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Post by myhomeo on Aug 19, 2010 17:01:36 GMT -5
What does everyone think of Tommy Bond's immortal rendition of 'Just Friends, Lovers No More' in 'Mush And Milk'?
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Post by rhapsody on Aug 19, 2010 18:01:18 GMT -5
I don't know whether he can or can't sing or whether anything was ruptured, or anyone killed, but I think it's bloody brilliant.
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Post by rhapsody on Aug 19, 2010 20:34:40 GMT -5
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Post by bigears on Aug 20, 2010 12:31:03 GMT -5
The kid's got some pretty good pipes.
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Post by littlerascal4891 on Aug 20, 2010 16:53:16 GMT -5
His facial expressions crack me up. So funny.  |
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Post by shebaofaraby on Jun 16, 2011 0:34:38 GMT -5
I definitely agree.  Brilliant facial expressions. |
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Post by mickeygubitosifan on Jun 16, 2011 13:30:30 GMT -5
He certainly goes at it with a lot of gusto. As is often the case with Carl Switzer when he sings in the Our Gang films, though, it's difficult to tell from this piece how good Tommy Bond actually is as a singer. My guess would be that Harold and Carl Switzer were probably better, but it's hard to say for sure.
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Post by rhapsody on Jun 16, 2011 14:08:35 GMT -5
It's just not Tommy's intense singing that makes this so funny. It's the fact that the song is just such an inappropriate one for a six year old to sing in class.
Rumor has it Hal Roach happened to overhear Tommy rehearsing this with someone for a laugh and he asked that it be put in the film.
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Post by mickeygubitosifan on Jun 21, 2011 0:11:59 GMT -5
I've wondered before what kind of experience with music Tommy Bond may have had. After all, he was selected to be the leader of The International Silver String Submarine Band. We couldn't hear his voice individually very well in that one, but I figure it's possible that he may have been cast as the leader of the group for a reason...
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Post by mtw12055 on Jun 21, 2011 19:10:41 GMT -5
I've wondered before what kind of experience with music Tommy Bond may have had. After all, he was selected to be the leader of The International Silver String Submarine Band. We couldn't hear his voice individually very well in that one, but I figure it's possible that he may have been cast as the leader of the group for a reason... That's a very interesting point, but judging from his autobiography, Bond doesn't seem to have had any experience with music prior to Our Gang. In fact, as an adult, Edith Fellows (out of love, of course) told Tommy that he sounded like a wolf howling to a full moon when he sang in "Mush and Milk". As for Tommy in "Mike Fright", I think it was more of Gus Meins and the writers trying out different Gang members to take over the role of the leader. They tried Stymie out in "Bedtime Worries", "Wild Poses", and "Honkey-Donkey", and eventually got Wally Albright. But since Wally is nowhere to be found in this short, another leader was needed. As we know, Spanky took over the leadership role beginning with the next short. Unless you were referring to the character "Tommy Bond", then I can see how the Gang would have wanted him to lead the band. |
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Post by mickeygubitosifan on Jun 22, 2011 18:37:13 GMT -5
I was referring to Tommy Bond, the actor. Generally, when I'm talking about the actors who played in Our Gang, I'll use their full names; when it's the character I'm mentioning, I use just the first name. Of course, there are exceptions. If I write "Dickie" or "Mickey", then there might be some confusion as to which one I mean, without the specification of a last name.
The fact that all of the Gangsters in Mike Fright sing when The Gang's band performs has led me to wonder what kind of vocalist some of them actually were. Pretty much the only thing I know about Scotty Beckett as a singer is that for his main vocal number in The Jolson Story, his singing voice was provided by another actor. Oh, there's also the story I've heard about Scotty Beckett having been initially discovered as a potential talent for the big screen when the then-toddler was singing for his father in the hospital. Evidently Scotty made quite an impression with his impromptu personal show, assuming that the story as it is commonly told is completely accurate.
We've already discussed Tommy Bond's musicality a little bit here. I'm not sure at all about the singing abilities of Jackie Wilson, Matthew Beard or Alvin Buckelew.
