DIG THIS WITH BILL MESNIK AND RICH BUCKLAND- THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS
My Fellow Americans, Life is actually just a microscopic, deluded moment in time, so let's cut to the freakin' chase. One look at our impending election debacle can solidify my case. It has been my contention since birth, that the answer to every difficulty we encounter on this sacred yet demented Stone, can be revealed with ultimate clarity through the ultra neurotic engagements of Music, Art, Literature, Film, Poetry and a good Pastrami sandwich. Why would any sane human spend so must time on a film set (Do you know how long you gotta wait until your 8 second deliverance of...
THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS PRESENT "DOUBLE TROUBLE" - GODDESSES OF OBSCURITY: JUDEE SILL AND LINDA PERHACS. DOUBLE DOWN!!
Dead or alive? Today, we feature one of each: two exquisite female singer-songwriters from the 70’s - one a heroin casualty, and the other a remarkable example of patience rewarded. Judee Sill could have been a Laurel Canyon diva on the order of a Joni Mitchell, but, an unquenchable, self-destructive thirst put a stop to her success; and, Linda Perhacs, a name lost in the archives of time, until a fluke, third-generational cult of folky weirdness reopened her long dormant chrysalis of talent.Â
JUDEE SILL
There is a recent documentary, LOST ANGEL, that covers the tra...
THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS PRESENT BILL MESNIK'S "CALL ME UP IN DREAMLAND" EPISODE #3. OUR DIARIST REVISITS 2015: BELL'S PALSY, COURT ORDERED CUSTODY OF MY NEPHEW, THE I CHING, AND OF COURSE, THE DREAMS....
What a year 2014 was!Â
That's what motivated me to start this diary, which is now going on year 10.Â
It was such a hairy time, in fact, that as a way to process it all, I hit upon the idea of creating a musical diary, using the I Ching - (something I'd been obsessing about) - as my guiding structure.Â
My sister-in-law, Lea died suddenly, but before that Chemayne and I were mandated custody, by Court Order, of our nephew, Gunner.Â
Oh, yes... and, then, out of nowhere, I contracted Bell's Palsy, which...
THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS PRESENT "DOUBLE TROUBLE" - SCOTT WALKER AND SERGE GAINSBOURG: TWO TRANSMISSIONS FROM OUT ON THE EDGE. DOUBLE DOWN!!
What we’re offering today is something completely different: two outlier artists (although one is a French icon) who created off-kilter, out of the box, almost unintelligible nuggets of artistic brilliance. These cuts are linked, not only by the fact that they both feature sinuous bass lines and orchestral flourishes, but that they are produced by artists whose stances were uncompromising, prickly, unknowable - and, touched with stardust.Â
SCOTT WALKER
Scott Walker, whose rich, deep baritone was first introduced to the world in the early 1960s, with the internationally famous group, The Walker Brothers (they were...
THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS PRESENT "THE BEAT GOES ON"- EPISODE 1-THE ROSY DRAMA OF HENRY MILLER -THIS NEW SERIES CAPTURES A LITERARY MOVEMENT GUIDED BY INDIVIDUALISM, LUNACY, INGENUITY AND THE BE BOP NOTIONS THAT ALTERED THOUGHT, VERSE, AND SELF EXPRESSION
Welcome to our new series, “The Beat Goes On,” where we will celebrate the work and enduring influence of Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs, and the other writers whom we identify as “The Beats.” - that crop of artists who worked to expand our consciousness, exploring the hidden possibilities of post WW2 America in the 1950s - Other significant names to be explored: Diane Di Prima, Tuli Kupferberg, Ed Sanders, Delmore Schwarz, Anne Waldman, Carolyn Cassidy, and many others.
We will also include jazz musicians like Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Dizzy Gillespie, whose sinuous Bebop lines in...
THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS PRESENT "DOUBLE TROUBLE." THE VIRTUES OF CYNICISM AS DEMONSTRATED BY MARSHALL CRENSHAW AND THE ORLONS. DOUBLE DOWN!!
