THE WORLD’S DREAM FACTORY REWARDS ITSELF ONCE AGAIN

Awards season continues!  Props to Adele, Kelly Clarkson, Frank Ocean Fun. and the other Grammy Awards winners.  Elton John, Mavis Staples and a plethora of performers paid a soulful tribute to the late drummer/singer Levon Helm of The Band.  Prior to the awards, CBS had sent a memo to all attendees not to show too much skin, no deep cleavage, no slit skirts, etc.  Some women obviously didn’t pay too much attention to that memo...yes, we’re talking about you Jennifer Lopez and Katie Perry.  Well, now that the Grammies are done for another year, the awards season is nearly over, although there’s still the JUNO Awards coming up on April 21^st, plus the Academy Awards on Sunday.  Will “Argo” steal ‘Best Picture’ from “Lincoln’?  Ben Affleck, who won the Directors Guild award for ‘Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film’ can’t win at the Oscars, because he wasn’t nominated as Director, although if “Argo” wins for best picture, then he would receive a statue as one of the producers (along with George Clooney).  Steven Spielberg will most likely take home the Oscar for directing, but then again, the Awards ceremony is always good for a surprise or two.  So, this week, our quiz is about successful musicians who’ve possibly won or been nominated for an Academy Award/Awards.  The questions are in the form of true or false, so you have a 50/50 chance of getting it right, if you don’t know the answer.  Take a deep breath and let’s begin.

QUESTIONS:

1.  Bruce Springsteen has never won an Academy Award – true or false? 

                                                                                                              

2.  In 1971, The Beatles lost the Academy Award for ‘Best Original Song Score’ to Rod McKuen and John Scott Trotter for their work on “A Boy Named Charles Brown” – true or false?         

3.  During the course of his career, record producer George Martin has being the man in the control room behind dozens of hits for artists such as The Beatles, Gerry & The Pacemakers, Billy J. Kramer, Cilla Black, America and Elton John (Martin produced the single of Elton’s 1997 tribute to Lady Diana, ”Candle In The Wind”).  At the 37^th annual Academy Awards ceremony in 1965, George won the Academy Award for ‘Best Original Score’ for The Beatles 1964 film, “A Hard Day’s Night” – true or false?

4.  Canada’s own Bryan Adams has been nominated for a ‘Best Original Song’ Academy Award three times – true or false?     

5.  On his mantle, rapper/actor Marshall Mathers III has more than a dozen Grammy Awards plus one Academy Award statue – true or false?   

 ANSWERS

1.  That’s false.  On March 21, 1994, Bruce won the ‘Best Original Song For A Motion Picture’ Oscar for his song, “Streets of Philadelphia” from the 1993 motion picture “Philadelphia” starring Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington, who’s nominated this year in the ‘Best Actor In A Leading Role” category for his work in the film, “Flight”.   HH                           

2.  That’s also false.  The Beatles WON the “Best Original Song Score” during the 43^rd Academy Awards ceremony held on April 15^th, 1971 for their 1970 documentary, “Let It Be”.  The other nominees in that category included “A Boy named Charlie Brown” (music by Rod McKuen and John Scott Trotter, lyrics by Rod McKuen, Bill Melendez and Al Shean). “The Baby Maker” (Music by Fred Karlin, lyrics by Tylwyth Kymry), “Darling Lili (Music by Henry Mancini, lyrics by Johnny Mercer) and “Scrooge” (Music and lyrics by Leslie Bricusse) 

3. Another false I’m afraid.  George Martins’ 1964 score for “A Hard Day’s Night” lost to Andre Previn and his score to “My Fair Lady”.  A few years later, Martin scored The Beatles animated feature “Yellow Submarine” and in 1973, the film score for the James Bond film “Live And Let Die”.  Neither was nominated for an Academy Award, but the Paul McCartney’s theme song, produced by George Martin was.  It didn’t win either.  The winner of the Oscar that year was “The Way We Were”, (Music by Marvin Hamlisch, lyrics by Marilyn & Alan Bergmann).     

