RIP Mitch Miller, 99, band leader

[Wayback]

Mitch Miller has died at age 99.  He sure hated rock'n'roll.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/03/arts/music/03miller.html

[RGMike]

Mitch Miller has died at age 99.  He sure hated rock'n'roll.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/03/arts/music/03miller.html

And was hated in return by most artists he worked with -- he's the reason Sinatra left Columbia, because Frank didn't wanna do all the silly novelty tunes that Miller was so fond of.

[Tinka Cat]

despite his attitudes, I gotta give props to a homeboy from Rochester, NY.  We had a few of his albums --didn't everyone? -- and they got some airplay when I was a kid. 

I love this graf from the Times obit:

Even at the singalongs’ height, many Americans considered them hopelessly corny. That sense only intensified as a younger generation came of age in the 1960s and musical tastes changed. There were news reports that shopping malls had begun piping Mitch Miller music on their sound systems as a way to discourage teenagers from congregating. Years later, in 1993, when David Koresh and members of his Branch Davidian cult were holed up in their compound in Waco, Tex., F.B.I. agents tried to flush them out by blasting “Sing Along With Mitch” Christmas carols.

[RGMike]

despite his attitudes, I gotta give props to a homeboy from Rochester, NY.  We had a few of his albums --didn't everyone? -- and they got some airplay when I was a kid.  

I love this graf from the Times obit:

Even at the singalongs’ height, many Americans considered them hopelessly corny. That sense only intensified as a younger generation came of age in the 1960s and musical tastes changed. There were news reports that shopping malls had begun piping Mitch Miller music on their sound systems as a way to discourage teenagers from congregating. Years later, in 1993, when David Koresh and members of his Branch Davidian cult were holed up in their compound in Waco, Tex., F.B.I. agents tried to flush them out by blasting “Sing Along With Mitch” Christmas carols.

as a wee lad, before I discovered the joys of Rock, older relatives turned me on to Sing-Along With Mitch LPs (and to a lesser extent, Herb Alpert). We had both of Mitch's Xmas albums and I played them over and over and over. I remember watching the TV show too -- every week during the group sing-along at the end of the show, they'd stick a celebrity into the chorus and you'd have to "spot the star" (one week it was Soupy Sales!).  But yeah... seriously hokey.

[ggould]

despite his attitudes, I gotta give props to a homeboy from Rochester, NY.  We had a few of his albums --didn't everyone? -- and they got some airplay when I was a kid.  

I love this graf from the Times obit:

Even at the singalongs’ height, many Americans considered them hopelessly corny. That sense only intensified as a younger generation came of age in the 1960s and musical tastes changed. There were news reports that shopping malls had begun piping Mitch Miller music on their sound systems as a way to discourage teenagers from congregating. Years later, in 1993, when David Koresh and members of his Branch Davidian cult were holed up in their compound in Waco, Tex., F.B.I. agents tried to flush them out by blasting “Sing Along With Mitch” Christmas carols.

as a wee lad, before I discovered the joys of Rock, older relatives turned me on to Sing-Along With Mitch LPs (and to a lesser extent, Herb Alpert). We had both of Mitch's Xmas albums and I played them over and over and over. I remember watching the TV show too -- every week during the group sing-along at the end of the show, they'd stick a celebrity into the chorus and you'd have to "spot the star" (one week it was Soupy Sales!).  But yeah... seriously hokey.

I don't have any specific memories other than yes, our family watched the show.  It was right up there with Davy Crockett!

[urth]

despite his attitudes, I gotta give props to a homeboy from Rochester, NY.  We had a few of his albums --didn't everyone? -- and they got some airplay when I was a kid.  

I love this graf from the Times obit:

Even at the singalongs’ height, many Americans considered them hopelessly corny. That sense only intensified as a younger generation came of age in the 1960s and musical tastes changed. There were news reports that shopping malls had begun piping Mitch Miller music on their sound systems as a way to discourage teenagers from congregating. Years later, in 1993, when David Koresh and members of his Branch Davidian cult were holed up in their compound in Waco, Tex., F.B.I. agents tried to flush them out by blasting “Sing Along With Mitch” Christmas carols.

as a wee lad, before I discovered the joys of Rock, older relatives turned me on to Sing-Along With Mitch LPs (and to a lesser extent, Herb Alpert). We had both of Mitch's Xmas albums and I played them over and over and over. I remember watching the TV show too -- every week during the group sing-along at the end of the show, they'd stick a celebrity into the chorus and you'd have to "spot the star" (one week it was Soupy Sales!).  But yeah... seriously hokey.

I don't have too many specific memories of him, save that my folks had a couple of his elpees that they never played in their collection. But man, he looked creepy with that Van Dyke.

File under: I didn't know that: Who here knew that Come On-a My House was written by William Saroyan (yes, that William Saroyan) and Ross Bagdasarian? Or that the two of them were cousins? Not I!