SUDDENLY: a Frank Sinatra podcast

Please note that the accompanying graphic for this episode has not been chosen lightly and is intended in the spirit of historical education, criticism and artistic commentary. In part 2 of our investigation into the saga of Wake Up and Live, we look at the original 1936 self-help book by Dorothea Brande, the toxic ideas that the book perpetuates and the author's ties to fascism and Nazism. To understand why fascism became popular in the United States during the 1930s is also to understand why Wake Up and Live became a bestseller. This week we take a close look at both, from the infamous 1939 Nazi rally at Madison Square Garden to the publication and editing career of Brande's husband, Seward Collins, before going over the horrible, horrible book in full detail. Selected sources for this episode: Kendrick v. Drake, Beef of the century?White People Won't Save YouA Night at the GardenNazi TownUSA American ExperienceSwastika NationFascist Sympathies: On Dorothea BrandeThe NationAmerican QuarterlyUnder CoverIt's a SecretSabotage! The Secret War Against America FOIA-requested documentationWake Up and LiveThe Saturday Review of LiteratureWake Up andLiveThe English Journal contact: suddenlypod at gmail dot com website: suddenlypod.gay donate: ko-fi.com/suddenlypod

This week we begin a three-part investigation into Wake Up and Live. What is it? Good question. It's a 1930s self-help book, a musical in which a real-life journalist/radio host plays himself, and later, a radio drama adapted from the film. All these things interrelate in a way that's confusing to make sense of in 2024. Just beneath the surface of Wake Up and Live lies an elaborate and shocking story we'll fully detail over the next three weeks. Sinatra won't enter the story until Part 3. What the hell is all of this? You're about to find out. contact: suddenlypod at gmail dot com website: suddenlypod.gay donate: ko-fi.com/suddenlypod

***SPOILERS AHEAD - LISTEN TO EPISODE 47 FIRST*** It is now post time. Selected resources and links mentioned this week: * Follow @covidconsciousqueersnaarm on Instagram * Godmother of Elvis Sightings video essay by Johnny Law & Order * TCBCast After Dark, Rabia's new side project with Justin Gausman, which you can hear by subscribing to the TCBCast patreon. * Art Cohn - The Joker is Wild (1955) * Chris Heath - Feel: Robbie Williams (2004) * Joe E. Lewis - "The Groom Couldn't Get In" (1948) * Joe E. Lewis - It Is Now Post Time (1961) * Son of the Mask (2005) * Heckler (Jamie Kennedy, 2006) * Footage of The Joker is Wild premiere * Episode of What's My Line with Joe E. Lewis, 8 October 1961 website: suddenlypod.gay contact: suddenlypod at gmail dot com donate: ko-fi.com/suddenlypod

What if someone slashed Sinatra's vocal cords at the height of his powers? Would he still be able to cut it in showbiz off his charm alone? Could he get into comedy instead of music? More importantly, what would be left of the man without his act? Of all the fictional characters Sinatra portrayed in his early years of dramatic film roles, "Joe E. Lewis" was among the most iconic. This week, we're watching 1957's The Joker is Wild, in which the Lewis persona was presented over an timeline spanning more than 30 years from the early days of vaudeville to the post-war period - with all of this as a backdrop on which to project Sinatra's deepest anxieties and sorrows. This episode features a cover of Bob Dylan's "Jokerman" by John Cruz. website: suddenlypod.gay contact: suddenlypod at gmail dot com donate: ko-fi.com/suddenlypod

