You may think it strange that Christmas makes me think of V I Lenin, the founder of the USSR. But for 50 years he was the symbol of everything good and holy in a powerful and sizeable portion of the world. As…
“16 Candles” and the Age of Consent
Note the dates: “16 Candles” was a celebration song about coming-of-age in the 50s, when teenagers were taking over the music market with their 45rpm record changers. My sister got one her 16th birthday in ’58, two years before she…
Mozart and the Common Ape
In the film “Out of Africa” (1985) there was a fleeting scene of the male star, Robert Redford, cranking up an early Victrola and putting a record on, to lure an ape. The music was Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto in A…