[78-L] Soupy Sales: One of jazz's best friends is gone

Mon Oct 26 21:46:23 PDT 2009

Growing up in L.A., I only got to see Sandy Becker's show one time - during a visit to my grandparents' house in Brooklyn in the summer of 1964. I remember only one thing about Becker's show: the theme song, which, as I later found out, was "The Happy Trumpet" by Bert Kaempfert. I tried to figure that out for years. Can anyone describe his show? I know we're getting off-topic, but it's an irresistible topic.

Cary Ginell

> Date: Mon, 26 Oct 2009 23:45:09 -0400
> From: jeffsultanof at gmail.com
> To: 78-l at klickitat.78online.com
> Subject: Re: [78-L] Soupy Sales: One of jazz's best friends is gone
> 
> Soupy, Chuck McCann and Sandy Becker were my TV heroes growing up in New
> York. Brilliant does not begin to describe the sheer creativity of the shows
> they hosted; Sandy was so off-the-wall and surreal. I've managed to get DVDs
> of the little that is out there from these shows, specifically to share them
> with my son when he is old enough to understand them (he is only 14 months
> now).
> 
> I remember so clearly Soupy's serial "Philo Kvetch," where he ran around New
> York like a maniac. His face was rubber, his expressions would make me laugh
> for days. It's such a pity that most of his show is now gone. He was a true
> star as far as I'm concerned.
> 
> Jeff Sultanof
> 
> On Mon, Oct 26, 2009 at 10:36 PM, Royal Pemberton <ampex354 at gmail.com>wrote:
> 
> > And Soupy was truly a master at it.
> >
> > On Mon, Oct 26, 2009 at 9:31 PM, Michael Biel <mbiel at mbiel.com> wrote:
> >
> > >
> > > From: Royal Pemberton <ampex354 at gmail.com>
> > > > The UK children's show TISWAS had lots of 'pies', done with shaving
> > cream
> > > > and all....paper plates were standard. More goop here:
> > > > http://www.tiswasonline.com/pies_gunge_water.php?section=pies
> > >
> > > This would not have met with Soupy's approval and is probably why he was
> > > so successful for so many years, and so many celebrities like Frank
> > > Sinatra wanted to be on the show and get hit. Shaving cream is soap and
> > > tastes disgusting and could make the person sick. Word of this would
> > > travel and turn celebs off. Paper plates would stick to the goop and
> > > since they are very lightweight they might not fall away fast enough to
> > > show the person's face for an IMMEDIATE reaction shot. Breaded crust
> > > breaks at impact showing the face immediately, and if there are small
> > > pieces that fall away one at a time, that increases the humor by
> > > lengthening the effect. Whipped cream and bread pie crust, maybe with
> > > some cherry or lemon filling to add color for color TV. Truly inspired
> > > comedy is not casual, it is a science.
> > >
> > > Mike Biel mbiel at mbiel.com
> > >
> > > On Mon, Oct 26, 2009 at 8:33 PM, Michael Biel <mbiel at mbiel.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > > Soupy died on the eve of the Friends of Old Time Radio convention, and
> > I
> > > > opened my broadcast of the event with Soupy's obit. He had made 3 or 4
> > > > appearances there in recent years, and was well remembered this weekend
> > > > by some of his WNEW-TV co-conspirators such as Chuck McCann. Sandy
> > > > Becker's widow Cherie showed some X-rated outtakes of her hubby from
> > > > that same station. Soupy had been very ill in recent years and suffered
> > > > from an illness which left his body in the way that he looked and
> > > > sounded like he had suffered a serious stroke, but his mind was
> > > > completely undamaged so it must have been frustrating to him. But he
> > > > loved being at FOTR and every once in a while was able to put in a
> > > > zinger to top his old-time buddies. The video they showed to end the
> > > > tribute was not the usual -- we've seen all those before -- but rather
> > > > his Ed Sullivan Show performance of "Do the Mouse" where he pranced
> > > > around Ed's audience and coincidentally danced with and met for the
> > > > first time his future wife, who remained devoted to him. That simple
> > > > video, no jokes and no pies, was strangely moving to me, and it took
> > > > about 15 seconds before I was able to talk after it, and I don't think
> > I
> > > > was fully fluent till several minutes after. There is a picture of a
> > > > tribute that has been placed at Soupy's star: a pie.
> > > > http://www.newsfromme.com/images11/soupystar.jpg The pie appears to be
> > > > in a tin, something that Soupy did not allow. His colleagues told us
> > > > that his theory was that the person's face must be immediately visible
> > > > as the pie hits and falls away, something that a tin will inhibit. So a
> > > > pie throwing hint: filling and crust only.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > Mike Biel mbiel at mbiel.com
> > >
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