Neatorama » Frank Sinatra http://www.neatorama.com The Neat Side of the Web Wed, 15 Feb 2012 21:23:37 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Frank Sinatra: Crossword Puzzle Fan http://www.neatorama.com/2011/09/25/frank-sinatra-crossword-puzzle-fan/ http://www.neatorama.com/2011/09/25/frank-sinatra-crossword-puzzle-fan/#comments Mon, 26 Sep 2011 00:18:32 +0000 Joanna Ong http://www.neatorama.com/2011/09/25/frank-sinatra-crossword-puzzle-fan/

Frank Sinatra wrote this letter to New York Times editor Eugene Maleska. The correspondence between them began in the early 80s after he was featured in a crossword puzzle, which he could complete in half an hour.

Link -via Letters of Note

]]> http://www.neatorama.com/2011/09/25/frank-sinatra-crossword-puzzle-fan/feed/ 2 Sinatra’s My Way Karaoke-Killings in the Philippines http://www.neatorama.com/2010/02/07/sinatras-my-way-karaoke-killings-in-the-philippines/ http://www.neatorama.com/2010/02/07/sinatras-my-way-karaoke-killings-in-the-philippines/#comments Sun, 07 Feb 2010 20:43:13 +0000 Alex http://www.neatorama.com/2010/02/07/sinatras-my-way-karaoke-killings-in-the-philippines/ If you want to sing in a karaoke bar in the Philippines, be forewarned not to sing Frank Sinatra’s My Way … that tune by Ol’ Blue Eyes could just be your last …

“I used to like ‘My Way,’ but after all the trouble, I stopped singing it,” he said. “You can get killed.”

The authorities do not know exactly how many people have been killed warbling “My Way” in karaoke bars over the years in the Philippines, or how many fatal fights it has fueled. But the news media have recorded at least half a dozen victims in the past decade and includes them in a subcategory of crime dubbed the “My Way Killings.”

The killings have produced urban legends about the song and left Filipinos groping for answers. Are the killings the natural byproduct of the country’s culture of violence, drinking and machismo? Or is there something inherently sinister in the song?

Whatever the reason, many karaoke bars have removed the song from their playbooks. And the country’s many Sinatra lovers, like Mr. Gregorio here in this city in the southernmost Philippines, are practicing self-censorship out of perceived self-preservation.

Norimitsu Onishi of The New York Times has the fascinating story: Link (Photo: Jes Aznar/NY Times)

