Four out of every ten suburban trains aren’t running today, due to a strike. On this gloriously sunny morning John Burles, an announcer on 2KY, played Bing Crosby singing “Muddy Water”. The song was recorded on the 3rd of July, in 1927 when he was a vocalist with the highly successful orchestra of the bandleader, Paul Whiteman. Crosby, whose death was announced on Saturday, achieved his first hit, as a soloist, in 1931 with “Just A Gigolo” on one side of the record and “Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams” on the other.
Bob Simpson, at the age of forty-one, is named as Australia’s captain for the forthcoming Test series against India. Australian officials have deemed the retrograde selection to be necessary because of the ban placed upon all of those Australian cricketers who signed to play for Kerry Packer’s renegade troupe. The former Australian captain, last played for his country in 1968. He is also named as the new captain of New South Wales.
This evening we watched the first half of the film, “The Last Of Sheila”. Produced in 1973, it stars James Coburn, James Mason, Dyan Cannon, Raquel Welch, Richard Benjamin and Joan Hackett.
Footnote: David Lee Roth, in 1985, included a more lively rendition of “Just A Gigolo” on his medley that combines it with another hit from the past, “I Ain’t Got Nobody”. Bing Crosby, on the other hand, is credited with being the most prolific recording artist of the twentieth century. Between 1931 and 1962 no less than three hundred and thirty-two of his recordings entered or re-entered the American charts as singles. This number does not include those he performed with other artists, the most notable of these being The Andrews Sisters.