Today we live in a cynical world. It’s pervasive, this debilitating disbelief in our institutions, our once assured tenets of groundedness. Now we doubt, not only what we see, but what we hear, and even our own thoughts. Are they indeed our own? Or, have they been shaped by the unrelenting marketers and influencers? Back in the 80’s - even earlier back in the 60’s the attitudes of boredom and mistrust seemed exclusively the province of old school Europe, in particular the French, who invented the perfect word for it: Ennui. The great bon vivant, George Sanders, in his su...
A DIG THIS SPECIAL PRESENTATION- CHARLES BUKOWSKI- THE HOME CASSETTE RECORDINGS- LOUISIANA, 1970- HIS PROLIFIC WORK REFLECTED AN UNDERGROUND DRAPED IN A VELVET CLOTH SIMILAR TO THAT OF LOU REED & KURT COBAIN - BUKOWSKI SPOKE TO THE DOWNTRODDEN OF AMERICA
BUKOWSKI SPEAKS!!!!!
Cause and Effect -For Kurt Cobain
"the best often die by their own hand
just to get away,
and those left behind
can never quite understand
why anybody
would ever want to
get away
from
them"
Bukowski writes with no apologies from the frayed edge of society.
“Some people never go crazy. What truly horrible lives they must lead.”
“For those who believe in God, most of the big qu...
THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS PRESENT BILL MESNIK'S "CALL ME UP IN DREAMLAND" EPISODE #2. THE DIARIST REVISITS A PASSAGE FROM HIS DREAM JOURNAL, WRITTEN IN 2019, IN WHICH HE DESCRIBES HIS STRUGGLE TO CREATE AN ORIGINAL PLAY FOR STUDENTS ENTITLED "TOXIC SHOCKS!"
THERE'S NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOW BUSINESS
I've been keeping a diary and dream journal for ten years.Â
Recently, I hit upon the idea of revisiting and recording passages of the diary in a quest to understand myself better by connecting the dots between dream life and the time awake.
The first episode explored 2024; this second entry revisits a passage from 5 years earlier.
It was the summer of 2019. I experienced an earthquake, a car accident, and the difficult birth of an original theater piece, which came to be known as "Toxic Shocks".Â
...THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS PRESENT "DOUBLE TROUBLE" - 12 BARS AND THE TRUTH WITH HARVEY MANDEL AND J.B. HUTTO. DOUBLE DOWN!
It seems as though the 12 bar blues structure is an immovable object, an obelisk of sacred, ritualistic, totemic authority. But the form contains multitudes of variety. Here are two examples of the plasticity of that container, which holds the magic blues elixir and can pour it smoothly, or have it gush out, uncontrollably, like a tidal wave. So, be careful when you put your lips to the chalice … the edges can be sharp, and the liquid it delivers may be too intoxicating!Â
Up first, we have Harvey Mandel, the “Snake”- a guitar wizard, brandishing and slashing his ax...
THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS PRESENT BILL MESNIK'S NEW PILOT PROJECT: "CALL ME UP IN DREAMLAND," IN WHICH OUR INTREPID NAVEL GAZER TRIPS THE LIGHT FANTASTIC DOWN THE CORRIDORS OF HIS DREAM JOURNAL AND DIARY. (FIRST EPISODE: AUGUST, 2024.)
In 2005, while visiting the gift shop at the downtown Los Angeles MOCA museum, I came upon a blank journal with a cover fashioned from a salvaged vinyl album by The Allman Brothers. It had the pink Capricorn label. As a lover of vinyl I grabbed it, and decided to begin a journal.Â
It’s been ten years, and I’ve been keeping this diary and transcribing my dreams ever since. Dreams, ideas for songs, and a chronicle of my family and interior life. I always intended to go back and see if there was some sense of somethi...
THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS PRESENT "DOUBLE TROUBLE:" THE BENEFITS OF VERSATILITY WITH DANNY KAYE. DOUBLE DOWN!!
DANNY KAYE: THE BENEFITS OF VERSATILITY
David Daniel Kaminsky (1911-1987), known to the world as Danny Kaye, was an entertainer that could do it all. He was as adept at pathos as he was at antic comedy, and he captivated audiences throughout the 1950s with his magic. His signature patter songs, represented by our first number: Anatole of Paris, were crafted for him by his business partner and wife, Sylvia Fine, and together they made film and Broadway history. This is a fascinating connection that deserves a deeper dive.
Danny resembled my adored uncle Teddy, a...
THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS PRESENT "DOUBLE TROUBLE" - IN SEARCH OF SOMETHING NOVEL: TWO MANIFESTATIONS OF GIDDY STRANGENESS FROM JERRY BLAVAT AND LARRY GROCE. DOUBLE DOWN!!
The “Novelty” song has deep roots in popular culture. Masters of the form, like Weird Al Yankovic, Warren Zevon, Tom Lehrer, Spike Jones, and Allen Sherman have illuminated our consciousness and tickled our sense of the absurd. How much WAS that doggie in the window?…., WTF is Marzy dotes and dozy dotes about?…, They’re coming to take me away, Haha…(that one actually scared me). Probably each of us can recall from childhood some goofy ditty that either made you feel smarter, or got stuck inside your head like RFK’s brain worm.Â
Let’s give thanks to Doctor D...
THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS PRESENT "DOUBLE TROUBLE." MYSTERIOUS, SWINGIN’ RHYTHMS CONJURED BY BENNY GOODMAN AND LITTLE JOEY AND THE FLIPS, DOUBLE DOWN!!
What is it about a swing rhythm that sets hearts a flutter? It’s a universal truth. It may have started as an African secret formula, but it was co-opted and catapulted into white western culture by some hip caucasian standard bearers.
Here we’ll examine the psycho-physical connection through two seemingly unrelated musical delicacies: one by the undisputed titan of respectable jazz, and the other by a racially mixed group of Philadelphia teens who barely made it out before the doo-wop death spiral. Bongo Stomp, from 1962, by Little Joey and the Flips, doesn’t even feature real b...
THE BOHEMIA FILES- ROKY ERICKSON- "THE REVEREND OF KARMIC YOUTH"-THE THIN LINE BETWEEN ECSTASY AND NIGHTMARES- A COIN OF MADNESS AND THOUGHTFUL THUNDER- THIS WILL LEAVE YOU STANDING IN THE SHADOWS OF LOVE AND FATE
THE REVEREND OF KARMIC YOUTH-
1The Interpreter
2Starry Eyes
3For You
4Bloody Hammer
5The Wind And More
6Night Of The Vampire
7You're Gonna Miss Me
8I Walked With A Zombie
9Stand For The Fire Demon
10 When You Get Delighted
11 To Think
12 Warning
13 True Love Cast Out All Evil
14 Loving Isn't A Part Time Thing
15 The Looking Glass Song
As lead singer of Texas’ infamous 13th Floor Elevators — one of rock’s earliest, strangest and greatest psychedelic bands — Roky Eri...
THE BOHEMIA FILES- "IN THE BEGINNING"- RICH BUCKLAND'S 2009 TEST EPISODE FOR WHAT WOULD LATER BECOME THE PODCAST SERIES THE WORLD COULD EASILY LIVE WITHOUT- OR CAN IT? WITH WILLY DEVILLE, LENNY BRUCE AND OUR SPECIAL GUEST CHARLES MANSON-DIG THIS!
SPLENDOR OF BOHEMIA PRESENTS- "IN THE BEGINNING"-Â
RICH BUCKLAND'S 2009 TEST EPISODE FOR WHAT WOULD LATER BECOME THE PODCAST SERIES THE WORLD COULD EASILY LIVE WITHOUT- OR CAN IT?Â
WITH WILLY DEVILLE, LENNY BRUCE AND OUR SPECIAL GUEST CHARLES MANSON-DIG THIS!
THE BOHEMIA FILES- CHARLES MANSON- "THE WHITE ALBUM"- WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE CHIPMUNKS CHRISTMAS ALBUM, THESE TRACKS COMPRISE THE FEEL GOOD, BAD & UGLY ALBUM OF ANY SEASON- THE ENTIRE 28 TRACK CATALOG OF DENNIS WILSON'S WORST INSTINCTS
'69 AND THE CRIME ETCHED IN TIME -
"When I Was 17, It was not a very good year"
Rich Buckland
Well. Here is something I've yet to get over in all the years since I first read the grisly details of Sharon Tate’s murder in the Sunday newspaper’s Parade magazine when I was just a wacky hippie teen and beach Boys fanatic.
Cult-leader and killer Charles Manson and Beach Boy drummer and surfer Dennis Wilson were frie...
THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS PRESENT "DOUBLE TROUBLE." A HEX AND THE CURSE OF LOVE CONJURED BY COCK ROBIN AND OLIVIA RODRIGO. DOUBLE DOWN!
Ok, folks, we’ve got an unlikely pairing of unrequited torch anthems with an almost 40 year time span between them, featuring points of view which diverge 180 degrees. The first, from Cock Robin, showcases synthesized sounds which seem like they were caught in amber in 1985, and the second, an astounding display of songwriting and vocal pyrotechnics from prodigy of the moment, Olivia Rodrigo.Â
COCK ROBIN / WHEN YOUR HEART IS WEAK
The Europeans understand love…it’s Amore in Italy, L’amour to the French, In German it’s Die Liebe, and it’s Liefde to the Dutch. Perhap...
BILL MESNIK'S SUNNY SIDE OF MY STREET PRESENTS: DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES BY BILL EVANS AND TONY BENNETT (FANTASY, 1975) EPISODE #94
Here is a “Sunny Song”, wherein the fleeting sunlight is a dappled reminder of the evanescence of existence. They’re all gone now: Bill Evans (piano), Tony Bennett (vocals), Henry Mancini (Composer), and Johnny Mercer (Lyricist), but their beautiful creation lives on to remind us to gather our rosebuds while we may.
Sadness, and gratitude run in equal measure throughout all of the song’s manifestations. The title itself derives from an 1896 poem by Ernest Dowson, taken from the Roman poet, Horace, whose latin translates as:
“The brief sum of life forbids us the hope of endurin...
THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS PRESENT "DOUBLE TROUBLE" DOUBLE STANDARD: A CHEATER’S PURGATORY - A LANDSCAPE OF DECEPTION DELINEATED BY DON COVAY, MASTER OF MUSICAL PAIN AND PRIDE. FEATURING DON COVAY AND PETER WOLF. DOUBLE DOWN!
When it comes to infidelity: can we have our cake and eat it too?Â
In the following two songs, written by the incomparable Don Covay, this theme is explored. The two men narrating these tales of inconstancy are in turmoil - one cheater feels guilty, while the other betrayer is suffering from hurt pride - because his woman is playing the same game. The soulful bard who created these parables of marital strife covers the gamut here: in the first you’ll hear the voice of the creator himself, Mr. Covay, on a special alternate track of “I Was...
THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS PRESENT "DOUBLE TROUBLE" -NEW SERIES! WITH PETER COOK, DUDLEY MOORE, JAN BERRY, AND DEAN TORRANCE. TWO PAIRS OF ODD-FELLOWS, CAVORTING FOR OUR PLEASURE - DOUBLE DOWN!
Right here, squaring off, from opposite sides of the Atlantic, we present: Dueling tag-teams of zaniness — wearing fanciful disguises, winking at traditional forms, and tweeting in a birdlike falsetto… Good stuff!
BEDAZZLED
The Faustian satire Bedazzled, created by genius comedian Peter Cook (who plays the Devil trying to bargain for souls), makes good use of the talents of his Chaplin-esque comedy partner, Dudley Moore (who you might remember from the hit films Ten and Arthur), who plays the shlumpy Wimpy Burger cook, Stanley, willing to bargain away his mortal soul for love.Â
The team...
BILL MESNIK'S SUNNY SIDE OF MY STREET PRESENTS: BIG BAD BILL (IS SWEET WILLIAM NOW) BY RY COODER, (REPRISE, 1978) EPISODE #93
From the first moment I heard this ditty, it became my theme song. I learned to play it - (in a far cruder fashion than Ry, of course) and worked it into my set list. Just like the character Bill in the narrative, - (my name, btw) - my reprobate ways had also been domesticated by love. And, another harmonic convergence: I had even spent a year in Louisville, Kentucky.Â
Jack Yellen, the Jewish-Polish immigrant who wrote these Jazz-age lyrics, also penned Happy Days are Here Again, and Ain’t She Sweet. If he had only created the...
HOTEL BOHEMIA PRESENTS "DAMAGE CONTROL"- THE BOYS REFLECT UPON THE ORIGINAL GIRL'S INTERRUPTED, ZAPPA'S MAGIC GROUPIE TROUPE, THE GTO'S - PLUS DAVID JOHANSEN BOARDS THE MYSTERY TRAIN WITH HIS HEART OF GOLD- 54 MINUTES OF CIRCULAR CIRCULATION FOR ALL!
