The Music Man Poll - Because HE DOESN'T KNOW THE TERRITORY!

Whaddaya talk?

^invented rap

iiice creeeeeam

tempted by "Rock Island," "Wells Fargo Wagon," "Marian," "Gary"... heck, basically all the "fun"-type numbers here are delightful.

("gary" admittedly a bit slight but i will always be fond of it as i can remember my mother getting it stuck in her head and singing it around the house. this may have happened exactly once but i retained the tune all through my life without seeing the movie until a couple years ago)

"Rock Island" will win.

Never realized just how few non-reprise songs there are in Act 2.

Might vote for "Pick-A-Little, Talk-A-Little."

Should have titled this thread "Trouble with a Capital T and That Rhymes with P and That Stands for POLL!"

I only first heard this album a couple months ago. I had no idea Paul McCartney didn't write "Til There Was You". I'll probably vote for "Ya Got Trouble" but really everything here is great. Except for "Shipoopi." That one's terrible.

Only thing I really remember about the film is that it has a very young Ron Howard playing a kid who seems fairly central to what's going on.

Anyone who overlooks "The Sadder-But-Wiser Girl" is doing him/herself a disservice.

Should have titled this thread "Trouble with a Capital T and That Rhymes with P and That Stands for POLL!"

Jack Warner wanted Cagney for the movie version, and Jimmy wired him, "If Robert Preston doesn't do it, I won't even see it."

Lol

I read that as Robert Peston, I guess its just a matter of time.

never saw the movie or anything but i played in the orchestra for a production of it. most of the songs are pretty bad imo but "ya got trouble" and "till there was you" are both great. one of my really good friends danced to the latter earlier this year at her wedding (a wonderful singer they hired sang it) and it made me cry so i'll vote for that

THe early Beatles used to do Til There Was You I think its on the Star Club recordings, but haven't had those in years so don't have them to check from.

Was thinking there were other standards that came from there but can only think of 76 trombones, unless Lou Reed covered the Goodnight Ladies.

I remember having seen an interview somewhere where James Cagney refers to himself as having been 'a hoofer', not sure where though I think he was referring to his role in Yankee Doodle Dandy. But it would explain why they would have an actor probably better known for gangster roles in a musical. Though isn't the title character actually supposed to be a bit ofa con man who hits a town that's too nice for him to go ahead with his scam?

"Til There Was You" was also on With The Beatles/Meet The Beatles!.

Cagney had considerable success in the movie musical Yankee Doodle Dandy.

Which is what you said, I guess. It should be noted that he won an Oscar for that portrayal and it was considered one of his signature roles.

Macca was only familiar with the Peggy Lee version and was unaware of The Music Man.

it would explain why they would have an actor probably better known for gangster roles in a musical.

plz see JC in Footlight Parade (1933) posthaste. He was an excellent 'hoofer' and a decent singer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOG60rVmK1Y

(also nearly was snagged to play Alfred Doolittle in the mounted-and-stuffed film of My Fair Lady)

people in showbiz when Cagney came up pretty much had to learn to dance passably. (vaudeville, at least)

My favorite Preston vocal that is not in TMM:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0NcH_XIzKY

Cagney also had great comic timing when needed - he was a hoot in the unjustly forgotten 1-2-3 for example.

his take on the hood is usually comic to a large degree. the gangster stuff was done by White Heat, and throughout the '30s he'd done plenty of comedies and non-gangster roles too.

so many gems, almost impossible to pick

Cagney also had great comic timing when needed - he was a hoot in the unjustly forgotten 1-2-3 for example.

― Gorefest Frump (Doctor Casino), Sunday, October 4, 2015 5:35 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

>
Do love that film, Horst Bucholz of indigenous Mexican Indian fame in Magnificent Seven as a student revolutionary being tortured by somebody repetitively playing itsy Bitsy Teensy Weensy Yellow Polka Dot bikini on a spindle placed through an off centre hole.

I like that line one of the second wave Creem writers (Rick Johnson?) had about "Paul McCartney performs "'Til There Was You" on Ed Sullivan, and creates millions of Rolling Stones fans."

btw the songwriter of this show, Meredith Willson, was for years the bandleader on radio's The Jack Benny Program!

The latest Mojo has a free "Songs the beatles taught us" CD, no come back it's pretty good: Shirelles, ChuckB, Little Richard, Larry Williams, "Money" Barret Strong, all that. The last track is "Till there was you", I got 30 seconds in and I went "Oh, give us a break" and ended it.

Have never seen this :-O

Used to be the type of film they had on Sunday afternoons in the days of terrestial broadcast tv. Which is why i've seen it.

Ha, yes, alternating with Bye Bye Birdie.

Played trombone in the pit orchestra when my high school staged this many years ago, so I've heard these ad nauseam. That said, "Trouble" for me.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

THAt Anita Bryant versionof the track does let down an otherwise pretty powerful compilation. I haven't heard the Peggy Lee but assume it must be a lot more sensual. Wasn't Bryant a Queen of Clean type?

