I Like A Gershwin Tune

How about you?

• A genie once offered me three wishes. I pondered this for a moment, and then told him: I got rhythm. I got music. I got my man. Who could ask for anything more?

• After all I've done, it's not much fun To have a sister whose Got her brains in her dancing shoes So take a lesson from me--

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUzDg6IaPl0

  I'd Rather Charleston (Link for the TackyTwinkyGays)

• I like a fireside when a storm is due

• I didn't know every Boradway composer's a JEEEEEW!

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• Would anyone like to Madison?

• Psssst -- r4: They wrote all our Christmas carols, too.

• r3, who's going to empty the ashes? You?

• I like potato chips, moonlight and motor trips, how about you?

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• Yes, OP, I do like most of Gershwin's work and am kind of surprised at how underappreciated he is today. Some say he hasn't "stood the test of time", but by the next decade much of his work will be one hundred years old, I think that's probably a good enough time test, after all, I think Beethoven died in the 1820s and in the 1920s he was probably considered one of the greatest composers ever, not that Gershwin was on a par with Beethoven, but I still like him.

  anonymous

• Who was the original person mentioned in the line "And (blank's) looks, give me a thrill"? I've heard Franklin Roosevelt, Greta Garbo and "James" Durante (in Sinatra's version.)

• In olden days, R10, there were different lyrics written to render a song suitable for a male or female singer. I believe that Greta Garbo and Franklin Roosevelt were the original two. Curiously enough, Rosemary Clooney recorded a version in which she sang, "And Judy Holiday's looks give me a thrill." I can't remember whether she sang that verse twice; if so, the other time she sang it, she incorporated a reference to someone else. This rendition is on her Jazz Singer album/CD. I do like a Gerswhin tune, although I could happily live without hearing his brother's lyrics. Neil Simon claims that his first play was about the husband and wife song-writing team of George and Ira Gershwin. He very reasonably remains astonished that none of his teachers corrected his misconception.

• I like late supper at the Ritz.

• But with what does that rhyme, R12? A mug of Schlitz? Popping your zits? Romantic images, to be sure, but hardly contextual.

• Ohhhhhhh -- banana SPLITS! My bad.

• Ugh. D'Lovely is the worst biopic ever filmed.

• Apropos of what, R15? De-Lovely was about Cole Porter, wasn't it?

• R15 1. It's DELovely. 2. What does this have to do with Gershwin?

• The home on Snediker Avenue in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn where the Gershwin boys grew up was torn down before it could be designated a landmark.

• Michael Feinstein has a book (packaged with a CD) out now called "The Gershwins and Me". Reading it, it really should be titled, "My Superficial Opinion About Everything Gershwin". He's completely insufferable throughout--which, I suppose, should come as no surprise but really, it's a shame someone didn't tell him to cut out the "I think" this and "It would have been better had" crap. At the end of the day, Michael Feinstein is tickling the keys--rather poorly, too, as the accompanying CD attests--Gershwin wrote the damned music, and that's what's endured.

• HAPPY TIMES (HAPPY TIMES!) HAPPY NIGHTS (HAPPY NIGHTS!) HAPPY DAYS. ARE. HERE. A-GAAAAAAAAIN!!!!

• [quote]I didn't know every Broadway composer's a JEEEEEW! Not EVERY composer.

  Cole%20Porter%20%26%20Vincent%20Youmans

• Rhapsody in Blue my favorite piece of music, ever!

• What is it about Michael Feinstein that is so annoying?

• "What is it about Michael Feinstein that is so annoying?" He's Liberace without the charm, talent, wardrobe and candelabra. He can't sing--but sings anyway. He tells bad stories. His face has been so tightly tucked hotel bedsheets think he's one of them. And he amuses no one other than himself. He's just a mediocrity with a marketing machine behind him.

  Mother Feinstein

• GQ's former style critic, many years ago during a time when it was relevant, wrote that Feinstein was "the line between the saccharine and talent."

• [quote]He can't sing--but sings anyway. He had an interview show on NPR last year. Some of the guests could have been interesting, but he turned all their stories around in order to inject Michael Feinstein --- and then he would sing. Half the time, the song had nothing to do with the guest nor the topic. It was all very strange.

• R21 Me neither.

  Harry Warren

• Holding hands in the picture show, when all the lights are low may not be new... but I like it, how about you?

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• I can't believe the Michael Feinstein trashing here! Michael Feinstein is a fucking national treasure. He worked with Ira Gershwin in his latter years and gained incredible insight into the Gershwin brothers' music, how it should be performed & the stories behind each song. Feinstein is a brilliant pianist and a wonderful singer. I could listen to him all day. He captures the essence of the Gershwins like no one else.

• The House That George Built is good.

  http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0812970187/ref%3Dmp_s_a_1%3Fqid%3D1359817977%26sr%3D8-2%26pi%3DSL75

• Judge Judy officiated at Michael Feinstein's wedding.

• r29, why are you invested in Michael Feinstein? He has gotten somewhat better as he has aged (and his face has settled) but he has always been the butt of jokes. He has, indeed and very well, maintained the Gerswhin legacy with respect and great care. Kudos to him as an historian. His voice? An acquired taste and only to certain audiences. IT has gotten better with the years, though. Again, props. He has always been WAAAYY too "precious," too "look at me" and too..too something or another for many people, though. Cloying and treacly in a "see my twinkly eyes" kind of way. Nate Berkus has some of that thing going on, too. It is annoying as hell. I have his old MGM album from the late 80's/early 90's. I find his voice good for background music. A dinner or cocktail party.

• [quote]They wrote all our Christmas carols, too. And recorded them, too.

  Roberta Peters

• R33 Excuse me?

  Der%20Bingle

• [quote]Feinstein is a brilliant pianist and a wonderful singer. No. He's just okay as a pianist. As a singer, nothing to rave about. I doubt the Gershwins would have picked him to be a star in one of their musicals. As a Gershwin historian, he's outstanding.

• I love Porter, Kern, Rodgers and Arlen, but Gershwin leaves me cold.

• Who's the pocket gay in the clip at r2?

• Fuck off, Bing. You didn't WRITE any Christmas carols..

  Irving%20Berlin

• "I'm wild about good books, can't get my fill" Whaddya do, eat them? "And Greta Garbo's looks give me a thrill" Greta Garbo! Did you see Camille?

  Lucille%20McGillicuddy

• I like a Gershwin tune too!

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1P5lHH9fx8

  Donna

• I love a piano...

• R38 Hey, Irv -- read the post I was replying to before you respond.

  Bing

• I like a Gershwin--or Arlen--tune, how about you?

  Judy%2C%20to%20Barbra

• r29, your assessment of Michael Feinstein is WAY over the top. He is modestly talented and through his connection with the Gershwin family managed to claw his way to the top. He's made millions of dollars cashing in on that connection despite having a very mediocre voice. But, networking is a huge part of making it, and he did that in spades. Now he sits back and lets the cash roll in from his nightclub. Good for him, I guess. But I don't care for him and never have.