Princess of Tap

When it comes to a man singing falsetto, I'm voting for The six-foot-three, 300-pound Brian Wilson. " Don't Worry Baby"

GPF I think Lawrence told you yesterday that we all like more than one group. We like a number of groups at one time. I don't think anybody else cares, but my three favorite groups are The Beach Boys, The Beatles and the BeeGees. All the ones I listed below, I loved a lot too. It's not like political parties, you're allowed to love more than one.

WORDS It's only words-- And words are all I have To take your heart away. Barry, Robin & Maurice

I've got to say quite honestly I don't know how this thread talking about the Beatles producer has degenerated into the sub par area of the pre- fab 4. Help Me Rhonda! And nobody loved Davy Jones More Than Me-- but if you really want to talk some rock and roll, let's get it on and leave the nostalgia and bubblegum behind. Some examples of real Rock & Roll groups below: (in no particular order) THE BEATLES, JIMI, Led Zeppelin, Genesis, Santana, Cream, The Who, Spencer Davis & Stevie Winwood The Stones, The Beach Boys, the Bee Gees, The Doors, The Eagles, Jefferson Airplane,Eric Burdon and the Animals or War, The Yardbirds, The Byrds, The Hollies,ect ect,ect Too many to choose from, we could even add The Kinks, The Dave Clark Five or Paul Revere and the Raiders but-- The Monkees would not ever be one of them.

Jakeem-- thanks for the info I never look below videos online because I don't except anybody to write there. Anyway I made an addendum to my post asking you what lead Mike Nesmith sang on any one of the Monkees top 40 hits. I bought a number of those 45's and I can't remember him singing lead on any of them. Maybe you can refresh my memory?

Jakeem-- you seem to be a fan of wool hat. Years later, after the monkees phenomenon died down, I heard he became a millionaire. Can you maybe tell us what it was he did that made him a millionaire? As far as the lead singing is concerned, I bought the forty-fives of the monkees-- pretty good. I don't remember Nesmith ever singing on one of their top 40 hits. Jakeem, Maybe you can tell me which one he sang lead on. I sure can't remember it.

James, thanx-- you're right about how they produced those records at the Motown. Barry Gordy had worked in the assembly line at Ford and that's where he got that idea. However, the talent at Motown was homegrown and real Roots rock and roll people just like the Beatles, the stones or The Beach Boys. They were kids who knew each other in school or church and they performed at local dances and Church picnics just like John &Paul or Brian Wilson and his brothers. Diana Ross, Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard lived in the projects in Detroit. They knew another group of boys that lived near--They called themselves The Primes. They all sang together and the girls called themselves The Primettes. And the Motown Talent was no different from the other other Grassroots Rock talent. They were the real deal. Since these people were all singers, it's only natural that Berry Gordy had to hire musicians. The difference is when you're talking about a rock and roll group-- they're supposed to Encompass everything. They sing, play the instruments, write the music, produce the records, create their own image, they do it all. You're very right to see that Berry Gordy had an extreme capitalistic Edge. Unlike the Beach Boys or The Beatles, he would never put out a double-sided hit. He was too cheap for that. Every record have one good side and one good song and that's how he was going to sell it. In that way, he was just like Phil Spector. And the two of them, Spector and Gordy,always put out crummy albums. I think Phil Spector called it a couple of hits and the rest trash. Brian Wilson may have been the first person in rock to actually do concept albums, where the songs were written specifically for the album--they were good songs and they had some kind of connecting idea behind them.

Re: hey hey we're the Monkees-- they were capitalism's answer to Beatlemania period. NBC Executives got together, auditioned some actors who could sing, hired Neil Diamond, Boyce & Hart to write the music, hired a bunch of writers to make them sound as clever as the Beatles and hired a bunch of Studio musicians to play the instruments. Voilà-- that's why they're called the pre-fab four. A weekly TV show on NBC to mimic A Hard Day's Night along with records equals a lot of money. Their success has a lot to do with the talent of Neil Diamond and those other composers. Also Davy Jones was an unbelievably talented performer, singer, dancer actor, who starred in Oliver! in London and on Broadway. Mickey Dolenz aka Braddock was the child star who had his own TV show on NBC, Circus Boy. Those two were child stars. Now the other two were picked in the audition were adequate. But they never sang any leads. Even though the monkees were not an authentic rock and roll group like the Beatles or the stones, or the Beach Boys-- they sounded good at times very good. Because of all the talent that was paid into the group. I truly love the Last Train to Clarksville-- and why not? The execs hired enough talent to make those records sound really good. Because of all this professional work paid into this group they actually sounded better than groups that were really on their low level of the rock spectrum. Groups like Herman's Hermits, Billy J Kramer and The Dakotas, Gerry and the Pacemakers. In a way, the monkees had the most in common with the Archies and the Chipmunks-- not exactly all there. The monkees were completely an entertainment industry construct of a conception of what a rock and roll group should be in the 60's to make a lot of money. Something like this could only happen in America.

In 1964 - - Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts were considered to be the ugliest members of the Stones. Brian Jones was downright attractive-- the most talented and the most brilliant. 2016-- Charlie and Bill are good-looking compared to Keith Richards. Brian Jones is dead, rumored to be murdered by a person or persons unknown. And Mick Jagger is still a gross looking, sexist, egomaniac -- alas, some things simply don't change.