"GRIEVING IN THE DOLLS HOUSE"
David Johansen passed away peacefully at home on February 28, holding the hands of his wife Mara Hennessey and daughter Leah, in the sunlight surrounded by music and flowers.Â
After a decade of profoundly compromised health he died at the age of 75.Â
David and his family were deeply moved by the outpouring of love and support they’ve experienced recently as the result of having gone public with their challenges. He was thankful that he had a chance to be in touch with so many friends and family befor...
THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS PRESENT "DOUBLE TROUBLE" -NEW SERIES! WITH MILEY CYRUS AND CYNDI LAUPER, SPANNING GENERATIONS: TWO PYROTECHNICAL DIVAS SPILL THEIR GUTS FOR OUR ENLIGHTENMENT - DOUBLE DOWN!
DOUBLE TROUBLE: CINDY LAUPER AND MILEY CYRUS
Two towering, Olympian female voices, from different generations, aligning here to honestly testify about their love damaged hearts. They describe world’s of hurt, confusion, and finally, triumph in the face of loss.Â
Miley Cyrus “Heart of Glass”
I love Miley Cyrus - not only because she carries the flag of peace, love, and musical tradition with her Happy Hippie Foundation, and, at the same time, continues to reinvent herself and confound expectations, but because she’s one of the most captivating singers America has ever produced...
THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS PRESENT "DOUBLE TROUBLE" -NEW SERIES! WITH NANCY SINATRA, LEE HAZELWOOD, AND MIMI FARINA - A THEATER OF DREAM LOGIC, PAIRING TUNES WHICH CONNECT THE DOTS OF POPULAR MUSIC - DOUBLE DOWN!
Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome back for moreÂ
DOUBLE TROUBLE
Let’s talk about dreams….
Dreams can be intoxicatingly erotic; they can be filled with loss and longing; you might be falling, trapped in an confusing maze, or carried across bodies of water in a leaky boat. I often have the actor’s nightmare - where I’m about to go onstage, but I don’t know my lines and I don’t even know which play it is. These are dreams from which I wake up in a cold sweat.
SUMMER WINE by Nancy...
HOTEL BOHEMIA PRESENTS " THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF MEANDERING "- THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS ARE AT IT AGAIN AS THEY DELIBERATE THIS MORTAL COIL, MUSK MADNESS, JERRY BUTLER, MAD MAGAZINE, MARY WEISS & ASSORTED PHILOSOPHICAL PONDERING'S -COME FLY WITH US!
Today's Affirmation:
"She Let's Me Watch Her Mom and Pop Fight"
Writers: N. Blagman*, S. Bobrick
Although she isn't much to look at,
And she isn't very bright.
I love her, I love her,
Oh boy how I love her
'Cuz she let's me watch her mom and pop fight.
To see a lamp go through the window
And watch them kick and scratch and bite.
I love her, I love her,
Oh...
THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS PRESENT "DOUBLE TROUBLE" -NEW SERIES! WITH ROBERT PLANT AND ROGER MCGUINN - A DUPLEX OF RHYTHMIC REACTION PAIRING TUNES WHICH CONNECT THE DOTS OF POPULAR MUSIC AS BILL MESNIK CHANNELS THE FLOWER POWER OF RICH BUCKLAND- DOUBLE DOWN!
Lennon and McCartney eloquently recited an affirmation stating that In My Life I Loved Them All.
The affection for certain artists and the melodic poetry they injected into our souls has remained in our wiring through the good, the bad and the uncertain times of our lives.
One beloved gentleman we cherish was known as Arthur Alexander. Known as June to his closest companions, he was a one of a kind country-soul songwriter and singer. It can easily be said that he invented the genre.
The fifth American studio album by the Rolling Stones, released i...
A SPECIAL VALENTINE'S DAY TWO-FER SPECIAL FROM BILL MESNIK'S "SUNNY SIDE OF THE STREET" SONGS: ANNE BRIGGS SINGING "SHE MOVED THROUGH THE FAIR", AND ELVIS COSTELLO PERFORMING "OPPORTUNITY"! NO NEED TO ASK WHATS LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT- JUST ENJOY
Hello Young Lovers!
