Ol’ Blue Eyes is back! Ten years after his death, Frank Sinatra returns to the Billboard charts with a new CD “Nothing But The Best.”

There’s a huge marketing campaign underway to re-release all new CD and DVD collections, starting with this CD. Plus a TV film festival, specials, and even a commemorative stamp.

?Did You Know?
May 13 was officially declared “Frank Sinatra Day” in a resolution presented by Representative Jose Serrano (D-NY) to Congress.

Read more on his official website www.franksinatra.com

Video: “Come Fly With Me”

Frank Sinatra on MySpace www.myspace.com/franksinatra

YouTube Channel http://youtube.com/user/FrankSinatra

Every year, the Library of Congress adds to the National Recording Registry. They select 25 recordings that are “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” to preserve for all time.

Here’s the list of recordings the NRPB, the Library’s National Recording Preservation Board, selected for the 2007 National Recording Registry. It’s great to see some of my favorite artists on this list, of which I’ve bolded below.

(In chronological order:)
“The First Trans-Atlantic Broadcast (March 14, 1925)
“Allons a Lafayette,” Joseph Falcon (1928)
“Casta Diva,” from Bellini’s “Norma”; Rosa Ponselle, accompanied by the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra & Chorus, conducted by Giulio Setti. (Dec. 31, 1928 & Jan. 30, 1929)
“If I Could Hear My Mother Pray Again,” Thomas A. Dorsey (1934)
“Sweet Lorraine,” Art Tatum (February 22, 1940)
Fibber’s Closet Opens for the First Time, “Fibber McGee & Molly” radio program (March 4, 1940)
Wings Over Jordan, Wings Over Jordan (1941)
Fiorello LaGuardia reading the comics (1945)
“Call it Stormy Monday but Tuesday is Just As Bad,” T-Bone Walker (1947)
Harry S. Truman speech at the 1948 Democratic National Convention (July
15, 1948)
“The Jazz Scene,” various artists (1949)
“It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels,” Kitty Wells (May 30, 1952)
“My Fair Lady,” original cast recording (1956)
Navajo Shootingway Ceremony Field Recordings, recorded by David McAllester (1957-1958)
“‘Freight Train,’ and Other North Carolina Folk Songs & Tunes,” Elizabeth Cotten (1959)
Marine Band Concert Album to Help Benefit the National Cultural Center (1963)
“Oh, Pretty Woman,” Roy Orbison (1964)
“Tracks of My Tears,” Smokey Robinson & the Miracles (1965)
“You’ll Sing a Song and I’ll Sing a Song,” Ella Jenkins (1966)
Music from the Morning of the World,” various artists; recorded by David Lewiston (1966)
“For the Roses,” Joni Mitchell (1972)
“Headhunters,” Herbie Hancock (1973)
Ronald Reagan Radio Broadcasts (1976-1979)
“The Sounds of Earth,” disc prepared for the Voyager spacecraft (1977)
“Thriller,” Michael Jackson (1982)

Can you imagine how difficult it can be to preserve our nation’s aural history?

Official Website of the Library of Congress: www.loc.gov

A fellow blogger pointed out a post on the Los Angeles Times Entertainment blog section about American Idol. The title “Idol Tracker: A stool too far” caught our attention because it didn’t make any sense. So we had to read their post to find out what the heck they were posting about.

It was about Chikezie being eliminated from the show, and how amazing it is how the producers manage to stage these results episodes in new ways, and taking an hour to s-t-r-e-t-c-h o-u-t the announcement of who is going home that week.

We actually watched season seven when Jordin Sparks won the vote from runners up Blake Lewis and Melinda Doolittle. But it’s really difficult to watch American Idol this year, when most of the contestants can’t even sing on key, except for David Cook.

americanidol.com

latimesblogs.latimes.com