Frank Sinatra

An often requested song at my Frank Sinatra Tribute shows is The Way You Look Tonight.  It originally goes back to 1936 when it was sung by Fred Astaire in the movie Swing Time, for which it won the Academy Award as that year's best song.  It was also a 60's hit with nice harmonies by The Lettermen.  It was recorded by Frank Sinatra in 1964 with a chart by Frank's favorite arranger Nelson Riddle, and popularized for a new generation in 1989 when that version was featured i... MORE

San Francisco's maritime strike, which began May 9, 1934, tumbled out of control when the Industrial Association, made up of employers and business interests who wished to break the strike, and the power of San Francisco unions, began to move goods from the piers to warehouses.

The first running battles between unionists and police began Tuesday, July 3, 1934.


Injured in street rioting in the wake of the Industrial Association's port opening attempt today were:   Inspe... MORE

  "That Old Feeling". It’s a great song, written by Sammy Fain, with lyrics by Lew Brown and sung to its level by Sinatra. This version (Sinatra’s second) arranged by Nelson Riddle and recorded in March of 1960. features a sax solo by one Pas Johnson, who (at least to me) sounds like Eric Clapton playing "Slow Hand" for Patti Boyd, if you get my drift….It’s the way he bends the notes, especially at the end of the solo that sounds like electric blues…and years before a... MORE

Like Frank sang it, it's nice to go traveling, but it's oh so nice to come home, especially when you bring home your son. Thank you to all for your kind words and support through our adoption times. The picture below is us on Saturday night around midnight, sitting in the Charlotte NC airport after our flight was delayed. Note how awake and happy he is. That was not the case yesterday. Prior to this little scene of familial bliss, you could have seen us sprinting th... MORE

Looking back, 2007 was a good year for me, despite having been overworked for parts of it. Largely thanks to other moggers, I heard more new music than probably in any other year so far in my life. (My year-end list of albums is coming next week.) I managed to travel a fair bit. I was fortunate to meet several fantastic moggers in real life. (Something that I hope will happen again in 2008!) Despite periods of lacking inspiration or stumbling into obstacles in my research,... MORE

1959, Melbourne Australia. Frank Sinatra with a killer jazz quintet led by Red Norvo. Dig the vibes intro on this most excellent version of Night and Day.

Today is Ole Blue Eyes' birthday, but don't see much about it on mog yet- this is oe of my favorite tracks, pulled from the Capitol Years compilation. I love the intro w/ Frank and "Felix" chatting about the orchestration, and then the pure, sweet sound of Sinatra in his prime. sigh. no wonder he got laid so often...

My little coffee experiment is coming to an end. Not because I have a better job and can afford good coffee now but, well, because, just because. First the drink – it was a $1.79 for about 300grams of Kroger Value coffee. Yes, even cheaper than straight up Kroger Brand coffee. The can is wonderfully generic in packaging you’d almost swear you saw this on the shelf in the film Repo Man in the grocery store scenes. It’s got the word “value” prominently displayed along the ... MORE

Frank Sinatra really did it on this one. Heartbreak and loneliness has rarely sounded this cool.

This spring I took a huge leap and joined the beginning tap class at my theatre. To my surprise (and the surprise of many others, I'm sure) I didn't suck. It was loads of fun and I've been missing it this summer as our teacher is busy working on a show. This is one of many songs she had us dance to. So I was tres excited when I went to work yesterday and learned we will have classes again in September. I need to pull out my shoes and brush up on my shuffle-ball-chan... MORE

I've listened to this some 50 years now. Still enjoy it a great deal. Singer above all else.