Watched the MTV awards that night

Mapman, you make an excellent comment that I had not thought of before. You said they gear towards having one sound so they can appeal to the masses. That is great insight on your part.

Mapman wrote:

> You don't hear much about Al Jolson anymore these days...

Jolson isn't considered "PC" because he often performed in BlackFace. This is a shame, as his contemporaries contended that Jolson, who was a Cantor's son, was not a racist but simply prone to the over dramatic.

I always thought that Jim Nabors was channeling Jolson's ghost, especially when Nabors performed "Back Home Again in Indiana."

But, times change... You never hear about Allan Sherman much either and he had 3 Number One Albums and a hit single that went to #2.

That, and fame is fleeting... I was in the electronic section at either KMart, Target, or Best Buy in Seattle, and had a conversation with a sales-drone that went something like the following:

Me: "Do you have the 'With the Lights Out' Box set?"
Drone (elderly female): "I can check. Who's that by?"
Me: "Nirvana"
Drone: "Who?"
Me: "NIRVANA... You're kidding, right?"
Drone: No; never heard of them... Pete (another drone) have you heard of 'Nirvana' ?"
Pete (Gen-Y male): "Yeah... you're kidding, right?"
Drone: "No; never hear of them..."
Me: "You live in Seattle and you've never heard of Nirvana?"
Drone: "Don't know them... Oh, and we do have the box set. You want it?"
Me: "Yes, please..."

I have a 2 record Jolson compilation that I recall being pretty darn good. I need to give that another spin.

Jolson was still a popular legacy act when I was a kid in teh early 60s. I recall TV ads pitching Jolson recordings. I never paid much attention. The Beatles were breaking and all that. Plus old records sounded crappy on the cheap gear I had back then. Now those old recordings are entrancing, especially when digitally remastered well.

Read his writeup on Wikipedia. fascinating stuff!

How'd we start on Al Jolson in a thread about VMA awards again? A good omen maybe.

I brought up Al Jolsen just to show how times and tastes have changed over the years! While we're at it take a look at Sophie Tucker,she was another superstar of another era!