Strangers in the Night

Do talk back
User avatar
GoogaMooga
custodian of oldies
Posts: 30318
Joined: 28 Sep 2010, 05:23
Location: Denmark

Strangers in the Night

Postby GoogaMooga » 01 Nov 2018, 13:15

Sinatra didn't like this song...

"Strangers in the Night" is a song credited to Bert Kaempfert with English lyrics by Charles Singleton and Eddie Snyder.

Released: May 1966
Format: 45 rpm record

#1 Billboard Hot 100
#1 Easy Listening

Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance
Grammy Award for Record of the Year
Grammy Award for Best Arrangement Accompanying a Vocalist or Instrumentalist

Image

Then there was this really ascetic receptionist at Methodist International House in London in the 1980s, who would dress formal, sometimes deny himself supper, drink Guinness stout instead, and chainsmoke Gitanes. One evening, I caught him in the canteen, whistling this:

Image

Original graffito created in an incremental process by three different people on the warehouse wall at Bud’s Tool Cribs in Richardson, Texas, in December 1967:

The way to do is to be. — Lao-tse
The way to be is to do. — Dale Carnegie
Do be, do be, do. — Frank Sinatra

Image

NOW PLAYING: Bert Kaempfert "Live in London", 1980s Polydor CD reissue of the historic 1975 concert at Royal Albert Hall. Can't believe this CD is going for a penny on amazon.co.uk. He wrote "Strangers in the Night", you know. I think I like him more than James Last, even.

Image
"When the desert comes, people will be sad; just as Cannery Row was sad when all the pilchards were caught and canned and eaten." - John Steinbeck

User avatar
naughty boy
hounds people off the board
Posts: 20250
Joined: 24 Apr 2007, 23:21

Re: Strangers in the Night

Postby naughty boy » 01 Nov 2018, 17:07

Have people given up replying to threads altogether here unless it's some mindless multi-page 'I AM LISTENING TO MUSIC' thing?

Not that this is the best thing going here, I mean (as usual) it's not clear what GM is after, but still - no-one have an opinion on the song? on Sinatra?

I don't get it.
Matt 'interesting' Wilson wrote:So I went from looking at the "I'm a Man" riff, to showing how the rave up was popular for awhile.

User avatar
Charlie O.
Posts: 44848
Joined: 21 Jul 2003, 19:53
Location: In-A-Badda-La-Wadda, bay-beh

Re: Strangers in the Night

Postby Charlie O. » 01 Nov 2018, 17:40

What more is there to say?
Image

Bent Fabric
Posts: 2969
Joined: 22 Jul 2014, 21:38

Re: Strangers in the Night

Postby Bent Fabric » 01 Nov 2018, 18:24

"The song (and record) is an absolute motherfucker" is what I would say.

Cause it is.

Hell of a fade out.

User avatar
Belle Lettre
Éminence grise
Posts: 16143
Joined: 09 Oct 2008, 07:16
Location: Antiterra

Re: Strangers in the Night

Postby Belle Lettre » 01 Nov 2018, 18:30

Oh, so not UFO then..
Nikki Gradual wrote:
Get a fucking grip you narcissistic cretins.

User avatar
The Modernist
2018 BCB Cup Champ!
Posts: 13843
Joined: 13 Apr 2014, 20:42

Re: Strangers in the Night

Postby The Modernist » 01 Nov 2018, 18:44

Charlie O. wrote:What more is there to say?


Well we could discuss whether he is a faded icon. Does his music still hold power over people in the 21st century?