4. That my friends, is absolutely true.  Bryan was first nominated in 1992 for ‘Best Original Song’  for “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You” from the movie “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves”.  His co-writers were Michael Kamen  and Robert John ‘Mutt’ Lange (Shania Twain’s ex-husband).  They lost to “Beauty And The Beast” from the Disney motion picture of the same name.  In 1996, the same trio were nominated for “Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman” from the movie ”Don Juan DeMarco” starring Johnny Depp.  That time, they lost to “Colors Of The Wind” from “Pocahontas” (Music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Stephen Schwartz).  The third time wasn’t the charm the following year (1997) for “I Finally Found Someone” from the movie “The Mirror Has Two faces”.  His co-writers on that song were Robert John ‘Mutt’ Lange, Barbra Streisand and Marvin Hamlisch.  “You Must Love Me” from “Evita” with music by Andrew Lloyd Weber and lyrics by Tim Rice won the Oscar that year. 

5.  It is true.  Marshall Mathers aka Eminem won the 2003 ‘Best Original Song’ Academy Award for “Lose Yourself” with co-writers Jeff Bass and Luis Resto.  The song was featured in Eminem’s 2002 movie “8 Mile”.  It was also nominated for a Grammy Award as well as a Golden Globe, but did not win.    

Gimme a 'G', gimme an 'R', gimme an 'A', 'M', 'M', 'Y'.. WHAT’S THAT SPELL? GRAMMY!

Well, the Super Bowl is over for another year.  Congrats to the Ravens.  Next up are the 2013 Grammy Awards on Sunday.  Will Taylor Swift snag a new boyfriend at this years’ ceremony?  Will the ultimate break up of that relationship result in a Grammy nominated song next year?  Of course, it will.  Will Chris Brown try and thump Frank Ocean again like Frank says he did at an LA recording studio last week?  Will Will. I. Am. even be there?  You’ll have to tune in on Sunday to find out.  But for now, let’s see how many Grammy Award questions you can answer correctly.  Since not everyone’s into awards, we’ve made these questions multiple choice, so you have a one in three shot at getting it right.   

QUESTIONS:

1.  Prior to the 1983 Grammy Awards, held in Los Angeles on February 28^th, 1984, Michael Jackson had only ever won one Grammy.  That was an R&B statue for 1979’s “Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough”, but the ‘83 awards came after “Thriller’ had been released, so the question is: How many Grammy Awards did Michael Jackson personally win that night: a. six b. seven or c. eight? 

                                                                                                                        

2.  Directors Mel Brooks (“The Producers”, “Blazing Saddles” and “Young Frankenstein”) and Mike Nichols (“The Graduate”, “The Bird Cage” and “Charlie Wilson’s War”) have both won ‘Spoken Word’ Grammy Awards.  Which CBS newsman has also won a Grammy? Is it: a. Walter Cronkite b. Charles Kuralt or c. Eric Sevareid?  

         

3.  This year, Bruce Springsteen is nominated in the ‘Best Rock Album’ category along with Coldplay, The Black Keys, Muse and Jack White.  He’s also nominated in the ‘Best Rock Song’ category for “We Can Take Care of Our Own”.  How many Grammy Awards has Bruce Springsteen won over the years?  Is it: a. sixteen b. eighteen or c. twenty?

4.  Music sensation Taylor Swift, who hooks up with boyfriends, then breaks up rather quickly, then writes a hit song about the break up, has won 6, count ‘em 6, Grammy Awards so far.  This year, she’s nominated in 3 categories.  In what year did Taylor Swift receive her first Grammy?    a. 2008 b. 2009 or c. 2010?   

5.  Kim Kardashian’s baby daddy (and current boyfriend) Kanye West is nominated this year for 6 Grammy Awards.  He’s also done pretty well for himself at previous Grammy ceremonies.  So exactly how many Grammy Awards has Kanye previously won?  Is it:  a. twelve b. fifteen or c. eighteen?

