Month: August 2016

Culinary no-no #486

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THERE ARE THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS OF  FOOD BLOGS, BUT ONLY ONE CULINARY NO-NO!

In an effort to shed a few pounds (successful I might add) I’ve cut back dramatically on sweets. Occasionally I will cheat and treat myself.  I’m not talking a cookie or a candy bar. I’m talking something special.

Strawberry shortcake.

A fancy-flavored custard.

Cheesecake.

There’s a dessert I love that I rarely indulge in.

http://pages.pomona.edu/~sg064747/travel/images/Turkey/Dolmabahce/2048-DolmabahceMainGate.jpg

It supposedly was first made by bakers in a sultan’s palace in Istanbul. As good a cook as my wife, Jennifer is she’s intimidated by it because it can be difficult to make. Let’s take a look.

Drooling?

Epicurious.com lists ingredients for baklava as water, sugar, honey, lemon juice, light corn syrup, cinnamon, whole cloves or ground cardamom, blanched almonds, pistachios, walnuts, or any combination, finely chopped or coarsely ground,  (about 4 cups), phyllo dough,  melted butter or vegetable oil. The website also says “Although purists disdain anything except the classic nut filling, some cooks innovated by adding such items as dates and chocolate chips. Hungarians make an apricot version.”

Can you tell where this is headed?

Remember the wise words of that noted food expert, “Fonzie” in “Happy Days”?

Fonzie once said that ketchup and ice cream, when they’ re apart are, well, AYYYYY, two thumbs up. But put them together? Thumbs down, baby.

Dayton native gets major spread in national magazine photo
Photo: Dayton.com

Pictured is Theo Stephan who founded the gourmet food company Global Gardens in 1998 in Los Olivos, California. The Global Gardens Facebook page describes the business as “Santa Barbara wine country’s only complete food product line featuring healthy, easy to use products with worldly flavors. Our oils come from harvests we procure–over 2000 Certified Organic local trees and over 15,000 Pesticide-Free, Organically grown trees in Santa Barbara & San Luis Obispo counties. We love to educate you on Extra Virgin Olive Oils, Fruit Vinegars, Organic Mustards, Glazes, Savory Snacks, Confections– 50+ products and growing!”

Stephan has an obvious affection for food. She was just featured in the August issue of Better Homes and Gardens. Stephan told the magazine, “I’ve traveled and tasted a lot of food around the world. It is a joy to see people enjoy, and for me to be a part of people’s dinners, conversations and parties (through food).”

As part of the article Stephan provided her recipe for baklava. And this is different. Looks like this:

Stephan’s recipe uses kalamata olives, feta cheese,  garlic, oregano, and extra virgin olive oil. It’s designed to be savory, not sweet, an appetizer, not dessert.

There’s very little I won’t eat, and I’m gregarious enough to give this a try.But I’d be missing the rich, sweeter than sweet variety for sure, leading me to think…

That Fonzie is a great philosopher.

BTW, you can find the recipe here.

CULINARY NO-NO BONUS

Organic food is a bad investment

 

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Photos of the Week (08/28/16)

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1) A broken crucifix hangs inside the damaged church of Santa Maria della Misericordia in Accumoli, central Italy, Aug. 24, 2016, after a magnitude 6 quake struck at 3:36 a.m. (0136 GMT) and was felt across a broad swath of central Italy, including Rome where residents of the capital felt a long swaying followed by aftershocks. (Photo: Andrew Medichini

2) Search and rescue teams survey the rubble in Amatrice, central Italy, following a 6.2 magnitude earthquake according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), that struck at around 3:30 am. The quake was felt across a broad section of central Italy, including the capital Rome where people in homes in the historic center felt a long swaying followed by aftershocks. (Massimo Percossi/EPA)

3) Rescuers search through rubble following an earthquake in Pescara del Tronto, Italy on Aug. 24, 2016. Crews using bulldozers and their bare hands raced to dig out survivors Thursday from a strong earthquake that reduced three central Italian towns to rubble. The death toll rose to 267, but the number of dead and missing was uncertain given the thousands of vacationers in the area for summer’s final days.Photo: Adamo Di Loreto / Reuters

