Why was "Something Stupid" by Frank and Nancy Sinatra a number one hit in the USA?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by guppy270, Jan 30, 2015.

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  1. chacha

    chacha Forum Resident In Memoriam

    Location:
    mill valley CA USA
    hmm, I love both Frank & Nancy but I seem to be the only one that thinks this song is boring fluff.
     
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  2. varispeed

    varispeed what if?

    Location:
    Los Angeles Ca
    I agree with a lot of what has been said. Additionally as I was experiencing it, we were entering new territory of multimedia magic. Nancy (and/or her organization/mgmt.) were fully exploiting her exposure. For over a year, she was on the radio with all those single/hazlewood hits...... she was on EVERY major tv show beamed into the living rooms each week....... she landed the James Bond them in the summer (67.... and that in itself was absolutely huge)... she was in EVERY mag (usually with the boots).

    She was probably the featured artist in every iPod that Magic Alex was conjuring up in the lab during that summer.

    Frank was also regularly on all the tv shows... albeit from the ratpack angle ("well, we tolerate those hippie kids of today, but don't take them seriously or particulary want to visit their world)..... like the Dean Martin show.... all the specials...... and was charting well in pop (as mentioned).

    So...... what could be more natural than teaming Frank and Nancy up for the tune?...... Perfectly bridged the multimedia, generation-gap- psychedelic-meets-tux-meets-generation-gap-meets-megastar-family members .... etc.

    And as mentioned, it was a good song. I thought it was too syrupy and didn't like hearing it much on the radio, but that was the lay of the land back then and for every song I didn't like, I knew five or six records I loved would be coming through in a few minutes on the airwaves.

    The bummer aspect of "Something Stupid" to me.... at the time...... was that for all the brilliant cosmic placement of the existence of the song in the new multimedia, Technicolor world, Frank and Nancy never actually performed the song on tv ...... I kept waiting for the two to show up on Hullabaloo..... or Dean Martin.... or on Joey Bishop's show.... or...... anywhere. Nada....... at least I never caught the performance if it happened.

    I did see Nancy sing the song with her brother on tv.... poor substitute I thought.

    I always figured the non-live performance on tv came back to Frank's people (or Frank) holding that attitude of toleration for the hippie and go-go kids... but not really wanting to perform in their territory on tv. I guess. I dunno.... wonder how Frank would've gone over at the Fillmore in the summer of 67? Not that he would have set foot there. Come to think of it, I might've thought it a bit creepy if Frank had actually done Hullabaloo......there WAS the emerging stigma for "after 30" people.... in my young world anyway.
     
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  3. Bob F

    Bob F Senior Member

    Location:
    Massachusetts USA
    And the best place to find the Frank and Nancy version is on this DCC 3-song CD, FOR MY DAD, remastered by Steve Hoffman:

    [​IMG]
     
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  4. She is anyway

    She is anyway Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Minnesota, USA
    The time was right, its perfume filled folks' heads, the stars got red, and, oh, the night was so blue.
     
  5. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    No, you're not alone! :)
     
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  6. floweringtoilet

    floweringtoilet Forum Resident

    Location:
    Warren, RI, USA
    I could make a long list of #1 songs that were worse.
     
  7. Bob F

    Bob F Senior Member

    Location:
    Massachusetts USA
    Father and daughter did perform the song together again 15 years later—in concerts in Vegas and Atantic City in 1982. One of these can be heard in the SINATRA: VEGAS box set, which was recently reissued. Frank jokes throughout (with Daffy Duck impressions and wisecracks). So, he really didn't take the song that seriously himself, although I'm sure he appreciated getting a gold record for it. ;)
     
    Last edited: Jan 30, 2015
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  8. WolfSpear

    WolfSpear Music Enthusiast

    Location:
    Florida
    Pretty sure Billy Ray and Miley had a duet during the Hannah Montana days. Nothing too special
     
  9. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    Bob, you are the Forum Sinatra expert (along with our Matt and MMM) and I put it to you that the version by Parks and Foote from that YouTube clip has been "redone" to sound like the Sinatra version and isn't what the original recording (that the Sinatra clan first heard) sounds like. I'd like to hear an original 45 on KAPP, bet it sounds nothing like that YouTube version at all.

