wacky tacky Tunes: Getting Sentimental

My friend Beth over at V is for Vintage (who, with her husband, makes one of the best dancing teams this side of creation) posted a clip of the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra with Frank Sinatra playing "Blue Skies."  This great song got me to thinking about Tommy Dorsey.  My grandma always had a radio in the kitchen and when it wasn't blasting talk radio it was humming with the mellifluous melodies of music makers from the swing/big band era.  From my earliest days I was hooked!  As a kid, one of my very first tapes was a compilation of Tommy Dorsey tunes.  I wore the cassette out by rewinding and playing "Snootie Little Cutie" over and over and over again.

There is something magical and transporting about the combination of The Pied Pipers' harmonies, the vocals of Frank (who has never really been one of my favorites), the charm of Connie Haines, the horn section and the silly slang lyrics.  I wish I still had that tape!  Known as "The Sentimental Gentleman of Swing," Tommy Dorsey had a reputation as anything but sweet and sentimental.  Even playing a whitewashed version of himself in The Fabulous Dorsey Brothers you could see that he had a red-hot temper.  There are legendary stories of him being a stern task-master with his band members, even charging fines for misbehavior.  Despite - or maybe because of - his reputation, he had a great sound and made his trombone sing and swing!  Hearing that beautiful noise, I couldn't help but think of another magical Dorsey moment - this one from the 1943 film DuBarry was a Lady. 

DuBarry was a Lady (1943)

I have made mention of this film before in a previous blog post, but only in reference to the amazing high-Hollywood style.  The film stars Lucille Ball, Gene Kelly and Red Skelton.  The first time I saw this movie I was blown away at just how beautiful Lucy was.  I think the iconic, zany "Lucy" character made me forget that she was actually a stunning woman.  

Yowza!

Overall, the film is pretty lame.  In its adaptation from stage to screen, much of the Cole Porter music was cut and the the plot serves mostly as a vehicle for the slapstick antics of Skelton.  Again, it is worth watching for the fashion and for the amazing musical sequence toward the beginning of the film that begins with The Oxford Boys (performing a mostly a cappella impersonation of several famous bandleaders/bands) and culminates in The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra performing a medley of "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You" and "Well, Git It!"

This footage is wacky tacky excellence!  Any time you can  make a realistic trumpet noise using just what God gave you (from the waist up), you are alright by me!  The impersonations are spot-on and the ability of the performers is incredible.  "Well, Git it?"

Cheers!

Mr. Tiny

This Ain't No Bull!

When surveying the wacky tacky landscape it is nearly impossible to miss the blood on the sand.  No, it's not from all those crazy gladiator movies; it's from the bullfighting.  Call them toreros, matadors, bullfighters or toreadors (if there are technical differences we aren't too concerned), these icons of machismo, in all their velvet, satin and spangled glory, wove their way into the cultural tapestry thereby enriching the wacky tacky lobe of our collective consciousness*.  In fact, bullfighting was one of the most prevalent and enduring themes throughout the formative years of wacky tacky.  Was this phenomenon the fortuitous result of The Good Neighbor Policy?  Was it because we as a society were vicariously purging our hostilities through the matadors themselves?  Was it because we found it so hard to differentiate between the customs of Latin cultures that we balled them all into one so we could exploit that now homogenized mixture for our own entertainment?  Is "all of the above" an acceptable answer?  Whatever the question, the answer makes for some swell wacky tacky - Ole!

Martha Raye as a toreador in the 1938 film Tropic Holiday

Disney's Ferdinand the Bull (1938) - one of our faves!

The arts, both fine and decorative, were a natural fit for capturing the essence (and sometimes anatomical correctness) of the bullfight.

The penultimate example of toreador-tinged wacky tacky is of course the infamous, black velvet painting.

Rather easy to come by and usually surrounded by a rough-hewn, wooden frame, these 

gems are not always executed at the same level of artistry as is clearly illustrated above.

Hollywood was not immune to the Latin craze either.  Really?...Esther Williams?...A Mexican Bullfighter?...Esther Williams...Really???

Fiesta trailer starring Esther Williams (1947)

"Lucy Goes to Mexico" from The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour (1958)

Don't forget the tunes...

And the toons - even Goofy gets in on the action!

Bolero jackets, toreador pants, satin sashes - a few of a matadors favorite things?  Definitely, but more so the staples of a well-appointed, wacky tacky wardrobe.

A 1950's men's shirt with a matador motif

A 1950's, hand-painted, circle skirt depicting the day of the fight

And last but not least, a few examples of matador mania from the wacky tacky archives:

Embossed tin & airbrushing create this masterwork

A matador statuary

Ironically, at 3x4', this is the biggest piece in the archives.

Maybe one day we'll figure out how to use a camera!!

 Another velvet painting, this one enhanced with glitter. 

Do you see what we mean about attention to anatomy??!!

*Please don't get all PETA on us and view this as the waving of a red cape.  This posting is neither an endorsement nor examination of the cultural significance of the act of bullfighting.

Cheers!

Mr. Tiny