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Showing posts from February, 2018

Hello

One of the more common greetings you likely use in everyday English is probably not as old as you might think.  It was only around the 1880s when we started to use the word hello to greet others.  Hello was just a variation on now-archaic greetings like halloo, hullo and holla , among others.  Hello was originally an Americanism, and was considered informal, though inoffensive, and it soon found a specific niche.  The telephone had been invented in 1876, and since this was a new way of communicating, many felt that it needed a specific greeting.  Alexander Graham Bell, who held the patent for the telephone and was starting to set up telephone systems, originally promoted ahoy as a telephone greeting.  It makes sense, since that’s the word you use to call to others across long distances.  Ahoy has nautical associations, since sailors would frequently have to call out from ship to ship, but the word was often used on land, as well.  However, despite Mr. Bell’s urgings, hello

Powerhouse: The Cartoon "Assembly Line" Music

There were six members of the Raymond Scott Quintette.  Scott didn’t call it his “Sextette” because he thought the word “Quintette” had a “crisp” sound. “Powerhouse” by the Raymond Scott Quintette is one of those songs that most people know, but don’t know the title of.  First recorded on February 20, 1937, this odd composition was not written for cartoons but it had a frantic, cartoonish feel that was hard not to notice. The song stood out even among other jazz compositions of its day.  What was strange about it was the way it was really two compositions sewn together in a kind of crazy quilt.  Sometimes the two parts of the piece are referred to as “Powerhouse A” and “Powerhouse B”.  “Powerhouse” is sometimes referred to as the “assembly line music” often played in cartoons.   Live performance of “Powerhouse” by the Raymond Scott Quintette, April 16, 1955 “Powerhouse A” is the opening part of the song.  It’s played at a fast tempo, with a clarinet fi