User avatar
GoogaMooga
custodian of oldies
Posts: 30318
Joined: 28 Sep 2010, 05:23
Location: Denmark

Re: Strangers in the Night

Postby GoogaMooga » 01 Nov 2018, 18:44

I suppose - other than it being a tribute thread to one of Sinatra's best - one could pose the question, why do you think he disliked the song? I don't think I ever found out. I mean, the single and the album were on Reprise, the vanity label he founded.
"When the desert comes, people will be sad; just as Cannery Row was sad when all the pilchards were caught and canned and eaten." - John Steinbeck

User avatar
GoogaMooga
custodian of oldies
Posts: 30318
Joined: 28 Sep 2010, 05:23
Location: Denmark

Re: Strangers in the Night

Postby GoogaMooga » 01 Nov 2018, 18:46

The Modernist wrote:
Charlie O. wrote:What more is there to say?


Well we could discuss whether he is a faded icon. Does his music still hold power over people in the 21st century?


Very much so. In Denmark there is a tribute singer, it's his bread and butter. Where other crooners are fading, it seems Sinatra, and to a lesser extent, Dean Martin, are still in the collective unconscious.
"When the desert comes, people will be sad; just as Cannery Row was sad when all the pilchards were caught and canned and eaten." - John Steinbeck

User avatar
Penk!
Midnight to Six Man
Posts: 35784
Joined: 07 Aug 2004, 20:12
Location: Stockholm

Re: Strangers in the Night

Postby Penk! » 01 Nov 2018, 18:50

The Modernist wrote:
Charlie O. wrote:What more is there to say?


Well we could discuss whether he is a faded icon. Does his music still hold power over people in the 21st century?


No. I think it's largely viewed as music for your gran. He's lumped in with Bing and all the other crooners. A handful of record nerds might go on about Watertown and stuff but I think the general public just regards it all as kitschy old black-and-white stuff that they hear in films set in Vegas.
fange wrote:One of the things i really dislike in this life is people raising their voices in German.

User avatar
GoogaMooga
custodian of oldies
Posts: 30318
Joined: 28 Sep 2010, 05:23
Location: Denmark

Re: Strangers in the Night

Postby GoogaMooga » 01 Nov 2018, 18:53

Outside of Denmark, Canadian Michael Bublé has been keeper of the flame.
"When the desert comes, people will be sad; just as Cannery Row was sad when all the pilchards were caught and canned and eaten." - John Steinbeck

User avatar
naughty boy
hounds people off the board
Posts: 20250
Joined: 24 Apr 2007, 23:21

Re: Strangers in the Night

Postby naughty boy » 01 Nov 2018, 19:03

PENK wrote:
The Modernist wrote:
Charlie O. wrote:What more is there to say?


Well we could discuss whether he is a faded icon. Does his music still hold power over people in the 21st century?


No. I think it's largely viewed as music for your gran. He's lumped in with Bing and all the other crooners. A handful of record nerds might go on about Watertown and stuff but I think the general public just regards it all as kitschy old black-and-white stuff that they hear in films set in Vegas.


I think his stuff is closer to someone like Miles Davis than it is to kitsch. Something like Only The Lonely is sombre, classy old music.
Matt 'interesting' Wilson wrote:So I went from looking at the "I'm a Man" riff, to showing how the rave up was popular for awhile.

User avatar
Penk!
Midnight to Six Man
Posts: 35784
Joined: 07 Aug 2004, 20:12
Location: Stockholm

Re: Strangers in the Night

Postby Penk! » 01 Nov 2018, 19:05

You might think that.

But you are one of the aforementioned handful of record nerds.
fange wrote:One of the things i really dislike in this life is people raising their voices in German.

User avatar
naughty boy
hounds people off the board
Posts: 20250
Joined: 24 Apr 2007, 23:21

Re: Strangers in the Night

Postby naughty boy » 01 Nov 2018, 19:08

OHHhhhhhhhh
Matt 'interesting' Wilson wrote:So I went from looking at the "I'm a Man" riff, to showing how the rave up was popular for awhile.

