Easter EGGed

Do you remember this ad for the NECC (National Egg Co-ordination Committee) encouraging us to eat eggs. Meri Jaan Meri Jaan

How D'ya Like Your Eggs in the Morning

Fried.... Boiled.... Poached.... Or were they Scrambled...

That's the soundtrack from the NBC sitcom featuring Kelsey Grammar as Radio psychiatrist Frasier Crane... enjoyed a few hilarious laughs from the series. Just one of the things we look back on about yesterday...

Yes... "Yesterday... All my troubles seemed so far away".... Ooh... that sound like a Beatles' song, doesn't it.... Here's some trivia about the song... it actually started as 'Scrambled Eggs'... This one's guaranteed to get you some laughs....

Speaking of eggs, my mind races back to the all the weddings I've attended as a young boy... In those days before the buffet became a standard, dinner used to be served in plated meals... and the most colourful thing on the plate was this half of a boiled egg where the yolk (yellow) was replaced with a mixture including mayonnaise smoothly piped into them. The dish is called 'Devilled Eggs'  

It's Easter Sunday today.... and you possibly enjoyed your eggs with chocolate or marzipan... or filled with little chickens. Or possibly you liked the bunnies.... Maybe you enjoyed an Egg Hunt with the kids.... If you did, are you 'Putting All Your Eggs In One Basket'.

Do you need to know anything more about eggs... Over to the Bollywood stars giving you some Ande Ka Funda

16 Going On 17

The messages on social media - especially WhatsApp have been pouring in much faster that I've been able to process them since early in the day yesterday. But for the musical mind in me - this picture actually got my attention...

That picture took me straight back to The Sound Of Music to the Von Trapp garden with Liesl and Rolf. (Charmain Carr who played Liesl in the movie was 16 going on 17 in the movie, but did not make it with us to 2017).

Which other songs do you know with the number 17?...

The first song I can think of is the 'Rock n Roll' favorite by the Beatles which forms an integral part of the Jive set I used to sing in the band... I Saw Her Standing There (Just Seventeen) by the Beatles - performed by an all musical starcast here...

Seventeen is an interesting age... I have my fair share of them being part of the Confirmation Catechesis team at the parish... the group includes really talented youth waiting to make their mark wherever they go... I sincerely wish them all the very best in this year 2017.

Also wishing all the readers and listeners of this blog post a VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR 2017... While this year has been dedicated by the UN as the International Year for Sustainable Tourism For Development, I extend the invitation to make a little contribution to this effort...

HAVE A WONDERFUL 

DAY 

MONTH 

YEAR 2017

TWIST

twist

The dictionary defines twist as bending or curling. An alternative definition is to rotate around a stationary point. 

There is a 'twist' in the name of this blog and 'twists' and turns in the road to life. But there is also a 'twist' in music - and it encompasses not one but both of the definitions right above - bending and curling around a stationary point.

If you were born in the before the 60s (I wasn't), you'd would be very familiar with the dance form. But I've seen this dance and enjoyed songs with twists at the many weddings we've attended in the '70 and '80s. This is how they do The Twist.

Written originally by Hank Ballard and the Midnighters as a B-side, the song became extremely popular and went to #1 when covered by Chubby Checker. I used to be quite chubby as a kid... and used to love to play checkers as well. But this post is not about me... but about the rockin' (or rather twistin' singer) who celebrates his 75th birthday today. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHUBBY CHECKER

The popularity he got with The Twist was not enough - he had to do it again with Let's Twist Again. 

The twist was an absolute rage from 1959 through to around 1962, the created the 'twist' around anything. There was even a comic book that was about the 'twist'.

There is even an Alvin Twist, the Peppermint Twist, the Spanish Twist... and (take a breath)...the Bollywood Twist aka Aao Twist Karein.

The twisting even caught with the Fab Four - the Beatles, who have their cover version of Chubby Checker's - Aa... aa... aa... aa... Twist and Shout.

Among the many covers of Twist and Shout include the Reggae versions by Chaka Demus and the Pliers and Shaggy.

After the mid-sixties, the rage seems to have died down. My favorite 'twist' song from the Eighties is the one near water - Twisting by the Pool (Dire Straits).

