Everyone knows and loves Marilyn - she's smiling above just for you - but not many are familiar with Adolph Deutsch, a London-born, Hollywood-era composer who wrote the score for "Some Like It Hot," the bawdy classic which features Marilyn at her creamy-dreamiest. I'm just glad I wasn't on-set when it was being made. She was way too much to handle during this period, so much so that director Billy Wilder vowed never to work with her again and publicly railed against her (here they are looking all happy-like during the shoot, but don't you believe it).
This sort of mudslinging didn't sit well with Marilyn. Upon hearing of Wilder's smear campaign, she called his house. He wasn't there, so she chatted with his wife Audrey. "When you see him," she said, "will you give him a message for me? "Of course," said Audrey. "Tell him to go fuck himself. Oh, and my warmest personal regards to you, Audrey." Click. For added fun, read that exchange while looking at Marilyn's picture above. As for the soundtrack, it's a terrific, jazzy blast, as if Deutsch were composing for a Bugs Bunny cartoon, but with a lot more low-down oomph. Plus there's Marilyn singing "I Wanna Be Loved By You." How can you resist?
Let's move along to current - and much more expensive - times. I'd like to know how all those hep-cat jazz artists can afford to live in San Francisco when Google and the like are driving up real estate prices. Did they all move to Oakland? Daly City? Bodega Bay?
I ask, because some of my favorite jazz artists hail from Fog City, including Lori Carsillo, whose first album - and, yes, it's a Cheerfully Frisco Exclusive! - is the epitome of post-jazz vocal cool. Her hushed phrasing is delicate, yet scarily precise, suggesting a Brechtian Peggy Lee; the emotion pulls you in, but you're also made aware of the song's construction and clued in on her process of interpretation. Not many performers can pull off this balancing act with such ease.
Meanwhile, what do you think of when you think of Harrison Ford?
When I think of Harrison Ford, I think of patchouli and waterbeds and hippies and the Reclining Lotus and temple bells and really-really high-quality munchies. Look at his face below. You know he's looking for his next bong hit:
Wait, you were thinking of his movies? Yes, he's made those, one of which re-introduced pro-military, pro-war propaganda into American culture ('cause the hangover from 'Nam and Watergate was harsh!)...
...which, of course, set the stage for this (but I digress). Along the way, a thousand brass horns blasted from John Williams' orchestra pit. But what if you removed the brass, stripped everything back and reconfigured the orchestra into a jazz trio? I know it sounds downright silly and at first, you'll be like, "No." But I swear, it'll soon turn to, "yes," then "yes-yes," then "yes-yes, me likie!" I promise.
If The Secret Song File had a nickel for every time a guy said "yes-yes, me likie!" she'd be rich, happy and dancin'! Of course many rock stars are rich, while one is not only rich, he's married to a bee-utiful woman (even though we all thought he was gay back in the day) (but then all those Brits seem gay, don't they?).
Gay, bi or straight - or something in-between - this classic rocker is someone we can all agree on. He's awesome. And, yes, it's true, he has a new 3-disc "Best Of" CD out, which includes a few new tracks that are terrific, along with a bun'cha remixes 'n' such. If you don't know who it is based on the hints above, then you've probably never met a nice China Girl, much less had to undergo a few cha-cha-changes in your life or been under presh-shuh. Oh, and be warned, this might take a bit to "DL," as the kids say, since it's so many tracks, but be patient. Make some coffee. Eat a doughnut. Or whatever. It's all hunky-dory.
But Zowie?! No wonder his son changed his name.
Spread a little stardust in the comments, if you like!
