Jack’s Winning Words 6/28/07
“There’s no bad day that can’t be overcome by listening to a barbershop quartet.” (Chuck Sigars) I read yesterday that mice who listening the Strauss waltzes performed better in mazes than those who heard rock music. What kind of music soothes your soul? One quartet I’m skipping is Grandpa Satan’s Jollymakers. ;-) Jack

FROM GOOD DEBT JON IN OHIO: Listening to a barbershop quartet is on my list of bad things that can happen in a day, I do not like them. They should be confined to PBS where they can easily be defeated by an off switch. I would guess some of the early Beach Boy’s harmonies were inspired by B.S. quartets, and I enjoy some of those. For me B.S. quartets are second only in pain to bagpipes at a funeral, rap music, punk rock, new age, blue grass, twang-y country music, techno pop, and heavy metal rock. I have a friend who says they use the bagpipes at a funeral to make sure the fellow in the box is dead…

FROM B.S. NEAR ORLANDO: Hi, we used to have music for the cows when we milked. Later we read this increased milk production, and chickens would lay more while listening to music. It makes sense

MORE FROM B.S.: My Pharmacy class had 5 or more individuals who practiced Barber Shop Quartet, two of those individauls almost flunked out of school, and one who had to attend summer school to make up. So much for the reason I went to Pharmacy school, was: I wasn't certain that living another 4 years in povery was possible. I proved it was, then I had to prove I could get a job and earn a living, and then we could get married. My father said that in order to get married one had to hav e a house, to turn into a home when you got married. We had a one room apt and used orange crates for book shelves. Alan Ameche got an entire appt, with furnishings, and a TV set, and I forget all he received from the boosters. We didn't complain, a kid from Kenosha made it good, and we were happy for him. His mother invited me in to eat at their table several times. They were nice people. Later Lynn Ameche convinced a lot of People from the Snap on Tools office to come to our pharmacy. I made certain we didn't let him down. It somewhat tells the story that little people help each other, and stick up for each other.

AND STILL MORE FROM B.S.: Hi, being the junior member of the responsibility team, i.e. the low man on the totem pole, I rarely got to change the dial, however we listened to WLS, WBBM, WTMJ,WGM, We were centrally located between Chicago and Milwaukee, so we the the best and the worst of two or more worlds., My choice would have been WHA, from Madison, they had a large number of educational classes. As a matter of interest, the 8th grade class I attended in a one room school house on the corner of Hwy 50 and Cnty Rd B, the teacher used Wha as a class room teaching unit..

FROM MOLINER, A.E.: Are you aware I used to sing lead in the in the Rock Island "River Ramblers" quartette and was assistant Director of the Rock Island Chapter of the SPEBQSA Male Chorus, in the late 40's and early 50's. The main Quartette were the Vikings who won first place at the International finals.

FROM J.C. IN HONG KONG: Lyda Rose, I'm home again, Rose...

FROM MOLINER, C.F.: I DON'T LIKE ACAPELLE SO BARBERSHOP DOESN'T INTEREST ME. TRY cw. HAPPY MUSIC AND YOU CAN HUM IT. WHICH YOU CAN'T WITH RAP OR ROCK. nOW YOU'RE GOING TO SAY THAT HUMMING IS ACAPELLE. TRUE, BUT IN MY MIND THERE IS A 16 PIECE BAND BACKING ME UP.
FROM L.K. IN OHIO: I'm a classical devotee, esp. Mozart. And, as the late Walter Bouman used to say, "whenever I listen to Bach's Orchestral Suite #4, I'm in heaven"! (the other three are priceless. oo....ed.note,ha!)

FROM MOLINER, G.S.: Celtic music is my current favorite. Have you heard "In the Rare Ould Times"?

HERE ARE THE LYRICS:
Raised on songs and stories, heroes of renownThe passing tales and glories that once was Dublin TownThe hallowed halls and houses, the haunting childrens rhymesThat once was Dublin City in the rare ould timesRing a ring a rosey, as the light declinesI remember Dublin City in the rare ould timesMy name it is Sean Dempsey, as Dublin as can beBorn hard and late in Pimlico, in a house that ceased to beBy trade I was a cooper, lost out to redundancyLike my house that fell to progress, my trade's a memoryAnd I courted Peggy Dignam, as pretty as you pleaseA rogue and child of Mary, from the rebel LibertiesI lost her to a student chap, with skin as black as coalWhen he took her off to Birmingham, she took away my soulRing a ring a rosey, as the light declinesI remember Dublin City in the rare ould timesThe years have made me bitter, the gargle dims me brainCause Dublin keeps on changing, and nothing seems the sameThe Pillar and the Met have gone, the Royal long since pulled downAs the grey unyielding concrete, makes a city of my townRing a ring a rosey, as the light declinesI remember Dublin City in the rare ould timesFare thee well sweet Anna Liffey, I can no longer stayAnd watch the new glass cages, that spring up along the quayMy mind's too full of memories, too old to hear new chimesI'm part of what was Dublin, in the rare ould timesRing a ring a rosey, as the light declinesI remember Dublin City in the rare ould timesRing a ring a rosey, as the light declinesI remember Dublin City in the rare ould times

FROM J.L. IN MICHIGAN: Music generally puts me in a wonderful mood. I love oldies, old-time hymns, Sunday School/VBS music, country, classical, soft rock, polka (I really do! :-) ) just about everything but jazz. Listening to music is such a joy....I feel it's one of God's greatest blessings, both to be able to play and to be able to listen. My nephew did a class project years ago when he was in high school: who did better on tests, those who listened to classical and those who listened to rock. And of course, classical won, hands down. It was a very in depth report and took a full class year. He worked very hard on it. And since, I have heard many times of examples of little ones all the way up to nursing home residents, and their positive reactions to light listening/classical music. God is full of wonderful blessings for us, isn't He?

FROM F.M. IN WISCONSIN: We have had a 'classic music' station. WFMR, in Milwaukee for many many that just this week announced that they were changing their 'format' to some kind of 'cool rock' in order to reach more people. It relates to their ability to sell 'time' for commercials. That station along with WGN in Chicago have been my favorites - I'm in trouble now as WGN is 'talk radio', very little music. I guess I'll just rely on my CD's - classic music and the favorites from the 40's and 50's. When I lived in Toledo there was a great program on the Detroit station, I think it was WJR, on about 10:30 in the morning. The name of the fellow was Karl Haas, I believe. I really enjoyed that program. You brought back some memories with your 'word' today.

FOLLOW UP ON KARL HAAS: Karl Haas is the creator and host of the longest running daily classical music program in broadcast history, Adventures in Good Music. Using a new theme each day, he has delivered the classics to listeners around the world for over 40 years.
Karl Haas, a native of Speyer-on-the-Rhine, Germany, began his love affair with music at age six, when he received his first piano lesson from his mother. At age 12, he formed a piano trio with some friends
Fleeing the Nazis, Haas and his family settled in Detroit, where he taught piano and commuted to New York to study with the legendary pianist, Arthur Schnabel.
His broadcast career began at WWJ/Detroit in 1950, where he hosted a weekly preview of concerts performed by the Detroit Symphony. Soon the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation asked him to talk about the music on the air. In 1959, WJR/Detroit proposed a daily time slot for Haas to expand his commentary and, thus, Adventures in Good Music was born.
Since 1970, WCLV/Seaway Productions in Cleveland has syndicated Adventures in Good Music to a worldwide audience. The program has received two coveted George Foster Peabody Awards during its long run, and Karl Haas has received the National Endowment for the Humanities George Frankel Medal.
Karl Haas died on February 6, 2005
Karl Haas was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1997.