]]> http://www.neatorama.com/2010/02/07/sinatras-my-way-karaoke-killings-in-the-philippines/feed/ 9 Bottom 10 Records: The Worst Albums Ever Recorded http://www.neatorama.com/2009/11/17/bottom-10-records-the-worst-albums-ever-recorded/ http://www.neatorama.com/2009/11/17/bottom-10-records-the-worst-albums-ever-recorded/#comments Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:37:02 +0000 Alex http://www.neatorama.com/2009/11/17/bottom-10-records-the-worst-albums-ever-recorded/
The following is an article from Uncle John's Supremely Satisfying Bathroom Reader Tired of Top 10 lists? Well, here's the cure: Bottom 10 Records, from the good folks at Bathroom Reader Institute. Behold, the official BRI countdown - and they do mean down. These don't sink any lower, folks ... These records are so bad, they're good!
10. EILERT PILARM: Greatest Hits Anyone who's expecting this Swedish impersonator to resemble the King will be very disappointed. Wearing white leather and rhinestones, he comes across like somebody's Uncle Olaf after a drunken weekend in Vegas. His singing sounds as if he hit puberty around age 60. Our favorite: "Yailhouse Rock." Wanna hear it? Visit Eilert Pilarm's MySpace webpage.
9. MAE WEST: Way Out West Photo: bradleyloos [Flickr] Is that an electric guitar in your pocket or are you just glad to see me? On this 1969 album, the then-70-year-old former sex symbol tries to prove she's still relevant by talking her way through rock classics like "Day Tripper" and "Twist and Shout." Wanna hear it? Here's the YouTube clip
8. PADDY ROBERTS: Songs for Gay Dogs Roberts sing about the sex life of fish in "Virgin Sturgeon" and serves up a steaming pile of potty humor with "Don't Use the WC," a song about dirty bathrooms. It's not just in bad taste - it's bad. By the way, this LP has nothing to do with Spot's alternative lifestyle. So what does the title mean? Well, most of the songs are drinking songs - maybe he was under the influence when he picked it. Wanna hear it? Amazon has the sampler.
7. SAMMY PETRILLO: My Son, the Phone Caller Media Funhouse interviews Sammy Petrillo [YouTube Clip], with a sample at the end Petrillo was an awful Jerry Lewis impersonator who starred in a few el cheapo flicks, including the memorable Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla. This album features him doing moronic phone pranks like calling hospitals and saying that he's got a pregnant pet gorilla in labor, then asking how to deliver the baby.
6. THE NATIONAL GALLERY: Performing Musical Interpretations of the Paintings of Paul Klee Four beatniks from Cleveland introduce us to the German Expressionist painter by performing "rock-art" song versions of his paintings. Complete with acid-drenched lyrics like "Boys with toys, alone in the attic / Choking his hobby horse, thinking of his mother." Want to hear it? Check it out at Frank's Vinyl Museum
5. HELEN GURLEY BROWN: Lessons in Love The editor of Cosmopolitan magazine gives advice to swinging singles on the finer points of adultery. It may have been edgy back in 1963, but today it sounds like Martha Stewart reading Affairs for Dummies. Side 1 (for men) covers topics like "How to get a girl to the brink and ... keep her there when you're not going to marry her."
4. LITTLE MARCY: Little Marcy Visits Smokey the Bear A creepy singing ventriloquist's dummy visits Smokey and his animal pals in the woods. Part of an evangelical Christian children's act, Little Marcy had an eerie grin and a high-pitched singing voice that were probably responsible for frightening thousands of kids into becoming atheists. Wanna find out more? Visit Little Marcy's MySpace page (Don't miss the Devil Devil Go Away)
3. MR. METHANE: Mr. Methane.com [YouTube Clip] The masked Mr. Methane is a "fartiste" in the style of Frenchman Le Petomaine. He breaks new wind by pooting his way through classics like "The Blue Danube," Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, and "Greensleeves," proving conclusively that he doesn't have to be silent to be deadly. Wanna hear more? Check out the official Mr. Methane website
2. LUCIA PAMELA: Into Outer Space with Lucia Pamela A former Miss St. Louis, Pamela claims that she and her band flew to the moon in her own rocket ship to record this concept album about her trip to "Moontown." Sounding like an off-key Ethel Merman, she clucks like a chicken when she forgets the words. Wanna hear it? Check it out at Lala
1. MUHAMMAD ALI: The Adventures of Ali and His Gang vs. Tooth Decay Recorded in 1976. Ali assembled an all-star bicentennial cast, including Frank Sinatra, Richie Havens, and Howard Cosell, for this "Fight of the Century" against Mr. Tooth Decay and his evil sidekick, Sugar Cuba. Old Blue Eyes sounds like he's working on his fifth martini as a shopkeeper who offers Ali's gang of hyperactive kids free ice cream. The Champ sends Frankie packing back to Vegas to "tell Sammy, and all them cats like old Dino" about the horrors of periodontal disease. Wanna hear it? Check it out at Frank's Vinyl Museum
The article above is reprinted with permission from Uncle John's Supremely Satisfying Bathroom Reader. Since 1988, the Bathroom Reader Institute had published a series of popular books containing irresistible bits of trivia and obscure yet fascinating facts. If you like Neatorama, you'll love the Bathroom Reader Institute's books - go ahead and check 'em out!

]]> http://www.neatorama.com/2009/11/17/bottom-10-records-the-worst-albums-ever-recorded/feed/ 9 Who’s the Biggest Musical Icon of the Past Century? http://www.neatorama.com/2009/07/01/whos-the-biggest-musical-icon-of-the-past-century/ http://www.neatorama.com/2009/07/01/whos-the-biggest-musical-icon-of-the-past-century/#comments Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:32:32 +0000 Alex http://www.neatorama.com/2009/07/01/whos-the-biggest-musical-icon-of-the-past-century/

With the passing of musical legend Michael Jackson, the game of comparative history can begin: who do you think is the biggest musical icon of the past century – Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, or Frank Sinatra?

Asylum blog has the low down comparing The King, The King of Pop, and the Chairman: Link

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