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Thread: Focus on "Vinyl"

  1. #1

    Focus on "Vinyl"

    http://www.salon.com/2016/03/28/behi...o_make_a_deal/

    “Focus,” says Andrea Zito (Annie Parisse) as she walks into the American Century Recordings conference room. “They’re playing Wollman next week.” There’s a bunch of grousing around the table at this pronouncement. “Yodeling fans rejoice,” Richie (Bobby Cannavale) observes sarcastically. They’re not wrong–it’s just this side of a novelty number, electric guitar, yodeling, a drum solo, lots of organ, and even some flute–but Andrea is also dead on when she points out, “That ‘Hocus Pocus’ is hanging on just south of 40.” The song would actually reach #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and stay on the charts for 19 weeks.


    New Yorkers of a certain age will understand that “Wollman” means the Wollman Rink, an ice skating rink in Central Park that in the summertime was home for the Schaefer Music Festival (later the Dr. Pepper Music Festival), one of the greatest live music bargains ever. In 1973, floor seats were $2 and “balcony” seats (really just bleachers on a promenade above the rink) were $1.50. The lineups were amazing, the venue was general admission, and you were surrounded by the park and the skyline. If you didn’t want to pay, you could sit on the rocks just adjacent to the rink and hear pretty well. And, yes, Focus did play Wollman Rink in August of 1973, with Livingston Taylor as the opening act.

  2. #2
    Member Haruspex Carnage's Avatar
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    Of course the episode ended with their only known song too. At large i think the show's crap, along with the majority of Scorsese's work. The only films of his i liked were After Hours and King of Comedy.

  3. #3
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    Time and again, I read articles about this show...and the dialogue is so clichéd, so received wisdom. Look at the quotes about Elvis for instance. 'Polk Salad Annie' is a great song.

  4. #4
    Parrots Ripped My Flesh Dave (in MA)'s Avatar
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    I have In and Out of Focus, Moving Waves, and Focus 3 on "Vinyl".
    I also have them on "CD".


  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by Haruspex Carnage View Post
    Of course the episode ended with their only known song too.
    Sylvia?

  6. #6
    Member StevegSr's Avatar
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    Let me know when they meet up with John and Yoko. And Phil Spector! That should be fun!
    To be or not to be? That is the point. - Harry Nilsson.

  7. #7
    Member Haruspex Carnage's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by A. Scherze View Post
    Sylvia?
    Hocus Pocus.

  8. #8
    "Sylvia" got to number 4 in the UK, while HP got to 20.

    (In the Netherlands, they had 3 Top Ten, 2 Top Twenty, and "Harem Scarem" at 22.)

  9. #9
    Member StevegSr's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by A. Scherze View Post
    "Sylvia" got to number 4 in the UK, while HP got to 20.

    (In the Netherlands, they had 3 Top Ten, 2 Top Twenty, and "Harem Scarem" at 22.)
    Wow, Sylvia Vs. Hocus Pocus. Which do you prefer?
    To be or not to be? That is the point. - Harry Nilsson.

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    Never liked Harem Scarem all that much but Hocus Pocus and Sylvia are both amazing tunes!!! And Vinyl is a cool ass show, I dig it.
    The Prog Corner

  11. #11
    Member StevegSr's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by miamiscot View Post
    Never liked Harem Scarem all that much but Hocus Pocus and Sylvia are both amazing tunes!!! And Vinyl is a cool ass show, I dig it.
    I have to admit that I enjoyed the Focus episode because Elvis and Colonel Tom were dead on! Saw both in Vegas back in the seventies. Elvis singing Righteous Bros tunes with Colonel Tom in the audience nervously watching. And some people actually did say stuff like "What the hell is he singing? Where's Hound Dog?"
    To be or not to be? That is the point. - Harry Nilsson.

  12. #12
    That's Mr. to you, Sir!! Trane's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by A. Scherze View Post
    "Sylvia" got to number 4 in the UK, while HP got to 20.

    (In the Netherlands, they had 3 Top Ten, 2 Top Twenty, and "Harem Scarem" at 22.)
    Didn't House Of The King also chart very highly?
    my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.

  13. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by Trane View Post
    Didn't House Of The King also chart very highly?
    10 in the Netherlands, but nothing elsewhere.

  14. #14
    I'm going to skip this show, it sounds pretty bogus. Sticking with Hell on wheels, Vikings, and game of thrones for now. Hell on wheels is pretty outrageous and exciting.
    Still alive and well...

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    Quote Originally Posted by Dave (in MA) View Post
    I have In and Out of Focus, Moving Waves, and Focus 3 on "Vinyl".
    I also have them on "CD".

    All good albums imho...along with Hamburger Concerto.

  16. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by Haruspex Carnage View Post
    Of course the episode ended with their only known song too. At large i think the show's crap, along with the majority of Scorsese's work. The only films of his i liked were After Hours and King of Comedy.
    You didn't like The Last Waltz?

  17. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by A. Scherze View Post
    10 in the Netherlands, but nothing elsewhere.
    Its pretty well known in the UK though for being the theme tune to a 70's science show called 'Don't Ask Me' featuring the always entertaining Magnus Pyke. Later it was used in Steve Coogans 'Saxondale', which for obvious reasons has been mentioned on this forum before.

  18. #18
    Parrots Ripped My Flesh Dave (in MA)'s Avatar
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    A medieval theme restaurant in Boston, the Medieval Manor (they shut down around New Years), wrote lyrics to House of the King and used it to open their show. I hadn't been there for 30 years or so but their main things were: you eat with your hands and drink ale, and you had to take part in an audience participation skit in order for the "King" to give you permission to "go to Canterbury", aka use the restroom.

  19. #19
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    Vikings is so good. Love that show!!!

    (And I'm excited about the new season of Game Of Thrones. Hopefully it will be better than last season, which I thought was a little lackluster.)
    The Prog Corner

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