Lucy And Desi Get Roasted

A huge event for the stars of I Love Lucy took place at the Beverly Hilton Hotel November 23, 1958 in celebration of the Friars Club 10th Anniversary. These testimonial dinners eventually were called “roasts”. Making an appearance at this “roast” was Dean Martin who spoke at length and also sang a parody of “Volare” about Lucy & Desi accompanied by Ken Lane. There were also featured appearances by George Burns, Art Linkletter, George Murphy, Tony Martin, Milton Berle and several others. One of those several others was a comedian named Harry Einstein. His stage name was "Paryakarkas". The "roast" would be his last performance. Anywhere. Literally. During the night he collapsed onto Milton Berle's shoulder and died. A "private label" recording of this dinner was released sometime after and featured some hilarious performances but not the collapse of Mr. Einstein. It does open with an announcement telling of the death. Here is that bootleg, I mean, "private label" recording. Here is “The Friars Club Presents The Lucille Ball And Desi Arnaz Testimonial Dinner”. Enjoy!

The Friars Club Presents The Lucille Ball And Desi Arnaz Testimonial Dinner

BONUS:
Here's a newspaper article all about the roast and the sudden demise of Harry Einstein. (click on pics for larger images)

Podcast 19 is Here!!!!

Here is the newest and, in my humble opinion, one of the better podcasts I have made! I really got into this one and tried to cover a lot of bases by including a lot of variety and fun mix-ups! There's some hilarious comedy, great music and a whole lot of fun stuff. The one thing that I really like about this podcast is the introduction. When I was a DJ in college, I hosted a show called "The Rich Dart Wacky Show" and used the same intro for the radio show. Also, I didn't speak in this one. As with the last time, I just couldn't find the time to put any commentary into the mix. It does flow rather well. Hope you think so. Enjoy!

Dartman's Wacky Podcast #19

The Illustrated Dean and Jerry

Here's an issue of the Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis Comic Book from 1954. Although not as funny as the real comedy duo, it's still pretty cool to read it knowing that there was a time then Dean and Jerry were the biggest thing on the planet. Because of this, DC Comics decided to publish THE ADVENTURES OF DEAN MARTIN AND JERRY LEWIS. The comic ran from 1952 to 1957. So the comic book adventures of Dean and Jerry outlasted the duo's break up by a few years. After 40 issues, Dean was removed from the series (gasp!) and it was retitled THE ADVENTURES OF JERRY LEWIS and the series continued until 1971. Here is issue #10 from January 1 of 1954. Enjoy!

Martin And Lewis Comic Book 10/1/54

The February of Frank: A Roast, A Toast and A Birthday Bonanza!

On December 12, 1957, a huge contingent of performers gathered at the Villa Capri in LA (a restaurant owned by Sinatra) and wished the Chairman of the Board a 42nd Birthday by way of a roast! The guest list featured: Sinatra, Dean Martin, Eddie Fisher, Vic Damone, Bing Crosby, Jack Benny, James Cagney, and others. A little bit more on the raunchy side of the Celebrity Roasts, this features some great bits as well as some great singing and entertaining. This is a must own for any Sinatra collector! Listen in on the party as we feature "Sinatra's 42nd Birthday Party"! Enjoy!


Frank Sinatra's 42nd Birthday Party

The February of Frank: Franks and Deans

Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin were extremely close as friends and were both great admirers of each others work. They worked together for many years in films and as part of the Rat Pack. Throughout their careers, they would team up numerous times as a performing duo and sometimes adding other perfromers such as Liza Minelli to turn their act into a trio. They were known for their comic banter as well as for their singing and to see one of these performances would have been a pleasure. Unfortunately I was far too young at the time to have witnessed such a treasure of the entertainment world. But thanks to the fine art of bootleg recordings, I can witness some of this grandeur from afar. Here for you is one of those many nights when these greats shared a stage. It's a complete concert from June 10, 1977 in Chicago, Ill. The place was The Sabre Room and the sound is superb! Here is "A Swingin' Nigh At The Sabre Room". Enjoy!

