Saturday 9: Cinderella Rockefella

Saturday 9: Cinderella Rockefella (1968)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) This record and video were inspired by popular tunes of the 1920s. Looking over your lifetime, which decade produced more of your favorite songs?  Since my teenage years equally overlapped the 70's and 80's, I'd have to say it's pretty evenly spread between both decades. I listen to a lot from both.

 

2) "Cinderella Rockefella" topped the charts in England, yet barely broke into the Billboard Hot 100 here in the States. Still, the number was known to American audiences, performed as a duet on variety shows like The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (Tommy and Kate Smith), This Is Tom Jones (Cher and Tom) and The Dean Martin Show (Nancy Ames and Dean). Do you remember watching musical-comedy programs? Did you have a favorite?  Oh gosh, yes! Those were very popular with my dad, who was the one who controlled what we watched back in the days of having only one television and no cable. I remember watching a lot of different shows, but my favorites were probably Sonny & Cher and Dean Martin.

3) It was written by Mason Williams, a prolific composer and comedy writer, as well as a talented guitarist. He is best known for "Classical Gas," his 1968 instrumental. Do you enjoy instrumentals? Or does a piece of music need lyrics to become one of your favorites?  It's not necessary to have lyrics. I can't think of too many pieces from my own era, but I really like a lot of big band songs that have no words.

 

4) This week's featured artists, Esther & Abi Ofarim, were considered the Sonny & Cher of Europe. A married couple, they had hits in the 1960s in both the UK and Germany and were depicted in magazines as the perfect young husband and wife. Fans were disappointed when, in 1969, they quit performing together and divorced in 1970 after 12 years of marriage. Can you think of a couple you knew in real life whose split shocked you? Or can you usually see it coming?  I know very few people who are divorced, but one couple did indeed shock me. Very dear friends of ours, of whom the husband was a pastor and performed our son's wedding, divorced after he was diagnosed as bipolar and left his wife for a woman he met online. He also left ministry. They had moved out of the area and we didn't see them or speak as often as we once had so I had no clue. I was stunned.

5) Comparisons to Sonny & Cher are apt because, as with the Bonos, the wife's show business career fared better than the husband's, post-divorce. Esther's BBC specials were "appointment TV" in the UK during the 1970s. Today, with the advent of streaming and DVRs, viewers don't have to make sure they're in front of the screen when their favorite show airs. Tell us about the last show you watched. Was it live, streamed, on DVR or DVD/Blueray?  I'm currently watching Hoarders on Discovery+, so it's streaming.

6) She had a solo hit with Esther in Kinderland, a collection of children's songs. Can you recall the lyrics of a favorite song from childhood?  Where did you learn it (home, church, Scouts ...)?  I remember lots of songs from childhood and sing them to my grandkids (I also used to sing them with the residents in the memory care unit of the nursing home when I worked there). I don't know where they came from...all over, I guess, from television programs, my mom, church, school.

 
7) Abi continued performing after the split, but more often worked behind the scenes as a record producer and music publisher. Would you say you have a good head for business?  Not really.

8) After they finished school, both Abi and Esther served in the Israeli Army, and Abi saw combat. Have you served in our military? Did you ever consider enlisting?  As a teenager I was in the Civil Air Patrol and really enjoyed it. I wanted to go to college and join an Air Force ROTC program, but none of the schools I was looking at had an Air Force program. I never wanted to just outright sign up, but I did have a lot of conversations with the local Army recruiter, Sgt. Staples, who knew I had an interest in military life and really spent a lot of time trying to talk me into joining the Army. I did consider it, but ultimately refused to sign.

9) Random question: How many keys are on your key ring, and do you know what each one is for? There are 6 keys. One is for my car and the rest are for doors at our house and my mom's. I have keys to our daughter's house, too, but don't keep them on my key ring.

Thanks to Sam for the music and questions!

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