Shabbat Ekev: Lovin' You Lots and Lots

Second of Seven Sabbaths of Consolation: Following Tisha b'Av, there are seven prophetic readings of consolation - all from Isaiah - that comfort us after the Black Fast and prepare us, emotionally and spiritually, for the upcoming High Holidays.

To Abq Jew, consolation and That Thing You Do! are, of course, synonymous.

Last week, Abq Jew introduced (or re-introduced) you to TTYD! the movie. This week, Abq Jew will guide you through the first of the many, many great songs from TTYD!

This week's song is Lovin' You Lots and Lots.

Wikipedia tells us:

The song that plays during the film's opening credits, "Lovin' You Lots and Lots," is credited to the fictitious Norm Wooster Singers, but was actually written by [Tom] Hanks.

This song is a good-natured parody of Ray Conniff, Mitch Miller, and other practitioners of the "beautiful music" or proto-Muzak formats that were a staple of adult radio during the early '60s ....

Are there, Abq Jew hears you ask, other good-natured parodies of Mitch Miller, et al? Funny, Abq Jew responds, you should ask.

This past week, Abq Jew (amongst many) was privileged to hear Jane Ellen (see Atomic Cocktail & Uranium Rock) deliver an audio-assisted lecture about the still living and still lively comedian Stan Freberg.

Among his many, many, many political and non-political satires, Freberg did a parody of Mitch Miller's 1955 hit, The Yellow Rose of Texas, which Abq Jew is honored to bring to you right here.

What Abq Jew is trying to get across (you should forgive the expression) here is that there is, or perhaps may be, a direct, or indirect, line of descent (in all its meanings) from Stan Freberg to Tom Hanks.

And that, someplace in that line, we should reserve a spot for more cowbell.

Join us next week - same time, same place - for another edition of

Sabbaths of Consolation - That Thing You Do! 

Until then -

Shabbat Shalom, Albuquerque!

Good Shabbos, New Mexico!