Finishing Touches

Warren Zevon plays live

Gene Kelly Frank Sinatra - "New York, New York"

Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, and Jules Munchin perform the "other" New York, New York... from the film version of "On The Town"

"Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries" (Rudy Vallee, 1931)

Rudy Vallee's spot-on mimicry of dialect comedian Willie Howard (who introduced this Ray Henderson/Buddy DeSylva/Lew Brown number in "George W...   more Rudy Vallee's spot-on mimicry of dialect comedian Willie Howard (who introduced this Ray Henderson/Buddy DeSylva/Lew Brown number in "George White's Scandals of 1931") is one of the more remarkable aspects of this cheery depression buster.

I posted Jack Hylton's version a while back, but that performance skips the well-wrought introduction:

LIFE IS JUST A BOWL OF CHERRIES

People are queer, they're always crowing, scrambling and rushing about;
Why don't they stop someday, address themselves this way?
Why are we here? Where are we going? It's time that we found out.
We're not here to stay; we're on a short holiday.

Life is just a bowl of cherries.
Don't take it serious; it's too mysterious.
You work, you save, you worry so,
But you can't take your dough when you go, go, go.

So keep repeating it's the berries,
The strongest oak must fall,
The sweet things in life, to you were just loaned
So how can you lose what you've never owned?
Life is just a bowl of cherries,
So live and laugh at it all.

Life is just a bowl of cherries.
Don't take it serious; it's too mysterious.
At eight each morning I have got a date,
To take my plunge 'round the Empire State.
You'll admit it's not the berries,
In a building that's so tall;
There's a guy in the show, the girls love to kiss;
Get thousands a week just for crooning like this:
Life is just a bowl of . . . aw, nuts!
So live and laugh at it all!   less

Milton Friedman Tells Phil Donahue Why Socialism Fails

Milton Friedman Tells Phil Donahue Why Socialism Fails

Tom Lehrer - Who's Next (republished with FULL intro)

Tom Lehrer on Amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/Tom-Lehrer/e/B0...

Tom Lehrer songs on iTunes:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/tom...

This song was p...   more Tom Lehrer on Amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/Tom-Lehrer/e/B0...

Tom Lehrer songs on iTunes:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/tom...

This song was published three times: A "Wikipedia"-version, THIS version (without Wiki quotes) AND a new 4:3 HQ-version in August of 2009. Select the one you prefer. "Who's Next" (here in the full second version with intro) is unfortunately still a hot topic today. Iran will maybe have the bomb ready before South Africa? This is the republished version of August 2008 without the Wikipedia quote and with Tom Lehrer's original verbal intro.

Lehrer said "OK" to "The Tom Lehrer wisdom channel" on YouTube, as long as the performance is not altered and as long as it's free in the YouTube flash video format. Do NOT ask for any video originals, ever again.

Click on the Lehrer icon and visit the channel's front page. And here is a link to a NEW channel support page:

http://home.broadpark.no/~emeyn/tl/

© 2009 Tom Lehrer

Recording date: September 10th 1967
Format: Ampex Quadruplex PAL 4:3
Status: A very rare recording
Storage: Sony Digital Betacam
Production and preservation: The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation - the NRK, Norway. More here:

http://www.nrk.no/informasjon/about_t...   less