A twofer… Or maybe I should say a three-fer, not to short the Nicholas Brothers.
First we get the inimitable scat singing of Cab Calloway, and then what Fred Astaire called probably the best dance sequence ever filmed.
Unchoreographed, unrehearsed, and made up as they went… which the brothers verified in interviews.
Hard to believe they’re even made out of human parts, since their bones act like rubber.
We’ve talked about them before.
7 years apart, with no dance training. The eldest learned
by watching famous dancers; his little brother by watching him.
They danced together as children, became professionals at 11 and 18.
By the time of this movie, about ten years after their first pro gigs, they could just look at each other and anticipate the next steps.
You can see that they don’t always do the same exact thing, but make similar moves…
Either one starts a step first, and the other follows a half second later, or they give each other what must be a telepathic glance and both do some move they’ve already practiced a million times, like jump over each other, or turn around…
The routine looks rehearsed but it’s only the individual parts that are well practiced.
I love that dance. Unlike you I can easily believe they made it up right then. There is only one give-away: You do the splits on the stairs ONCE! And if you are lucky enough to still be walking afterward, you don’t even THINK about doing it again.
Basset opera is notoriously slow, dealing with weighty themes. It has been described as cumbersome and droopy, and tires easily. Quite hard to pull it off, frankly.
A twofer… Or maybe I should say a three-fer, not to short the Nicholas Brothers.
First we get the inimitable scat singing of Cab Calloway, and then what Fred Astaire called probably the best dance sequence ever filmed.
Unchoreographed, unrehearsed, and made up as they went… which the brothers verified in interviews.
Hard to believe they’re even made out of human parts, since their bones act like rubber.
We’ve talked about them before.
7 years apart, with no dance training. The eldest learned
by watching famous dancers; his little brother by watching him.
They danced together as children, became professionals at 11 and 18.
By the time of this movie, about ten years after their first pro gigs, they could just look at each other and anticipate the next steps.
You can see that they don’t always do the same exact thing, but make similar moves…
Either one starts a step first, and the other follows a half second later, or they give each other what must be a telepathic glance and both do some move they’ve already practiced a million times, like jump over each other, or turn around…
The routine looks rehearsed but it’s only the individual parts that are well practiced.
Amazing!
,
I love that dance. Unlike you I can easily believe they made it up right then. There is only one give-away: You do the splits on the stairs ONCE! And if you are lucky enough to still be walking afterward, you don’t even THINK about doing it again.
they make it look sooooooooooooo … easy!
.
cool!
a night at the opera
Basset opera is notoriously slow, dealing with weighty themes. It has been described as cumbersome and droopy, and tires easily. Quite hard to pull it off, frankly.
Makes me tired just to contemplate it! I like the guy in the background. He looks like he’s thinking, “When is this going to end?“
Well, the Wagmore howling is kind of unbearable…
At least this Shoo-Bear piece is a bit lighter.
And there I thought that goes for Klingon opera mostly.
I only sit through it to hear the trumpet solo from the guy in the previous picture.
i really like his costume!
…did someone say nap?
You know the aria?
I understand there’s a lot of “Z”s in it.
Oooh…. The Bassets!
Wow…
This brings back so many memories!!
Those hounds were never still, in this energetic film….
Jumping, chasing, running about the screen in a mad frolic.
Of course, they were barely out of puppyhood, so it came naturally…
as did their flippant yips and tail wags when asked a silly question by some long-in-the-tooth interviewer… canine OR human.
Translated into human ages the oldest two (both just over 3 years old) were the equivalent of human 23-year-olds, and the youngest still a teenager
…
The way their fur was brushed forward over their eyes set off a whole new style…
Every male dog wanted to be them; every human girl wanted to take one home.
…
Most of the girls wanted to scratch sweet-faced Pal right behind his long ears.
They loved his tenor howl, his soft, amber fur, and his huge droopy eyes…
But, of course, I wanted to go for long walks with the smartest dog, Jo-Jo, with his funny tricks and quick barks.
Then later, I decided my favorite was Georgy, with his soft, soulful howls, and what seemed, for a dog, his eager, spiritual nature.
…
Amazing how they changed music… four pups with incredible talent, who, luckily, all met at the right time and place.
Let’s not forget that they didn’t just play music, as well as they did that, or imitate the past…
They wrote all that stuff themselves, unlike anything else out there!
Watching videos of them, I’m impressed by the seeming effortlessness of it… never-before-heard beats and melodies just dripping from their fingertips.
…
Time after time, they came up with a new style, be it for Sergeant Pupper, Rubber Ball, or the album after that… and they were usually first with it.
But in this amazing beginning….
“It’s been ♫ ♩ a hard days nap…. ♩ ♪
I should ♫ be sleepin’ ♬ like a dog… ♪ ♩”
Sigh……
The album after “Rubber Ball” was “Retriever”.
My favorites.
hahahahahha…
I particularly loved their other big movie, Yelp!
animal crackers
.
….. in my soup …..
To remember?
One of my favorites!
But I’ve always wondered whether animal crackers used to be different…
All my life (that I remember) they’ve been sweet.
But we rarely call sweet things crackers, and this song is about putting them in soup, so maybe they used to be more like regular crackers.
.
Made me laugh!!
Me, too.
My Father in law raised cows. Sometimes they fooled around trying to push each other into the electric fence.
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