Twenty-five after the pool, Bollywood was back twisting at weddings and parties with the Twist from Love Aaj Kal.

If you enjoyed the 'twist' here follow The Musical Twist to Life right here or maybe request for it to be delivered right to your email box. 

KEEP TWISTING

All About YESTERDAY

If you work with Mumbai's Marketing Communications industry, everything is wanted YESTERDAY. But in the world of music - Yesterday takes on a totally different meaning. 

Yesterday was the day YESTERDAY was first released - 51 years ago in 1965. It was the first solo song released by the Beatles featuring Paul McCartney with his guitar.

The song in the making had a working title - Scrambled Eggs. And the rough lyric went something like this.

Scrambled eggs/Oh my baby how I love your legs/Not as much as I love scrambled eggs

Would that have made the song as popular as it is? Your guess is as good as mine. 

Over the past 51 years, Yesterday is possibly the most covered song in the history of recorded music with as many as 2200 versions. I thought this would be a good place to review some of the other versions of the song that helped make it as famous. 

Frank Sinatra recorded this version of Yesterday in 1969 on the album My Way that included cover songs of other singers including Simon and Garfunkel's Mrs. Robinson. 

Another legend with a Jazz touch who covered the song in 1966 a year after its original release was Ray Charles.

Yesterday was covered by the King of Rock n Roll - Elvis in 1970. Got this version along with another of the Beatles hits with the Paul McCartney touch.

From the King to the Queen of Soul - Aretha Franklin in 1979

In the boy band era of the 1990s came this version from one of the best R&B quartets of the generation - Boyz II Men - in acapella.

I hope hearing the song so many times hasn't made you sentimental or Wet Wet Wet

I hope you enjoyed all those versions of Yesterday. Going back to the original singer in another place another time. 

Do let me know, which version you liked the best... or maybe you like a version not included here. 

A special word goes out to the greatest Beatles fan I've known - a senior of mine in school (a classmate of my brother) who had the most incredible collection of books, music and videos of the Fab 4. He even learnt to play the guitar during his days in IIT a few years later. Hey Rohit Malhotra - hope you still enjoy your Beatles songs...

Meanwhile the rest of us could get back to today. This blog will be back in the morrow with more musical connections that I think you may like. Have a great day. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMA MARY

Over the past nine days, my kids along with around a hundred others have been attending the Marian Nativity Novena at our parish in Chembur and preparing to celebrate the birthday of Mother Mary which is celebrated today - 8th September. 

Devotions to our Blessed Mother started for me at an early age. Growing up in a parish dedicated to Our Lady of Perpetual Succour and studying in a school with the same name surely helped. Also the daily Rosary at home was an absolute must - encouraged by God-fearing parents and grandmothers. 

As a teenager, I was introduced to an active church association dedicated to Mother Mary - called the Legion of Mary (Legio Mariae). Over the next decade or so, the devotion grew along with leadership skills as I took on various roles of responsibility within the Legion. Taking a cue from the role Mother Mary played in life of Jesus and others, we too were called on to be alert to the needs of those around us and to respond to those needs with love care and compassion as only Momma Mary could.

That song just came into my head this morning with the picture of a vibrant priest who was responsible for some of the best holidays we had as a family during my teen years. Fr. Robin Selwyn used to run Family Camps in the Jesuit 'St. Mary's Villa' at Khandala. A fantastic singer and guitarist, he could sing almost anything - from contemplative melodies to frivolous party songs - in his on inimitable style. Another Marian favorite that I recall him sing is the song made famous by the Beatles - Let It Be. While the original is played on the piano by Paul McCartney, I particularly like this version I found earlier today with Alicia Keys and John Legend. 

"A song that that comforted generations with it's beauty and message" - has the comforter in the person of Mother Mary who played the comforting role in God's eternal plan for salvation. Her role did not end 2000 years ago, but she still continues to be that comfort in the heavenly role as Queen and Mother... a look at the the crowds that throng to Mount Mary's -Bandra and St. Michael's Church - Mahim in Mumbai and the host of Marian Shrines in Vailankanni, Fatima, Lourdes and everywhere else is only testimony of how powerful her intercession can be. We all are blessed to have Mother Mary as our mother - and be happy to let her - Be With Us, Mary...

HAPPY FEAST

to one and all