In Memoriam With all the sadness and trauma going on in the world at the moment, it is worth reflecting on the death of a very important person, which almost went unnoticed last week. Larry LaPrise, the man who wrote "The Hokey Pokey", died peacefully at age 93. The most traumatic part for his family was getting him into the coffin. They put his left leg in. And then the trouble started. After finally securing the legend in his coffin & delivering the sadly departed to the crematorium, as the casket was slowly trundling down the ramp, the gathered throng heard the following background music....... [video=youtube;qVJ0jGC_0tU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVJ0jGC_0tU[/video]
Not sure I grew up disturbed but I grew up supporting City. My first 78 was Mantovani's Charmaine, followed by Frankie Laine's 16 tons.
Frankie Laine's version was far superior to Tennessee Ernie Ford's version. This was FL's finest though, IMO. [video=youtube;JhFZZNgUVpc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhFZZNgUVpc[/video]
Sir Ben, I totally agree. Frankie Laine's was my favorite, I had all his records in those days. Then got into jazz. Saw Stan Kenton at the City Hall. First USA band to visit UK after the music embargo. Ted Heath went to the US in a swop. Tingles still go down my spine from that concert. Then moved on to another Laine, Cleo with Johnny Dankworth. Saw them first in York at a music festival, then at the Nottingham Music festival. Later on saw them in Toronto and Chicago.
