My night at the Oscars

It was 1980, and I had my ticket to the Academy Awards telecast at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles. The ticket cost $200 dollars and came from Raquel Welch via her public relations representative. When I arrived at the theatre, I was greeted by a young man in a red jacket (I was driving a rental car)...at first I was confused....why is he approaching my car when no one is at the long line of cars in front of me? Then, of course, I realized that the other cars were limos. I was the ONLY guest arriving in a private car....a Pontiac rental at that! (Flew to LA from NYC for the weekend in my capacity as tv programming executive based in Manhattan).

I quickly exited the car and turned to enter the theatre. But, wait not so fast...ahead were two carpets, one on the left was red, the other was blue. Standing between the carpets was a a tall man in the uniform of the night, a tux, He, ever so discreetly motioned to me, with the slightest wag of a finger, that I was to walk on the blue carpet. No red carpet for me. The stars, of course, Burt Reynolds, Jane Fonda, etc. were walking on my left...on the red carpet.

Positioned at the entrance to the building was a long bleacher type stand for the fans to get a view of the arrivals. It seemed that everyone in the stands was equipped with a flashing Kodak Instamatic camera, remember the type that used film! Here comes the tough part; as if the crowd of fans were a Greek chorus, the silent message I heard was "Is he anybody?"....."he's nobody!"

The highlight of the telecast at the 52nd Academy Awards on April 14, 1980, was Miss Piggy and host Johnny Carson conversing about her failure to garner a Best Actress Nomination for her work in The Muppet Movie. To her question whether or not he thought her to be "Oscar material," he replies "Oscar Mayer maybe." Kermit the Frog performed his nominated song, "The Rainbow Connection."

Speaking of the fabulous Miss Piggy (She's not as beautiful in person as she photographs! Keep this a secret between us) Here we are together on the set of  "John Denver and the Muppets Christmas Special" at ABC Hollywood.  

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Take the Woody Herman Quiz

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The Woody Herman Quiz-the answers

The Woody Herman Quiz-the answers

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The story behind Bing Crosby's Oscar winning hit 'Swinging On A Star'

Here is the story of how the song Swinging On A Star was created:
In 1945, the Oscar winning Best Song  was Swinging on a Star. It was written for the Bing Crosby starring film Going My Way by Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Burke. It was recorded in 1944 by Crosby. Legendary crooner Andy Williams and his brothers backed up Bing.
The song writer, Jimmy Van Heusen, was at Crosby’s house one evening for dinner and to discuss a song for the movie Going My Way. During the meal, one of the children began complaining about how he didn’t want to go to school the next day. The singer turned to his son and said to him, “If you don’t go to school, you might grow up to be a mule. Do you wanna do that?” Van Heusen thought that this clever rebuke would make a good song for the movie. He pictured Bing, playing a priest, talking to a group of children acting much the same way that his own child acted that night. When he took his idea to his partner, Johnny Burke, Johnny was quick to approve, and they wrote the song.

On the surface it may be the most ridiculous song ever written, but it is also one with an important message: of going to school, and getting an education or else who knows what will happen to you.

Here are the lyrics;

Would you like to swing on a star
Carry moonbeams home in a jar
And be better off than you are
Or would you rather be a mule?

A mule is an animal with long funny ears
Kicks up at anything he hears
His back is brawny but his brain is weak
He's just plain stupid with a stubborn streak
And by the way, if you hate to go to school

You may grow up to be a mule
Oh would you like to swing on a star
Carry moonbeams home in a jar
And be better off than you are
Would you rather be a pig?

A pig is an animal with dirt on his face
His shoes are a terrible disgrace
He has no manners when he eats his food
He's fat and lazy and extremely rude

But if you don't care a feather or a fig
You may grow up to be a pig

Oh would you like to swing on a star
Carry moonbeams home in a jar
And be better off than you are
Would you rather be a fish?
A fish won't do anything, but swim in a brook
He can't write his name or read a book
To fool the people is his only thought
And though he's slippery, he still gets caught

But then if that sort of life is what you wish
You may grow up to be a fish
A new kind of jumped-up slippery fish

And all the monkeys aren't in the zoo
Every day you meet quite a few
So you see it's all up to you
You can be better than you are
You could be swingin' on a star

Here is Bing Crosby... Swinging On A Star;

The Top Songs of 1944-Bing Crosby's 'Swinging On A Star' number one

Here are the Top Ten Songs of 1944;

1) Bing Crosby, "Swinging on a Star"
2) Andrews Sisters, "Shoo-Shoo Baby"
3) Bing Crosby & Andrews Sisters, "Don't Fence Me In"
4) Jimmy Dorsey, "Besame Mucho"
5) Harry James, "I'll Get By"
6) Merry Macs, "Mairzy Doats"
7) Bing Crosby, "San Fernando Valley"
8) Bing Crosby, "I Love You"
9) Mills Brothers, "You Always Hurt the One You Love"
10) Dinah Shore, "I'll Walk Alone"

Bing Crosby starred in the movie "Going My Way" (Swinging On A Star-Oscar winning song by Jimmy Van Heusen). Only two big band tunes, from Jimmy Dorsey and Harry James, made the top ten list. "I'll Get By" has since become one of the best love songs of the century.Here is Bing in a clip from "Going My Way" singing "Swinging On A Star."
Read about the creation of the song by Jimmy Van Heusen.