July 1 - Fred Schneider (The Musical Birthday Series, 2nd Annual Cycle)

 Fred Schneider (b. 1 July 1951) is an American singer, songwriter, arranger, and musician.

 [For last year's comments on Hans Werner Henze click here.]

 

B52’s/B52s

Today for a birthday I choose

Fred Schneider (The B52s).

What he and the crew gave

As part of the New Wave

Was more than just dancing and ‘dos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you enjoy these posts, please help me, and consider sharing.  [Also, please visit my other blog: Alternate Tales: Great Art Repurposed.]

 

June 7 - Dean Martin (The Musical Birthday Series, 2nd Annual Cycle)

Dean Martin (7 June 1917 – 25 December 1995) was an American actor, singer and comedian.
[For last year's verse on Charles Strouse click here.] 

Nice and Easy

Dean Martin, who laid it on thick,

Made his way on TV with his schtick;

As a debonair hunk,

Or an affable drunk,

He was effortless, casual, and slick.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 (If you enjoy these posts, please help me, and consider sharing.

 [Also, please visit my other blog: Alternate Tales: Great Art Repurposed.] 

October 30 - Peter Warlock; Frans Brüggen (The Musical Birthday Series)

Peter Warlock (30 October 1894 – 17 December 1930)  was a largely self-taught composer. He wrote criticism using his real name, Philip Heseltine.

Doppelgänger

Peter Warlock was always seen

With Mr. Philip Heseltine,

And Heseltine unlatched the door lock

For his partner Peter Warlock.

Both together, through and through,

Two for one, and one for two.

♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪   

Frans Brüggen (30 October 1934 – 13 August 2014) began his career largely as a recorder player.  Later, he became a leading conductor in the Early Music performance practice movement.

Lèse-majesté

Though Brüggen played a recorder

Specially made to order,

Listeners still were known

To call it a flutophone.

(If you enjoy these posts, please consider helping me by sharing.)        
 

 

October 19 - Karl-Birger Blomdahl; Jennifer Holliday (The Musical Birthday Series)

Karl-Birger Blomdahl (19 October 1916 – 14 June 1968) was one of the first Swedish composers to explore modernist techniques such as serialism and electronics.

Land of the Midnight Sun

Aniara, an opera in space,

Sounds fun, but it isn’t the case.

Dystopian gloom

Envelops the room

With the end of the whole human race.  

♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪  

Jennifer Holliday (b. 19 October 1960) is a successful singer and actress especially known for her work on Broadway.

A double dactyl is a biographically inspired humorous poem with very strict structural rules.   

Here are links to two definitions for those who are curious.  The first from the  

Poetry Foundation is clearer but less accurate than the second, from Wikipedia.  Take 

your pick.  The classic statement is the book Jiggery-Pokery:  A Compendium of 

Double Dactyls by Anthony Hecht and John Hollander (New York, 1967).

Double Dactyl for JH

Higgledy-piggledy

Jennifer Holiday,

Belting her song about

How she would stay,

Gathered a following,

Hagiographical,

Zealously lip-synching,

Ardent and gay.

 

 

(If you enjoy these posts, please consider helping me by sharing.)        

June 3 - Josephine Baker (The Musical Birthday Series)

Although Josephine Baker (3 June 1906 – 12 April 1975) is best remembered for her charismatic stage performances, she was also a member of the French Resistance in World War II.

Today's offering is a clerihew. The Wikipedia description is accurate: "A clerihew is a whimsical, four-line biographical poem invented by Edmund Clerihew Bently.  The first line is the name of the poem's subject, usually a famous person put in an absurd light, or revealing something unknown or spurious about them. The rhyme scheme is AABB, and the rhymes are often forced. The line length and metre are irregular." 

Two important statements in print on the clerihew are Jacques Barzun's verse introduction to The Clerihews of Paul Hogan (Wesleyan UP, 1985) and Gavin Ewart's introduction to The Complete Clerihews of E. Clerihew Bentley (Oxford UP, 1981).

 Clerihew for JB

Josephine Baker

Didn’t dress like a Quaker,

But it’s hard to embarrass

Paris.

May 30 - Benny Goodman (The Musical Birthday Series)

Benny Goodman (30 May 1909 – 13 June 1986) was a clarinetist and band leader.

Molto Benny

Benny Goodman, you played venues

With a variety of menus,

    Sometimes jazz and sometimes longhair.

Either genre appertaining,

You could play at ease, unstraining,

    Playing like you know you belong there.

March 2 - Kurt Weill, and Marc Blitzstein, and Weill and Blitzstein (The Musical Birthday Series)

Today's post celebrated the remarkable fact that Kurt Weill (March 2, 1900 – April 3, 1950) and Marc Blitzstein (March 2, 1905 – January 22, 1964) share a birthday.

One Fish, Two Fish, Haifisch, Blue Fish

Sinatra and Armstrong brought life

To Weill’s little tune “Mack the Knife,”

But to hear “Mackie Messer”

You couldn’t do besser

Than to listen to Lenya (his wife).

♫╬♫╬♫╬♫╬♫╬♫╬♫╬♫╬♫╬♫╬♫╬♫╬♫╬♫╬♫╬♫╬

Rock It Man

When the cast of The Cradle Will Rock

Found the stage for their play under lock,

They took the whole troupe

Across town to regroup,

And gave the performance ad hoc.

♫╬♫╬♫╬♫╬♫╬♫╬♫╬♫╬♫╬♫╬♫╬♫╬♫╬♫╬♫╬♫╬

Lost in the Stars?

There are those who sincerely suspect

That an astral shared-birthday effect

Led Blitzstein and Weill

To much the same style; --

I argue the reason was Brecht.

(If you enjoy these posts, please consider sharing. I would appreciate the traffic.)