From what I was reading, Paul only knew the Peggy Lee version, and didn't know (or remember) the Music Man version.

I don't think the Anita Bryant version is the film version is it? Thought it was another chart version that Mojo had included possibly thanks to problems with getting rights to the Peggy Lee one?

I was thinking that Anuita Bryant was a strange choice because she was like the US equivalent of Mary Whitehouse which is odd after the looseness of the music on a lot of that disc. But was it more specifically gay rights she opposed?

Anyway, would have thought they could have picked something more fitting with the rest of the music on the disc. Looks like the song wasa bit of a standard so even getting a Sarah Vaughn version or something might have been better. Julie London didn't do it did she?
Do wonder why they didn't go for the specific version that triggered Macca to want to cover it.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Stellar turnout. Good thing I voted for WFW

 Rock Island	0

Called that one wrong.

Was my second-ish choice FWIW

Missed this but only posting to say that on video somewhere in my keeping, on unconverted VHS (so far) is me in my high school production of this as Mayor Shinn.

Thankfully, a non-singing role.

wouldve voted Rock Island over Trouble maaaybe on 2nd thought

missed that WFW was a choice, which we were forced to sing in school. and i got me a grey mackinaw.

have never seen the film or heard the whole score btw

Shipoopi got two more votes than Rock Island.

My faith in humanity is shattered. I will crawl into the corner and weep now.

might well have voted rock island if i'd voted

Missed this but only posting to say that on video somewhere in my keeping, on unconverted VHS (so far) is me in my high school production of this as Mayor Shinn.

Thankfully, a non-singing role.

― Ned Raggett, Thursday, October 8, 2015 8:27 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

needs to be screened at the world fap video festival

Macca was only familiar with the Peggy Lee version and was unaware of The Music Man.

― Mr. Snrub, Sunday, October 4, 2015 3:33 PM (5 days ago)

i'm pretty sure there's a live version of the song from the early days, probably on the early anthology, where paul introduces it as "a song from the music man."

hmm, will have to hunt that one..

Anyway:

Should have titled this thread "Trouble with a Capital T and That Rhymes with P and That Stands for POLL!"

Now it can be said: I didn't go with this one because I didn't think of it I honestly thought it would give too much prominence to one song that would be a front-runner so I went for something more, um, um, less obv. I guess.

Why was this polled? Seems pretty random. Was that the point?

I don't know why it came into my mind, but it seemed like one of those things that still has some sort of recognition factor in modern parlance, "We got trouble, right here in River City" - Maybe it actually doesn't and I am lol old. Or maybe we all are.

I guess, Random thought was the origin, maybe the point, your mileage etc.

Also, Polls tend to not be old-stuff.

wtf why?

In 1957, the show became a hit on Broadway, winning five Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and running for 1,375 performances. The cast album won the first Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album and spent 245 weeks on the Billboard charts. The show's success led to revivals and a popular 1962 film adaptation and a 2003 television remake. It is frequently produced by both professional and amateur theater companies.

Why was Sgt. Pepper's polled? Seems pretty random.

Hah. I played Harold Hill in my senior musical! Can't believe "Marian the Librarian" and "Sadder-but-Wiser Girl" didn't do better.

Off topic, I saw a great production of "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" last night. It's a way better show than "The Music Man" but doesn't have nearly as many catchy songs.

i'm pretty sure there's a live version of the song from the early days, probably on the early anthology, where paul introduces it as "a song from the music man."

Paul totally does this in the concert for the Queen: McCartney introduced the next song, 'Till There Was You' from the play The Music Man, as having also been 'recorded by our favorite American group, Sophie Tucker'—an apparent joke about her size, something Tucker often joked about herself.

can't listen to the video here but i note that the words "from the play The Music Man" aren't part of the quotation there. I remember the Sophie Tucker bit from the Beatles Anthology use of the clip though.

nobody told me there was cagney talk in here

Cagney also had great comic timing when needed

understatement of the medium

the bit in the public enemy where a henchman enters unannounced and cagney rises unnoticed and gets in position to blackjack him, then sits down as smoothly when the need doesn't arise

the pro-actor-playing-amateur-actor climax of angels w dirty faces, where we perceive him as over the top but the kids don't

sry for fascist kael we

My kid's school just did The Music Man. It's been years since I've seen the movie. "Trouble" is of course the one that sticks out, but "Rock Island" is totally stuck in my head this morning.

Of course! Trump!

Rock Island is the shit, what an amazing opener. The whole thing is full of great songs though. I saw this for the first time in probably 35 years when my wife and I watched it with our soon. She’s seen it twenty times by her count, always with her mom. Lots of unexpected emotion throughout, usually at the barbershop quartet moments which are just unusually affecting for whatever reason. It’s a tough trick to make Harold Hill sympathetic since he doesn’t reveal sincerity until the end but Preston manages to do it, just with that brief moment at the bridge fantasizing about conducting a band.