Tales of the Tarantula

"These are the good old days." --Carly Simon

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Fletcher Henderson, master arranger behind the Benny Goodman band

If you're a fan of Big Band swing music, especially bands like Benny Goodman's, you owe some thanks to a master arranger named Fletcher Hend

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Sports betting is becoming an addiction with predictable fallout

What do the states of Alabama, Georgia, Texas and California have in common? They are among only 10 states left that do not permit online sp

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Don Costa, master musician, arranged hits for Sinatra and others

We continue our tribute to great arrangers with Don Costa.

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Here's a peek behind the curtain at master orchestrator Sid Ramin

I wrote last time about Irwin Kostal and the important behind-the-scenes job of an orchestrator. As I said then, it is the job of orchestrat

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Orchestrators add colors to a composer's sketch of a good tune

When a song sounds great, composers tend to get all the credit. But that is only justified when the composer acts as orchestrator as well. B

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Ike's warning about military spending is still sage advice

Recently I traveled to Abilene, Kansas to tour the Presidential Library and Museum of General Dwight D. Eisenhower. I knew well that he was

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It was Lesley's party in 1963, and then the Beatles crashed it

She was born Lesley Sue Goldstein on May 2, 1946, in Brooklyn, New York. Her father was Leo Goldstein, the owner of the successful Peter Pan

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We salute a writer/director from the golden age of Hollywood

George Seaton began the 1930s as a playwright. His plays were not very successful, but they were good enough for him to be offered a contrac

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Here's to the Texas musicians who made Western music swing

I did not grow up with country music. There was no country music station in the New York market back then. So the sound of a steel guitar wa

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Time to ask yourself: Are prescription drug ads right for you?

Robert Kennedy Jr. may be accused of having a lot of off-the-wall ideas, but there's one area where Kennedy agrees with left wing leader Ber

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Sedaka song reminds us how America used to think of immigrants

Neil Sedaka's death a few weeks ago at the age of 86 was an occasion to revisit his vast catalog of songs. And one of his big hits from 50 y

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There are battles ahead for those who want to redeem the world

When John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was writing what was to become the Lord of the Rings trilogy in 1937, the world was on the brink of World War

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What's the secret of life? 78-year-old James Taylor knows

James Taylor celebrates his 78th birthday this week. The six-time Grammy-award winner first came to the attention of many fans in 1970 with

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How much power should a U.S. President have?

Should the President of the United States have the power to send the U.S. military into another country without consulting Congress? Should

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Here's to a lyricist whose career is at 60 years and counting

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The man who gave us music for private eyes and panthers

He was born Enrico Nicola Mancini in Cleveland, Ohio in 1924. At the age of 11, Henry Mancini heard Rudolph G. Kopp's score in the 1935 Ceci

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They wrote many of your favorite songs, but who are they?

Together, they wrote "A Teenager in Love", "Save the Last Dance for Me", "Hushabye", "This Magic Moment", "Turn Me Loose", "Sweets For My Sw