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

Tue Oct 27 17:48:46 PDT 2009

Becker was a madman. He had a group of weird characters named Geeba Geeba
(who worked in a sauerkraut factory), K. Lastima, Hambone (who would dance
on the stage to the tune "Hambone" and usually write a crazy message).

There is a DVD (some of it is not is such great shape) from
mediastation.comwhich is a good representation of some of what Becker
was up to.

Jeff Sultanof

On Tue, Oct 27, 2009 at 12:46 AM, Cary Ginell <soundthink at live.com> wrote:

>
> 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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