Club member David Garmaise is
one about 60 members and guests that took the opportunity to get their flu
shots done during the PCEC meeting.
It was “Name that Tune” time again at the Sunday, October
19 meeting of the Pattaya City Expats Club. Club members were treated to
another “Name That Tune” quiz from David Garmaise. The first such quiz, in
August 2014, was on pop music generally and was well received by the members
and guests. The theme this time was “classic duets.” David is a long time
PCEC member and has done several entertaining and interesting audio-visual
presentations over the past several years.
Member David Garmaise
provides some interesting facts about the tunes after the audience Named
that Tune for him during his presentation at the PCEC Sunday meeting.
David played the first few bars of 12 duets from the 60s, 70s and 80s, and
invited the audience to name both the song and the singers. The classic
duets theme proved to be a little tougher than the August quiz, but audience
members still got the majority of the songs and singers right. It was more
than just a quiz. Once the audience had a go at identifying each song, David
played a video version of the song and provided some background information.
“Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” was one of several duets recorded in the
Spring of 1967 by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terell. Six months later, Tammi
collapsed during a performance and was diagnosed with brain cancer. She died
two and a half years later at the age of 24.
PCEC member John Fishback
announces that he is organizing a new special interest group called Stay
Healthy in Pattaya. The group will meet periodically to share ideas and
information for a healthy life.
“Ebony and Ivory,” by Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney, was a big hit in
1982 in both the U.S. and the U.K. But it was not everyone’s cup of tea.
People either loved it or hated it. It was “too saccharine,” many people
said. “Ebony and Ivory” was named the tenth worst song of all time by one
magazine. It was named the worst duet ever by BBC listeners in 2007.
In 1980, Barbra Streisand and Barry Gibb recorded the song “Guilty,” on an
album of the same name. Having released 21 albums of her particular brand of
songs, Streisand wanted to do a pop album and she asked Barry Gibb and his
team to produce it for her. It was her best selling album to that point.
“Something Stupid,” was recorded in 1967 by Frank Sinatra and his daughter
Nancy Sinatra. It was the first instance of a father-daughter number-one
song in America. Nancy Sinatra has said she thinks it’s “very sweet” that
some people refer to “Something Stupid” as the “incest song.” David played a
video clip of Nancy singing the song with her brother Frank Sinatra Jr. It
was amazing how Frank Sinatra Jr.’s voice resembled that of his father.
Frank Sinatra Jr.’s career never really took off in comparison to his
father’s. But, then, those were pretty big shoes to fill.
Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton had a big hit with “Islands in the Stream” in
1983. One member of the audience knew that the song was written by the Bee
Gees. According to Barry Gibb, it was written as an R&B song for Diana Ross,
but then became the most successful country song of all time.
David showed a clip of Judi Dench and Brendan O’Hea singing a spoof of “I Am
16, Going on 17” from the Sound of Music, taken from a 2002 U.K. tribute to
the music of Richard Rodgers. While not really a classic duet, the song was
nevertheless very amusing owing to the fact that the two performers were
several decades older than 16 and 17.
The quiz also included “You’re the One That I Want” from the movie Grease in
1978, featuring Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta; “Don’t Go Breaking My
Heart,” by Elton John and Kiki Dee (1976); “I’ve Got You Babe,” by Sonny &
Cher (1965); and “Say, Say, Say” by Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson
(1983).
The PCEC arranged with Phyathai Sriracha
Hospital to administer flu shots during the Club’s Sunday meeting. Here club
member Les Edmonds is locating his name on the signup sheet for the nurse.
David ended the quiz with a duet by Bing Crosby and David Bowie. Bowie was a
guest on a Crosby Christmas TV special. The producers wanted Bowie and
Crosby to sing “Little Drummer Boy” together, but Bowie did not care for the
song. In the few hours remaining before the show was to go on air, the
writers and composers frantically retooled the song. They added a new melody
and new lyrics and called it “Peace on Earth.” Bowie liked it. “Peace on
Earth / Little Drummer Boy” went on to become a holiday chestnut. Bowie was
30 and Crosby 73 when this song was recorded. Crosby died of a heart attack
a month after the shoot.
Master of Ceremonies Richard Silverberg then brought everyone up to date on
upcoming events and called on Judith Edmonds to conduct the always
informative Open Forum where questions are asked and answered about Expat
living in Thailand, especially Pattaya.
For more information on the PCEC’s many activities, visit their website at
www.pcecclub.org.
