| |
 Crooner
Fan Sites
By Frank Dellario
This
edition of Cyber*Kool originally was featured in the Fall 2000 issue
of ATOMIC Magazine.
If there's one thing a retro junkie like me wishes for, it's
to be able to take a trip back in time to see any of the original
crooners in concert in their heyday. But alas, we haven't mastered
the art of time travel yet. So instead, I have to garner from
my dad, uncles and their friends what it must have been like
to see Old blue Eyes at Roseland for 36 cents or watch the Rat
Pack's shenanigans at the Sands. Fortunately, I can also check
out some really cool crooner Web sites and disappear into another
era...
Frank
Sinatra
If
you love Frankie (as if anyone didn't), you'll want to spend
some time on this site. Rick Apt trades in Sinatra collectibles,
which means his site's not full of the same old stuff. You'll
find tons (and I mean tons) of pictures of Frank from
personal archives, like his wardrobe tests as Billy Bigelow
for Rodgers & Hammerstein's Carousel (he never did
the picture), plus numerous essays about the man (including
the chance he took singing the pro-segregation lyrics of "The
House I Live In" years prior to integrated bands being
allowed to play on stage). My only gripe is that the horizontal
frames top and bottom mean you can't view those great images
without scrolling. But on thing you'll know for sure after surfing
this site: It's Frank's world, we just live in it.
Dean
Martin
You know the man, you know his songs, so what in a Dean
Martin Web site would make you happy? Archives. An this one's
got it. Check out the filmography with links to each film's
page on the Internet Movie Database (www.IMDB.com),
a complete discography, album covers, Dean in Hirschfield cartoons,
book covers, documents (including copies from his FBI files),
lyrics, liner notes, and every kind of Deano memorabilia you
can think of (including a pic of the bar stool he used on stage).
This site's a must-see. (And while you're surfing, check out
www.deanmartin.org,
the Dean Martin Fan Center, which I also recommend.)
Tony
Bennett
the only site I found dedicated to Tony Bennett was a Sony Music
site, accessible via two URLs (www.tony-bennett.com & www.tonybennett.net).
At first glance, it looks quite slick, with a groovy Flash intro,
a list of news items and upcoming appearances, and a lengthy
biography (cleverly disguised as a plug for Bennett Sings
Ellington/Hot and Cool). But the discography only lists
CD re-release dates, which makes me wonder how compete it is.
(Have all of his records been re-released on CD?) There are
also no archives of photos and memorabilia, but the message
board was hopping.
Sammy
Davis, Jr.
the man truly rocked, and so does this site! Yeah, baby.
Put up by the Sammy Davis, Jr. Association UK, Sammy's Net presence
includes lengthy TV and filmography's with descriptions of the
part he played or which skit he was in. (Gotta see the Beverly
Hillbillies episode, "Manhattan Hillbillies" from
1969, where Davis played Sergeant Patrick Muldoon, and his episode
of Wild, Wild West). You'll find CD and album artwork
too (some really trippy covers man), an extensive discography,
numerous articles, as wall as his FBI files. (It seems Hoover
had a bug about the fact that our man Sammy was not only involved
in the civil rights movement but had an interracial marriage
to hot Swede actress May Britt.) There are photos and artwork
galore, including an Austrian comic strip (translated) called
"Frankieboy," in which Sinatra's apartment is adorned
by the Rat Pack as furniture (Sammy's a mod TV set, Dean is
a cactus). This only downside? No captions with any of the images.
I would love to know who some of those cats were that Sammy
was hangin' with in all those photographs.
Bobby
Darin
This is an extensive fan site. The filmography is brimming full
of into, and Darin lovers will groove on the discography, magazine
articles, and even some of his personal recipes. Granted, it's
not the best-looking site in the world and really tough to navigate
(that Java index frame is irritating), but eventually you'll
find something you'll want to know and then some. Lots of links
to other Darin sites as well.
|
|
|
