Category: Music

Ed Ames who was born Edmund Dantes Urick died May 21, 2023, at the age of 95 from natural causes.

While still in high school Ed and his brothers formed a singing group which won many competitions in the Boston area.  They changed their group’s name to the Ames Brothers and landed their first record contract in 1947.  The group continued recording and scored several hits throughout the 1950s and early 1960s.

When the group broke up, Ed Ames decided to pursue a full-time acting career.  Mr. Ames landed roles in off-Broadway and Broadway plays.  While playing Chief Bromden in the Broadway play One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest opposite Kirk Douglas, Mr. Ames was offered the role of Mingo on the television series Daniel Boone.  This role made him a star.  For the rest of his career Ed Ames would alternate between acting on television and stage as well as singing as a solo performer.

Some of Ed Ames television appearances include: The Rifleman; The Travels of Jamie McPheeters; The Danny Thomas Hour; Daniel Boone (72 episodes); The Ed Sullivan Show (4 episodes); The Tonight Show; McCloud; Murder She Wrote; In the Heat of the Night and Jake and the Fatman.

I was a huge fan of Ed Ames as Mingo.  It was the first time that I can remember liking a supporting character more than the star.  There’s a classic clip of Ed Ames promoting Daniel Boone on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.  Mr. Ames was demonstrating his prowess at tomahawk throwing.  If you haven’t seen it, it’s worth looking up.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Ed Ames’ family, friends and fans.

Tina Turner, born Anna Mae Bullock died yesterday at the age of 83.  The cause of death was natural causes.

Tina Turner rose to fame singing with Ike Turner’s Kings of Rhythm.  Later Tina and Ike married and formed a popular singing/recording duo that released hits such as River Deep, Mountain High, Proud Marry and Nutbush City Limits. They broke up in 1976 and they divorced in 1978.

In 1984, Tina Turner released Private Dancer which went on to become a platinum seller.  The single, What’s Love Got to Do With It won Record of the Year and went to #1 on the charts.  This made Ms. Turner, at age 44, the oldest female singer to hit the top spot on Billboard’s Hot 100 Chart.  Tina Turner would continued to pile up hit after hit, and award after award.  By the end of her career she had won 12 Grammy Awards (including 3 Hall of Fame Awards and a Lifetime Achievement Award).  2021: Turner became a two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee.

Tina Turner appeared in several feature films including: Tommy; Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band; Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome and The Last Action Hero.  Angela Bassett played Tina Turner in What’s Love Got to Do With It?

I am a Tina Turner fan.  I loved her in Thunderdome and thought we’d see more of her in movies.  I think she probably loved singing, making music videos and touring too much to pursue a movie career.  She had so many hits that it’s hard to pick just one favorite.  It was even better seeing her perform songs in guest spots on tv and in her videos.  There will never be another Tina Turner.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Tina Turner’s family, friends and fans.

Gerald Fried, the composer, conductor and musician died yesterday from pneumonia.  He was 95.

Mr. Fried attended attended The Juilliard School of Music.  He became friends with Stanley Kubrick and scored short, Day of the Fight.  He also Kubrick’s Fear and Desire; Killer’s Kiss; The Killing and Paths of Glory.  Mr. Fried would spend his career alternating between feature films and television.

Some of Gerald Fried’s films include: Day of the Fight; Fear and Desire; Killer’s Kiss; The Killing; Paths of Glory; Machine-Gun Kelly; I Bury the Living; Terror in a Texas Town; Birds Do It, Bees Do It and Star Trek: The Final Darkness.

Some television series that feature music by Gerald Fried include: M Squad (3 episodes); Wagon Train; Riverboat (15 episodes); Shotgun Slade (23 episodes); Ben Casey (3 episodes); Rawhide; Gunsmoke: T.H.E. Cat (3 episodes); My Three Sons (2 episodes); It’s About Time (26 episodes); Gilligan’s Island (51 episodes); Mr. Terrific (17 episodes); The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (45 episodes); Star Trek (4 episodes); Lost in Space (2 episodes); Family Affair (2 episodes);  Mission Impossible (6 episodes); Mannix; Police Story; Roots (4 episodes); Police Woman (4 episodes); Rescue from Gilligan’s Island;  Roots: The Next Generations (7 episodes); The Castaways of Gilligan’s Island; Emergency (2 episodes); Flamingo Road (9 episodes); The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan’s Island; The Return of the Man from U.N.C.L.E.: 15 Years Later; Roots: The Gift and Star Trek: Phase II; 

Gerald Fried was nominated for 5 Prime Time Emmy Awards; winning one – Outstanding Achievement in Music Composition for a Series (Dramatic Underscore) for “Roots” (Part I) (1977) (shared with Quincy Jones)

Mr. Fried was nominated for one Academy Award for Best Music, Original Dramatic Score for Birds Do It, Bees Do It.