We went on Authorized Novelizations Podcast to talk about Jack Pearl's 1964 novelisation of Sinatra's Robin and the Seven Hoods. This episode was recorded around six months ago and just released by Authorized this week. They've graciously given us permission to repost it on our feed. If you like what we do on SUDDENLY, you'll definitely have a good time with this epic two-and-a-half-hour deep dive into not just a lesser-known Sinatra film project, but the 60-year-out-of-print trashy novelisation of same. We delve into the bizarre circumstances surrounding the making of the film, and examine the psyche of pulp author Jack Pearl who added original strange details and incredibly violent, misogynistic content to the book. One surprise twist follows another. We're in good hands with the Authorized gang being experts in the maligned genre of film-to-book adaptations, having read Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, Cowboys and Aliens and the Cheetah Girls trilogy amongst many others. Authorized is one of our favourite shows and we really recommend you check them out. Despite the cultural divide that comes with different regional spellings of "novelisation/novelization" and "authorised/authorized", everyone had a great time! Regular SUDDENLY programming will resume in April. AUTHORIZED: instagram, twitter - @authorizedpod patreon - patreon.com/authorizedpod SUDDENLY: website - suddenlypod.gay contact - suddenlypod at gmail dot com donate - ko-fi.com/suddenlypod

In Episode 43 ("Love and Marriage"), Rabia and Felix watched the infamous televised 1955 musical version of Thornton Wilder's Our Town, starring Frank Sinatra as the Stage Manager. The songs were so terrible, and the acting so bad, that Wilder personally called the station and ensured that it would never air ever again. Neither Rabia nor Felix had ever seen the play before, nor even heard of it. While a beloved cultural mainstay in the US, Our Town somehow never made it to Australia. Now, in his first solo episode, Henry explains to Australians what we're missing out on and why Our Town matters. website: suddenlypod.gay contact: suddenlypod at gmail dot com donate: ko-fi.com/suddenlypod

We think of Sinatra as emerging as a serious dramatic actor from the early 1950s onwards, shedding his clean-cut MGM image for the first time when he takes intense roles as mentally disturbed soldiers in From Here to Eternity and Suddenly. But there's a part of the story we've all forgotten. In January 1945, at the height of the bobby-soxer era and months before tapdancing in a sailor suit for Anchors Aweigh, Sinatra made his actual dramatic acting debut on the radio horror anthology series Suspense. This week, we listen to "To Find Help", shockingly ahead of its time, where Sinatra briefly shed his squeaky-clean status to play a violent and mentally ill man terrorising an old woman in her home. website: suddenlypod.gay contact: suddenlypod at gmail dot com donate: ko-fi.com/suddenlypod

In the Wee Small Hours is often considered Sinatra's best work and arguably the first concept album. The "concept" is something along the lines of “I am awake at 3am and I am feeling deeply sad about a lost love.” And that's really it. Just when you think there couldn't possibly be any more songs about the nuances of that kind of misery, there are seven more. It's relentless, it's brutal, it borders on self-harm and it changed the way we all listen to albums forever. So many emotions, such beautiful music, so much history, such an enormous legacy. And yet, what is there to say? Sometimes it's best just to listen - not just to Sinatra, but to the people out there in the world, all with their own problems, who heard this and felt something. Selected resources: * Woody Guthrie - Dustbowl Ballads (1940) (featured: "Dust Cain't Kill Me") * Gordon Jenkins - Seven Dreams (1953) (featured: "The Cocktail Party (The Fourth Dream)") * The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds (1967) (featured: "Wouldn't It Be Nice", "That's Not Me", "Caroline, No") * Paul Kelly - How to Make Gravy (autobiography, 2010) * Jane Russell & Hoagy Carmichael - "I Get Along Without You Very Well" (from Las Vegas Story, 1952) * Bob Crosby and His Orchestra (with Marion Mann, vocal) - "Deep in a Dream" (1938) * Laurie Anderson - "Smoke Rings" (from Home of the Brave, 1986) * The Berlin Patient (podcast hosted by Joel White, 2016-17) (Complete series available on YouTube and Internet Archive) * Sophie Calle - Take Care of Yourself (book and art project, 2007) * Nick Hornby - High Fidelity (novel, 1995) * Marian McPartland Trio - "This Love of Mine" (from self-titled album, 1956) Special thanks to W.M. Akers. contact: suddenlypod at gmail dot com website: suddenlypod.gay donate: ko-fi.com/suddenlypod

