Italian-American traditional popular music singer
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Julius LaRosa was an American traditional popular music singer from the Golden Days of Radio.
On Friday, November 22nd, 1963, President Kennedy awoke at 7:30AM. He ate a light breakfast with Jackie before going out by himself to the square in front of his hotel to address a crowd of a few thousand people. Someone shouted, “where's Jackie?” He pointed to their eighth floor suite and replied "Mrs Kennedy is organizing herself, It takes her a little longer, but of course she looks better than we do when she does it." The First Couple, together with Vice President Johnson and Texas Governor Connaly then took a short flight to Dallas. At 11:55 the President's motorcade left Love Field in Dallas. Thirty-five minutes later, history changed forever. This is soundcheck audio from the collection of Gordon Skene. On the morning of Friday, November 22nd, 1963 Gordon was twelve years old and home from school, recovering from an operation. Out of boredom he switched on his parent's tape recorder and tuned to KNX, CBS' affiliate in Los Angeles. On the air was Arthur Godfrey Time, talking from Miami, Florida with journalist Morris McLemore and commentator Gabriel Heater. Longtime CBS journalist and host Andy Rooney remembered Godfrey's influence. In the late 1930s, a red-head from New York with a slight southern drawl named Arthur Godfrey was making a name for himself, hosting an all-night CBS show in Washington, DC on WJSV. He spent the overnight air-time playing records and chatting. Audiences were drawn to Godfrey's informal approach. In April of 1941, CBS picked up the emcee for a national broadcast. The next October 4th, he began announcing for Fred Allen's Texaco Star Theater. Unfortunately Allen and Godfrey didn't mix well on-air. Allen dropped him after six weeks. Godfrey continued to appear on CBS special broadcasts. His star catapulted when he was a tearful reporter at Franklin D. Roosevelt's funeral in April of 1945. CBS gave him a new morning show. Arthur Godfrey Time debuted less than two weeks later on April 30th. Unfortunately Godfrey's popularity nosedived on October 19th, 1953. After years of working both himself and his supporting cast to the bone, he'd begun to treat them like children. Godfrey had a falling out with singer Julius LaRosa, firing him live on the air. Many felt Godfrey was jealous of his popularity. Once the show signed off for the day, Godfrey fired his bandleader Archie Bleyer. When Ed Sullivan invited LaRosa on his Toast of the Town TV show, Godfrey called Sullivan a dope. The reporters covering the story were “a bunch of jerks.” Rather than back off, Godfrey fired the rest of his cast and continued broadcasting, but the press, the public, and Godfrey never forgot or forgave what happened. His problems continued. He lost his pilot's license after buzzing an airport tower. One by one his shows folded. Then he got lung cancer and later, pronouncing himself cured, devoted much of his time to the fight against the disease. He professed to be writing a book that would tell “the whole story” of his incredible life and claimed to be working out a new deal for a TV show. In the end CBS, and William Paley, who never liked Godfrey, but liked his ratings, refused to put him on TV. Godfrey continued his network radio show until 1972, when he finally quit. In his seventies, he still talked occasionally about coming back, but he died March 16th, 1983, in New York city. While this exact recording isn't the original that Gordon Skene air checked, he later said about recording that morning, “Why was I doing it? I have no idea, and to this day I couldn't tell you exactly what made me pick this day and this hour to hit the record button.” Suddenly, it all became very serious. What follows here is a living nightmare, now sixty years old, and not a moment of it is dated by time.