ANSWERS

1.  That would be c. eight.  Michael won for ‘Album of the Year’ (“Thriller”); ‘Record of the Year’ (“Beat It”); ‘Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male’ (“Thriller”); ‘Best Rock Performance, Male’ (“Beat It”);HH ‘Best Rhythm & Blues Song’ (“Billie Jean”); ‘Best Best Rhythm & Blues Performance, Male’ (“Billie Jean”); ‘Best Recording For Children’ (“ET: The Extra-Terrestrial” that Michael narrated; ‘Producer of the Year, Non Classical’.  Michael shared that award with Quincy Jones, James Anthony Carmichael and Lionel Richie.  “Thriller” also won ‘Best Engineered Recording, Non Classical’ for Bruce Swedien.  
                               

2.  Charles Kuralt won a Grammy for “Charles Kuralt’s Spring” in 1998 (for recordings released in 1997) so the correct answer was b. although both Walter Cronkite and Eric Sevareid were nominated, Cronkie for 1971 and Sevareid for ’74.  Charles Kuralt hosted “CBS News Sunday Mornings” for fifteen years.  Prior to that, he was a featured reporter on the “CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite” with ‘On The Road’ stories of human interest from across America.  Kuralt died in 1997 at the age of 62.        

3.  Bruce has walked to the winners’ podium many times.  So far, he’s won 20 Grammy Awards, so if you guessed c. you are correct.  Bruce’s first Grammy came in 1984 for “Dancing In The Dark”.  That won ‘Best Rock Performance, Male’.  His last one (at least until maybe this weekend) was in 2009 when Bruce won ‘Best Solo Rock Performance’ for “Working On A Dream”.    

4.  The correct answer is a. 2009.  Taylor Swift won her first Grammy Award in 2009.  In fact, that year, she won four awards, ‘ Best Country Album’ and ‘Album of the Year’ for “Fearless”, plus ‘Best Country Song’ and ‘Best Female Country Vocal Performance’ for the song “White Horse”.  In 2001, Taylor won 2 more – ‘Best Country Song’ and ‘Best Country Solo Performance for the song “Mean”.  This year, she’s nominated for 3 Grammy Awards – ‘Record of the Year’ for “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” as well as ‘Best Country Duo/Group Performance’ along with ‘Best Song Written For Visual Media’ for “Safe & Sound” from “The Hunger Games”.              

5.  Boy, that Kanye’s been a busy boy.  In total, his Grammy award collection totals 18, so c. would be correct.  In 2004, his first win year, he took home 3 Grammy statues for ‘Best Rap Album’, ‘Best Rap Song’ and ‘Best R&B Song’.  The following year, 2005, he won 3 more.  In 2007, 4 more Grammy statues went into the trunk of his ride.  There were 2 more in 2008, an additional 2 in 2009, then in 2011, 4 more Grammy Awards went the way of Kanye.       

MORE OSCAR, OSCAR...WHO GOT THE OSCAR

This past Sunday, the Screen Actors Guild Awards aired on TV.  Congrats to winners Jennifer Lawrence, Daniel Day Lewis and the cast of “Argo”.  There was a very nice tribute to Dick Van Dyke.  Too bad Mary Tyler Moore and Carl Reiner (the genius creator of “The Dick Van Dyke Show”) couldn’t make it due to illness.  Dick gave a wonderful acceptance speech after Alec Baldwin introduced him.  With the SAG Awards out of the way, we’ve still got the Grammy Awards on Sunday February 10th, plus the Academy Awards two weeks later on Sunday February 24th.  Yes, it’s awards season folks, so, this week, we’re asking questions about singers who’ve won Academy Awards.  This one should be ‘easy as Sunday morning’ (as The Commodores once sang).  You really shouldn’t have too many problems with this quiz, so have at it...

