A&M Records released Close to You, the Carpenters second album. The title song became the first of six consecutive million sellers by Karen & Richard and led to a Best New Artist Grammy for the duo
Shakedown has a singing call version of Close To You (available as an MP3 only).
Musical “Annie Get Your Gun” starring Ethel Merman premieres in NYC. It ran for 1147 performances.
I don’t think any of the songs from this musical have been made as singing calls. However, one could play with the idea from the song “Anything You Can Do” and do a boys/girls rivalry tip.
ANNIE OAKLEY FRANK BUTLER:
Anything you can do,
I can do better.
I can do anything
Better than you.No, you can’t.
Yes, I can. No, you can’t.
Yes, I can. No, you can’t.
Yes, I can,
Yes, I can!Anything you can be
I can be greater.
Sooner or later,
I’m greater than you.No, you’re not. Yes, I am.
No, you’re not. Yes, I am.
No, you’re NOT!. Yes, I am.
Yes, I am!I can shoot a partridge
With a single cartridge.
I can get a sparrow
With a bow and arrow.
I can live on bread and cheese.
And only on that?
Yes.
So can a rat!
Any note you can reach
I can go higher.
I can sing anything
Higher than you.
No, you can’t. (High)
Yes, I can. (Higher) No, you can’t. (Higher)
Yes, I can. (Higher) No, you can’t. (Higher)
Yes, I can. (Higher) No, you can’t. (Higher)
Yes, I can. (Higher) No, you can’t. (Higher)
Yes, I CAN! (Highest)Anything you can buy
I can buy cheaper.
I can buy anything
Cheaper than you.Fifty cents?
Forty cents! Thirty cents?
Twenty cents! No, you can’t!
Yes, I can,
Yes, I can!
Anything you can say
I can say softer.
I can say anything
Softer than you.
No, you can’t. (Softly)
Yes, I can. (Softer) No, you can’t. (Softer)
Yes, I can. (Softer) No, you can’t. (Softer)
Yes, I can. (Softer)
YES, I CAN! (Full volume)
I can drink my liquor
Faster than a flicker.
I can drink it quicker
And get even sicker!
I can open any safe.
Without bein’ caught?
Sure.
That’s what I thought–
you crook!
Any note you can hold
I can hold longer.
I can hold any note
Longer than you.No, you can’t.
Yes, I can No, you can’t.
Yes, I can No, you can’t.
Yes, I can
Yes, I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I No, you C-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-N’T–
CA-A-A-A-N! (Cough, cough!)
Yes, you ca-a-a-an!Anything you can wear
I can wear better.
In what you wear
I’d look better than you.
In my coat?
In your vest! In my shoes?
In your hat! No, you can’t!
Yes, I can
Yes, I CAN!
Anything you say
I can say faster.
I can say anything
Faster than you.
No, you can’t. (Fast)
Yes, I can. (Faster) No, you can’t. (Faster)
Yes, I can. (Faster) Noyoucan’t. (Faster)
YesIcan! (Fastest)
I can jump a hurdle.
I can wear a girdle.
I can knit a sweater.
I can fill it better!
I can do most anything!
Can you bake a pie? No.
Neither can I.
Anything you can sing
I can sing sweeter.
I can sing anything
Sweeter than you.
No, you can’t. (Sweetly)
Yes, I can. (Sweeter) No, you can’t. (Sweeter)
Yes, I can. (Sweeter) No, you can’t. (Sweeter)
Yes, I can. (Sweeter) No, you can’t, can’t, can’t (sweeter)
Yes, I can, can, can (Sugary)Yes, I can! No, you can’
In 1928, the first jumping frog contest was held in Calaveras County, California. See my original comments here.
You can break out your frog songs: “Joy to the World” (“Jeremiah was a bullfrog”) and “Froggy Went a Courtin'”. You could even change the words to “froggy went a jumpin'”. Dancers probably wouldn’t appreciate frog legs as a snack, however.
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Here’s some info about this “event”, first “celebrated” in 1948.
Teach your dancers Pickle Up a Doodle…and make sure they get a fun badge (A088 pickle up a doodle 122 Dancing with no mistakes to Windsor record #4823.). BTW, did you know that Theresa Brewer originally recorded Pickle Up a Doodle?
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Baum wrote The Wizard of Oz (and a bunch of other Oz books).
A good day to break out “Over the Rainbow”. I also found a disco medley of songs from the movie on an album with some other disco medleys that might be fun, so I ordered it from Amazon: The Best of Meco.
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Limericks are short humorous verses, with a distinct rhythm and rhyming scheme. May 12 is the famous limericist (is that a word?) Edward Lear’s birthday. A sample Lear limerick:
There was a young lady of Wilts,
Who walked up to Scotland on stilts;
When they said it is shocking
To show so much stocking,
She answered, “Then what about kilts?”
You could:
A tutor who taught on the flute
Tried to teach two young tooters to toot.
Said the two to the tutor,
“Is it harder to toot, or
To tutor two tooters to toot?”
followed by “Toot Toot Tootsie”?
If you come up with any ideas, make a comment and let us know.
Here’s a possibility:
A flea and a fly in a flue
Were imprisoned, so what could they do?
Said the fly, “let us flee!”
“Let us fly!” said the flea.
So they flew through a flaw in the flue.
followed by “I’ll Fly Away”
There once was a lady named Perkins
Who simply doted on Gherkins
They were so nice
She ate too much spice
and pickled her internal workin’s
followed by “Pickle Up A Doodle”.
I can’t think of a song to follow this one, but I think it’s a good limerick:
A canner exceedingly canny
One morning remarked to his granny
A canner can can
Anything that he can
But a canner can
Well, obviously one has to do the Chicken (aka Birdie) dance today. Here are some instructions: Chicken Dance (note that one needs to understand the concept of the Chicken Dance…I didn’t realize it was so deep!) Here’s probably more than you ever wanted to know: The Chicken Dance. And here are some wedding pictures, featuring chicken hats (!), complete with MIDI music: Chicken Dance! (You’ve been warned; the site plays music with no way to turn it off…)
You can always encourage your dancers to Do the Funky Chicken.
And then, of course, you can do a whole tip featuring the Chicken Plucker routine, and be sure to use the Chicken Plucker hoedown music while you do it.
You could do this song, to the tune of “Ghost Riders in the Sky”:
Ghost Chickens in the Sky
A chicken Farmer went out one dark and windy day
And by the coop he rested as he went along his way
When all at once a rotten egg hit him in the eye
It was the sight he dreaded, ghost chickens in the sky. (Squawk Cluck etc.)This farmer had these chickens since he was twenty four,
Working for the Colnel for thirty years or more
Killing all theses chickens and sending them to fry.
And now they want revenge, ghost chickens in the sky. (Squawk Cluck etc.)Their beaks were black and shining their eyes were burning red
They had no meat or feathers these chickens were dead.
They picked the farmer up and he died by the claw
They cooked him extra crispy, (pause) and ate him with cole slaw.
And of course, you need to say “like a chicken in a breadpan pickin’ out dough” at least once.
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Cinco de Mayo, is the day to celebrate the anniversary of the 1862 Battle of Puebla. General Ignacio Zaragoza?s troops were outnumbered three to one as they battled the invading French army. They may have been outnumbered but they had the will to win. The Mexican forces defeated Napoleon III?s army and Puebla stood.
Today’s a good day to break out your Latin-themed records, and maybe play some mariachi music during the breaks.
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