    Why do I think that? Well, the session tape for the Sinatra version has the song starting off sounding like (I'm speaking of the instrumentation) a slowed down version of "I Will Follow Him" by Little Peggy March. It's not until around 2/3 of the session that Billy Strange et al make a change that brings the acoustic guitars in to have the sound that Frank says "is the trick of the record".

    My point being is that THEY came up with the sound, two more takes and it was done, live on the spot.

    I'll give Parks & Foote the harmonies and the opening guitar riff (and of course writing the damn thing in the first place) but that version on YouTube sounds like they took the basic track and overdubbed it to sound more like the Sinatra version to cash in on it, and with triple the echo as well.

    Thanks' my story! Your thoughts, Bob, gang?
     
  10. redfloatboat

    redfloatboat Forum Resident

    because it's a great song with a great little story.
     
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  11. Bob F

    Bob F Senior Member

    Location:
    Massachusetts USA
    Steve, I *think* the Kapp record came first. Nancy once mentioned (—> at the SFF) that the Carson and Gaile recording was how she and her dad discovered the song:
     
  12. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    Of course it did, Bob. I'm saying that the version on YouTube is NOT the original that Frank heard, it's a "redo" with overdubbed instrumentation to make it sound more like the hit, perhaps to cash in on the Sinatra version.

    I want to hear the original 45 that the Sinatra clan heard. I bet it sounds nothing like that YouTube version...
     
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  13. Billy Ray and Miley Cyrus have done at least several duets, some rather good.

     
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  14. Bob F

    Bob F Senior Member

    Location:
    Massachusetts USA
    Oh, I misunderstood. I have no idea if that YouTube clip comes from the record. It actually sounds like it mght be from a live date, and what you say makes sense. Anyone have the actual LP?

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Jan 30, 2015
  15. Myke

    Myke Trying Not To Spook The Horse

    It was good, a majority of people liked it, including my family, and before the internet, we just enjoyed things, without analyzing them.
     
  16. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    Well, anyone have a FIRST PRESSING LP, done before the Sinatra cover? A later KAPP pressing would probably have the faked up redo (my theory, and I'm sticking to it..)
     
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  17. PHILLYQ

    PHILLYQ Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brooklyn NY
    That's a low bar...
     
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  18. halfjapanese

    halfjapanese Gifs moider!

    Me and my 13-year-old friends snickered every time it came on. My mother said it was creepy. Nothing revisionist about either response, though one was certainly more mature than the other. :)
     
  19. Scott in DC

    Scott in DC Forum Resident

    Location:
    Washington, DC
    Why did it hit #1?

    Beats me, it's a nonsense song. I don't like it and never have.

    Scott
     
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  20. Jackson

    Jackson Senior Member

    Location:
    MA, USA
    I love the song, it's got a killer melody, fun lyrics and Frank and Nancy, what more could you want.

    For those who would say ''something stupid'' like it's boring. :p
     
    Last edited: Jan 30, 2015
  21. Jack Flash

    Jack Flash Forum Resident

    Location:
    California
    It was kind of stupid.

    Nancy Sinatra's singles with Lee Hazelwood were pretty damn great, though.
     
  22. MMM

    MMM Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Lodi, New Jersey
    Agreed, for stereo. I love the mono version most though. Really mixed right, with better vocal balances, guitar where it should be, etc., and just sounds more like a hit.
     
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  23. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    What is the mono on, CD wise, anything?
     
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  24. rxcory

    rxcory proud jazz band/marching band parent

    Location:
    Portland, Oregon
    Just one more DCC release that I never knew of until this moment but now I want badly... :shrug:
     
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  25. Bob F

    Bob F Senior Member

    Location:
    Massachusetts USA
    Not on CD. Almost no mono of any Reprise Sinatra on CD.
     
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