QUESTIONS:

1.  This performer is a quintuple threat – she’s a singer, actress, writer, producer and director.  Although not known for being a ‘funny girl’ (HINT ALERT), she’s certainly garnered her share of laughs in such recent movies as “Meet The Fockers”, “Little Fockers” and the relatively current “Guilt Trip” with Canadian Seth Rogan.  On Billboards’ Hot 100 chart, she’s hit # 1 a total of six times.  She went to high school in Brooklyn, New York with Neil Diamond and in 1978, she and Neil had a # 1 hit with “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers”.  She won her first Academy Award in 1969 for her film debut in a role she performed on Broadway.  The movie came out in 1968 and this artist has never looked back.  In fact, there’s not much this person can’t do, but the question is – can you guess her name?                                                                                                                        
2.  Now you might not initially think of this actor as a singer, but he’s won a Grammy Award and has released three albums, one of which made it to # 1 on Billboards’ Album chart.  He was born Eric Marlon Bishop in Texas in 1967, and was raised primarily by his grandmother.  His Academy Award was for portraying a real-life musical legend of the 1950’s and ‘60’s.  He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and has appeared in films with Tom Cruise, Will Smith, Beyonce and Eddie Murphy and can currently be seen in Quentin Tarantino’s latest film, “Django Unchained”.  Who is this guy?       

3.  The third season of the TV show “American Idol” in 2004 was the first time the world got to experience the talents of this performer, although she didn’t win.  You see her on TV a lot these days in commercials for Weight Watchers.  In 2007, she won a ‘Best Supporting Actress’ Academy Award for her very first movie, which also starred the answer to question # 2.  The film was loosely based on the career of The Supremes.  Do you know who she is?

4.  Her mother was a Hollywood legend.  Her father was a famous film director.  And she didn’t do so bad herself either, co-starring in such hit films as “Arthur” and “New York, New York”.  She’s been married (and divorced) four times and is one of a select few talented celebrities who’ve won an Oscar, a Tony (Broadway), an Emmy (TV) and a Grammy Award.  Who is she?  

5.  This singer/actress was up against such heavy weight actresses as Meryl Streep and Glenn Close for the 1988 Academy Award for ‘Actress In A Leading Role”.  It was for her acting in a 1987 film, directed by Canadian Norman Jewison, that won her the award.  She’s also been at the top of the singles chart a total of five times.  Once with her then husband, and four times on her own.  Can you name this Academy Award winner who goes by one name? (OK that just gave it away).
   
ANSWERS

1.  It’s Barbra Streisand we’re talking about.  Babs tied for ‘Actress In A Leading Role’ (for 1968’s “Funny Girl”) with Katherine Hepburn (“Lion In Winter”).  It was only the second time in Oscar history that there was a tie.  Ms. Streisand is also the only female artist to have a Billboard # 1 album in five decades – the ‘60’s, ‘70’s, ‘80’s, ‘90’s and 2000’s.  Barbra has sold over 70 million albums in the U.S. alone.  She’s married to actor James Brolin (and step mother to his actor son Josh Brolin).                          

2.  Jamie Foxx is the correct answer.  His 2005 best ‘Actor In A Leading Role’ Oscar was for his portrayal of rhythm & blues legend Ray Charles in the 2004 film, “Ray”.  In winning, Jamie beat out the likes of Don Cheadle, Clint Eastwood and Leonardo DiCaprio.  The Foxx man was a regular cast member of “In Living Color” from 1991 and starred in his own series from 1996 until 2001, aptly enough called “The Jamie Foxx Show”.  His 1994 debut album was called “Peep This”.  In 2004, he was featured, along with Kanye West, on a # 1 hit on Billboards’ Hot 100 chart.  The song was “Slow Jamz” from rapper Twista.  The following year, 2005, Jamie released his second album, “Unpredictable” which rose to # 1 on Billboards’ Album chart, selling several million copies.  Jamie even has his own channel on Sirius/XM radio called ‘The Foxxhole’. 

