Friday, May 9, 2008

I dropped out of high school to drive a bus...

Did you know Marshall Brickman wrote some of Johnny Carson's old "Tea Time Movie" bits from the Tonight Show? I didn't, until I read this interesting piece on the Jersey Boys Blog a couple of weeks ago. And if you don't get the connection between this blogpost and the Tea Time Movie, then you're not from beautiful downtown Burbank.



I drove a bus with Chuck Berry, Halle Berry, Berry Gordy, Gordy Howe, Howie Long, Martin Short, Dean Martin, Dean Jones, Jimmy Dean, James Dean, James Joyce, Joyce Brothers, the Smothers Brothers, the Righteous Brothers, the Mills Brothers, Phil Everly, Don Everly, Don Johnson, Lyndon B. Johnson, Johnny B. Goode, Rutherford B. Hayes, Lincoln Hayes, Abraham Lincoln, David Dinkins, Mandy Patinkin, Andy McDowell, Roddy McDowell, Thurston Howell, Simon Cowell, Neil Simon, Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel, Art Carney, Art Fern and Rex the Wonder Dog...

...AND (pauses to catch breath)...

...Sam Cooke, Sam Levinson, Sammy Spear, Emma Samms, the St. Louis Rams, Louis Armstrong, Lance Armstrong, Sheryl Crow, Lisa Kudrow, Woodrow Wilson, Jackie Wilson, Jackie Mason, Jackie Gleason, Jackie Joseph, Jackie Seiden, Jackie Martling, Jackie DeShannon, Shannon Gaudio, Shannon Doherty, Denny Doherty, Denny Laine, Penny Lane, Cleo Laine, Frankie Laine, and Frank Fontaine...

...but I never heard a voice like Frank Fontaine's...after he visited 7 or 8 bars he sang like Crazy.







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7 comments:

Anonymous said...

The names mentioned in that string remind me of "Life Is A Rock (But The Radio Rolled Me)", where any mention of anyone connected to FV4S is conspicuously absent. The leas singer of this, by Reunion, is Joey Levine, also lead singer for The Ohio Express, Kasenetz-Katz Singing Orchestral Circus, and The Third Rail.

I remember "The American Scene Magazine" quite well, and it produced quite a bit of music by Jackie Gleason in its own right. I've even heard some used as "bumpers" on contemporary talk shows. "A little travelin' music..."

I remember the Frank Fontaine vocal performances well, as well as the long phone number recitation that was usually part of the skit.

Anonymous said...

This is great stubbleyou. By the way, do you live near Burbank? Since you mentioned beautiful downtown Burbank, I was curious.

stubbleyou said...

Anon 1 - I can see the "Life Is A Rock" similarity now that you mention it. For some reason I didn't get much exposure to that recording (or vice versa) out here in SoCal but I remember thinking it was very cool. How do you know so much about the singer? Do you have to look that stuff up or do you just know? Impressive.

stubbleyou said...

Though different, mention of "Life Is A Rock" reminds me of the well-done "Stars on 45" series which also included ones for the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and Motown.

stubbleyou said...

Anon 2 - Well I grew up near Hollywood, so I guess kinda sorta; I'm still in SoCal but a little farther away. But "beautiful downtown Burbank" was a phrase Carson used a lot, and it probably would be remembered by many who watched him often, no matter where they lived.

As I recall, Johnny frequently mentioned (tongue-in-cheek) one of his favorite Burbank eateries, Vinne Abruzzi's Little Touch (Taste?) of Newark. Aah, another Jersey connection!!

Anonymous said...

Most of us know Joey Levine from "Yummy Yummy Yummy" with the trademark nasal tenor. Often these artists would use different artist names for near simultaneous hits, or to avoid recording contractual problems.

Another vocalist with many different credits is Tony Burrows, lead singer for:

The Kestrels
White Plains (My Baby Loves Lovin')
Edison Lighthouse (Love Grows Where My Rosemary Goes)
Brotherhood of Man (United We Stand)
The Pipkins (Gimme Dat Ding)
First Class (Beach Baby)

Today, I discovered that he was lead singer of The Kestrels, who did a British cover of the FV4S #1 hit "Walk Like A Man".

Anonymous said...

Jake Holmes wrote songs with Bob Gaudio for the Four Seasons and Frank Sinatra. Holmes also wrote many well known advertising jingles, one with Randy Newman. Joey Levine was a vocalist on one of Holmes' jingles, "Come See The Softer Side Of Sears." And the "Six Degrees Of Bob Gaudio" game continues.