Mr. Fried worked on many of my favorite shows of my youth and with Kubrick on some of my favorite crime films. What a career he had!

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Mr. Wood’s family, fans and friends.

Burt Bacharach died yesterday from natural causes.  Mr. Bacharach was 94.

Burt Bacharach earned a Bachelor of Music degree from Montreal’s McGill University.  He also studied music at the Mannes School of Music, and at the Music Academy of the West in Montecito, California.  Mr. Bacharach was drafted and served two years in the US Army.  This is where he met singer Vic Damone, who was also a soldier.  After they were discharged, Mr. Bacharach worked as a pianist and conductor for Mr. Damone and later other singers such as Steve Lawrence, The Ames Brothers, Joel Gray and Marlene Dietrich.

In 1957, Burt Bacharach met Hal David.  Mr. David was a lyricist and they began writing songs together.  The had back to back hits with The Story of My Life (performed by Marty Robbins) and Magic Moments (performed by Perry Como).  Although Burt Bacharach wrote hits with other lyricists, he is best known for his collaborations with Hal David.

In 1961, Burt Bacharach was impressed with the talents of a session singer.  Her name was Dionne Warwick.  They teamed and over the next twenty years produced 22 Top 40 hits including  “Walk On By”, “Alfie”, “I Say a Little Prayer”, “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again”, and “Do You Know the Way to San Jose?”. 

Burt Bacharach would go on to work with or have his songs performed by  Stan Getz, Dusty Springfield,  Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, B.J. Thomas, The Carpenters, Barbra Streisand, Tom Jones, Stephanie Mills, Carole Bayer Sager (his third wife), Neil Diamond, Aretha Franklin, Natalie Cole, Luther Vandross, Ronnie Milsap, Elvis Costello, Ronald Isley, Adel to name just a few.

Mr. Bacharach’s music would regularly be featured in films.  He was nominated for 5 Academy Awards for Best Music, Original Song (winning two Oscars – for “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head” with Hal David; and “Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do)” with Carole Bayer Sager, Christopher Cross, Peter Allen).  He also won an Oscar for Best Music, Original Score for a Motion Picture (not a Musical) for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

Other films that featured Burt Bacharach compositions include: The Blob (1958); What’s New Pussycat; Casino Royale (1967); Night Shift; Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice; Arthur 2: On the Rocks; Goodfellas; Madonna: Truth or Dare; Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story; Forrest Gump; Bad Boys; Dead Presidents; Fargo;  Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery; My Best Friend’s Wedding; I Know What You Did Last Summer; Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me; Shaft (2000); Meet the Parents; Austin Powers in Goldmember; Dawn of the Dead (2004) and so many more.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Burt Bacharch’s family, friends and fans.

Stuart Margolin died yesterday from natural causes.  He was 82. Although best known for his re-occurring role as Angel on The Rockford Files, Stuart Margolin was also a writer, director and singer/songwriter!

Mr. Margolin’s professional acting career began with a re-occurring role in 1961’s The Gertrude Berg Show.  After that role Stuart Margolin continued acting on television and in feature films for the rest of his career.  He earned  two Emmy Awards (1979 and 1980) for playing Angel Martin opposite James Garner on The Rockford Files.

Some of Stuart Margolin’s feature film appearances include: Women of the Prehistoric Planet; Kelly’s Heroes; The Stone Killer; Death Wish; Futureworld; Days of Heaven and SOB.

Some of Stuart Margolin’s television appearances include: The Gertrude Berg Show (3 episodes); Ensign O’Toole (4 episodes); Burkes’ Law; The Fugitive; Ben Casey; The Alfred Hitchcock Hour; Branded; Pistols ‘n’ Petticoats; Ironside; Occasional Wife (3 episodes); The Virginian; The Monkees; Bewitched; The F.B.I.; Judd for the Defense; That Girl (3 episodes), It Takes a Thief (3 episodes); Land of the Giants; My World and Welcome To It (2 episodes); Nichols (24 episodes); The Partridge Family (2 episodes); Love American Style (29 episodes); The Mary Tyler Moore Show; Cannon; Gunsmoke (3 episodes); MASH (2 episodes); Rhoda (2 episodes); The Rockford Files (37 episodes); Bret Maverick (8 episodes); The Fall Guy; Magnum PI; Hill Street Blues (2 episodes); Vendetta: Secrets of a Mafia Bride (3 episodes); Matlock (2 episodes); The Rockford Files: I Still Love L.A.; The Rockford Files: A Blessing in Disguise; The Rockford Files: If the Frame Fits…; The Rockford Files: Godfather Knows Best; The Rockford Files: Friends and Foul Play; The Rockford Files: Punishment and Crime; The Rockford Files: Shoot-Out at the Golden Pagoda; The Rockford Files: If It Bleeds… It Leads; Touched By An Angel (2 episodes); Beggars and Choosers (4 episodes); These Arms of Mine (3 episodes); Tom Stone (26 episodes); Intelligence (3 episodes); Saturday Night Live; 30 Rock; NCIS and The X-Files.