3.  Jennifer Hudson won the ‘Best Supporting Actress’ Oscar in 2007 for 2006’s “Dreamgirls”, in  which she co-starred with Jamie Foxx, Beyonce and Eddie Murphy.  The following year, she won the Grammy Award for ‘Best R&B Album’ for her debut album, “Jennifer Hudson”.  Hudson will receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame sometime this year.

4.  It was at the 45th annual Academy Awards ceremony held on March 27, 1973 that Lisa Minnelli won the Oscar as best ‘Actress In A Leading Role’ for her work in 1972’s “Cabaret”.   Joel Grey, her co-star also won for best ‘Actor In A Supporting Role’.  “Cabaret” took home additional Oscars that year for ‘Directing’, ‘Sound’, ‘Music (Scoring: Adaptation and Original Song Score)’, ‘Film Editing’ and ‘Cinematography’.  Interesting trivia fact – Liza’s role of Sally Bowles in “Cabaret” was originally offered to Barbra Streisand, who turned it down.          

5.  Cher is the correct answer.  1987’s “Moonstruck” was the movie.  Cher beat out fellow nominees Meryl Streep (“Ironweed”), Glenn Close (“Fatal attraction”), Holly Hunter (“Broadcast News”) and Sally Kirkland (“Anna”).  Cher’s “Moonstruck” co-star, Olympia Dukakis, also took home an Oscar for ‘Actress In A Supporting Role’.  Cher first hit the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart (and # 1) in 1965 with her then husband, Sonny Bono, with “I Got You Babe”.  As a solo performer, Cher hit # 1 four more times.  First with 1971’s “Gypsy’s, Tramps & Thieves”, then ’73’s “Half-Breed”, 1974’s “Dark Lady” and she hit # 1 one last time in 1999 with “Believe”.  Besides “Moonstruck”, Cher’s movie roles have included “Silkwood”, “Mask”, “Mermaids” and “Burlesque”. 

OSCAR, OSCAR...

The Golden Globe Awards are history for another year, which means that the Academy Awards are right around the corner in just about a month (February 24^th).  It’ll be interesting to watch, if only to see if host Seth McFarland (“Family Guy”, “American Dad” and “Ted”, one of last years’ hit movies) will insult all the stars in the auditorium.  You know he will.  No one will be safe from his zingers.  So to get you in the Oscar mood, we’ve got 5 Academy Awards music questions for you this time (and over the next couple of weeks as well).  You may not actually win a statue, but you’ll probably have fun.  And even if you don’t have a clue about the answer, these are multi-choice questions, so take a guess already.   

                                                       

QUESTIONS:

1.  This song won the Academy Award for ‘Best Original Song’ for 1941.  Is it: a. “The Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B” from the motion picture “Buck Privates” (performed by the Andrews Sisters)  b. “Chattanooga Choo Choo” from “Sun Valley Serenade” or c. “The Last Time I Saw Paris” from “Lady Be Good” (sung in the film by actress Ann Sothern).  Your call, which one was the big winner that night?                                                                                                                     

2.  For the 51^st Academy Awards held in April of 1979, this song took home the Oscar for ‘Best Original Song’ of 1978.  Is it:  a. “Hopelessly Devoted To You” from the movie “Grease” (sung by Olivia Newton-John) b. “Last Dance” from “Thank God It’s Friday” (sung by Donna Summer) or c. “Ready To Take A Chance Again” from the Chevy Chase flick, “Foul Play” (sung by Barry Manilow)  

    

3.  Phil Collins has won his share of awards over the years, includes Grammys as well as Academy Award nominations, but did he take home the coveted ‘Best Song’ Oscar statue for 1999 at the 72^nd annual Oscar bash held in March of 2000?  Here are three choices.  Can you guess the correct winning song?  Is it:  a. “You’ll Be In My Heart” from the animated movie “Tarzan” (written and sung by Phil Collins) b. “Blame Canada” from “South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut” (sung by the movie’s cast) or c. “When She Loved Me” from “Toy Story 2 (written and sung by Randy Newman). 

