 nce
upon a time, long before FlyingTypers, I worked
at KXEO Radio in Mexico, Missouri, running specialized
programming at KWWR- FM.
The best part of my job was creating original studio
productions and scheduling block programming of old-time
radio shows of the 1930s & 1940s, including The
Lone Ranger, Gangbusters, The Shadow, and others.
From programming and sales at a radio station, I moved
to New York City, where I worked as a club reviewer
and music critic for The Hollywood Reporter while
also starting up a monthly tabloid at JFK International
Airport called Airport Times, The Cargo Paper.
While working for The
Hollywood Reporter, I interviewed Elvis, The Doors,
The Rolling Stones, and many others.
During the early years
of publishing Air Cargo News, my passion for
music and programming continued, as Air Cargo News created a 27-hour anthology of music and interviews
with survivors of The Hal Kemp Orchestra, an anthology
featured on public radio stations in New York and elsewhere.
The music was recorded
and transcribed from two hundred 78 rpm phonograph records
that Kemp created from 1928 until 1940, when he died
tragically and the band went out of business.
Today one way I enjoy
relaxing is by creating playlists that are shared with
family and friends, although I listen to mostly classical
music on a daily basis.
This playlist was created
after looking at a wonderful picture of a full moon
and a United
Airlines airplane.
 Our
“Summer Sun & Moon Playlist” is taken
from YouTube so we can be assured it will play for everyone,
all around the world.
In some cases, an advertisement
may pop up, but stick with it.
You will note that some
songs are repeated by different artists.
Audrey Hepburn’s
reading of “Moon River,” for example,
is entirely different from Henry Mancini’s full
orchestra treatment (Johnnie Mercer wrote the lyrics).
Mancini’s full orchestra version of “Moon
River” topped the hit parade charts in the
Americas when “Breakfast At Tiffany’s”
played in the movies, although I have always felt the
Hepburn reading is better, more personal, and quite
sweet.
Likewise, “Fly
Me To The Moon” takes on vast colors in two
different versions here. A soft, lilting bossa nova
treatment by Astrud Gilberto is played against lush
strings, while the great Big Band crooner, Perry Como,
performs a melted butter vocal against a big orchestra
set piece for a more upbeat take.
My view of music is less
about style and generation, and has always been informed
by something Duke Ellington said:
“If it sounds
good, it is good;” that’s what the
great “Edward A” proclaimed.
The idea here is to loop
and listen to the music via your computer.
Sure, you can watch the
videos, but the music is the thing, and some of the
videos are fuzzy and unnecessary.
You can fast-forward the
ads, and after a first play the ads should not repeat.
Also, if you only have
time for one song, fast-forward to Willie & Brian
and the Boys for “The Warmth of the Sun.”
For me, every time I hear
“Turn Off The Moon,” the closer,
I wind up listening to the entire set again.
Would love to hear your
comments, and would certainly not have to be pushed
too hard or encouraged very much to share another playlist
for Christmastide that would include another from Tracy
Tracy & The Primitives.
Sun & Moon works nicely
from track to track, but for me the most enjoyable listening
happens when you can hit “random” and allow
the playlist to change every cycle—if you own
a Spotify account, the link to open Sun & Moon in
your own music library, where you can randomize and
resort the list, is here:
Geoffrey
|
100%
Green