#MusicMonday A musical 🎼 tribute to pianist Alfred Brendel (1931-2025)

Cold Cream 'n' Roses

Pianist Alfred Brendel died on Tuesday, June 17, 2025. He was 94 years old.

As a tribute, I present Beethoven’s Fantasy for piano, vocal soloists, mixed chorus, and orchestra, Op. 80, as performed by Alfred Brendel and the New York Philharmonic, conducted by the now disgraced James Levine.

The Fantasy is commonly called the Choral Fantasy. Beethoven composed the Choral Fantasy in 1808. Its premiere was on December 22, 1808 in Vienna. That concert also saw the premieres of his Fifth and Sixth Symphonies, the Fourth Piano Concerto, and excerpts of the Mass in C major (busy, busy!).

Beethoven wanted a “brilliant finale” that would include all the participants in the program. The first part is an extended piano solo: then, the chorus and orchestra gradually join in, and the Choral Fantasy indeed ends with a brilliant finale.

The Choral Fantasy is viewed as a precursor to Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony: listen 🎶 and you’ll understand.

Top Beauty News You Need to Know

Cold Cream 'n' Roses

Beauty news from around the Web:

  1. Did you know?
  2. Paris Hilton launches her skincare line
  3. #Beauty on a budget: Fun Finds from Dollar Tree
  4. Leonard Lauder, son of Estée Lauder, passes away

Did you know?

Paris Hilton launches her skincare line

Suddenly, it seems like Paris Hilton is everywhere, with an array of products with her name affixed to them.

#Beauty on a budget: Fun Finds from Dollar Tree

Leonard Lauder, son of Estée Lauder, passes away

Beauty on a Budget: Fun Finds from Dollar Tree ✨

Cold Cream 'n' Roses

I recently did a little impulse shopping at Dollar Tree and found a few beauty goodies that were too fun not to share. Are they game-changers? Maybe not. But they’re definitely fun, functional, and surprisingly useful—all for $1.25 each. Here’s what made it into my basket

The Lip Exfoliator looks like a plastic tongue scraper, but it’s for your lips! Nubby surfaces on both sides help buff away dryness. It’s fun to try, but a textured washcloth works just as well.💄

This little makeup sponge holder is made of soft silicone and even has a suction cup base—perfect for sticking to your mirror or sink. It holds a Beautyblender or a dupe (mine’s a Dollar Tree dupe!) and keeps it clean and dry.

The Cuticle Oil Balm Stick is my favorite find of the bunch (with the makeup sponge holder coming in a close second). Super convenient—just swipe it on like lip balm. I like to apply it to all my fingers while waiting for the cuticle remover to soften my thumb cuticles. So handy!

Have you tried any of these? Or scored a Dollar Tree beauty gem that readers should know about? Drop it in the comments! 🛍️💬**

✨ a word about AI

Read More »

Why Eurovision Was Better in the 1960s: A Review

Cold Cream 'n' Roses

I didn’t watch the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest. Judging from the reports on the BBC and Sky News, I’m glad I didn’t. It’s about spectacle, not song.

Rewind 60 years ago to 1965. Here’s runner-up Kathy Kirby (née Catherine Ethel O’Rourke), who represented the United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest.

Wow. Just wow. I love my female singers. Why hadn’t I heard of her before?

And here is France Gall (née Isabelle Geneviève Marie Anne Gall), the winner of the 1965 Eurovision Song Contest. Her entry was Serge Gainsbourg’s song Poupée de cire, poupée de son (wax doll, rag doll):

The good old days, when the Eurovision Song Contest was about music and songs. 🎵

#MusicMonday Remembering Bob Kuban: A St. Louis Music Icon

Cold Cream 'n' Roses

I found out that St. Louis bandleader Bob Kuban died on Monday, January 20, 2025 at the age of 84. Bob Kuban and The In-Men’s single “The Cheater” peaked at no. 12 on the national charts in 1966.

Bob Kuban was a fixture in St. Louis. As a St. Louisan, I remember him best for his columns on local musical events in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. I was bemused by this clean-cut guy calling Iggy Pop (or was it Iggy Stooge then?), who was due to perform in St. Louis, a “genius.”

When I think about Bob Kuban, I can’t help but think about his singer Walter Scott, whose lurid death has been the subject of true crime TV shows.

Sam Moore of Sam and Dave has passed away

Cold Cream 'n' Roses
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js Respect Yourself: Stax Records and the Soul ExplosionRespect Yourself: Stax Records and the Soul Explosion by Robert Gordon
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

After reading Dreams to Remember: Otis Redding, Stax Records, and the Transformation of Southern Soul, I read Respect Yourself. It is a much better book than Dreams to Remember.

Stax was actually founded by a white brother and sister, Jim Stewart and Estelle Axton, who nonetheless had their pulse on African-American music. Respect Yourself covers the various artists associated with Stax, such as Booker T. and the MGs, Rufus Thomas and his daughter Carla, Otis Redding, and Isaac Hayes. It traces the history of Stax and covers the bad deals that it had with larger corporations, which also sucked the vitality of Stax. Moreover, the story of Stax is told against the social and political backdrop of Memphis, including segregation, the garbage workers’ strike, and the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

There is all sorts of fascinating trivia in Respect Yourself:

– Booker T. Jones was still in high school when he recorded Green Onions
– Otis Redding drove guitarist Johnny Jenkins from Georgia to record at Stax. He hung around all day and Stax agreed to let him audition. They were blown away.
– Atlantic Records shipped Sam and Dave off to Memphis to record. They were crestfallen, as they had thought they would be going to New York and the big time. Sam recalled that he cried when he met the songwriters David Porter and Isaac Hayes. Hayes had yet to go solo and develop his persona, but he was wearing garish clothing when he met Sam & Dave.
– The Lorraine Motel was a home away from away for Stax. The Lorraine Motel was, of course, where MLK Jr. was assassinated.

I have a Starbucks CD compilation of Stax music. One of the fascinating items is “What a Man,” by Linda Lyddell, a “blue-eyed soul” singer whose career ended early because of threats from the KKK for recording black music. Surely this is a story that could have been worked into Respect Yourself.

View all my reviews