User avatar
Penk!
Midnight to Six Man
Posts: 35784
Joined: 07 Aug 2004, 20:12
Location: Stockholm

Re: Strangers in the Night

Postby Penk! » 01 Nov 2018, 19:11

I think it's a common BCB mistake - assuming people who get their music fix from the radio station playing on the work stereo or Spotify recommendations know about Sinatra's deep cuts and that kind of thing. They don't. They know about hits from the '80s on, and older stuff that was in a film they saw.
fange wrote:One of the things i really dislike in this life is people raising their voices in German.

User avatar
naughty boy
hounds people off the board
Posts: 20250
Joined: 24 Apr 2007, 23:21

Re: Strangers in the Night

Postby naughty boy » 01 Nov 2018, 19:14

Yes I GET THAT

but I don't think he's viewed as naff, really. Not really
Matt 'interesting' Wilson wrote:So I went from looking at the "I'm a Man" riff, to showing how the rave up was popular for awhile.

User avatar
Count Machuki
BCB Cup Champion 2013
Posts: 39534
Joined: 11 Jun 2005, 15:28
Location: HAIL, ATLANTA!

Re: Strangers in the Night

Postby Count Machuki » 01 Nov 2018, 19:16

NOW PLAYING: Bert Kaempfert "Live in London", 1980s Polydor CD reissue of the historic 1975 concert at Royal Albert Hall. Can't believe this CD is going for a penny on amazon.co.uk.


I absolutely can believe it's going for a penny. Right now, within five miles of where every American BCBer is sitting, there are a bunch of Bert Kaempfert fouling up the thrift store vinyl section, begging to be thrown away, demanding to be flipped past for the hundredth time.

Granny music of the worst kind.
Let U be the set of all united sets, K be the set of the kids and D be the set of things divided.
Then it follows that ∀ k ∈ K: K ∈ U ⇒ k ∉ D

User avatar
naughty boy
hounds people off the board
Posts: 20250
Joined: 24 Apr 2007, 23:21

Re: Strangers in the Night

Postby naughty boy » 01 Nov 2018, 19:17

But Canadian Michael Bublé is now keeper of the flame.
Matt 'interesting' Wilson wrote:So I went from looking at the "I'm a Man" riff, to showing how the rave up was popular for awhile.

User avatar
GoogaMooga
custodian of oldies
Posts: 30318
Joined: 28 Sep 2010, 05:23
Location: Denmark

Re: Strangers in the Night

Postby GoogaMooga » 01 Nov 2018, 19:18

It's the generation gap showing. I am 55. I don't regard very much of the MOR/pop vocal as kitsch/naff/granny music - that and easy listening I have always loved, long before 1996, Mike Flowers, and the lounge revival.
"When the desert comes, people will be sad; just as Cannery Row was sad when all the pilchards were caught and canned and eaten." - John Steinbeck

User avatar
Count Machuki
BCB Cup Champion 2013
Posts: 39534
Joined: 11 Jun 2005, 15:28
Location: HAIL, ATLANTA!

Re: Strangers in the Night

Postby Count Machuki » 01 Nov 2018, 19:23

GoogaMooga wrote:It's the generation gap showing. I am 55. I don't regard very much of the MOR/pop vocal as kitsch/naff/granny music - that and easy listening I have always loved, long before 1996, Mike Flowers, and the lounge revival.


Could be that. Could be Kaempfert is pure garbage.

I've thought about buying those records just to destroy them and finally get them out of circulation. Ultimately I'm too cheap to fund that crusade.
Let U be the set of all united sets, K be the set of the kids and D be the set of things divided.
Then it follows that ∀ k ∈ K: K ∈ U ⇒ k ∉ D

User avatar
Charlie O.
Posts: 44848
Joined: 21 Jul 2003, 19:53
Location: In-A-Badda-La-Wadda, bay-beh

Re: Strangers in the Night

Postby Charlie O. » 01 Nov 2018, 19:26

I think Coan and Googa are right. In America, at least, he still has real cachet. And I say that as one who is not personally a fan as such.
Image


Return to “Yakety Yak”