincarnation and stuff sometimes, when I think about how drawn I am to the music and the lifestyle of the 40s, 50s, and 60s… I know, it’s weird, but it really makes me wonder.

Here’s the “drunken dreamboat”… Dino:

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Crooner Culture Top 8 - Sinatra

These aren’t in order, but they’re the top 10 best Sinatra (only Sinatra) posts here on Crooner Culture…

• Blog Project - Family Album Time! (Repost)
• Alicia Keys and Frank Sinatra at the Grammys
• Frank Sinatra- The House I Live In - video short (1945)
• Lyrical References - Bon Jovi and Frank Sinatra
• Today’s all about Ol’ Blue Eyes!
• Vintage Art - Tommy Dorsey and Frank Sinatra 1940
• Kings Of Swing - Sinatra and Buble - “That’s How It Goes” Lyrics
• That’s Life (LOVE this song)

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Repost: Dean Martin, Queen, and My Trip To Italy

Okay, so here’s proof that I’m a weirdo in having been a fan of this stuff since I was a kid. It also goes to show you how music can unite people in the most wonderful of ways. Grab an espresso and relax, this one’s cute.

When I was 15, I was a foreign exchange student to Italy for the summer. It was without a doubt the best ever summer of my entire life, even up until now. I lived with a fabulous family in Ancona and Marcelli Beach (yep, they owned a beach house) that took me all over the country to show me as much as they possibly could in my short stay.

Now you might not be aware of this, but in Europe, the folks there are HUGE fans of the band Queen. I mean, Freddy Mercury could be heard everywhere you went, and one of the favorites at that time was “We Are The Champions”. There was seriously nothing more adorable than hearing a bunch of Italians singing this song with their accents, getting all proud and teary (over what, I can’t imagine, other than football (soccer) wins).

While my host sister Laura had a decent grasp on English, my host father and mother and little sister did not. Well, one night the girls and I had the giggles and their father kept coming upstairs to tell us “Chiuda e vada dormire!” (”Shut up and go to sleep!”) Which basically just made us laugh harder when he would close the door…

Well I couldn’t take it anymore and just decided to keep it rolling so I began to sing. Yep, I sang LOUDLY, and it wasn’t anything by Queen, it was “Volare” by Dean Martin. (Sketchy translations in parenthesis added by me - these words are NOT in the actual song, and I did not sing them that night.)

Volare (To fly), oh oh
Cantare (To sing), oh oh oh oh
Let’s fly way up to the clouds
Away from the maddening crowds
We can sing in the glow of a star that I know of
Where lovers enjoy peace of mind
Let us leave the confusion and all disillusion behind
Just like bird of a feather, a rainbow together we’ll find

Volare, oh oh
E contare, oh oh oh oh
No wonder my happy heart sings
Your love has given me wings
Penso che un sogno cosi non ritorni mai piu
(I think that’s a dream that never returns ever again)
Mi dipingevo le mani e la faccia di blu
(I painted the hands and the face of the blue)
Poi d’improvviso venivo dal vento rapito
(Then suddenly I came from the kidnapped wind)
E incominciavo a volare nel cielo infinito
(And I began to fly in the infinite sky)

Volare, oh oh
E contare, oh oh oh oh
Nel blu, dipinto di blu
(In the blue, the painting of blue)
Felice di stare lassu
(Happy for being with you)
E volavo, volavo felice piu in alto del sole ed ancora piu su
(And I flew, I flew up happy beyond the sun and still further on)
Mentre il mondo pian piano spariva lontano laggiu
(While the world disappeared far away)
Una musica dolce suonava soltanto per me
(A sweet music only played for me)

Volare, oh oh
E cantare, oh oh oh oh
No wonder my happy heart sings
Your love has given me wings
Nel blu, dipinto di blu
Felice di stare lassu

I also did a little rendition of “That’s Amore” too, but given that “Volare” had more Italian in it, I stuck with that. My host father kept coming into the room with his hand raised like he was going to smack us but he couldn’t stop laughing long enough to do so! Yes, this is one of my most cherished and loved memories - and I owe it all to Dino.

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Sunday Link Love - b5media Music - 7/20/08

Finally, a John Lennon biopic is on it’s way. Oh, and Daniel Powter’s “Bad Day” is the most played song in the UK. My godson sang it at his 5th grade graduation and I bawled my eyes out.

Steven Tyler’s mom has passed away at 84. :(
Well doesn’t that just suck?

Are you Anti-DRM? Soundoff here.

Guns ‘N Roses rumors… Gotta love it!

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My theme song…

Okay, I’m doing a lot of soul-searching and hard work on myself these days. This song has always gotten me through a lot, and I really love it.

I’m feeeeeeelinnnnnnn…….. gooood.

Okay okay… here’s Nina Simone’s version too:

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More Vintage Art - More 1957 Vogue

John Rawlings (1912 – 1970) gave fashion photography a sharp artistic focus. He transformed it into a medium brimming with color, light and fascinating composition. Rawlings created over 200 magazine covers for Conde-Nast. When his work, including this 1957 “Vogue” cover hit the stands, sales and respect for fashion photography skyrocketed.

October 1957 (Vogue Cover) Framed Art Print

Rawlings, John

Buy at AllPosters.com

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