Wednesday, June 22, 2022

Oscar Songs 1964

 


I don't believe I chose these songs but I feel like I already posted about this. I think old timers disease is coming in to play. The year is 1964...yup, my birth year, and I am choosing 3 songs that either won, was nominated or passed along and had neither. You get to pick which one won, which was nominated  and the last...neither. 

1. GOLDFINGER SUNG BY SHIRLEY BASSEY

I love this song and I really like Shirley Bassey's singing but, I found out, many people don't, which shocks me. This song was written by John Barry with lyrics by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley for the James Bond film of the same name. Poor Shirley Eaton dies from being covered in gold...quite the shock for a little gal like me when I finally saw the film. Funny...when Shirley sang the song, John Barry was conducting it and made her keep that final note for so long she almost passed out.

2. CHIM, CHIM, CHEREE SUNG BY JULIE ANDREWS AND DICK VAN DYKE

So, we know this popular tune from the famous movie, " Mary Poppins" and it's one of my favourites along with " Let’s Go Fly a Kite". Despite people bashing Penis Van Lesbian's ( Dick Van Dyke) bad Cockney accent, I liked this duet. This song was written by the brothers, Richard and Robert Sherman and Julie Andrews admitted that this is one of her favorites.

3. MY KIND OF TOWN SUNG BY FRANK SINATRA 

This was at the height of the Rat Pack's popularity when they were drinking, smoking and carousing  all along the Sunset Strip of Las Vegas. They all seemed to be the epitome of cool. They made a few films, one being "Robin and the 7 Hoods." Little did we know that Frank had to be #1 and wanted to party. Dean didn't really drink( apparently it was Apple juice). Peter Lawford was getting the cold shoulder, from Frankie, because he couldn't get his brother in law, John Kennedy, to stay at his compound; Joey Bishop would go to bed as soon as his gig was done and Sammy was just trying hard to have everyone be friends. Oh well, let's believe in the dream of cool.

So which one won the Oscar, which was nominated and which tanked in both cases?

7 comments:

  1. Hi, Birgit!

    If you were born in 1964, you're a spring chicken, dear friend. Why, I have opened jars of mayo older than that. Question: Why did characters in older movies, like those played by Joe E. Brown, for example, begin some sentences with the word "why"? Why? Why? Why?

    I am surprised to learn that some people don't like Shirley Bassey's powerful pipes belting the theme song from my favorite Bond film Goldfinger. To me, Shirley's bold vocal delivery and the brassy, swaggering arrangement are ideal for setting the mood for the action, adventure, suspense and spectacle that is about to unfold on the screen in the Sean Connery spy film.

    Dick Van Dyke, who has often named Stan Laurel, Buster Keaton, and Carl Reiner as his comedy influences and idols, will turn 97 years of age a few months from now. He has outlived many of his contemporaries. I am one of the few people on earth who has not watched Mary Poppins. However, if it counts for anything, I did watch Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman.

    Rat Packers appeared together or separately in many of the TV shows I watched during the period, but they didn't interest me enough to watch Robin And The 7 Hoods. However, I was a regular viewer of the late 50s TV series The Thin Man with Peter Lawford and Phyllis Kirk starring as Nick and Nora Charles.

    I'm going to guess that the song I like best, "Goldfinger," was not even nominated by the squares. I'm going to say that "My Kind Of Town" was the nominated song and that my least favorite, "Chim Chim Cher-ee," a song from a musical that I still haven't watched, was that year's Oscar wiener.

    Thanks for the morning entertainment, dear friend Birgit. Please smooch my buddy Harley for me and have a great day. I'll meet you tamale in the balcony-- "At The Movies!"

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    1. You nailed it! I have seen Mary Poppins but not I years. I really like Dick Van Dyke and he was lucky to have met Stan Laurel and work with Carl Reiner. I don't know if he ever met Buster Keaton but it would be cool if he did.
      Shirley has an amazing set of pipes and still strong today.
      Yes, the Rat packers had their own shows or appeared on them. When Peter Lawford was going down due to alcoholism and blackballed by Frank, the only one to help him out was Sammy Davis Jr.. ahh..good ole Mary Hartman was a show I never could get into.

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  2. You’re still young, my friend, compared to some of us! ☺ Goldfinger was my first Bond movie and I loved the theme song. Some people didn't like it??! That's a surprise! Never cared much for the second one (laughing at Penis Van Lesbian), but the movie was fun. Too bad the illusion of the Rat Pack didn’t jibe with the reality! I like Dean much better than Frank, as a singer and a person.

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    1. Goldfinger was my first James Bond too. I was shocked by how the girl died and it always stuck with me
      I like that Chim song but I was never enamoured with the movie the lite boy died young in a car accident.
      I also prefer Dean Martin over Frank

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  3. I think I know the answer, and no, I haven't looked it up: "Chim Chim Cheree" won the Oscar, "Goldfinger" was nominated for the Oscar, and "My Kind Of Town" was neither, but is a song dear to my heart.

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  4. I liked all these songs, but especially Goldfinger.
    You take special care.
    Sandra sandracox.blogspot.com

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  5. Hi Birgit - I couldn't answer those ... but I've always loved Shirley Bassey's rendition, the other two not so much - cheers Hilary

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