4) A man leans on a wall as the collapsed village of Pescara del Tronto is seen behind him. Photo: Crocchioni / ANSA via AP

5) Crews rescue a man buried in rubble in Amatrice on Aug. 24. Photo: REMO CASILLI / Reuters

6) Firefighters carry the coffin of 9-year-old Giulia Rinaldo outside the gymnasium where the state funeral service for some of the victims of the earthquake that hit central Italy last Wednesday took place, in Ascoli Piceno, Italy, on Aug. 27, 2016. Mourners in Italy prayed, hugged, wept and even applauded as coffins carrying victims of the country’s devastating earthquake passed by at a state funeral Saturday, grieving as one nation after three desperate days of trying to save as many people as possible. Photo: Gregorio Borgia / AP

7) Relatives mourn near coffins of some of the earthquake victims prior to the start of Saturday’s funeral. Photo: Andrew Medichini / AP

8) Relatives mourn near coffins of some of the earthquake victims prior to the start of the funeral. The caskets of 35 people had been brought to a community gym — one of the few structures in the area still intact and large enough to hold hundreds of mourners. The local bishop, Giovanni D’Ercole, celebrated Mass beneath a crucifix he had retrieved from one of the damaged churches in the picturesque area of medieval stone towns and hamlets. Photo: Gregorio Borgia / AP

9) People attend the funeral service in Italy. President Sergio Mattarella and Premier Matteo Renzi joined grieving family members, stopping to speak to some of them. When the caskets were brought out of the gym, the mourners applauded, a traditional Italian way of honoring people who die in tragedy. Photo: ALBERTO PIZZOLI / AFP – Getty Images

10) Marcia Thompson surveys damage in her neighborhood Monday in Concord, Massachusetts. A tornado briefly touched down in the historic town, uprooting trees, knocking out power and causing damage to dozens of homes. There were no reports of injuries. Photo: Elise Amendola / AP

11) A charred truck is seen near the home of Julie Thayer and her husband, Art, on South Yale Road near Valleyford, Washington. The Thayers had been hiking over the weekend and returned home Sunday night to find their home destroyed. Photo: Tyler Tjomsland / AP

12) Mark Martinez wipes his face after speaking with Republican vice presidential candidate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, Aug. 25, 2016, in Kokomo, Ind. Martinez home was hit by a tornado that passed through the area Wednesday afternoon. (AP Photo)

13) President Barack Obama talks with a young boy while touring Castle Place, a flood-damaged area of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Obama is making his first visit to flood-ravaged southern state as he attempts to assure the many thousands who have suffered damage to their homes, schools and businesses that his administration has made their recovery a priority. Photo: Susan Walsh / AP

14) Flowers are laid near the scene where a passer-by was killed after being hit by a driver playing “Pokemon Go” while driving in Tokushima, Japan. Photo: Reuters

15) A flood affected person, left, who rescued four dogs and their four puppies plays on the roof of their under constructed submerged house in Allahabad, India. Photo: AP

16) Former Mississippi firefighter Patrick Hardison gets teary-eyed under television lights, during a press conference marking one year after his face transplant at New York University Langone Medical Center in New York. Hardison was disfigured while trying to save people from a house fire in 2001 and received the face of a Brooklyn cyclist who died in an accident in July 2015. Photo: Bebeto Matthews / AP

17) Miami-Dade mosquito control inspector Yasser “Jazz” Compagines sprays a chemical mist into a storm drain in Miami Beach, Florida. Gov. Rick Scott has announced that the state Department of Health is allocating another $5 million in funding to Miami-Dade County for Zika preparedness and mosquito control. Photo: Alan Diaz / AP

18) Supporters of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump dressed in costume prison uniforms as Bill and Hillary Clinton sing the U.S. national anthem before a campaign rally in Austin, Texas, August 23, 2016. Photo:Carlo Allegri/REUTERS

19) People look at the milky way from the summit of the Grande Dent de Morcles (2,969m) above Morcles VD, Switzerland, on Aug. 23. Photo: ANTHONY ANEX / EPA

20) This photo provided by the National Park Service shows people on the National Mall in Washington, looking toward the World War II Memorial, Aug. 25, 2016, creating a giant, living version of the National Park Service emblem. Participants used brown, green and white umbrellas to create the emblem. (Photo: Tim Ervin/National Park Service/AP)

