Make your own kind of music

The hallowed halls of Fabulon just welcomed another remarkable arrival - with the sad news of the death of Miss Cynthia Weil. Who? I hear you ask...

Well, with her husband Barry Mann [they were married from 1961 to her death], they rivalled their compatriots in the Brill Building Bacharach & David, Goffin & King and Lieber & Stoller with a massive and enduring stream of musical compositions, many of which became standards.

Such as these...

The Righteous Brothers - You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'

The Drifters - On Broadway

Eydie Gorme - Blame It On The Bossa Nova

Dolly Parton - Here You Come Again

The Animals - We Gotta Get Out Of This Place

...and they even wrote a "gay anthem"!

Mama Cass Elliot - Make Your Own Kind Of Music

Wow.

RIP, Cynthia Weil (18th October 1940 – 1st June 2023)

And you got me wanting you

Oh no...!

The reverie is over, dear reader. Back to work time has arrived...

Hey ho. As long as we have Mama Cass, Dudley Moore and Lulu on a Tacky Music Monday, there's still hope left for this world!

Cass Elliot, Lulu & Dudley Moore - Sugar Sugar [It's Lulu, 25th July 1970]

At least it's a short week, thanks to Easter. Have a good one, folks.

Isn't she cute, isn't she sweet? An eyeful you'd die for, a pleasure to meet

Groo. Another weekend bites the dust.

To ease our troubled minds and weary bodies back into the fray, yesterday marked the 80th anniversary of the birth of the faboo Mama Cass - and on this Tacky Music Monday (rather than play the obvious), here is the lady herself as you've probably never seen her before!

Cass Elliot - The Girlfriend/Blue Room [Ed Sullivan Show "Salute to Richard Rodgers", 22nd November 1970]

[Shame the video is such crap quality, but it is over half a century old, after all!]

All hail Cass Elliot (born Ellen Naomi Cohen, 19th September 1941 – 29th July 1974)!

Sock it to me, sock it to me

I am still struggling to lift my mood on this first week back in work, so please indulge me as I continue my quest for a real pick-me-up.

What better way to provide it today than with a fully-fledged vocal contest - between Mama Cass Elliott and the (then) gorgeous (Sir) Tom Jones? Proud possessors of a fine set of tonsils, both.

This is magnificent!



The tunes: One Night, Do Right Woman Do Right Man, Love Me, A Big Hunk Of Love, Respect and I Guess I'll Always Love You.

Cass Elliot official website

Tom Jones official website

Stars shining bright above you

In honour of Mama Cass Elliot, whose 70th birthday it would have been this week, and also just because the sun is shining and looks set to remain so into the weekend, here is the big Mama herself.

One of my favourite summer songs, Dream a Little Dream of Me was originally written and recorded as a dance band number back in 1931, but it is this version we love the most. Who can forget the beautiful closing moments of the film Beautiful Thing, as the boys slow-dance to this tune across the concrete of their grim estate? Bliss...

Mama Cass Eliot - Dream a Little Dream of Me

Cass Elliot website

Who's your friend when things get rough?

H.R. Pufnstuf was an absolute obsession of mine when I was a child. From the same production house that brought us The Banana Splits, this was a strange (typically 60s, slightly druggy) fantasy about a boy (played by the late Jack Wilde, of Oliver fame), shipwrecked on a weird island with a talking flute named Freddy, a magic boat, the giant puppet dragon of the title, his friends Cling & Clang and Dr. Blinky, and a wicked witch named Witchiepoo (played by Billie Hayes) who rode on a Vroom Broom... Bizarre stuff, indeed.

On a Tacky Music Monday, what better than to post some reminders of that very odd series?

Mama Cass - Different (H.R. Pufnstuf)

H.R. Pufnstuf intro

H.R. Pufnstuf