Word: fred
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...banging out his numbers on a special piano (he called it "the Buick") that, with the push of a pedal, could transpose keys. Even on his own machine, Berlin was a lousy salesman of his music; his ragged vocal and instrumental technique could undermine his best work. In 1934, Fred Astaire and the "Top Hat" production team gathered to hear the numbers Berlin had written for the movie. "And then he would sing the song," Hermes Pan, Astaire's choreographer, told Bergreen, "and we were all asking ourselves, Is this any good? I remember 'Cheek to Cheek' especially...
...Band"). He wrote the most popular song in history ("White Christmas") and the longest-lived pop anthem ("God Bless America"). A one-man synthesis of American assimilation, he helped define American pop with three other gents from all over the map: New York Jew Al Jolson, Omaha German-American Fred Astaire and Tacoma, Wash., Catholic Bing Crosby...
...Puttin? on the Ritz," 1930. This instant standard, with one of Berlin's most intricately syncopated choruses, is associated with Fred Astaire, who danced to it in the 1946 "Blue Skies." But Astaire was the third star to sing it on film. First was Harry Richman, who had a #1 hit when he premiered the song in a 1930 film of the same name. Dear Mr. Gable "sang" it in "Idiot?s Delight," in 1939; then Astaire made it his own. For Mel Brooks fans, the definitive rendition is by Peter Boyle, as the top-hatted monster...
...ironic that more traditional societies such as Pakistan, India and the Philippines have had women as heads of state, but the progressive U.S. is probably at least 50 years away? American women need to shed their political burkas. FRED OPERE Grand Prairie, Texas...
...ethical and political discussions these days should start with the premise that there is a near-term nuclear threat to New York City and Washington. Anything the U.S. government does to combat terrorism can be evaluated only on whether it is necessary, and thus justifiable, to prevent nuclear annihilation. FRED WHITE Baltimore...