Showing posts with label Julius LaRosa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Julius LaRosa. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Julius La Rosa: I Got A Gal In Kalamazoo


Julie singing with a 1983 Glenn Miller Band
images from rootsweb-mikalama
A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H
I got a gal in Kalamazoo
Dont want to boast but I know shes the toast of Kalamazoo
(Zoo, zoo, zoo, zoo, zoo)
Years have gone by, my my how she grew
I liked her looks when I carried her books in Kalamazoo
(Zoo, zoo, zoo, zoo, zoo)
I'm gonna send a wire, hopping on a flier
Leaving today
Am I dreaming? I can hear her screaming
Hiya Mr. Jackson, Everything's OK
K
A
L-A-M-A-Z-O
Oh, oh, oh, oh what a gal, a real pipperoo
I'll make my bid for that freckle faced kid I'm hurrying to
I'm going to Michigan to see the sweetest gal in Kalamazoo
(Zoo, zoo, zoo, zoo, zoo, zoo, zoo, zoo, zoo)
(Kalamazoo!!)
K
A
L-A-M-A-Z-O
Oh, oh, oh, oh what a gal, a real pipperoo
We're going to Michigan to see the sweetest gal in Kalamazoo
(Zoo, zoo, zoo, zoo, zoo, zoo, zoo, zoo, zoo)
Kalamazoo

Julius LaRosa: Crazy Rock N' Roll Party


Julie attempts to get down with the rock n rollers in the 50's
Rachel Rosenthal recently found the KV blog and mentioned her. Hey Rachel I emailed you
Blogger Rachel said...
I knew Reggie when I lived in his building (40 Monroe Street). I spent a great deal of time playing with Reggie and knew his family very well. I lived at FI10 and Reggie lived a floor or two below. We had many friends in the building including.......Steven Pelly, Laurie Puhn and others that I can't remember. Our other friends were Cynthia Miller, Eddie Applebaum (Toby), Lynn Steinberg, Lois Ebert (mother Pearl,father Jerry), Judy Platin, Joel Sosinsky and certainly many others. I came upon this blog and memories flooded back............please contact me if anyone reads this and shares the history.

A remembrance of Son Of Seth about Cynthia Miller
I remember Cynthia Miller very well. Her mother and Peter Levine's mother (Penthouse E-Building) threw what they called a "social." It was the first party with slow dancing that I ever went to. It was kind of bewildering, I remember it as a kind of surreal. The memory and associations of Peter Levine's mother's lamb chops hung deliciously in the air. There were songs like "Put Your Head on my Shoulders," and "When a Girl Changes from Bobby Sox to Stockings" playing. I remember that Cynthia was younger than I was. And I danced with her and she was flirty, or something I interpreted as flirty, and I was smitten with her. I think the event actually took place at Peter Levine's house now that I think about it but Cynthia's mother was the co--parent host. Strange, that party stayed with me and about fifteen years ago i saw this woman on the Upper West Side who I thought might be Cynthia Miller and reacted like I'd seen a ghost--or maybe more like an angel. Someone otherworldly in any case. Turned out it was someone else of course but I did go up and ask her if her name of was Cynthia and she probably thought I was hitting on her. Anyhow, there were ornamental faux chandelier ornaments on the piano in Peter Levine's living room. Strands of costume jewelery beads that hung down in rows, clear "diamond" and strikingly pretty emerald. Memories as fragile as nearly forgotten dreams. Cynthia had warm brown eyes and brown hair and she was cute in a teddy bear kind of way. I thought of her as an ordinary pretty girl--which made her adorable. The genuine article. But young for me, probably two or three years younger than I was. I was a big dude back then you have to remember. Probably in second grade.

Eh Cumpari


In honor of the Italian wing of KV. From wikipedia:
"Eh, Cumpari!" is a novelty song. It was adapted from a traditional Italian song by Julius La Rosa and Archie Bleyer in 1953, and sung by La Rosa with Bleyer's orchestra as backing on a recording that year. The song reached #1 on the Cash Box charts and #2 on the Billboard charts in 1953. As a result, the song was also featured in a performance by Dennis Day on The Jack Benny Program on CBS Radio. The song also appeared in Francis Ford Coppola's film The Godfather III as sung by Talia Shire, who played Connie Corleone, the sister of Michael Corleone.The song is a cumulative song, in which each verse contains all of the previous verse as well.
It is sung in a southern Italian dialect, with words common to Sicilian language and Neapolitan language. This leads to shortened or variant spellings even within the verses. The song is about the sounds of musical instruments. A rough translation:
Hey buddy, [music] is playing.
What is playing? The whistle.
And what does it sound like--the whistle?
[vocalized instrument sound] the whistle, [nonsense rhythm words] etc.
friscalettu = whistle [small flute]
saxofona = saxophone
mandolino = mandolin
viulinu = violin
trumbetta = trumpet
trombona = trombone
Eh Cumpari, ci vo sunari
Chi si sona? U friscalettu
E comu si sona u friscalettu?
U friscalette, tipiti tipiti tam
E cumpari, ci vo sunari
Chi si sona? U saxofona
E comu si sona u saxofona?
Tu tu tu tu u saxofona
U friscalette, tipiti tipiti tam
E cumpari, ci vo sunari
Chi si sona? U mandolinu
E comu si sona u mandolinu?
A pling a pling, u mandulin
Tu tu tu tu u saxofona
U friscalette, tipiti tipiti tam
E cumpari, ci vo sunari?
Chi si sona? u viulinu
E comu si sona u viulinu?
A zing a zing, u viulin
A pling a pling, u mandulin
Tu tu tu tu u saxofona
U friscalette, tipiti tipiti tam
E cumpari, ci vo sunari?
Chi si sona? A la trumbetta
Ma comu si sona a la trumbetta?
Papapapa a la trumbetta
A zing a zing, u viulin
A pling a pling, u mandulin
Tu tu tu tu u saxofona
U friscalette, tipiti tipiti tam
E compari, ci vo sunari?
Chi si sona? A la trombona
Ma comu si sona a la trombona
A fumma a fumma a la trombona
Pa-pa pa-pa pa la trumbetta
A zing a zing, u viulin
A pling a pling, u mandulin
Tu tu tu tu u saxofona
U friscalette, tipiti tipiti tam
Tipiti tipiti
Tipiti tipiti tam