cruisedog

1995 oddity ... and watch the look on Pavarotti's face when Meatloaf starts to sing - priceless ...

"What you say?" The man himself ... Ray Charles ... any more comment would be superfluous ... hit it, Ray ...

Little Richard does the 1956 12 bar blues number with John Goodman (King Ralph 1991) ... The Valiants actually released a faster version first, but Little Richard got the hit. Good, but not as good as Jerry Lee, my main man ... what do you think ... ?

The Cincinnati Kid (1965) and the eminently memorable theme sung by the towering talented Ray Charles. Those ice-blue eyes never waiver ... Superb casting with Edward G and Karl 'Streets of San Francisco' Malden to supply acting talent and stoutly supported (that Ann Margret dress certainly was) by the eye candy if you get my drift ... but come on men, be honest now, who would you choose - Ann Margret or Tuesday Weld ... !

Rock chick smash of '73 though most people remember her '74 hit 'Devil Gate Drive' better ... pulse still quickens watching sexy Suzi in her tight black bike leathers ... rrrrrrrrrr

From the best western ever made: The Searchers (1956) ... The Sons of Pioneers sang the film soundtrack but ol' Tex thought he'd give it a go as well ... oh dear, think he tried a bit too hard with his version ... almost yodelling his way through ... Great film but I bet you didn't know this: Henry Brandon (Indian chief Cicatrice - Scar) was at 6' 5" an inch taller than John Wayne ... one of the very few actors taller than the Duke ... and Henry Brandon, though German born, was the most realistic Indian wa

Spartacus (1960) ... a stormer of a film from Stanley Kubrick ... and a legendary cast including: Laurence Olivier, Peter Ustinov, Charles Laughton, Tony Curtis, old Kirky and in this extraordinary fight scene, the Merely Magnificent Woody Strode ... I hate to spoil the film but Spartacus was killed in battle - not crucified AND he wasn't a Thracian slave ... he was a deserter from the Roman Army ... never mind, enjoy but remember, this fight scene was remarkable for the skill employed by both Douglas and

Tex Ritter sings the theme tune from the 1952 film ... but note the first cowboy standing up at the start of the film ... none other than Lee Van Cleef who went downhill from this by venturing into the awful Sergio Leone Spaghetti ware (only redeeming feature the inspirational music of Ennio Morricone) ... for you, Melon Picker ... take it, Tex ...

From the light-hearted and enjoyable 'comedy' western musical 'Paint Your Wagon' (1969) and Lee Marvin plays the perpetually drunk hobo to perfection. Part of the magic of this song is the fact that it's blindingly obvious that he can't sing a note, but that gravelly, deep drawl carries all before it. Not Lee Marvin's most memorable film which was Shirley 'Point Blank' (1967) where he played the remorseless Walker. This one's for you, Winfield, as I know you like it ...

The 'Gospel' Rock hit of 1969. The words were written in 15 minutes and despite wallies everywhere trying to put various religious interpretations on the song, it wuz done by Norm just to 'reach a bigger market' ... in other words, he wanted the dosh Josh ...enjoy once more this 'one hit wonder' ...

A tiny classic clip from The Big Country' (1958) ... I don't care what you say - no-one puts on a cowboy hat like big Charlton Heston ... vintage score from the hand of Jerome Moross ... prefer the last 30 seconds of music from this clip to the actual theme song ...

The man himself at his early best (before the frame filled out and the hair got outta control) ... this one's specially for you Manpig ... oh, and one more thing ... eat your heart out Elton ... this is what you could never do ... take it now, Jerry Lee ...

From the Howard Hawk's film 'Rio Bravo' (1959) sung by the late, great crooner himself, Dean Martin and accompanied vocally and on guitar by Ricky Nelson. We've heard some really great western exponents thus far, but for sheer natural range and tone, few can live with the honey'd drawl of sweet Deano ...

Beautiful and evocative soundtrack from the original film. If Santa Anna had resisted (against the sound advice of his senior officers) his wild impulse to storm the Alamo at dawn on Sunday March 6th 1836 (12th day of the siege) history would have much-diluted its relevance. A third of the 1800 assault troops perished in the pointless attack - with no relief force available and food and water exhausted, the defenders were in a desperate situation - Up to 250 of the defending force died in the 90 minute atta

Wimbledon 1981 ... and the catchphrase that is even more well-known than "I'll be back!" is Bjorn - no, sorry, I mean born ... McEnroes fury at the umpire was justified ... no, don't interrupt me and say it was 'unsporting' ... since when has ANY sport been that? The umpire got it wrong on this occasion, but it made no difference to the greatest serving left hander the world is likely to see ever again ... as McEnroe cruised to a straight sets win. In the days when there were characters and not robots ... a

The first of the Sergio Leone Spaghetti Trilogy, followed by For a Few Dollars More (1965) and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) ... only the magic and inspiration of composer Ennio Morricone saved these awfully dubbed and corn-laden 'films' from where they deserved to have been sent in the first place ... the dustbin ... sorry Clint