Welcome to a special Saint Valentine’s Day TWOFER from The Splendid Bohemians:
Today we’re featuring two enchanting, encyclopedic British song stylists: Anne Briggs and Elvis Costello. First up: the majestic Ms. Briggs.
SHE MOVED THROUGH THE FAIR by Anne Briggs (Topic, 1963)
Barefoot and bedraggled, Anne Briggs became the muse of the British Traditional Folk Boom in the early nineteen sixties. Her short performance career of mystical magic was retired at age 27, leaving behind a limited, but monumental disc...
HOTEL BOHEMIA PRESENTS "ALAN FREED'S BOULEVARD OF BROKEN DREAMS "- IN 2014, THE ROCK HALL OF FAME REMOVED FREED'S ASHES FROM DISPLAY- IT WAS THE FINAL INDIGNATION IN A LIFE DEVOTED TO THE MUSIC AND PHRASE HE SO SUCCESSFULLY POPULARIZED, "ROCK & ROLL"
“Rock ’n roll is really swing with a modern name,” Freed once said. “It began on the levees and plantations, took in folk songs, and features blues and rhythm. It’s the rhythm that gets to the kids – they’re starved of music they can dance to, after all those years of crooners.”
HISTORICAL ALAN FREED MOMENTS:
Freed moved to WINS in New York in 1954 where his late night radio show became known as Alan Freed's Rock ’n’ Roll Party. His popularity was immediate and so was the criticism.
In July 1957...
"IT IS THE EVENING OF A LEGEND" - MARIANNE EVELYN GABRIEL FAITHFULL - DECEMBER 29, 1946 - JANUARY 30, 2025- IN HONOR OF AN ARTIST, A POET AND A TESTAMENT TO THE POWER OF REINVENTION- FEATURING HER FINAL RECORDING OF "AS TEARS GO BY" FROM 2018
Marianne Evelyn Gabriel Faithfull has boarded The Mystery Train at 78.
In the 70's she was anorexic, homeless and addicted to heroin.
At the time of her passing she had acquired the status of legend.
Marianne was a genuine, brilliant artist in a sea of impostors.
Sleep Well in that ocean you struggled so hard to master regardless of the merciless tears that passed by.-
Rich Buckland
BILL MESNIK'S SUNNY SIDE OF MY STREET PRESENTS: SHE CAUGHT THE KATY, LEFT ME A MULE TO RIDE BY TAJ MAHAL (COLUMBIA, 1968) EPISODE #92
Henry St. Claire Fredericks, Jr., aka Taj Mahal is 82 years of age, and like that monument in Agra, he stands as an ageless edifice of blues - rock grace. On his latest recording he croons in that familiar rasp: “I’m too young to be this old,” and there’s no denying the truth of that declaration. As the years have passed, it’s gratifying to contemplate that, 60 years ago, Taj and Ry Cooder combined forces in the seminal, interracial rock group The Rising Sons, then went their separate ways to establish themselves as the foremost living treasures of Americana...
HOTEL BOHEMIA PRESENTS "THE FIRE AND SOUL REVUE"- A MONSTERPIECE OF PODCAST THEATER FEATURING OUR TRIBUTE TO SAM AND DAVE, SPRINGSTEEN'S RETURN TO NEBRASKA AND THE INTERNAL YEARNINGS OF YOUR SPLENDID BOHEMIANS, BILL AND RICH- ENTER OUR LOST AND FOUND
PLEASE JOIN US AT DIG THIS!!!!! https://www.facebook.com/digthiswiththesplendidbohos/
A MESSAGE FROM STAX RECORDS PRODUCER, SONGWRITER AND VOCALIST DAVID PORTER:
To say I am saddened about the loss of Sam Moore would be an understatement. You see, it was the finality of the last living connection I had to God’s gift to all of our careers.
The experiences we had with each other changed each of our lives in amazing ways. Sam will always be remembered because of what he gave out of his heart and spirit, along with Da...