21) Gwen Jorgensen of the U.S. wins the women’s triathlon. She finished 38th in London in 2012 after her bike suffered a flat tire but avenged that with a 48-second victory Saturday. Photo: Gregory Bull / AP

22) LaShawn Merritt crosses the finish line in first place to secure the gold medal for the U.S. men’s 4x400m team. DAVID GRAY / Reuters

23) Matthew Centrowitz crosses the finish line and makes history ahead of Taoufik Makhloufi of Algeria and Nicholas Willis of New Zealand in the men’s 1500m final.Photo: Shaun Botterill / Getty Images

24) U.S. women’s volleyball players celebrate a bronze medal win over the Netherlands. Photo: YVES HERMAN / Reuters

25) Members of Italy’s team throw their coach Alessandro Campagna into the pool as they celebrate their bronze medal victory over Montenegro. Photo: Sergei Grits / AP

26) Seimone Augustus of the U.S. shoots during the gold medal match against Spain. The U.S. team won its sixth straight Olympic gold medal. Photo: SHANNON STAPLETON / Reuters

27) Brazilians react during the second half before their team defeated Germany to win the soccer gold medal during the Rio 2016 Olympic Games while watching a live broadcast on Leblon beach on Aug. 20 in Rio de Janeiro. Brazil won their first gold medal in soccer and avenged their humiliating 7-1 loss to Germany in the 2014 World Cup. Photo: Mario Tama / Getty Image

28) Fireworks explode above the Maracana Stadium at the end of the closing ceremony of the Rio 2016 Olympic games on Aug. 21, in Rio de Janeiro. Photo: Pascal Le Segretain / Getty Images

29) Carnival dancers perform during the closing ceremony on Day 16 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Photo:  SERGEI ILNITSKY / EPA

30) Artists perform during the closing ceremony of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. MICHAEL REYNOLDS / EPA

31) Model Izabel Goulart and Renato Sorriso dance during the closing ceremony.Photo: Getty Images

32) An athlete takes a photo of her medal as fireworks explode near the conclusion of the closing ceremony. Photo: Getty Images

33) Flag bearer Simone Biles of the United States walks during the “Heroes of the Games” segment during the closing ceremony. Photo: Ezra Shaw / Getty Images

34) The message “see you in Tokyo” is displayed on the floor as fireworks go off at Maracana Stadium during the Japanese portion of the closing ceremony. Tokyo will be the host of the 2020 Summer Olympics. Photo: PAWEL KOPCZYNSKI / Reuters

35) Competitors get emotional during the Diaper Derby race at the Surherlin Blackberry Festival in Oregon. Photo: Splash News

36) Nils Olav the penguin inspects the Guard of Honour formed by His Majesty the King of Norways Guard at Edinburgh Zoo in Scotland. Already a knight, the most famous king penguin in the world was given the new title of Brigadier Sir Nils Olav. Photo: MARK OWENS / AFP – Getty Images

37) A one-year-old female giant panda cub Nuan Nuan reacts inside her enclosure during joint birthday celebrations for the panda and its ten-year-old mother Liang Liang at the National Zoo in Kuala Lumpur. Photo: MOHD RASFAN / AFP – Getty Images

38) A koala joey debuts at the Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia. Photo: Splash News

39) An Australian rainbow lorikeet cools off in a sprinkler in a Pessac, France, zoo. Photo: Georges Gobet / AFP / Getty Images

40) A squirrel cools off with a water bottle in East London.  Photo: Splash News

41) A porcupine rescued from a Gaza zoo sits inside its enclosure at the New Hope Centre, an animal refuge near Amman, Jordan. Photo: Khalil Mazraawi / AFP / Getty Images

42) A zoo worker clutches a recovered hedgehog before its release near Kecskemet, Hungary. Photo: EPA

Recommended Reading (08/27/16)

/ This Just In... From Franklin, WI / 1 Comment

Here are interesting articles from the past week that are worth a read (even if, on occasion, I do not agree with the author).

