Frazz by Jef Mallett for May 25, 2016

I like all five.

Recalls the eras when the lyrics or tunes could be sung, whistled, danced to while holding someone loved, or just enjoyed.Can’t say the same for much of what passes for music in recent years.I know – an unpopular ‘old fogies’ stance, but I’m good with it.

“And I love her so, the people ask me how. How I’ve lived to now. I tell them I don’t know…” — Perry Como

Kids need to be taught romance . They know enough about sex.

You only hear Como and Crosby at Christmas time. Perry Como had a variety show on TV when CBS countered with the Honeymooners. Honeymooners got curb stomped.

Those fellows knew how to sing AND entertain. I’ll give you another, not a great singer but a wonderful entertainer. Jimmy Durante

The ultimate revenge of the parents: give your grandkids the exact music they want, and encourage them to play it as often as they want.

LOVE LOVE LOVE Dean Martin!!!

The Rat Pack, now that was class.

In fencing, the Parry Como is one that looks slow and easy, but is where it needs to be when it needs to be there. The Parry Mason is a brick wall.

As you mature, you learn to like things you might not have liked when younger. As pop music goes, it’s hard to beat Der Bingle (no matter what he was like personally). Has Mallett forgotten Crosby did d duet with David Bowie?

ksu71Neither did Satchmo, but they both are still used, particularly in movie background music. Musicianship will counter a raspy voice any day.

Properly prepared, Brussels Sprouts are delicious

For a modern singer consider Michael Buble, who has a very Sinatra-esque vibe.

If you can hum it 10 minutes later, it’s not that original.

These 8-year-olds are remarkably versed in the music of their grandparents (or is it great-grandparents?)

The real question here — just what did Brussels due to get credit for all those sprouts?

Mrs. Olsen becomes a better character every year. I think when she had a near-death experience saving a student’s life in a driveway three years ago, she re-thought her life.

Like it or not, though, Bing Crosby was a giant, one of the most important singers who ever lived. He pretty much invented microphone technique, and was almost single-handedly responsible for ending the centuries-old rule of the tenor as leading male voice.

There’s no point in blaming him for faking piano in movies. Most actors do. Indeed, in movies, you fake it even if you can play, for technical reasons.

Someone said this was about not liking the next [or last] generation’s music. Well, if these kids were born around 2007, their parents were listening to Beyonce, Rihanna, and Justin Timberlake. (Or maybe Arcade Fire, The Shins, and Band of Horses.) Their grandparents would have grown up with 1970s pop music. Even THEY would barely be able to name more than a couple songs by Perry Como or Percy Faith. It’s just a nutty reference. Mrs. Olsen isn’t 80 years old; she probably had albums by America and the Carpenters as a young woman.

You’re not considering the music all these people heard as children. The Beatles were “my music”, but I literally cannot remember a time when I didn’t know “Oklahoma!”, “Carousel”, “South Pacific”, “Kiss Me, Kate”, and “H.M.S. Pinafore”.

My class mates all thought I was a square for liking Johnny Cash in the 70’s. In the last decade, he’s been “discovered” by a younger generation. Times change, tastes change and what once was old can be new again.