And Now, For A Musical Interlude...
Our friend Gary has a DVD of Scopitones that he sometimes shows before the Flesh Hungry Dog shows at Jackhammer (next one is Fri. August 1 with The Pussy Pirates, BTW! Get your tix while they're hot!). For those of you who are unfamiliar with Scopitones, they were very big in the 1960s, and were basically music "films" that were shot and edited with the purpose of being played back on a special machine in bars, like a sort of video jukebox.
Most of the Scopitones on the DVD are of relatively obscure acts in the U.S., and several others that were popular in Europe and overseas. But one in particular from this compilation caught my eye (and my ear!). And I'd like to share it with you!
Without further ado, here's Timi Yuro performing "If":
Not bad for a little Italian girl from Chicago, eh? To put it in perspective, she was about 19 years old when she sang this. Her biggest hit was in 1961, a song called "Hurt." She was called "the little girl with the big voice," and she never achieved the fame that she deserved. I think people just weren't ready to reconcile that big voice with that sweet little girl. She violated their expectations!
Today, she'd be HUGE.
Sadly, she passed away in 2004 after a 20-plus-year battle with cancer. But that voice will never fade! Ironically, she will probably achieve greater success now than when she was alive...
Most of the Scopitones on the DVD are of relatively obscure acts in the U.S., and several others that were popular in Europe and overseas. But one in particular from this compilation caught my eye (and my ear!). And I'd like to share it with you!
Without further ado, here's Timi Yuro performing "If":
Not bad for a little Italian girl from Chicago, eh? To put it in perspective, she was about 19 years old when she sang this. Her biggest hit was in 1961, a song called "Hurt." She was called "the little girl with the big voice," and she never achieved the fame that she deserved. I think people just weren't ready to reconcile that big voice with that sweet little girl. She violated their expectations!
Today, she'd be HUGE.
Sadly, she passed away in 2004 after a 20-plus-year battle with cancer. But that voice will never fade! Ironically, she will probably achieve greater success now than when she was alive...
posted by Aaron at 2:07 PM
4 Comments:
Ms. Yuro is amazing. Back in the 60s those girls knew how to belt. Not like the milk toast little studio created creatures that float around today.
And I take full credit for introducing Gary to the wonders of Scopitones! :P
Yes, that's right, you did! I'm glad, because if not, I may never have gotten to see them!
Remember how MAGICAL it was to see musical "films" in those days? When the "Midnight Special" was THE show to watch on Friday nights? When a View-Master was considered a big deal? And we had to use our imaginations (for things other than making up mean rumors)?
I probably sound like my grandparents, but kids today missed out on the experience of amusing themselves. They have so much media (most of it shit) at the tips of their fingers...
Like a guy in a movie promo I just saw said, "we didn't have Computer Games when I was a kid, we had what we called 'Outside'."
ed
Exactly. Well, we had Pong, but that was about the extent of it, aside from pinball machines and PacMan. And we had to go outside to get to those!
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