The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same
Transcript from Beyond the Sea, the Bobby Darin biopic starring Kevin Spacey:
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Voice Over: I was a teen idol for a minute and a half but momma's plan was to be bigger than Sinatra. I wanted to do the great standards but my producer thought I was nuts to turn my back on rock and roll.
Scene:
Manager: Bobby, Teenagers aren't going to buy an album of you singing standards!
Bobby Darin: Oh now Ahmet, you're talking out of your ass again. How do you know what teenagers are going to buy, what do you got? A crystal ball up there?
Manager: I've been in this business long enough to know that you don't change your image when you're hot like this.
Darin: Well then you're right. I don't want teenagers to be my only audience so that's perfect!
Manager: Why can't you be satisfied? YOu just did Bandstand.
Darin: Bandstand's mostly for kids! Ahmet, I want the Copa. Listen, With rock and roll I got a thousand other guys out there and you goddamn well know it. I gotta prove that I can sing. I want it all. I want the major leagues. I want nightclubs, I want vegas, movies, Tv. This album will make it all happen fast, faster than you can imagine.
******
The real Bobby Darin, singing his hit, "Mack the Knife:"
Clay Aiken's performance of "Mack the Knife" on American Idol 2:
It's been a few decades since Bobby Darin proved he was a great singer and master entertainer with his re-interpretation of "Mack the Knife," perhaps it's time for Clay Aiken to do the same with classics of his own.
Tags: Clay Aiken, Bobby Darin, Beyond the Sea, Mack the Knife
******
Voice Over: I was a teen idol for a minute and a half but momma's plan was to be bigger than Sinatra. I wanted to do the great standards but my producer thought I was nuts to turn my back on rock and roll.
Scene:
Manager: Bobby, Teenagers aren't going to buy an album of you singing standards!
Bobby Darin: Oh now Ahmet, you're talking out of your ass again. How do you know what teenagers are going to buy, what do you got? A crystal ball up there?
Manager: I've been in this business long enough to know that you don't change your image when you're hot like this.
Darin: Well then you're right. I don't want teenagers to be my only audience so that's perfect!
Manager: Why can't you be satisfied? YOu just did Bandstand.
Darin: Bandstand's mostly for kids! Ahmet, I want the Copa. Listen, With rock and roll I got a thousand other guys out there and you goddamn well know it. I gotta prove that I can sing. I want it all. I want the major leagues. I want nightclubs, I want vegas, movies, Tv. This album will make it all happen fast, faster than you can imagine.
******
The real Bobby Darin, singing his hit, "Mack the Knife:"
Clay Aiken's performance of "Mack the Knife" on American Idol 2:
It's been a few decades since Bobby Darin proved he was a great singer and master entertainer with his re-interpretation of "Mack the Knife," perhaps it's time for Clay Aiken to do the same with classics of his own.
Tags: Clay Aiken, Bobby Darin, Beyond the Sea, Mack the Knife
posted by sw | 7:35 PM
2 Comments:
I remember watching Bobby Darin singing Mack The Knife many times...he appeared on all the standard shows of the day...Ed Sullivan etc. When Clay decided to sing this I thought...OMG.what a bore this will be..but, it was sooooooo exciting how he did it...if only he could have sung the entire song.
Bobby Darin sang it with a lot of night club flourishes...and soul...a la Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Junior and Dean Martin. Clay sang it like only Clay could....with joy and abandon and that southern voice with the built-in wink. The closest Clay has come to singing a la Bobby Darin was at the AI finale in which he sang Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me....when he breezed off Michael Sandecki and tossed out the words for us all to marvel at. At that moment, he was all pro...just like Bobby Darin.
Red Deer Alberta Canada
Interesting comparison between Clay and Bobby Darin. I wonder if the words in the transcript are being applied to Clay by Clay himself or Clive (perhaps a combination). As much as I love rockin' Clay (and I really believe he will be alive and well in concert), part of me knows that at heart Clay is a crooner kind of guy. Everything he picked for AI was AC geared. He sings beautiful songs beautifully so why waste the voice on mediocrity. Even though this is not the album I would have picked with the songs I would have picked, I think Clay will make the songs better than the originals as he usually does. I hope the singing these "standards" propels him into the major leagues a la Bobby Darin.
VV/EE
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