Lawrence, I've got a degree in French and after that I briefly studied modern French history in graduate school. One film we were always required to look at was Abel Gance's Napoleon. Well, you mentioned that it was five and a half hours--I think I sat through at least 2 hours. Then I just gave up. But it was very historically accurate and realistically portrayed. If I had to compare it to well known silent Epic, it would be Erich von Stroheim's Greed. Like Greed, MGM got a hold of it and cut it into pieces. Later on I think there was a champion for the movie, the famous film historian Kevin Brownlow. He reconstructed it and showed it, the way it was originally planned with the original music and the three screen process. As for Gance, I think he slipped through the cracks. You probably know more about him than I do. He never really seemed to get the kind of critical acclaim or coverage that he deserved while he was alive. I never heard about him from forming any kind of studio or alliance with other film people in France. But what I've seen of Napoleon, it's truly an epic accomplishment.

Speed Racer David Niven is a person that you should really read --he wrote two autobiographies - - 1 is the Moon's a balloon and the other one is Bring on the Empty Horses. I think I got those titles right because I read them a number of years ago. David Niven happens to have been one of the best friends of Fred Astaire and one of the best friends of Errol Flynn. His book is more straightforward than Fred Astaire's autobiography but, of course, it's not as frank as Flynn's. I shouldn't say that exactly--simply put David Niven doesn't drop that many names. When he starts to talk about people, He lets you fill in the blanks yourself. Let's say he tells the story a little more discreetly. Cave Girl-- I'm currently reading the Dark Side of Genius as well.

Thanx, Lawrence Now, I declare this thread is open.

Excellent Lawrence - - they are truly phenomenally beautiful films. Germinal of course, is a bit raw and quite naturalistic because it's based on Zola. Claude Berri got some of the best performances you're ever going to see from these top French actors--Montand, Depardieu and Auteuil in the Pagnol duo--Jean de Florette & Manon-- where the director links the idea of the negativity of destiny in life-- starting musically with Verdi's music from the opera, La Fuerza del Destino-- the Force of Destiny, as the first film opens. Berri won an Oscar in 1966 for a short film, Le Poulet. 1n 1979 he produced Roman Polanski's Tess. (The Independent, Jan 13, 2009, an Obit for Berri, is an overview of his life and work and discusses his relationship with François Truffaut.) Lawrence, you're up next--

1) Love & Mercy-- Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys 2) BackBeat--The Beatles 3) Great Balls of Fire--Jerry Lee Lewis 4) What's Love Got to Do with It-- Ike and Tina Turner 5) The Buddy Holly Story 6) Ray 7) The Doors 8) Walk the Line 9) Sweet Dreams--Patsy Cline 10) La Bamba

1932

This director's films were exceedingly popular in France and the United States in the mid-eighties to the early nineties. The actors and actresses who participated in these films are very well-known in France. But most of all, these films are steeped in serious French literature, from the late 19th century to the post-war era. Most of our members have probably seen at least one of these films.

Sidney Lumet directed his then mother-in-law, Lena Horne, as the Good Witch in The Wiz.

I like two non- classically trained tap dancers. They were two big movie stars at the same studio and they absolutely suited each other. They only got to dane together once. I've never seen two hoofers who were more sympatico. I'm talking about James Cagney and Ruby Keeler tap dancing to Shanghai Lil,in Berkeley's Footlight Parade. The number is a stage number, but it leads into the plot as Cagney is not scheduled to dance in the stage show. The plotline dramatically forces him onto the stage. Terrific Berkeley segué.

Jean-Pierre Aumont

Kenneth Tobey starred in the syndicated TV series The Whirlybirds, which was often directed by Robert Altman.

This French director was mentored by François Truffaut. His films include comedies and dramas, but he has had the most success with literary adaptations. That is films based on French literature. You could compare these kinds of films with what George Cukor did with David Copperfield and Camille in the thirties. Some critics would call it old-fashioned movie making at its best, while others would say the subject matter and the acting is brutally frank and compelling to the audience. This director has worked with the top actors and actresses in France. Also, he had a distinguished track record as a producer. When you identify this director, please name several of his films, the writer who wrote the work originally and some of the French movie stars who shined in his Cinema.

Lawrence, there's just no stopping you; you're on a roll! It's all yours--

When I saw Ringo Starr with the Beatles in 1964 they were heading up A Hard Day's Night tour near the end of the summer. Naturally I thought that Ringo would sing the song I Wanna To Be Your Man that was featured in the movie. To my disappointment he sang Boys instead. A Solo that he had performed in their first album. It was an old Shirelles song, obviously not written by Lennon & McCartney. He performed it well and he was very exuberant. Fast forward, 50 years later years later, I was watching the ED Sullivan CBS-TV tribute to The Beatles. And Ringo picked Boys to sing for this special. But before he sang it, he explained to the audience that he had been singing this song before he was a Beatle-- he was singing Boys as a solo when he was with Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. - - For the first time, I think I understood why Ringo sang Boys in 64 and for the 2014 special. When Ringo came to the Beatles he was a complete performer; he was a professional--a known commodity. They knew what they were getting. He was telling the audience that he was a professional performing Boys--same way-- before the Beatles And he's still that professional performer --after the Beatles. And he didn't need a Lennon-McCartney song to prove it. I had the privilege of listening to a BBC live performance of The Beatles playing Slow Down, a Larry Williams Rock classic. The number was without all the embellishments that Ringo gave it in the Capitol recording. It was sounding quite nice and ordinary. But not at all the fabulous number that I remembered from the Something New album. With Ringo's embellishments it sounded like one of the greatest rock and roll songs of all time. They played it just like Larry Williams - - the only difference was Ringo. You just don't know what you got in Ringo because you never had to do without him.

This staff choreographer at MGM danced in On the Town and An American in Paris. He even choreographed several musicals at MGM. But his claim to fame is with the rock 'n roll movies. He became part of rock 'n roll history when he started working in rock movies. Can you name the rock 'n roll movie and the number in that movie that made this choreographer a rock 'n roll legend?

Edward Everett Horton or Eric blore?