How Milwaukee Shook Off the Rust

Abandoned factories and decaying smokestacks cast shadows over rusting rail yards, weed-choked lots, heaps of junked automobiles and small mountains of sand, coal and salt. The odor from the slaughterhouses, a massive coal-fired power plant and, especially, a yeast factory wafted up to the traffic, while waste from a century and a half of tanning leather, pouring steel and butchering beasts seeped into the river below. Once the beating heart of this great industrial city, the Menomonee River Valley had become, in the words of a mid-1980s Milwaukee Journal reporter, “an ugly, rust-colored lesion on the city’s midsection.”

Fast-forward two decades and Wisconsin’s most visible eyesore is barely recognizable.

Road to urban despair paved by Democrats

Our media high priests — the guardians of the political establishment — come to us with reasoned explanations for the urban tinderbox. They tell us of hopelessness and despair. But they ignore the one thing that binds them all, the one inconvenient truth of things.

Charlie Sykes’ Air War

A friendly and round-faced guy with glasses, Sykes, 61, doesn’t even try to conceal his disgust, but a large segment of his listeners, like Audrey from Oshkosh, are eager to defend ideas that Sykes believes violate fundamental conservative principles…

Sykes ends the call (with Audrey). He’s silent, broadcasting dead air. He looks upset, like he’s stopped breathing. He goes to a commercial break.

“OK, that doesn’t happen very often,” he says off-air. “I’m not usually absolutely speechless.” He says his listeners never talked like this until recently.

Why Latinos Should Vote for Trump

As a proud Latina, the daughter of two Cuban immigrants, who lives in a heavily Latino, blue-collar neighborhood, the question I’m asked all the time these days is: Wait, how is it you support Donald Trump?

To ID or not to ID

Are civil rights groups who sued the state contending that poor and minority people are so inept that they can’t apply for an identification card? If that is their position, how are they able to apply for SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistant Program) benefits, which require a photo ID? Why is voting the one category in which you don’t have to prove your citizenship and legal residence?

Yet another regrettable outcome of the 2016 election: Divorce

Get this: According to The New York Times, some wives are threatening to divorce their husbands if the fellows vote for Donald Trump.

Sheesh. It makes one long for the good old days when a fellow had to run off with a cocktail waitress before his wife called in the lawyers.

Week-ends (08/27/16)

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A look back at the people and events that made news the past week. Week-ends is a regular weekly feature of This Just In…

HEROES OF THE WEEK

Chelsey Russell

Ex-cons in Milwaukee

The TSA?

Ernie Andrus

VILLAINS OF THE WEEK

Rodney Earl Sanders

Did you watch the Packer game last night?

Heroin

Binge watching

QUOTES OF THE WEEK

“Of course, there’s always been a paranoid fringe in our politics, steeped in racial resentment. But it’s never had the nominee of a major party stoking it, encouraging it, and giving it a national megaphone. Until now.”
Hillary Clinton referring to Donald Trump

“She is a bigot, because you look at what’s happening to the inner cities. You look at what’s happening to African-Americans and Hispanics in this country. .She’s not doing anything for those communities.”
Donald Trump referring to Hillary Clinton

“As Trump’s new campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, put it: ‘We’ll look back at these two weeks . . . and say, why in the world didn’t Hillary Clinton’s campaign totally put us away?’

“The reason is, despite all the turmoil in the Trump campaign, Clinton has not been able to solve her biggest problem, which is that people don’t trust her.”
Eric Fehrnstrom, the Boston Globe

“When a man looks you straight in the eye and tells you what he’s going to do, to me, that’s an honest person. .And he has demonstrated time and time again in his businesses that he follows through and creates jobs and cares for people. To me, that is part of what makes a great man. And I do believe Donald Trump is that person.

“I’m not going to be distracted by those few comments because I trust Donald Trump to put America first. What is more egregious than anything Donald Trump has said is that Hillary Clinton continues to lie to the American people.”
Sue Lynch of La Crosse, former president of the National Federation of Republican Women, and now a member of the newly-formed  Wisconsin Women for Trump Coalition

“Republicans, forever accused of not caring about minorities, are scolded when they attempt to show they care about minorities.

