Listening To: “The Girl from Ipanema” – Stan Getz, João Gilberto, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Vinicius de Moraes, Astrud Gilberto

“The Girl from Ipanema”  (“Garota de Ipanema”) was written in 1962 by Antonio Carlos Jobim with original Portuguese lyrics by poet Vinicius de Moraes. The song became famous worldwide with its inclusion on the 1964 landmark Bossa Nova album Getz/Gilberto. Jobim originally composed the music at his home in the seaside Ipanema distritc of Rio De Janeiro. The photo above is of the girl who inspired the song, Heloísa Pinheiro.

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Listening To: “One For My Baby” – Frank Sinatra

Though I have never found myself sitting at the end of a line of empty tavern stools, hunched over a bourbon and rocks with a tilted fedora, regretting broken love, Frank Sinatra’s “One for My Baby” from the Only the Lonely album makes me wonder if I’m missing something.  Never has a pained heart sounded so damn good.

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Christmas Flip Flop: Michael Granberry & The Dan Band

Christmas isn’t Christmas anymore without a holiday stop-motion animated short from my better half, Michael Granberry!  This week, TV Food and Drink showcases 2009′s Christmas Flip Flop, with all sets, puppets and animation by Michael, and music and vocals by The Dan Band

You may know The Dan Band from their appearances in the movies Old School and The Hangover, as well as their regular performances on The Tonight Show.  Last year, lead singer Dan Finnerty was looking to create a stop-motion holiday video for the band’s song Christmas Flip Flop.  Who better to perfectly capture the style of the band with the help of a masturbating rat and a one-legged lush wearing a tin foil cap than the twisted, creative and curious MG!

I’ve been witness to the evolution of Michael’s brilliant work going all the way back to his very first stop-motion short, the Land of the Lost-inspired Valley of Gwombi.  That film, as rough around the edges as Michael likes to proclaim it now, is partially why I fell in love with him (the chocolate and flowers he brought on our second date, which coincided with Valentine’s Day, didn’t hurt either).

Christmas Flip Flop is one of my favorite among favorites of MG’s work, from his very faithful re-creation of band members Dan, Gene Reed and John Kozeluh, to all the little details in the animation one might miss the first time around: the humble little shoulder shrug Sean gives while begging for the flip flop, the box full of “skinny jeans,” the deflated Halloween pumpkin on the porch and so many more!

Enjoy for yourself below:

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Listening To: “Get the Party Started” – Shirley Bassey

Here’s a serious pick-me-up to get you through your mid-week malaise.  Turn up the volume, loosen your collar and make way for Dame Shirley Bassey, who’s about to get the party started.

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It’s a Good day to be Born

From my absolute two favorite Georgia natives!

Listening: “Get Smart/Casino Royale” – Franck Pourcel

Rough day?

Your car break down? All your monthly bills arrived at the same time? Broke the ears off your prized ceramic donkey while trying to flip your mattress?

Well, that last one probably only happened to me, but perhaps you’re willing the empathize.

Whatever your problems may be, the answer is the “Get Smart/Casino Royale” combo as arranged and performed by Agents & Franck Pourcel. It’s guaranteed to either lighten your mood or make you forget your troubles completely as you take up contemplating my curious affection for music suited to the waiting room of a midwestern orthodontist’s office in 1978. Either way, your inside voice will be “la la la-ing” by the third minute. Tell me I’m not right!

get_smart_casino_royale.mp3

Listening To: “Mah Nà Mah Nà”

What do Jim Henson’s Muppets, Benny Hill and the Saturn Car Company have in common with a 1968 Italian pseudo-documentary about sexual deviancy in Sweden?

The correct answer is the Piero Umiliani song, “Mah Nà Mah Nà.”

On a first listen, you might not suspect that “Mah Nà Mah Nà” had the necessary chops to become a worldwide hit and reverberate through several generations.  But watch out! Before you know it, “Mah Nà Mah Nà will sneak up behind you, grab hold of your ears and thrash your head around like a rabid monkey.

You’ve been warned.

The Leroy Holmes version is below, followed by Umiliani’s original and several more curious covers.

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Listening To: “Change Partners” – Frank Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim

You have to select your Bossa Nova music very, very carefully.  The five or six truly great years of the period are far outnumbered by the decades of cheap synthetic knock-offs that wafted through elevator cars, hotel lobbies and dental offices for decades thereafter.  Many dismiss Bossa Nova as cheeky and vapid, and that’s not surprising, because much of it is.

But when the real deal – the music of early forces Gilberto Gil, Stan Getz and Antonio Carlos Jobim caresses your ears, you can readily understand why so many lesser talents wanted to get in on the sound.

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