Frank Sinatra & Dean Martin-A Swingin' Night At THe Sabre Room

The February of Frank: Sinatra's Other Duets Album (re-post)

We all know about the 1994 Duets album that Frank Sinatra put out. It was huge! It spawned a sequel and once again cemented Frank's place in pop music. It also spawned some great parodies on SNL and elsewhere. However, this album that I present to you now is also called Duets but it is drawn from performances of the 40s and 50s featuring Frank and others such as Louis Armstrong, Judy Garland, Doris Day, Yvonne DeCarlo, Lena Horne, Shirley Jones, Natalie Wood, Tony Bennett, George Burns, Jimmy Durante, Eddie Fisher, Van Johnson, Gene Kelly, Robert Mitchum, and Robert Merrill & Dean Martin. This comes from my father's huge collection of Sinatra records. This "unofficial release" came out in 1984 (10 years prior to the other Duets). These duets are from radio and television and believe it or not, they sound fantastic. Here is "The Frank Sinatra Duets". Enjoy!

The Frank Sinatra Duets

The February of Frank: Frank Helps Out With Jerry's Kids

Today's post follows yesterday's re-post. You'll see what I mean in a minute. In the 70s, The Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon was huge! It's gotten less and less of an event as the years have passed but the 70s was truly the golden age of that great fund raising show! Jerry pulled out all of the stops by inviting some of the greatest talents in show business to the stage for a great cause. Back then, the biggest star you could get was Sinatra and Frank was quick to help out his friend. Here is a collection of appearances made by Frank on the telethon throughout the 70s and into the 80s. It features the extremely special appearance where he reunited Jerry with his old partner Dean Martin. At the time, the duo hadn't appeared together in 20 years! Out of all of the telethons that Jerry has put on, that moment in 1976 has become the single most famous moment in the history of the annual fund raiser. Here is that collection of Sinatra's appearances complete with that memorable reunion. Enjoy!

Frank Sinatra-A Pocketfull of Miracles

BONUS:
Here is the video clip of the classic reunion back in 1976!

The February of Frank: Martin, Lewis & Sinatra (re-post)

Here's a post that I featured all the way back in 2006 when I first started The World of Wonder. It's an episode of The Martin and Lewis Radio Show with Frank Sinatra as their special guest. This was originally broadcast on January 18, 1952 on the NBC Radio Network and includes jokes written by the great Norman Lear who was a staff writer on the show at the time.

The Martin and Lewis Show with Frank Sinatra

The Late Night Wars

In case you have been living under a rock the past week, Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien are in a battle royal over the coveted 11:35 PM time slot on NBC TV. I don't usually get political on this blog but in my opinion NBC is screwing Conan royally. I am a bit biased as I have friends who work at The Tonight Show who will lose their jobs because of this, but I really don't understand why NBC is so in love with Jay Leno. Conan has not been given a decent chance at the helm of the greatest late night show in history and he's being ousted for the return of someone who failed miserably in a brand new show. There are those who say that Conan's ratings were bad as well but even NBC has stated that that may be from the weak lead in due to people turning their channels to get away from Leno at 10:00. There are also those people that are voicing their opinion saying that these two guys are going to both make out in the end as Conan stands to make a huge profit if his contract gets pulled. But let's think about everyone who works for Conan. They just recently packed up their lives and their families' lives and moved from New York to California. Now, a mere months later, they are left with no job. Not to mention that they will not be making a huge sum of money the way Conan will if it all falls apart. I think NBC is making a big mistake. All of this makes me miss the days when it was a class act. I am of course talking about the reign of Johnny Carson. He was the true King of Late Night and no one can take his place. During the Carson years, the Tonight Show was more than just an advertisement for the latest movie or tv show. It was an honest to goodness form of entertainment. People were invited on the show because Johnny wanted them on. Not because they had a new movie or a new sit-com or even a new record. It was just people that were on because Johnny felt that they were interesting and people wanted to see them. It was a lot cooler and as far as I'm concerned, it will never be the same. In 1974, Casablanca Records issued a collection of some of the best moments of the Tonight Show on a two record set entitled, "Here's Johnny: Magic Moments From The Tonight Show". It features a roster of guest stars that would rival any late night show: Lenny Bruce, Groucho Marx, Ike & Tina Turner, Bette Midler, Lucille Ball, Pearl Baily, The Smothers Brothers, George Carlin, Billie Holiday, Glen Campbell, George Burns, Buddy Hackett, Jack Benny, Dean Martin, Desi Arnez and more. Here is that two record set for you to enjoy!

Here's Johnny! Magic Moments From The Tonight Show
Here's Johnny! Magic Moments From The Tonight Show Part 2