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Post by mtw12055 on Jun 22, 2011 19:36:45 GMT -5
I was referring to Tommy Bond, the actor. Generally, when I'm talking about the actors who played in Our Gang, I'll use their full names; when it's the character I'm mentioning, I use just the first name. Of course, there are exceptions. If I write "Dickie" or "Mickey", then there might be some confusion as to which one I mean, without the specification of a last name. The fact that all of the Gangsters in Mike Fright sing when The Gang's band performs has led me to wonder what kind of vocalist some of them actually were. Pretty much the only thing I know about Scotty Beckett as a singer is that for his main vocal number in The Jolson Story, his singing voice was provided by another actor. Oh, there's also the story I've heard about Scotty Beckett having been initially discovered as a potential talent for the big screen when the then-toddler was singing for his father in the hospital. Evidently Scotty made quite an impression with his impromptu personal show, assuming that the story as it is commonly told is completely accurate. We've already discussed Tommy Bond's musicality a little bit here. I'm not sure at all about the singing abilities of Jackie Wilson, Matthew Beard or Alvin Buckelew. I'll have to see The Jolson Story at some point. The closest I ever got to hearing Scotty Beckett was in the theatrical trailer for A Date With Judy. Here are some of the Gang members I've heard sing (besides the ones we're usually familiar with singing). Sorry about the length: I don't know about Alvin and Jackie, but I have heard an adult Stymie sing. He had a pretty nice voice. This was from a guest appearance he did on Jackie Lynn Taylor's TV show The Little Rascals Family Theater. Jackie wrote a theme song for the show ("Now is the time to give a hi-sign with a smile and a grin/you can't go wrong with this happy high song once you begin), which she usually sang solo to open the show (she also had a fine voice). But Stymie evidentally requested to sing the song with her when he guest starred. I've heard Johnny Downs sing on George Jessel's radio program when he (and Our Gangers Spanky, Alfalfa, Darla, Buckwheat, and Porky) guest starred. Johnny was about 24 at the time. He had a great singing voice. I believe this is it: www.myoldradio.com/old-radio-episodes/thirty-minutes-in-hollywood-school-days-ep-18/1I also heard him sing briefly in Babes in Toyland. Ernie Morrison also had a pretty good voice (and was a great dancer). There was some color footage of Ernie from around 1944 during his brief association with "The Four Step Brothers" (he was with the group in between his association with the East Side Kids and his army service). on youtube at one point, but it seems to have been taken down. IIRC, Ernie did more of an early form of rapping rather than singing, however. I haven't heard Jean Darling sing, but she supposedly sang a song in Babes in Toyland that was cut. I remember hearing Shirley Jean Rickert sing in one of the Mickey McGuire comedies she did. She didn't seem to comfortable with it. |
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Post by mickeygubitosifan on Jun 22, 2011 22:44:57 GMT -5
Wow, that was fantastic! I appreciate your having provided that link. I had never before heard a recording of The Gang on a radio show. Do you know who wrote the dialogue for the Gangsters when they made promotional appearances of this sort? Johnny Downs certainly did grow to become a good vocalist. I like the idea of them having included him on the same episode of the radio program as the newest incarnation of The Gang, keeping alive the memorable past of a film series that had already been going for seventeen years (!) by that time. |
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Post by mtw12055 on Jun 23, 2011 13:06:30 GMT -5
Wow, that was fantastic! I appreciate your having provided that link. I had never before heard a recording of The Gang on a radio show. Do you know who wrote the dialogue for the Gangsters when they made promotional appearances of this sort? I'm not sure who wrote the dialogue, but it was probably George Jessel and/or his writers. As funny as that schoolroom skit is, it's not really something you'd normally hear in an Our Gang short. Oh, and I like that Alfalfa got a well deserved round of applause after singing "She'll Be Coming Around the Mountain" (the Crosby version). |
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Post by mickeygubitosifan on Jun 23, 2011 22:43:37 GMT -5
I'm not sure who wrote the dialogue, but it was probably George Jessel and/or his writers. As funny as that schoolroom skit is, it's not really something you'd normally hear in an Our Gang short. I, too, thought that the sketches had a different feel to them than the material typical of Hal Roach and his Our Gang writers. Do you know if all of the Gangsters present for the George Jessel radio appearance were together in the same room while their spot was being recorded? For some reason, the impression I was getting while listening to the show was that the snippets of comedic dialogue spoken by the Our Gang guests may have been taped separate from each other, and then mixed together later for the final broadcast. I guess that there was just a certain quality to the audio of their segment that felt a little bit disjointed. Oh, and I like that Alfalfa got a well deserved round of applause after singing "She'll Be Coming Around the Mountain" (the Crosby version). Ah, so that was the reason for the "boom, boom boom"s after each line! :-) For some reason, I didn't immediately make the connection to Bing Crosby. I should have known, though, since he was the virtually unchallenged King of Crooners at the time. |
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