4.  It was the 55^th annual Academy Awards held in Los Angeles on April 11, 1983 and one of the following three songs won the Oscar for ‘Best Song’ of 1982.  Can you guess the correct one?  Is it:  a. “Eye of The Tiger” from “Rocky III” (Sung by Survivor)  b. “It Might Be You” from “Tootsie” (sung by Stephen Bishop) or c. “Up Where We Belong” from “An Officer And A Gentleman” (sung by Joe Cocker & Jennifer Warnes). 

5.  In April of 1967, five songs were up for ‘Best Original Song From a Motion Picture” for 1966.  We won’t bore you with two of the five nominees – they didn’t stand a chance.  But of the remaining three, which won the golden statue?  a. “Alfie” from the movie “Alfie” (sung by Cher)  b. “Born Free” from the motion picture of the same name (performed by Matt Monroe) or c. “Georgy Girl” from “Georgy Girl” (sung by The Seekers).  

ANSWERS

1.  c. wins you the prize.  The music for “The Last Time I Saw Paris” was written by Jerome Kern with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II.  It was NOT written for the film, but had been published in 1940, the year before the film was released.  Jerome Kern, who had previously won an Academy Award for the song “The Way You Look Tonight” in 1936, was so upset about winning his Oscar for a song not specifically written for the movie that he petitioned the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to change the rules and since then, a song has to have been written specifically for a motion picture in order to be nominated.                      

2.  b. “Last Dance” took home the golden statue.  Donna Summer sang it in the movie and onto the charts, where it reached # 3 on Billboards’ Hot 100 chart.  Donna followed that hit up with 4 # 1’s – “MacArthur Park” in 1978, “Hot Stuff”, “Bad Girls” and “No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)”, a duet with Barbra Streisand.  The last three all charted in 1979.

3.  a. Phil Collins was the winner with “You’ll Be In My Heart” from the Disney animated feature, “Tarzan”.  Although Phil had many # 1 hits throughout his career, this particular song only made it to # 21 on Billboards Hot 100 chart in 1999, although it spent 19 weeks at # 1 on Billboards Adult Contemporary Chart.  In 2006, when “Tarzan” was adapted for the Broadway stage, Phil contributed new songs to the production.  
  

4.  Any one of those three songs could easily have won an Academy Award, but c. is the answer we were looking for.  “Up Where We Belong” was co-written by Buffy Saint-Marie and Jack Nitzsche (music) with Will Jennings (lyrics).  Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes sang the song for the movie and had a # 1 hit on Billboards’ Hot 100 chart in November of 1982.  Five years later, Jennifer Warnes would be right back at the top of the charts (along with Bill Medley) for the song, “(I’ve Had) The Time Of My Life” from the movie “Dirty Dancing”.        

5.  b. is the correct answer.  For the movie, British singer Matt Monroe sang the title song, although his vocal version of “Born Free” didn’t make the charts in North America.  Pianist Roger Williams took his instrumental version of the song to # 7 on Billboards’ Hot 100 chart.   John Barry, the man who scored many James Bond films, wrote the music for “Born Free” with Don Black penning the lyrics.  Black and Barry also collaborated on the themes from three James Bond films, “Thunderball”, “Diamonds Are Forever” and “The Man With The Golden Gun”.  Black received his 2^nd Oscar nomination in 1970 (in collaboration with co-writer Elmer Bernstein) for the title song for the 1969 John Wayne film, “True Grit”.  His 3^rd nomination (along with co-writer Walter Scharf) was for the title song for the 1972 movie “Ben” (which Michael Jackson took to # 1 on the singles chart).  Black was later nominated for an Academy Award twice more.  He also wrote the words to Lulu’s 1967 # 1 hit, “To Sir With Love”.