#johnny contardo

[all-action-all-picture]

The movie Grease was released this day in 1978 in the UK. I've still never watched the whole movie but I can remember this being huge at the time. If you have a Ultra High Definition 10K Blu-Ray of the movie and a cinema-sized TV screen you may be able to spot Johnny Casino & The Gamblers (below) performing in the background of the dance hall scene if you pause it in exactly the right spot. They were played by covers band Sha Na Na who, I'd say, can take a lot of credit for the resurgence of interest in 50's music in the 70's. You can hear them performing several songs in the movie but there are very few clear shots of them. The rumour was the Director wasn't a fan.

Grease debuted as a stage musical in 1971 and Those Magic Changes was a new song written for it in 1972 by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. This 'live' version of the song in the clip above is taken from the Sha Na Na TV show with Johnny Contardo, as in the movie, crystal clear on lead vocals.

The other big connection the band had to Grease was that their pianist, Screamin' Scott Simon, wrote the lyrics to Sandy. This song was written for the movie but is now often included in productions of the musical. The clip below is another 'live' clip from the Sha Na Na TV show with Scott on lead vocals (the show didn't go out live but they usually sang the song live to a backing track as the show was recording).

[chaptertwo-thepacnw]

[thefrogholler]

Musical Birthday Notes - December 23rd

Musical Birthday Notes – December 23rd

[myvinylplaylist]

Album # 841 SHA NA NA: From The Streets Of New York (1973)

Recoded Live August 29, 1973

Central Park N.Y.C.

Kama Sutra Records

[venatohru]

Rules: Post 10 songs you associate with the OC(s) of your choice. Linking the song is up to you. 

Thank you for the tag, @solas-you-nerd​! <3

Harry from Sheffield (who features in this Downton Abbey ficlet):

Sunflower Slow Drag (Scott Joplin)

American Beauty Rag (Joseph Lamb)

Boats and Birds (Gregory and the Hawk) “If you’ll be my boat, I’ll be your sea A depth of pure blue just to probe curiosity”

Constantinus (space gangster Hux clone, Star Wars OC)

Shiny (Jermaine Clement) - yes, really “Watch me dazzle like a diamond in the rough“

Caffeine (Jeff Williams & Casey Lee Williams feat. Lamar Hall) “Call the morgue and say goodbye Write your will, it's time to die”

For the Damaged (Blonde Redhead) “Guess we're equally damaged“

Aeliana Erimond (Tevinter mage, Dragon Age OC)

You are the moon (The Hush Sound) “The subtle grace of gravity, the heavy weight of stone”

Words for Arabella (Maybeshewill)

Ruby Irving (Sole Survivor, FO4 OC)

Those Magic Changes (Sha na na & Johnny Contardo) “Been so lonesome since our last goodbye But I'm singing as I cry-why-ay”

The End of the World (Skeeter Davis) “I wake up in the morning and I wonder Why everything's the same as it was I can't understand, no, I can't understand How life goes on the way it does”

(For those I haven’t already told: this song came on Diamond City Radio right after Piper rejected her flirt attempt lol)

Tagging: @goodbibarbarella, @bugsieplusone, @dreadbythesea, @black-rose4, @chupacabrasmustdie, @scribbleymark, @njadastonearm, @rad-puppeteer and (as always) anyone who wants to give it a go!

[yummyvinyl]

Sha Na Na - Just Like Romeo and Juliet

Sha Na Na – Just Like Romeo and Juliet

Sha Na Na’s disco influenced rendition of the Reflections classic, “Just Like Romeo and Juliet,” with Johnny Contardo providing the lead vocal. (more…)

[honeybadgertactics]

Sha Na Na!