Favorites Lists and a Tenuous Spike Jones Connection (was Warlock (1959))

[Paul Mackin]

On Apr 16, 2006, at 12:32 PM, davemarc wrote:

> I love that passage, Paul--thanks! Maybe it has something to do  
> with my
> enthusiasm for Jo Stafford and Charles Trenet.
>
> For those who like Spike Jones: Jo Stafford once cut a funny  
> "hillbilly"
> parody of Temptation (a tune largely identified with Bing Crosby).

Or, in the spirit of the Warlock thread,  "Tymtayshun"

> She and
> her hubby Paul Weston also had an alternative career as bad lounge  
> singers
> Jonathan and Darlene Edwards.
>
> d.



>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Paul Mackin <paul.mackin at verizon.net>
> To: <pynchon-l at waste.org>
> Sent: Saturday, April 15, 2006 10:54 AM
> Subject: Re: Warlock (1959)
>
>
>> Favorite books, movies, music, etc.,  are  things we can always count
>> upon to bring the p-list to life.
>>
>> Favorites lists  are a way of defining for ourselves and others WHO
>> WE ARE.
>>
>> I am reminded of quite a perceptive passage in Mary Gaitskill's
>> _Veronica_.
>>
>> The non-eponymous protagonist of the novel describes how her
>> taciturn, if not downright morose, father handles self-definition.
>>
>>
>> "My father used to make lIsts of his favorite popular songs, ranked
>> in order of preference. These lists were very nuanced, and they
>> changed every few years. He'd walk around with the list in this hand,
>> explaining why Jo "G.I. Joe" Stafford was ranked just above Doris
>> Day; why Charles Trenet topped Nat King Cole--but by a hair only. It
>> was his way of showing people things about him that  were too private
>> to  say directly. For  a while, everybody had some idea what Doris
>> Day versus Jo Stafford meant;  to  give a preference for one over
>> the  other signaled a mix of feelings that were secret and tender;
>> and  people could sense  these  feelings when they imagined the
>> songs  side by  side."
>>
>> p. 15-16
>>
>