Song of the Day: 'Somethin' Stupid' by Frank and Nancy Sinatra

 

I've always been obsessed with "Songs for Swinging Lovers," but have never really dug very deep into Frank Sinatra's catalog. Then somehow I stumbled upon "The World We Knew," his 1967 album that featured his No. 1 hit with daughter Nancy. (The male-female parts seem wildly inappropriate for a father-daughter, but what can you do?) In addition, it includes two songs that were hits for Petula Clark -- "Don't Sleep in the Subway" and "This Is My Song" -- as well as a memorable rendition of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Some Enchanted Evening." 

Hardcore fans: What do you recommend next?

Song of the Day: 'My Kind of Town (Chicago Is)" by Frank Sinatra

Damian and I are flying to the Windy City on Wednesday for my birthday, so this seemed fitting. We've got great friends to see and we've both been many times. But if you have suggestions about what we should see or do, I'm all ears!

Song of the Day: 'Whatever Happened to Christmas' by Frank Sinatra

I've spent the past few days listening to nothing but Christmas music and refusing to believe it's already over. At least we still have our tree to keep us company as we roll into 2022! xo

Aimee Mann did a suicidal nice version on her 2006 Christmas album, "Another Drifter in the Snow" 

Song of the Day: 'Mistletoe and Holly' by Frank Sinatra

I know Bing Crosby is supposed to be the quintessential Christmas crooner. But I grew up with Old Blue Eyes, so this and "The Christmas Waltz" are my two favorite songs of the season, both of which remind me of my brother Bill ... 

Song of the Day: 'What Ever Happened to Christmas' by Frank Sinatra

Frank Sinatra has been a staple of my family's holiday season for as long as I can remember -- and this is a case in point why. 

It Didn't Happen in Monterey

Barbara Sinatra: Ronan Farrow Isn’t Frank’s Love Child

 I knew Mia Farrow was just being coy when she dropped her paternity bombshell earlier this week. But I also assumed Frank Sinatra's widow had already passed away. She hasn't. Pretty tasteless move, Daisy Buchanan. (Via PageSix)

Don't Bother to Knock

Granted, none of us wants to die. But if you're gonna go, you should be as lucky as jazz pianist Hal Schaefer, whose obituary involves one of the best bits of Hollywood lore of all time, starring Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra and Joe DiMaggio! The New York Times writes:

On Nov. 5, 1954, not long after Marilyn Monroe filed for divorce from Joe DiMaggio, DiMaggio was having dinner with Frank Sinatra when he heard, probably from a private investigator, that if he went to a certain apartment house on Waring Avenue in West Hollywood, he’d find her in the arms of another man. 

There are different accounts of what happened later that night, but what is certain is that a party of men, including DiMaggio and Sinatra, showed up at the address and someone broke down the door of the ostensible love nest, terrifying the woman who lived there, Florence Kotz — sometimes identified as Florence Kotz Ross — who was in bed by herself.

“Mrs. Ross was fast asleep about 11 p.m. when five or six men suddenly battered down the back door to her apartment, tearing it from its hinges and leaving glass strewn on the floor,” The Los Angeles Times reported, adding, “A bright flash of light was shone in her eyes and she was confronted with a number of men, some of whom seemed to be carrying an instrument which at first sight she believed to be an ax.” 

The incident, which came to be known as “the wrong door raid,” resulted in a lawsuit filed by Mrs. Ross against Sinatra, DiMaggio and four others, which was settled for $7,500. And where was Monroe? A female friend of hers claimed at the time that they had been together that evening, but years later, Hal Schaefer, a jazz pianist who was also Monroe’s vocal coach and who had become her confidant and romantic partner, admitted in interviews that he and Monroe were trysting in an apartment just a few yards away.  

"We were very close to making love; I don’t remember the stage we were at, but I would say half-dressed,” Mr. Schaefer recalled. He added: “And all of a sudden for some reason, Marilyn got these vibrations, and we went over to the window and saw this group standing across the street, one of whom was Joe DiMaggio and another was Frank Sinatra. They all came en masse and broke this door in, demolished it. We scrambled to get out the back way, and we made it, luckily.”

Keep reading HERE.

Stairs for Swingin' Lovers

Frank Sinatra's former Upper East Side penthouse is on the market for $7.7 million. Look inside HERE.

Music Box: Frank Sinatra

My two favorite Christmas albums are "A Christmas Gift for You From Phil Spector" and "The Sinatra Christmas Album." And while it's hard to pick just one, I might have to say "The Christmas Waltz" is my favorite Christmas song ever. What's yours?

Music Box: Christmas Classics

The other day I lamented Blondie's lame attempt at Christmas cheer. While I said it was hard for even a band as cool as they are to not come across as lame doing a holiday song, I wasn't exactly on target. Quite a few artists have brought their yuletide cool to the airwaves over the years -- including the Pretenders, Kirsty MacColl & the Pogues, Band Aid, Frank Sinatra and the Wilsons, whose original Christmas song ("Hey, Santa!") was better than anything they'd ever recorded. A few years ago I compiled my ultimate holiday favorites for the "Very Kenny Christmas" CD, and today I'll share three songs with you, including "2000 Miles," one of the worst videos of all time!