Reminder of a bygone culture
Mitch Miller was alive last Friday, which may have surprised many. His status was updated Saturday, and he has left the earth at the advanced and satisfying age of 99. One of the last vestiges of middlebrow culture, Miller was known for his stiff-armed conducting style, permanent grin, lightbulb pate and devilish facial hair; as a kid I was convinced he had goat-feet in his shoes. "Sing Along With Mitch" was a staple of the pre-rock era, and while we have no statistics about how many actually did, we can be sure millions of eyeballs followed the bouncing ball that tripped along over the head of the syllables, guiding people through the difficult meter of "Lazy Hazy Crazy Days of Summer."
It was a TV staple, and I remember the show from trips to my grandparents' farm. (Grandpa loved him, second only to Lawrence Welk. He would also, in time, come to love "Hee Haw," which "Laugh-In" for the farm set.) You can probably thank Mitch for rock and roll; my generation wanted something different than the Inflection-Free Men's Shouting Chorus, and brother, we got it.
What you may not know - and I didn't, until Terry Teachout tweeted it - was that Miller was a virtuoso oboist AND a record exec. As an A&E man, he signed Ray Conniff (and, presumably, His Singers) as well as Frankie Laine, Percy Faith, Johnny Mathis, and others mainstays of the curious period between the end of swing and rock.
Best thing I've learned today: he discovered Aretha Franklin. Thanks!
Then . . . there's this. (Hit the link if the video doesn't load, which it won't do in preview.)
- Comment (22)
- · Quote
- · UnfollowFollow (2)
- Pages:
- 1
- 2
- Pages:
- 1
- 2
Comments :
Re: Reminder of a bygone culture
Oh, I love Teachout ... and Welk (but know nothing of Miller). When I worked Saturday nights at the New York Post, one of the copy editors in sports would always put on Welk's TV show, then in repeats. It's an odd, but fond, memory: A bunch of old crotchety, crusty editors -- cursing out writers on deadline with the most colorful and crude language -- but bopping their heads to Welk at the same time. On another note, I was charmed by the first couple of kids on closeup for that Do Re Me clip, above, but then as they panned to the older kids, I was horrified. How creepily over-prepared they are with their exaggerated facial expressions .... I guess they had stage moms back then, too.
Re: Reminder of a bygone culture
Oops, I mean De Re Mi, sorry.
May '10
Re: Reminder of a bygone culture
Not many of the great singers had fond memories of Miller's days at Columbia. Even though it was a hit, "Come-on-a-my-house" was not Rosemary Clooney's highpoint and his handling of Sinatra was awful. (Thank God for Johnny Mercer and Capitol!)
Re: Reminder of a bygone culture
OMG. Loser. Do Re Mi. Sorry to take over the comments, here, James, with my dopey corrections.
May '10
Re: Reminder of a bygone culture
"Irene, good night, Irene good night. Good night Irene, good night Irene, I'll see you in my dreams."
Great poetry and creativity, isn't it? 30-something years ago, I supplemented my meager family income the way people used to before EITC and all the other stuff- I had a part-time job playing old-time songs like that at Shakey's Pizza, alongside a banjo-playing chiropractic student. This was one of the more profound songs we did....
But compared with Mick and "Let's spend the night together", it's sort of easy to see why mom & dad preferred Mitch's lyrics.
Jun '10
Re: Reminder of a bygone culture
Same with my grandmother. Old folks loved this show. Maybe it's because they didn't have to remember the words themselves.
Sing Along With Mitch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dY9gtYeHhk
May '10
Re: Reminder of a bygone culture
I think that kid with the bow tie is Rowan Atkinson.
Jun '10
Re: Reminder of a bygone culture
Ursula this will put a smile on your face for the whole day:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkBepgH00GM
May '10
Re: Reminder of a bygone culture
I suppose I'm not the only one surprised that Mitch was still around, at least as of last week. Mitch was not a young fellow when he was a hit. We watched in our house even without the presence of a grandparent. I'm sure it was us kids that switched it on, perhaps with my Dad singing along. Singing with the kids was something my Dad liked to do. Sort of a paleo-karaoke thing in the family room.
Whether you watched Mitch or not, everyone knew about the show and knew what "follow the bouncing ball" meant. As I remember their holiday specials were a big deal. And the all-male chorus was a distinctive element; just strange enough to hold your attention.
Wow is this a blast from the past...
May '10
Re: Reminder of a bygone culture
The MSNBC story on his death included a YouTube that is a better reflection of the typical Sing Along! show.
Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dY9gtYeHhk
Re: Reminder of a bygone culture
Cas Balicki: Ursula this will put a smile on your face for the whole day:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkBepgH00GM · Aug 2 at 3:05pm
Hi Cas, Yes, I love that video! Do Re Mi (you can bet I typed that carefully) is the only song I can remember all the way through without thinking. I am not musically inclined, so when it's my turn to take care of a sick child in the middle of the night, they tend to hear this one over, and over, and over. My husband, no matter how tired, can take requests and sing 'em perfectly. Anyway, my kids used to request it, but not any more. I think it's worn out its welcome in our house with the under-6 set.
May '10
Re: Reminder of a bygone culture
I had an acting teacher who called my "active" eyebrows "monkey eyebrows. In fact, for a while she made me wear duct tape on my forehead whenever I got up to do a scene in front of her. It made me VERY sensitive about my facial movements. Then there was another actress in the class whose eyebrows didn't move at all. Even though she was very obviously overacting, no one could call her on it because her forehead had been botoxed...
Duane, what I wouldn't give to be able to see a recording of that!
Jul '10
Re: Reminder of a bygone culture
Want to latch onto a seemingly bottomless pit of 'Bygone era' media (particularly audio)? Hustle over to ; www.archive.org
This by far is one of the greatest collection of free music and video of yesteryear on the net. Many hours I've logged, listening into the wee hours of the morn 'just to hear that one more' clip! It's also spam-free. Enjoy.
Re: Reminder of a bygone culture
I love this. Thanks, James, for posting it. Old Show Business is going fast -- so is the term "show business," which I use constantly over the preferred local term "the entertainment industry" -- and guys like Mitch Miller were amazing polymaths. Some music business, some TV business -- it didn't really matter. It was all show business back then, back when all actors, even the serious ones, were supposed to know how to sing and dance and trip over a bucket in a funny way, back when if you were a performer, you just tried to stay a click or two ahead of the curve. Back when if you went on television for any reason, you wore a suit. Back when, when you pitched a show to the network, you just said, "It's Mitch, and they sing the songs with the words and the thing, and the people they sing along. What? It's a sing-a-long! It's simple and fun for the kids and the other thing. You want it, we'll do eight-nine of them next week."
And they bought it.
Jun '10
Re: Reminder of a bygone culture
"Inflection-Free Men's Shouting Chorus"
Oh Lord, did you nail it!
I spent many tortured hours being forced to watch Mitch Miller. My dad loved him, and when he worked the night shift on the evenings MM was on, my mom told us kids that dad was in the chorus so we'd watch with her. We looked long & hard, but never found him. MM would take some of my favorite songs and bleach out any charm, wit, or musicality. Just listen to Julie Andrews singing DoReMi and compare it to the the Mitch version. The bland and soulless MM rendition is criminal. I can still remember an awful version of ChimChimminy from Mary Poppins with the chorus dressed up as chimney sweeps, swaying in time. I convinced myself that one guy with his cap pulled down over his eyes was my dad.
Aug '10
Re: Reminder of a bygone culture
Some people are freaked out by clowns; I found Mitch Miller to be similarly jovial and creepy at the same time. The strange, cramped conducting movements; the "devilish facial hair", as James put it; the corny vocal Muzak--it was all too weird. As a child, I would shake my head and turn the channel, amazed that such a program could be on the air.
It seems Mitch had changing explanations as to why he missed out on the rock & roll "craze". He needn't have explained. Someone who didn't "get" Frank Sinatra was never going to have any role in the rock era.
Jul '10
Re: Reminder of a bygone culture
My Dad enjoyed Mitch Miller as well. Question: At what point was Mitch Miller a part of the youth Counter Culture? You have to figure at some point every young musician is. It boggles the mind to contemplate it...
May '10
Re: Reminder of a bygone culture
FeliciaB
Duane, what I wouldn't give to be able to see a recording of that! · Aug 2 at 3:46pm
Fortunately, no recordings exist of me wearing the (styrofoam) "straw" hat and the red-and-white striped shirt.
The store manager loved Elvis, so whenever the crowds were down late in the evening he would request "Separate Ways", which was OK for the Billy Joel piano bar flowery stuff, but pretty much didn't work with the banjo. I think Larry would go get a drink at those times.
May '10
Re: Reminder of a bygone culture
Is there a word for the remorse one feels upon learning of the death of a legendary figure who was, in fact, alive during all the years one thought they were long dead?
Mitch Miller and Gang did my all-time favorite version of "The Yellow Rose of Texas". I wish I'd thanked him while he was still alive.
May '10
Re: Reminder of a bygone culture
You mean: me so sorry?