Music History Monday: Shake, Rattle, and Roll
July
22nd,
2024
Taylor Swift (born 1989) Only July 22, 2023 – one year ago today – Taylor Swift (born 1989; she has, according to Forbes, a present net worth of $1.3 billion) literally “shook up” Seattle: her concerts in that city shook the ground with such violence that it registered as a magnitude 2.3 earthquake. (As if to prove…
Dr. Bob Prescribes Bill Evans: Alone
July
16th,
2024
As I know I’ve already mentioned, since I turned 70 this past April, I’ve decided to stop worrying about repeating myself. So here I go again. Asking me to name my favorite music, or favorite composer, or favorite performer is something of a waste of time, as I tend to be most in love…
Music History Monday: An Indispensable Person
July
15th,
2024
Indispensability The title of this blog - “An Indispensable Person” – might be considered controversial. That’s because any number of very smart people would argue that there is, in fact, so such thing as an “indispensable person.” According to both Presidents Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt: “There is no indispensable man.” Said President John…
Dr. Bob Prescribes Steve Lawrence: Entertainer
July
9th,
2024
Yesterday’s Music History Monday post marked the birth on July 8, 1935, of the American Grammy and Emmy Award-winning pop singer, actor, and comedian Steve Lawrence. Maestro Lawrence’s birth name was Sidney Liebowitz, which I used as a point of departure for an extended riff on American Jewish musicians/entertainers who changed their named in order to…
Music History Monday: What’s in a Name?
July
8th,
2024
We mark the birth on July 8, 1935 – 89 years ago today - of the American Grammy and Emmy Award-winning singer, actor, and comedian Steve Lawrence, in Brooklyn, New York. He died just four months ago, on March 7, 2024, in Los Angeles. Steve Lawrence (1935-2024) Steve Lawrence, one might ask? Have potential topics…
Dr. Bob Prescribes Frederic Rzewski, The People United Will Never Be Divided!
July
2nd,
2024
Last week’s Dr. Bob Prescribes post dealt with the 1970s, the phenomenon that was disco, and the movie Saturday Night Fever of 1977. Likewise, yesterday’s Music History Monday post also dealt with the 1970s: the invention of the Walkman in 1979. As such, I’ve decided to stick with the 1970s in today’s Dr. Bob Prescribes as well, with…
Music History Monday: The Sony Walkman: A Triumph and a Tragedy!
July
1st,
2024
The original Sony Walkman, model TPS-L2 We mark the introduction on July 1, 1979 – 45 years ago today – of the Sony Walkman. The Walkman was the first entirely portable, high-fidelity (or at least fairly high-fidelity) audio cassette player, a revolutionary device that allowed a user to listen to entire albums anywhere, anytime. Introduced initially in…
Music History Monday: Boogie Fever
June
24th,
2024
One sort of Boogie Fever: Vladimir Horowitz (1903-1989) cuttin’ the rug at New York’s Studio 54, circa 1978 On June 24, 1374 – 650 years ago today – the men, women, and children of the Rhineland city of Aachen began to dash out of their houses and into the streets, where – inexplicably, compulsively, and…
Dr. Bob Prescribes Richard Wagner, Tristan und Isolde – Part 2
June
18th,
2024
We began our examination of Tristan und Isolde in last week’s Dr. Bob Prescribes post. Our prescribed performance – as featured above – will continue to supply our video examples as we move through Acts II and III. As mentioned in last week’s post, our examination of Tristan und Isolde is focusing on Isolde, and…
Music History Monday: Unsung Heroes
June
17th,
2024
John Taylor McClure (1929-2014; bottom left) with Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971; bottom right”) in the recording studio on July 20, 1964 We mark the death on June 17, 2014 – an even 10 years ago today – of the Grammy Award winning American record producer and Director of Columbia Masterworks Recordings John Taylor McClure. McClure was…