“If Democrats and black voters have issues with Republican policies, that’s totally fair. But squeezing Republicans into no-win scenarios, just to keep black voters from hearing what conservatives might have to say, and punishing them for trying, is just self-interested political chicanery. And it’s at the heart of Trump’s appeal — protecting the self-interested status quo is what so many voters are against.”
Columnist S.E. Cupp

“Now I’d like him to come up here because, tell you right now, I wish it were 1825. And we would have a duel, that’s how angry I am, and I would not put my gun in the air, I guarantee you, I would not be (Alexander) Hamilton. I would point it right between his eyes, because he is a snot-nosed little runt and he has not done a damn thing since he’s been in this Legislature to help move the state forward.”
Maine Gov. Paul LePage accused Rep. Drew Gattine of calling him racist, wishes they could duel

OUTRAGE OF THE WEEK

If you are chaperoning an overnight school trip, and student who is a biological male but identifies as a female wants to sleep among the girls, what do you do? “The answer is, they sleep with the females,” the administrator says.

MOST UNDER-REPORTED STORY OF THE WEEK

Minimum mark-up lawsuit

MOST OVER-HYPED STORY OF THE WEEK

Clinton accuses Trump of bigotry

STRANGEST, MOST UNUSUAL STORY OF THE WEEK

Fisherman scoops up $100 million pearl —but keeps it under his bed for 10 years

Woman to go topless Sunday, protesting laws that discriminate against female breasts

The vanishing bar of soap

2016 POO Awards – Week 2

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Each week during this year’s high school football season as I have in previous years, I’m giving out a weekly POO Award to the Wisconsin high school football team that committed the most egregious act of poor sportsmanship by trying to humiliate its opponent.

My goal is to try to build awareness of the importance of sportsmanship.

POO stands for Piling On Offensively (Or if you prefer, Pouring it On Offensively)

For new readers, this is why we do the POO.

Week 1

Oakfield 82, Oneida Nation 0

Week 2

Iola-Scandinavia 71, Rosholt 0

The Barking Lot – America’s Finest Dog Blog (08/27/16)

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The Barking Lot is a regular weekly feature of This Just In…Written by my lovely wife, Jennifer and me.  It opens with the weekend dog walking forecast followed by the main blog from dog lover, Jennifer. Then it’s DOGS IN THE NEWS and our close. Enjoy!

THE WEEKEND DOG-WALKING FORECAST: We grade the weather outlook for taking your pet outdoors.

TODAY: Scattered thunderstorms possible all day long beginning around or just before 7:00 a.m. A late afternoon high of 79. Tough call. We’ll give it a  “C”

SUNDAY:  Partly cloudy. High of 81. “A”

Here’s my lovely wife, Jennifer with this week’s main blog.

In the Fischer home, we “celebrate” dogs almost daily.  In some way, they are talked about, loved, recognized, or remembered.  Of course there’s the Barking Lot, which clearly celebrates dogs every week.  But Kevin wanted a separate, special blog specifically recognizing National Dog Day yesterday on August 26th.  He shared the story of Ricochet the Surf Dog (tissue alert!) and how she spreads joy every day.

I’m pretty sure I can’t top that one.  So I’m not even going to try.  However, there are many other fabulous articles surrounding the holiday.  Does that surprise you?  No, I knew it wouldn’t.  (And quite frankly I’ll bet you’ll never see a National Cat Day.)  Let me just list a few of my favorite items from the last few days.

It’s no secret:  I don’t like Starbucks.  So when we DO finally get a dog I’m not treating her to a puppucinno any more than I’ll be clamoring for a Pumpkin Spice latte for myself this fall.  But for those who literally can’t live without their over-priced caffeine they can indulge their fur babies as well.  And who knows?  That bit of craziness just might help get another pup adopted!

Here’s another well-known tidbit:  I don’t like sports.  Well, I like them a bit more than Starbucks at least.  I watch Notre Dame football with (and because of) Kevin.  I get a touch caught up in March Madness.  But other than that I wouldn’t know Aaron Rodgers if he brought me an ill-fated Frappuccino.  Still, I love a bunch of cute photos from athletes showing a softer, fuzzier side of themselves.