Howard Miller Show07-18-55 Julius Larosa
Meet Ruth Wallis who playfully scandalized America in the 1950s and 60s with her naughty ditties. First a cabaret singer specializing in big band jazz, Ruth found the double entendre novelty numbers she slipped in her set got the biggest response. She reworked her set around those tunes and many albums and tours followed until she was eclipsed by newer comics willing to work much more "blue". But after she retired, Ruth found a new audience courtesy of Dr. Demento and she kept reissuing her recordings for years. As always, find full cuts below and thanks for sharing our shows. Want more Ruth Wallis? Here's a bonus -- the full version of Davy's Dinghy -- a classic Ruth number that introduced her to a new generation of fans thanks to heavy airplay on the Dr. Demento show. https://youtu.be/bGHLCeDjH_E Ruth had a gift for novelty tunes, and they weren't always blue. Her first effort, which reached the lower rungs of the music charts, was Dear Mr. Godfrey, based on Arthur Godfrey's firing of singer Julius LaRosa for "lacking humility." Ruth nominates herself to fill the void! https://youtu.be/-wpznMXAuG4 In the 1950s naughtiness was frowned on by the authorities in most countries, usually with the result that the targeted works became even more popular. Ruth had her tunes "banned in Boston" and her records were confiscated by Australian customs. This rare skit from an Aussie variety show features Ruth in song and a great skit about her legal travails. And as always, it only made her more famous! https://youtu.be/HPf7TRAJkSg Ruth's songs usually were based on double entendres and there is no better example than this -- The Hawaiian Lei Song, one of her most popular. https://youtu.be/H4PnSX5Oruc
As a child, Ron Drotos began improvising on the piano, creating the dinosaur sounds he heard in his imagination. He spent his teenage years playing in jazz and rock bands, and in 1985 received a Bachelor's degree in Music Composition from The University of Connecticut, where he studied with Hale Smith. During this time, Ron studied jazz piano with Dr. Billy Taylor, Walter Bishop, Jr., Harold Danko, and Ellen Rowe. From 1987-88, Ron worked as an assistant to the baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan and then began to pursue his own music career. After moving to New York City in 1989, Ron served as Associate Music Director and created orchestrations for the Broadway musical Swinging On A Star, which received a Tony Award® nomination for Best Musical in 1995. Additional Broadway credits include Smokey Joe's Café, The Life, and Fosse. Ron has orchestrated for the New York Pops Orchestra, with whom he has appeared several times at Carnegie Hall. He has been featured as Music Director on the 92nd St. Y's famed “Lyrics and Lyricists” series. He has performed with vocalists Julius LaRosa, Judy Collins, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Nell Carter, and Giacomo Gates. In addition, Ron has taught at the Fairbanks (Alaska) Summer Arts Festival since 1999, where he has been inducted into the festival's Hall of Fame. In 2012, Ron created the KeyboardImprov.com website, through which he helps beginning to advanced pianists all over the world learn how to improvise with a sense of joy and fluency. In addition, Ron is the author of The Inner Game of Piano Improvisation, which is available on Amazon.Support the show
You're listening to Julius Larosa with 1955's “Let's Stay Home Tonight” and…
Monty Hall returns and Felix tries to get his band on Monty's new TV show but needs Oscar's help to make it happen in S4E19 “A Different Drummer”. Topics covered include: 1) the many songs from the 1920s that are sung in the show and the multiple music cuts 2) the firing of Julius LaRosa 3) another debate about whether is Oscar is 40 or 50 given that Monty, who is 53, and Oscar were in college together, 4) and the fact a clip from a prior episode is shown.
"It's time for a cheer-up song" because hosts Bobby and Kristina are finally back after an extended intermission to discuss 1978's A Broadway Musical on the act two opener of My Favorite Flop. ABOUT A BROADWAY MUSICAL Based on the real-life experiences of the creative teams' journeys working on the original Broadway productions of The Wiz and the musical version of Golden Boy, A Broadway Musical tells the story of a sleazy white theatre producer's attempt to adapt an African-American writer's serious play as a commercial stage musical. The musical features a book by William F. Brown, music by Charles Strouse, and lyrics by Lee Adams. Following a dismal October–November tryout with Helen Gallagher and Julius LaRosa at the theatre in the Riverside Church in Morningside Heights, the producers fired most of the cast and creative personnel, including director/choreographer George Faison. Gower Champion was called in to rescue the Broadway-bound production with only a month to go, but he feared that the show's defects were too serious to remedy and insisted on receiving a "Production supervised by" credit only. After 14 previews, the Broadway production opened and closed the same night at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on December 21, 1978. It lost $1 million. The creators hoped that the backstage story about the making of a musical would cash in on the success of A Chorus Line as well as the popularity of the black-themed