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.
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.
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.
“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.
“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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
