Radio … and Me -16

Perhaps the most significant ‘Doo-Wop’ song on the radio in the late '50s was based on a technical feature, and it eventually came to launch a series of radio musical hits and even TV cartoons.
If I told you (Dear Reader of a certain age) that the song was written and performed in 1958, by Ross Bagdasarian, Sr., and released on Liberty Records, you’d probably not remember it.
However, if I add that his stage name was 'David Seville,' and the song was
‘Witch Doctor’, then you’ll have a better idea of the craze that resulted.

Baseball ... on Radio

It’s baseball season -- especially for us fans of ‘Le canadien,’ who bowed out in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs! Baseball is already completing its second month.
I was a fan of the Montreal Expos since their birth in 1969, until their sad departure and re-branding as the Washington Nationals a few seasons ago. The Expos had excellent announcers on TV and radio, led by the legendary Dave Van Horne.

Rain, Rain ... Enough Already!

I keep a daily weather log. It’s a habit I picked up from my Dad, who was a mariner for most of his working life. It’s vitally important for a mariner to know the weather forecast, learning how to observe the current conditions and noting the public forecasts.
I note that, every day during the last 3 1/2 weeks, the weather forecasts / logs here, and across Atlantic Canada, have included: cloudy, rain, showers, drizzle and fog.

Radio … and Me -15

Here are more “Doo-Wop” songs, presented on music radio, then and now. These contain a curious twist.
(Remember, dear reader, these are actual, copyrighted, lyrics.) (No kidding. You're allowed, AND EVEN ENCOURAGED, to sing along, if the spirit moves you.)
-- In the mid-1950s, the million-seller, 'Shh Boom (Life Could be a Dream),' launched the career of a quartet called the Crew Cuts, who hailed from Toronto.
It started like this,
Hey nonny ding dong, alang alang alang
Boom ba-doh, ba-doo ba-doodle-ay
Oh, life could be a dream (sh-boom) ...

Radio ... and Me - 14

One of the earlier styles of rock ‘n’ roll music on the radio was known as ‘Doo-Wop.’
I see you have your hand up (old teacher phrase! ) , so I’ll define the term as, insert nonsense words here.
It was usually heard in groups’ songs, with the major words doing the background support for the lead singer, most often by the ‘Bass Man.’ Due homage was later paid in 1963, in the song, ‘Mr. Bass Man,’ by Johnny Cymbal.
‘Doo-Wop’ was not new. Oh, no.
The style comes from a great tradition of silly songs, and we can have fun with a few offering, from the pre-1940s:

We’ve Switched to the Mac!

Our family has just crossed the Great Divide and moved from a PC computer to a new iMac , following a long period of wishing, hoping and saving our pennies.
Both my wife and I, retired teachers, had used -- and taught our respective students with -- the early Macintosh, back in the late 1980s, and had been impressed with the ease of use and all-in-one experience.
The iMac is so easy to set up: I plugged in the power cord and the keyboard’s USB, and hit the Power switch.

Absolutely Awesome! You Rock, Halifax!

Those were just some of the reviews by the young athletes attending the Closing Ceremonies of the 2011 Halifax Jeux du Canada Games.
And, what a two-week celebration of the spirt of sport. A total of 2,700 athletes from ‘every part of this land of ours’ -- according to ‘Look Out, World!’ the first official Canada Games fight-song -- flocked to Halifax and the ski hills of Nova Scotia to perform in winter sports.
An estimated 50-thousand people attended free concerts