Rankin Finds a Peaceful Place

Singer-songwriter Kenny Rankin, who recorded a revered cover version of the Beatles' White Album ballad Blackbird and was asked by Paul McCartney to perform it during McCartney and John Lennon's introduction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, passed away this past Sunday. Rankin contributed guitar to Bob Dylan's 1965 classic Bringing It All Back Home.

Rankin appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson more than 20 times. Carson was such a big fan that he penned the liner notes for Rankin's 1968 album Mind Dusters. Rankin also wrote Helen Reddy's hit Peaceful and Haven't We Met, recorded by Mel Torme and Carmen McRae.

The Bluest Skies You've Ever Seen...

In Seattle? Well, I just got back from there. It was cloudy and unseasonably warm. The skies were not the bluest I've ever seen, but Seattle and, for that matter, Tacoma were very beautiful.

My trip reminded me of Bobby Sherman, who along with David Soul, starred in Here Come The Brides, inspired by the movie Seven Brides For Seven Brothers. The show's home base was Seattle. A French version of the show and theme song, performed by a chorus of male singers, was a smash hit in French Canada and entitled Cent filles à marier (A Hundred Girls to Marry Off).

Both Sherman and Perry Como recorded versions of a song entitled Seattle, although Brides' theme song Seattle was written by Hugo Montenegro, Jack Keller and Ernie Sheldon. Sherman never released his as a single, although it received some airplay. Como reached #38 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #21 at Chicago's WCFL in 1969.

Here's a clip of Sherman's cut with scenes from the show:

Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?

I had an interesting discussion the other day with a member of The Constellation Branch (Stephen, the group's drummer, is second from the left) about music lyrics. Someone made a comment about I Am The Walrus by the Beatles and I followed up with "coo coo ca choo, Mrs. Robinson." Stephen, who also happens to work with me, said the phrase is "goo goo g'joob." Being the Doubting David (since my brother is Thomas), I was skeptical, but knew I had mixed two songs together.

After doing some research, it turns out we were both right. In the Beatles tune, it's pronounced "goo goo g'joob." However, in Mrs. Robinson by Simon & Garfunkel, it is "coo coo ca choo." Both phrases loosely mean "No worries" or "Everything is all right." A third spelling is "kukukachu."

If you're a fan of That '70s Show, you might remember Donna Pinciotti got stoned and used "coo coo ca choo" as an end to a random string of rhymes. Crush the turtle used the phrase in Finding Nemo. "Little dudes are just eggs, leave 'em on the beach to hatch, then 'coo coo ca choo,' they find their way back to the big 'ol blue."

It's funny how you can hear a song over and over, yet still get the exact words to the lyrics wrong. Oh well, "coo coo ca choo!"

Lujack & Rook Together Again

Hit Parade Radio is preparing to debut as a 24/7 Oldies Radio Network developed by John Rook and featuring Larry Lujack. Rook, the president of Hit Parade Radio and former P.D. at WLS and WCFL, has lured Uncle Lar out of retirement yet again to handle morning drive at the Dallas-based operation. I wonder if Lujack will abandon Sante Fe, New Mexico (or Bumble Bee, Arizona) and move to the DFW Metroplex, where the office and studios are located?

Earthworks Entertainment is in the process of negotiating an affiliate relations and sales agreement with a major radio network group to distribute Hit Parade Radio. Expectations are for more than 100 stations to sign within the first 18 months. Additional major, nationally recognized on-air talent, such as Wink Martindale and Lyle Dean who are rumored to be on-board, will be announced in the near future with a scheduled launch date in September.

Pardo Calls It Quits

The legendary Don Pardo has retired at the age of 91. Pardo announced his last episode of Saturday Night Live over the weekend.

Pardo officially retired from NBC in 2004 and moved to Tucson. However, the producers of SNL convinced him to continue providing the introductions for their show. In 2006, he decided to begin prerecording his announcements from a home studio in Arizona. That lasted only a few episodes before producers insisted they needed him present in Studio 8H, and he resumed flying to The Big Apple on a weekly basis to do the show.

Pardo was the on-duty live booth announcer for NBC on November 22, 1963. He was first to announce to NBC viewers that President Kennedy had been shot in Dallas.

Pardo made his mark on game shows for NBC as the booming voice of the original The Price Is Right, hosted by Bill Cullen, from 1956 until it moved to ABC in 1963. The next year, he moved over to Jeopardy!, hosted by Art Fleming, which he announced from 1964 until the original version of the series ended in 1975. Pardo reprised that role with a cameo in Weird Al's 1984 tune I Lost on Jeopardy, a parody of the Greg Kihn Band's hit song Jeopardy from the previous year. Besides Pardo and Fleming, Greg Kihn and Dr. Demento also appeared in Weird Al's video.

The Original Voice of the Brewers Signs Off

Merle Harmon, the original voice of the Milwaukee Brewers, died Wednesday afternoon. Harmon, who was paired with Tom Collins on radio during the club's initial season, was the Brewers lead play-by-play voice when Bob Uecker joined the Brew Crew as a radio broadcaster in 1971.

Harmon began his big league career calling Kansas City Athletics games for seven seasons, starting in 1955, as that club's original voice following their move from Philadelphia. He went on to do play-by-play for the Braves during their final two seasons in Milwaukee, the Minnesota Twins from 1967 through 1969, the Brewers through the 1979 season, and the Texas Rangers from 1982 through 1989.

On the network level, Harmon handled the "Game of the Week" for ABC-TV in 1965 and for NBC-TV in 1980 and 1981. He worked the 1980 World Series for NBC. His broadcast experience included the National Basketball Association, Big Ten football and basketball and other college basketball games. He also handled New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs football games on local radio, as well as American Football League games for ABC.

In 1980, NBC hired Harmon to anchor the Summer Olympic Games in Moscow. The Brewers refused to grant him a leave of absence and he was forced to give up announcing their games. The U.S. wound up boycotting the Games that year.

From 1977 to the mid-90's, Harmon tended to his Merle Harmon's Fan Fair sports apparel and memorabilia stores, which started with three stores in Milwaukee and grew to more than 130 nationwide, including one I frequented in Mesa, Arizona.

Irving R. Levine Signs Off

Irving R. Levine, NBC's longtime economics correspondent, died Thursday at the age of 86. He was on the air from 1950 until 1995. Levine was known for his distinctive collection of bow ties, which he became his signature.

Levine also had a significant career beyond his economic reporting. He was the first American television correspondent allowed to live in, and broadcast from, the Soviet Union during the Cold War era. He also covered the building of the Berlin Wall, the 1960 uprising in what was then the Belgian Congo and the travels of Pope Paul VI to the United Nations, India and the Holy Land, among the first international journeys by a pontiff.

Interestingly, Levine began his journalism career as an obituary writer and reporter for the Providence Journal.