Now, I DO enjoy dining, an adult beverage, and “chichi” hotels.  So I could certainly relate to a roundup of where and how to enjoy National Dog Day around the U.S.  I was disappointed but not terribly surprised that nothing from Wisconsin was mentioned.  (Perhaps by the summer of 2017 Oak Creek will host the first event for our state.)  If you live in or were visiting California, Georgia, Texas, New York, Oregon, or Florida however, you were in luck.  Plenty of events to choose from!

Hopefully you found some fun ways to celebrate with YOUR four-legged friend this weekend.  If you did, feel free to leave a comment!
—Jennifer Fischer

Thanks, Jennifer!

Time now for DOGS IN THE NEWS, canines that made headlines the past week.

Leave it to the wacko website treehugger.com to ask the ridiculous question.

Dog takes…the witness stand?

Dog ‘PooPrints’ help crack down on un-scooped doo in one Des Moines apartment complex.

Meet veteran Joe Worley, who knew he could always lean on his service dog Benjamin – literally.

This Mailman Writes Fake Letters For A Dog That Loves Mail.

He’s no mutt. He’s the mayor.

A young girl, engrossed in an art project, dips the family dog’s tail into shallow little cups of paint. NPR celebrates National Dog Day.

But National Dog Day was yesterday. Lots to celebrate.

Boston cops are heroes. Read why.

Everyone is telling me, Kev, you gotta get a dog. How much will it cost me?

Cartoon about a dog saying goodbye to its owner will leave you in tears.

THAT’S IT FOR DOGS IN THE NEWS.

HERE’S OUR DOG PHOTO OF THE WEEK:

Quillen was found with more than 350 porcupine quills all over her body. (Humane Society of North Texas)
A run-in with a porcupine left a 2-year-old terrier mix with more than 350 quills all over her body. The dog, now named Quillen, was turned over to the Humane Society of North Texas earlier this month after a woman found the stray near DFW Airport.She had the needles in her face, tongue, ears and feet and was also dehydrated and covered in ticks, the Humane Society said. “She was probably close to the porcupine and barking at it when the quills were released,” Dr. Cynthia Jones said. “That’s how she got them in the back of her throat.” Quillen was given antibiotics and pain medications, bathed in Epsom salts and had the quills extracted in a process that took almost two hours, the Star-Telegram reported.  Quillen will be put up for adoption after she recovers. Photo: The Dallas Morning News

We close as we always do with our closing video, and we have a few this week.

Dog in Phoenix is lucky to be alive. KPHO reports.

Next, meet Angus,  the hospital dog trained to sniff out deadly superbugs.

Here’s a real gem. The award-winning Boyd Huppert, who used to work at Channel 6 in Milwaukee, brings us a wonderful story about Bruno…

And coming this January…

That’s it for this week.

Thanks for stopping by..

See ya, BARK, next week!

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Goodnight everyone, and have a harmonious weekend!

/ This Just In... From Franklin, WI / 2 Comments

Music is the fourth great material want; first food, then clothes, then shelter, then music.
Author Christian Nestell Bovee

Every Friday night we smooth our way into the weekend with music, the universal language. These selections demonstrate that despite what is being passed off as art today, there is plenty of really good music available. Come along and enjoy.

Earlier today tickets went on sale for Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons who will be performing at the Milwaukee Theatre on November 17, 2016. Tonight, we bring you a preview of what you might see and hear in a few months.

Members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Four Seasons amassed 46 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 charts between 1962 and 1995.  The boys from Jersey have sold over 100 million records throughout their career. Their extensive list of songs include 71 chart hits (40 in the Top 40, 19 in the Top 10 and 8 that topped the charts at Number 1). From one of their online biographies:

 This highly acclaimed New Jersey, USA vocal group first came together in the mid-50s. Initially known as the Variatones, then the Four Lovers, they enjoyed a minor US hit in 1956 with ‘You’re The Apple Of My Eye’, composed by Otis Blackwell.

After being dropped by RCA Records, they recorded a single for Epic, and then Valli departed in 1958. As a soloist he released ‘I Go Ape’, composed by singer Bob Crewe.

