MICHAEL FEINSTEIN'S BING COLLECTION

From Michael Feinstein:
"In 1978 while doing research for Ira Gershwin on the RKO films for which the Gershwins had written scores, I stumbled upon a box of old lacquer disks in the RKO Warehouse. I asked the curator Jon Hall about them, and he told me that he was unaware of any such disks in the collection. It was a jumble of files and papers and not well organized. He told me that they had no interest in the recordings and had no desire to keep them. Rather than see them destroyed, I offered to make a tape transfer of the disks if he would give me the originals. Jon was happy to clear out some of the detritus in the warehouse and I departed with a hodgepodge of film-related disks from the 1940s. Some were audition records of film hopefuls, some were orchestral cues, and there were also two 12" glass base lacquer disks of Bing Crosby, one cracked beyond repair and the other not only playable but in miraculously good shape for its fragility. It had no label and simply said "Crosby- fluff" in grease pencil. Upon playing the side I was delighted by the rich sound of Crosby's voice–and also the comment he makes at the end. In The Bells Of Saint Mary's he plays a pious man of the cloth. I wonder if he was wearing a priest's collar when he made this record?"

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BING AND THE HOLLYWOOD PALACE

I wish ABC Television would get off their money making rumps to issue The Hollywood Palace varierty show on DVD. The series was one of the best out there, and it is a time capsule of talent from the 1930s to 1960s. The Hollywood Palace very successful, and it ran on Saturday nights from 1964 to 1970. This was one of the first variety shows on TV to feature a different host each week. The Les Brown Orchestra was the house band for most of the show. While most of the entertainers were more of the mainstream type, the Rolling Stones did make their very first American television appearance on the show on Jun 6, 1964. In 1969 the Jackson Five made their very first TV appearance on the show also. Bing Crosby was the most frequent show host, doing the emcee duties 31 times, including the final show on February 7, 1970.

Other hosts included Ginger Rogers, Tony Bennett and Sammy Davis, Jr. The show’s set was pretty remarkable for an “early” variety show. It started with the a thousand twinkling lights spelling out HOLLYWOOD PALACE. The announcer dramatically identified the host and the stage set opened up and went up over the stage to reveal the star. For most of its run on television, with a lead-in of The Lawrence Welk Show at 8:30 p.m., at 9:30, The Hollywood Palace enjoyed consistently respectable ratings, although it never made the list of top 30 programs. By the start of the 1969-1970 season (its seventh year), the ratings had slipped and ABC canceled the series in February 1970. Bing Crosby hosted the final episode, which consisted of clips from previous shows. Please release this series on DVD!

PHOTOS OF THE DAY: BING IN HOLLYWOOD

Bing Crosby is the undisputed king of Hollywood. He was the top box office draw longer than any other actor before or since. He held that position from 1944 until 1949. Slowly, his movies are starting to see the light of day on DVD, but many of his movies are currently unavailable. Here are a few different pictures that you might not have seen before from Bing's movies...

DR. RHYTHM (1938) with Mary Carlisle

HOLIDAY INN (1942)

BLUE SKIES (1946)

JUST FOR YOU (1952) with NATALIE WOOD

SAY ONE FOR ME (1959) with Debbie Reynolds

THE STAGE COACH (1966)

OCTOBER 14, 1977

Remembering Harry Lillis Crosby (aka Bing Crosby), thirty six years after his death...

His voice spanned generations, and it was what made America great. There will never be another Bing...

BING CROSBY FAN PASSES AWAY

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - Frank (Bingy) A. Lucci, 97, of Fort Myers, Fla., who loved music and was an avid Bing Crosby fan, died Sept. 24 in Hope Hospice, Fort Myers. Born in East Kingston, N.Y., he was brought to Port Richmond as a child and remained in the community until 2003, when he relocated to Fort Myers. Mr. Lucci served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. He attained the rank of seaman first class and was honorably discharged in 1945. He worked at his brother's appliance shop, Johnny Lucci's Radio Sales and Appliance Inc., in West Brighton.

Mr. Lucci enjoyed listening to music and his nickname grew out of his appreciation for singer Bing Crosby. He also was fond of visits to Atlantic City. He was known for always being there for a friend or family member in need. Mr. Lucci remained very active and was still driving until a couple of months ago, family said. While living on the Island, he was a parishioner of St. Roch's R.C. Church, Port Richmond. His wife of 68 years, the former Josephine Scolaro, died in 2008. Surviving is his son, Frank Jr. A memorial mass will be celebrated in May at St. Roch's Church, with burial of ashes in St. Peter's Cemetery, West Brighton. Arrangements, including cremation, were handled by the National Cremation and Burial Society, North Fort Myers, Fla...


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BING AND HIS SPECIAL CAUSES

A letter from Bing Crosby to Archbishop John Charles McQuaid appealing for nurses for his new US hospital is just one of the fascinating artefacts that will be on exhibition at the Archdiocese of Dublin as part of this year’s Culture Night.

The American singer and actor won an Oscar for his performance as Father Chuck O’Malley in 1944 but he was also a practising Catholic and active care-giver in real life. One of his projects involved the building of a hospital in Sacremento, California but his “efforts to find someone to staff the hospital have been futile”, he wrote. In the letter sent in 1961, he asked the Archbishop about the “possibility of getting some Sisters from Ireland to come and operate the hospital.” The document will be on display along with many other historical items as part of the annual Culture Night, Dublin Diocesan Archivist Noelle Dowling told Independent.ie. It is the first time that the Clonliffe-based seminary is participating in Culture Night celebrations, with rooms at the Holy Cross College hosting a presentation of 20th Century religious art and related manuscripts. Another manuscript on display at the Dublin Diocese – which is one of the largest archives in the country - is a parchment issued by the then Archbishop of Dublin, Hugh Curwen, in 1558. “Archbishop Curwen had expressed his approval of the marriage of Henry VIII to Ann Boleyn and then later declared himself a Protestant,” said Ms Dowling. Ms Dowling, who has been working with the Dublin diocesan archive for over eight years, has also done significant work in uncovering a large amount of documents chronicling the role of the Catholic Church in the 1913 Lockout dispute. “Some of the work that was being carried out quietly to help those families and children in need at the time may not already be known,” she said, adding she hoped this exhibition will give the public a more balanced perspective. One such document highlights the efforts of women during the strikes, their images likened to “pictures from the French Revolution”. And while the Church’s part in the dock strike has always been somewhat controversial, a letter from Archbishop Walsh, Archbishop of Dublin at the time, indicates his intention to stop a Dublin woman from raising money to deport children of poor Dublin families to the UK. Now in its eighth year, Culture Night aims to offer “a myriad of cultural possibilities” as more than 190 organisations across 34 towns and cities in Ireland take part to bring their hidden ‘treasures’ to the public. Most participating venues taking part will be open 5pm-11pm and all events as part of Culture Night are free of charge... SOURCE

MY FAVORITE BING AD

Bing Crosby advertised so many things in his legendary career, it is almost impossible to know everything Bing was a spokesman for. Every Bing fan though is familiar with Bing's work for Philco radios. The advertisement below is probably my favorite ad that Bing ever did. I wish I was there listening to records with him...