CELEBRITIES SING (?) |
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Bob Dylan, Poet Here is a stellar piece of celebrity insanity. Cabot performs "dramatic" readings of Dylan, and the results are worse than anyone could have ever imagined. |
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Long before he was the Joker on TV's Batman, Cesar Romero was a major heart throb with housewives throughout America. Still, I can't help but wonder whether the bow tie in this picture might explode. |
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No, he doesn't sing on this record. Remember that his namesake is a musical instrument, and there were at least 3 long players of Harpo demonstrating his musical skills. |
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Jane Russel actually has an excellent voice, as she demonstrated in films like "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes". This toughie gives us the full vocal treatment. It's actually kind of a shame that her singing talent was overshadowed by some of her other...um..uh..assets. |
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Well, speaking of actresses whose dramatic talents were eclipsed by their anatomy, Jayne Mansfield was the example by which all other bombshells should be measured. Here she tries to counteract with her sensitive readings of the bard. |
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This is one of the all-time howlers. Jack Webb coupled with Frank Sinatra's arranger, Billy May, decided that he could outdo the chairman at his own game. Stick to detective work sergeant Friday. |
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Fresh from much work on TV and in commercials, Kurt Russell found himself in several successful Disney movies. He was quickly signed to a record deal where he covered bubblegum classics like Tommy Roe's "Dizzy" or The Archies' "Sugar Sugar" |
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On a Rainy Afternoon Speaking of teen idols, prior to Hitchcock's Psycho, Tony Perkins was appearing regularly in movies and was signed to a recording contract with RCA. This all changed, though, after his career defining role as Norman Bates made him something less than a positive role model for the youth of America. |
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Calypso is Like So... Strange bedfellows indeed. Who'd have thought that screen tough guy Mitchum would have shown such promise as a calypso singer, but he definitely did. This album is a lot of fun and one of the 2 best celebrity calypso records around. |
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Miss Calypso I mentioned there being 2 great celeb calypso LPs, the first being Mitchum and here is the other. Prior to her career as a writer and poet, Maya Angelou had a stint as a nightclub singer (quite a good one, I'll add) I can't find out much about her stage career, but judging by the quality of this album, this caged bird sang up quite a song. |
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The Star Trek LPs are legendary among collectors of celeb vocals. Leonard Nimoy released around a half dozen records in the 70s, and this is the one that attempts to put the most distance between him and his Vulcan alter ego. Imagine Spock wearing an ascot singing "Nature Boy" (...brrrr, shudder!) Most illogical. |
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Though I've already mentioned Leonard Nimoy, it pails in comparison to William Shatner's ode to overacting, "The Transformed Man". This is THE classic of the Star Trek LPs (and a holy grail of sorts among collectors of oddball celebrity vinyl) For sheer pretension few records can compare with these schizoid readings of Shakespeare and The Beatles set against a full orchestra and chorus. No intelligent life forms on this vinyl disaster, captain. |
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