Stuart Margolin was also writer.  Some of his credits include: The Ballad of Andy Crocker; A Man, a Woman and a Bank; an episode of the mini-series Vendetta: Secrets of a Mafia Bride and What the Night Can Do.

Mr. Margolin was also an accomplished director.  Some of his credits include: Love American Style; The Mary Tyler Moore Show; Phyllis; Wonder Woman (2 episodes); The Rockford Files (2 episodes); The Love Boat (7 episodes); Bret Maverick (2 episodes); Hart to Hart; Magnum PI; The Glitter Dome (tv movie); Crazy Like a Fox (3 episodes); Vendetta: Secrets of a Mafia Bride (6 episode mini-series); Quantum Leap; North of 60 (4 episodes); Lonesome Dove: The Series; The Rockford Files: Friends and Foul Play; The Rockford Files: If It Bleeds… It Leads; Promised Land (8 episodes); Beggars and Choosers (5 episodes); These Arms of Mine (3 episodes); Touched by an Angel (11 episodes); Tom Stone (6 episodes) and Intelligence (3 episodes).

Stuart Margolin was also a singer/songwriter.  Mr. Margolin often co-wrote with singer/songwriter Jerry Riopelle.  Songs co-written by Stuart Margolin appeared on albums by Jerry Riopelle, Gary Lewis and the Playboys and R.B. Greaves.

I don’t know when I first saw Stuart Margolin’s acting.  It’s hard to pinpoint because he appeared on so many shows that I watched as a kid.  I knew his face before I knew his name.  Stuart Margolin and James Garner must have loved working together.  I sure enjoyed their interactions which began on the tv series Nichols.  It only lasted one season but paved the way for The Rockford Files.

I knew that Stuart Margolin was a prolific actor, but didn’t realize until today how many wonderful shows/movies he directed.  And who knew he was a singer/songwriter?  What a brilliant career!

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Stuart Margolin’s family, friends and fans.

Irene Cara passed away yesterday at the age of 63.  No cause of death was given.

Irene Cara was an actress, singer and song writer.  Although her performance in Fame made her a household name, Ms. Cara had been a performer since she was a little girl.  When she was three years old she was one of five finalists for the “Little Miss America” pageant.  She studied music and dance.  While still a child she performed on The Original Amateur Hour, The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and became a regular on PBS’ The Electric Company.

Irene Cara would go on to appear on stage in Broadway productions (and some off-Broadway plays as well).  She became a regular cast member of Love of Life.  This was followed by starring roles in the feature films  Aaron Loves Angela and Sparkle.  Television called and Irene Cara made guest appearances on Kojak and What’s Happening!!.  Next came roles in Roots: The Next Generation and Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones.

Irene Cara became an international superstar with her role in Fame.  Ms. Cara was originally cast as a dancer, but her role was re-written once producers heard her voice.  Irene Cara sang the title song, Fame as well as the movie’s other single, Out Here on My Own.  In addition to the singles and soundtrack selling in the millions, both songs were nominated for an Academy Award.  Irene Cara became one of the few singers to perform more than one song at an Oscar ceremony.

Based on her performance in Fame, Iren Cara received Grammy Award nominations for Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.  She also received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Motion Picture Actress in a Musical. She was crowned Billboard’s Top New Single Artist, Cashbox Magazine’s Most Promising Female Vocalist and Top Female Vocalist.  When a Fame television show was announced, Irene Cara was offered the opportunity to reprise her role, but declined.

In 1983, she co-wrote (with Giorgio Moroder and Keith Forsey) and sang the title song for the movie Flashdance.  “Flashdance… What a Feeling” would go on to become another multi-million seller as well as winner of  the Academy Award for Best Song.  For her performance Irene Cara won the 1984 Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, the 1984 Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, and American Music Awards for Best R&B Female Artist and Best Pop Single of the Year.

Irene Cara would continue singing and acting for the rest of her career.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Iren Cara’s family, friends and fans.