BILL MESNIK'S SUNNY SIDE OF MY STREET PRESENTS: MARSHMALLOW SKIES BY RICK NELSON (DECCA, 1967). EPISODE #91
This recording, composed and performed by the criminally underestimated Rick Nelson and his right-hand man James Burton, is a tone poem of psychedelic disorientation. It lopes along, taking its sweet time, floating in mid-air, then seeps out through the singer’s enthralled brain in a sensual vortex. It reminds me of my virgin night of acid enlightenment, when I crawled across my cousin’s floor, following the swirling carpet patterns, whispering: “Oh, Wow,” over and over again.
The tune features the sitar, a trope of the time, sensitively voiced by a musician mysteriously listed as “unknown,” and they stand o...
HOTEL BOHEMIA PRESENTS " THE HIGHWAY TO A COMPLETE UNKNOWN- THE FILMS OF JAMES MANGOLD"- THIS CINEMATIC CHAMELEON DELIVERED "COPLAND", "GIRL INTERRUPTED", "I WALK THE LINE" AND THE GREATEST REMAKE OF ALL TIME "3:10 TO YUMA" - FOLLOW HIS ODYSSEY WITH US
Lucasfilm has about a dozen Star Wars movies in various stages of development. One of them is a prequel from James Mangold that will tell the origins of the Force, the mysterious energy field created by life that binds the Star Wars galaxy together.
In a recent interview with MovieWeb, Mangold opened up about what convinced him to make a Star Wars movie for Lucasfilm, sharing that "the really important aspects [were] the freedom...
BILL MESNIK'S SUNNY SIDE OF MY STREET PRESENTS: QUE SERA SERA BY SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE (EPIC, 1973) #87
This is a difficult artistic puzzle to sort out: a) Why is this, Doris Day’s signature song, the only cover that Sly ever recorded?; and, b), Is its delivery of “cheerful fatalism” a positive or a negative? The motto, cribbed by song writers Jay Livingston and Ray Evans for the Hitchcock film THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH, from another film THE BAREFOOT CONTESSA, has a rich history of memento mori application going back centuries, and yet, here it appears in a fresh, compelling funk version for the modern era. It’s a brain teaser.
For me it’s...
HOTEL BOHEMIA PRESENTS "FAMOUS LAST WORDS- OUR NEW YEAR EXTRAVAGANZA!!"- FEATURING THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS, RICH BUCKLAND AND BILL MESNIK- REFLECTIONS, PERCEPTIONS & MUSICAL MEDICINE COMBINED WITH THE WISDOM OF TWO OLD GUYS WHO REFUSE TO GO GENTLY
AT THE HOTEL BOHEMIA WE BELIEVE YOU CAN'T KNOW WHERE YOU ARE GOING UNLESS YOU KNOW WHERE YOU HAVEÂ BEEN.
2025 COMIN' ROUND THE MOUNTAIN.
CAN YOU DIG IT?
Â
Drummer Buddy Rich died after surgery in 1987. As he was being prepped for surgery, a nurse asked him, “Is there anything you can’t take?” Rich replied, “Yeah, country music.”
Lucky Luciano was a mob leader who helped the U.S. work with the Sicilian Mafia during World War II in exchange for a reduced prison sentence. His last words were, “Tell Georgie I want...
BILL MESNIK'S SUNNY SIDE OF MY STREET PRESENTS: YUMMY YUMMY YUMMY BY JULIE LONDON (LIBERTY, 1969) EPISODE #90
This cut, from Julie London’s album of the same name, became a camp classic. It’s undeniably bawdy, with the torch songstress purring like a mod Mae West, with tongue solidly in cheek. The original, generated by neutered, pre-fab bobble heads, The Ohio Express, is a prepubescent rocker, lacking any lubriciousness whatsoever, but, emanating from Julie’s throat it’s an open invitation to bed, or a post-coital pillow declaration.
Julie is Her Name, her first album, was released in 1955, and YUMMY YUMMY YUMMY was her last, arriving in 1969, when she was 43 years old. Being an aging se...