musical, including Brown's own The Wiz, which was still running at the time. But Brown's much-criticized book failed to capture any of the socially-relevant subject matter in a serious way and instead became a clichéd spoof of show business lawyers, idealistic young playwrights, glitzy Las Vegas performers, blue-haired matinée ladies, and the black-themed musical itself. The Wiz proved to be Brown's only success. Original Broadway Cast Warren Berlinger as Eddie Bell Gwyda DonHowe as Stephanie Bell Irving Allen Lee as James Lincoln Larry Marshall as Richie Taylor Anne Francine as Shirley Wolfe Jackée Harry as Melinda Bernard Tiger Haynes as Sylvester Lee Reggie Jackson as Louie Patti Karr as Maggie Simpson Christina Kumi Kimball as Kumi Kumi Robert Melvin as Junior Martin Rabbett as Jake Larry Riley as Lonnie Paul Albert Stephenson as Big Jake Alan Weeks as Stan Howard Sydney Anderson as Richie Taylor's Lawyer Gwen Arment as Rehearsal Pianist Nate Barnett as Policeman Michael Gallagher as Richie Taylor's Lawyer Jo Ann Ogawa as Richie's Secretary Loretta Devine as Smoke and Fire Backup Singer
Singer Julius LaRosa was fired-- right on the air-- by his boss/ mentor, (and the man who discovered him) Arthur Godfrey! Here I present this historic broadcast event, and offer some of my rare radio clips to color in the details. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/joe-caroselli/message
Happy Independence Day & 4th of July weekend! Bloggers and music enthusiasts question what songs are appropriate to play for this holiday, so I chose 7 to countdown for this favorite national holiday. Theme Song: "Dance Track", composed by Jessica Ann CatenaSongs Used: "Eh Cumpari!" - Julius LaRosa (1953)"California Gurls" - Katy Perry & Snoop Dogg (2010)"God Bless the U.S.A." - Lee Greenwood (1983)7. “Saturday in the Park” - Chicago (1972) 6. ”California Girls” - The Beach Boys (1964) & David Lee Roth (1985)5. ”Dancing in the Street” - Martha Reeves & The Vandellas (1964)4. ”God Bless the U.S.A. (Proud to Be An American)” - American Idol Season 2 Finalists (2003) 3. ”The House I Live In” - Frank Sinatra (1945) 2. “America, the Beautiful” - Ray Charles (1972) 1. “The Star Spangled Banner” - Whitney Houston (1991)
You’re listening to Julius Larosa with 1955’s “Let's Stay Home Tonight” and…
Program 80 - Frank Bresee Presents a Variety of Old-Time Radio Including Julius LaRosa. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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REMEMBERING Arthur Godfrey and His Friends as we recall some off-the-record delights by Janette Davis, the McGuire Sisters, the Chordettes, Frank Parker, Marian Marlowe, Julius LaRosa and others.
Julius LaRosa did okay for himself even after one of the most infamous incidents in radio history. This was the end of Godfrey's morning program, Arthur Godfrey Time, on CBS October 19, 1953. Though some of the program was simulcast on CBS TV at the time, this segment was on radio only. RIP Mr. LaRosa.
Atlanta jazz guitarist and educator Bob Shaw lived in the Hartford-Springfield, CT area before relocating to Atlanta. He studied Music Education at Hartt College. of Music. at the University. of Hartford. He has performed and recorded with Julius LaRosa, Maxine Sullivan, Bobby Haggart, Mitzi Gaynor, Roger Williams and the late Rosemary Clooney. As a leader, he has two solo CDs and a Christmas CD and has played on more than 12 albums with other artists. Numerous college jazz bands have also performed Bob’s jazz compositions. We will be playing tracks from his CDs “Musin’” and “A Celebration of Christmas”, both available from CDBaby at http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/BobShaw --“Bob is great because he makes jazz guitar accessible with recognizable melodies, tasteful improvisation, and a professional attitude. We consider him the ‘the teacher of teachers’ and we call him ‘The Maestro.’” --Eddie Mathis, Dreamcatcher Guitars, Roswell, GA
Atlanta jazz guitarist and educator Bob Shaw lived in the Hartford-Springfield, CT area before relocating to Atlanta. He studied Music Education at Hartt College. of Music. at the University. of Hartford. He has performed and recorded with Julius LaRosa, Maxine Sullivan, Bobby Haggart, Mitzi Gaynor, Roger Williams and the late Rosemary Clooney. As a leader, he has two solo CDs and a Christmas CD and has played on more than 12 albums with other artists. Numerous college jazz bands have also performed Bob’s jazz compositions. We will be playing tracks from his CDs “Musin’” and “A Celebration of Christmas”, both available from CDBaby at http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/BobShaw --“Bob is great because he makes jazz guitar accessible with recognizable melodies, tasteful improvisation, and a professional attitude. We consider him the ‘the teacher of teachers’ and we call him ‘The Maestro.’” --Eddie Mathis, Dreamcatcher Guitars, Roswell, GA
Even if you are not familiar with the likes of Lou Monte, Frank Sinatra, Julius LaRosa, Dean Martin and Louis Prima, If you love the modern rock styles of the eighties, nineties and today, you will love *The New Paisans.* The New Paisans* have performed at various venues & festivals across the United States, including shows in Phoenix, Boston, Rhode Island, Florida and Ohio with such headlining acts such as Frankie Avalon, The Village People, Bad Company and others.