Meanwhile, the Four Lovers released several records under pseudonymous names. The group evolved into the Four Seasons, recording the single ‘Bermuda’/’Spanish Lace’ for the End label, before signing with Vee Jay Records.There, they released ‘Sherry’, which reached number 1 in the USA in September 1962. A brilliant example of falsetto, harmony pop, the track established the group as one of America’s most popular. Two months later, they were back at the top with the powerful ‘Big Girls Don’t Cry’.

We open with a clip from their November 2, 2008 NBC special….

More from the group’s bio:

All these hits were underpinned by lustrous, soaring harmonies and thick up-front production, which gave the Seasons a sound that was totally unique in pop at that time. Their international fame continued throughout 1964 when they met fierce competition from the Beatles. A sign of their standing was evinced by Vee Jay’s release of a battle of the bands album featuring the Seasons and the Beatles. Significantly, when the Fab Four held four of the Top 5 positions in the Billboard chart during early 1964, the Four Seasons represented the solitary competition with ‘Dawn (Go Away)’ at number 3. The sublime ‘Rag Doll’ brought them back to the top in the summer of 1964.

Valli was a friend of Frank Sinatra’s. From people.com:

Frankie knew that factory life was not in his cards. “I’d seen so many people become stagnant in New Jersey—I had this fear I’d just stay there,” he says. “They’d come out of high school, get a job, get married, have kids and die in Jersey. I wanted more.”
He saw a way out early on, when his mom took him to see Frank Sinatra at around age 6. “The stage felt like it was 100 feet above my head,” says Valli. “Sinatra comes out to all the lights, the audience, the roar—everything. After that I sang around the house a lot.”

At the height of the Four Seasons’ fame in the 1960s, women followed Valli wherever he performed. On a whim he could ring up the Beatles to hang out in their hotel room in Italy. Frank Sinatra, who called Valli “Cheech,” would send his Lear jet for the Four Seasons when he wanted company, and he taught Valli breathing techniques to protect his voice after vocal cord surgery in the late ’60s.

The group enjoyed a ton of hits in the 60’s. In the 70’s, disco for many years dominated. But there was room for other types of music.

One record company decided not to release a particular song so it was sold to Frankie Valli. Several record companies refused to go with it, but Private Stock agreed, only if Frankie Valli’s name was on the record label. The Four Seasons would be left off “My Eyes Adored You” went all the way to #1.

The success of “My Eyes Adored You” sparked a new excitement about recordings by Frankie Valli. His next big hit was just ahead in 1975.

Valli struggled with potential deafness during those mid-70’s, cured by a series of ear operations in 1980.

Back to the group’s bio:

Still going strong, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons have become an institution whose illustrious history spans several musical eras, from the barber shop harmonies of the 50s to the disco beat of the 70s and beyond. It is however the timeless hit singles of the 60s to which the group are indelibly linked.

It’s one of the greatest love songs ever.

That’s it for this week’s segment.

Goodnight.

Sleep well.

Have a great weekend.

Let’s go back to that ice show and answer the musical question:

WHAT is the word?

ENCORE!

Marvelous!

BONUS!

God bless this great American group and talent!

 

 

Friday Night Forgotten Oldie: A love that keeps growing and growing

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The year was 1969.

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A lot was happening, and that included the world of pop music. There was a great amount of quality and variety.

Take a look at this gentleman. Does he look familiar?

Back then…

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/P3U-mPmpVy0/hqdefault.jpg

2013…


Photo: Gadsden Times

Do you recognize the name Pat Upton?

Upton was the lead singer of a group in 1969. They had a hit recording that year, their only hit, but it was a biggie.

Upton wrote the song in a motel room, imagining it to be sung by Bobby Goldsboro. Instead he and his band recorded it for Columbia Records.

The record label hired the group, the Fydallions with a condition that they change their name. So they did, intentionally misspelling the title of a 1946 film.

Pat Upton’s group made it to #12 on the Billboard chart, and their recording struck gold, selling over a million copies.

Upton died in July after battling a long illness. He was 75. Upton left us with this iconic love song.

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The song has been covered by artists such as Andy Williams, Sonny and Cher, Lena Horne, Patti Austin, Diana Ross, and most recently Bruno Mars. It’s a popular wedding song. So maybe it’s not such a forgotten oldie after all.

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