HOTEL BOHEMIA PRESENTS-"A PERSONAL CHRISTMAS DELIVERY"-XMAS CHEER FOR THE HIP AT HEART- A MEMORABLE MUSICAL MANGER OF MERRIMENT AND MELANCHOLY WITH AIMEE MANN, MICHAEL PENN, CHRISTY MOORE, MABEL SCOTT, PAUL SIMON, STEVE MARTIN, PORKY PIG, SINATRA & MORE
1) EVIL WEINER- ALL AROUND THE WORLD
2) AIMEE MANN AND MICHAEL PENN- CHRISTMASTIME
3) CHRISTY MOORE- FAIRYTALE OF NEW YORK
4) FRANK SINATRA- CHRISTMAS SEALS PUBLIC SERVICE SPOT & I'LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS
5) GEORGE JONES- LONELY CHRISTMAS CALL
6) MELVIS - I WANT TO GET LAID ON CHRISTMAS DAY -Â (1958)
7) MABEL SCOTT- BOOGIE WOOGIE SANTAÂ ( 1955)
8) PORKY PIG- BLUE CHRISTMAS
9)THE RAMONES-Â I DON'T WANT TO FIGHT TONIGHT-
10) STAN FREBERG- I'M GETTING NUTTIN' FOR CHRISTMAS (1955)
11) STEVE MARTIN AND PAUL SIMON- SILVER BELLS- - (SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE REHEARSAL- 1976)
BILL MESNIK'S SUNNY SIDE OF MY STREET PRESENTS: SOME ENCHANTED EVENING BY EZIO PINZA (COLUMBIA, 1958). DEDICATED TO CHEMAYNE HALVERSON (1/6/1967-12/23/2020)
Dedicated to Chemayne Halverson (1/6/1967-12/23/2020)
This is a haunting song by Rodgers and Hammerstein, which expresses the indefinable mysteries of romantic love. An interesting word I learned which describes this feeling is “limerence,” which the Oxford dictionary defines as “the state of being infatuated or obsessed with another person, typically experienced involuntarily…” This revelatory gnosis occurred to me quite early, when I played the character of Emile de Becque, the aging plantation owner, in the Camp Sno Hill production of South Pacific, at the age of eleven or twelve. It goes without saying I was no Ezio Pinza, but...
HOTEL BOHEMIA PRESENTS: "JOHNNY CARSON AND THE FANTASY OF AMERICA"- Narrated By Jason Zinoman-THE LATE NIGHT HOST LOOMS OVER OUR CULTURE TO THIS DAY- BUT THERE WAS A DARKNESS AT THE HEART OF HIS APPEAL
Maybe late-night TV shouldn’t be called “late-night TV” anymore, with so many viewers consuming it in clips the morning after, on their phones. Yet the genre’s hallmarks — the avuncular host, the sidekick, the band, the monologue, the desk, the guests — linger. Most were stamped on America’s consciousness by Johnny Carson.
A new biography about an old reliable, Bill Zehme’s “Carson the Magnificent” harks back to an era when doom and scroll were biblical nouns and Carson’s “Tonight Show” was a clear punctuation mark to every 24-hour chunk of the workweek — less an exclamation point, maybe...
BILL MESNIK'S SUNNY SIDE OF MY STREET PRESENTS: SOVAY by A.L. LLOYD (TOPIC, 1984) EPISODE #88
You remember that anachronistic Sea Chanty internet meme a couple of years ago? All over the world people were recording themselves singing “The Wellerman”, proving the endurance of the Anglo folk tradition. You can thank Bert Lloyd (1908-1982) in the UK, for being the folklorist and song collector who documented and compiled many of these ancient songs, and for keeping the folk flame alive in the age of modern recording.Â
He started collecting songs when he worked as a sheep herder in Australia, and his index expanded while working on whaling ships. In 1938 the BBC hired him to do...
HOTEL BOHEMIA PRESENTS "THE GRATEFUL LIVE- ONE BIG SOUL" -THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS, RICH BUCKLAND AND BILL MESNIK, ATTEMPT TO NAVIGATE A CONFLICTED MAZE OF POST THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY EMOTIONS -A TIGHTROPE EXCURSION FOR ALL FANS OF GRACE & NERVOUS BREAKDOWNS
Okay. No one wants to spoil the party.
But according to the American Psychological Association, 89% of US adults reported feeling stressed during the 2023 holiday season.
It's a good news, bad news situation much like this podcast which is truly a conflicted search for the highway to heaven, if such a utopia indeed exists.
At least we make an effort to engage about the comforted and the awkward which is more than I can say for many who only pretend to do so.
The holiday season can cause stress for many reasons, including:<...