"Love and Marriage" was one of the worst songs Sinatra ever recorded, and the toxic ideas about marriage that it perpetuated left a negative impact on the world. This week, we look into the song's unlikely origins in a televised musical version of Thornton Wilder's Our Town and its shameful legacy as the theme song for the vile 1980s-90s sitcom Married... with Children. Watching this show for the first time in 2024 is a jaw-dropping experience, not least because of the jeering, catcalling studio audience. And of course, we've sought out the transphobic episode. Join us, won't you, as we travel down the "Tender Trap" to Al Bundy pipeline. This one made us feel bad. contact: suddenlypod at gmail dot com website: suddenlypod.gay donate: ko-fi.com/suddenlypod

The phrase "tender trap" essentially didn't exist before the mid-1950s, entering common usage from the film and song which were both popularised by Frank Sinatra. The image of being lured into your downfall by a thing pretending to be soft speaks to a basic element of what it is to be human, and people all over the world have projected their emotions, hangups and life experiences onto this simple concept. This week, we examine Sinatra's classic film and song, plus the original play, then take a look at the many manifestations of the "tender trap" ever since, exploring 70 years of human sexuality and emotion. Selected references: The Apartment Plot: Urban Living in American Film articleHigh School MusicalI've Got to Talk to Somebody, GodSecond Wife, Second LifeHow to Undo a MaidenTransvestiaLike It IsSeductressThe Tender Trap InterviewBlue Days, Black NightsYouthfulLovers in China Find They Are Caught in a Tender Trap”Washington PostThe Conflict Resolution Syndrome: Volunteerism, Violence, and BeyondThe Sapphire Room The Tinder AppDon’t Fall for the Tender TrapThe Tender Trap Interview with Sharon ArmstrongDeath Trap aka The Tender Trap contact: suddenlypod at gmail dot com website: suddenlypod.gay donate: ko.fi.com/suddenlypod

In a special emergency episode, we examine Frank Sinatra's long history with Israel, Palestine and Zionism. Many don't realise just how connected these topics are. This week, we weave a story all the way from Sinatra personally helping run guns to the Nakba in 1948 and his starring role as a fighter pilot for the IDF in 1966's Cast a Giant Shadow, all the way to the bombing of the Frank Sinatra International Student Centre by Hamas in 2002. Henry joins to share his experiences and thoughts from a Jewish perspective, and Rabia has a personal announcement. Selected sources: * Rabbi Dovid Weiss - We Cry for the Palestinians (Interview with Let the Quran Speak, October 2023) * The House I Live In (1945, anti-semitism PSA starring Frank Sinatra) * Paul Robeson - "The House I Live In" * Hasan Hammami, Nakba survivor, interview with Middle East Eye, 2023. * Mahmoud Salah, Nakba survivor, interview with Democracy Now, 2018. * Nakba Day: What happened in Palestine in 1948?, Al-Jazeera, 15 May 2022. * Eddie Cantor in Israel (1950, short film) * Exodus (1960) * Pat Boone - "This Land is Mine" (Theme from Exodus) * Shalom Goldman - Starstruck in the Promised Land (2019) * Sinatra in Israel (1962, short film) * Sinatra: Supporting Israel "His Way", Friends of Zion Museum profile. * George Jacobs - Mr. S: My Life with Frank Sinatra (2003) * Cast a Giant Shadow (1966) * Making the Desert Bloom: Why Europe Clings to the Colonial Mindset, Emile Badarin, Middle East Eye, 5 May 2023. * Melville Shavelson - How to Make a Jewish Movie (1971) * "The Shadows and the Light", Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Season 5 episode. * What'll It Be? Sinatra or Woody Allen?, Jack Engelhard, Israel National News, 8 July 2004. website: suddenlypod.gay contact: suddenlypod at gmail dot com ko-fi: ko-fi.com/suddenlypod Please donate to Olive Kids

Who burnt down West Melbourne Stadium in the middle of Sinatra's 1955 Australian tour, and why did this happen? This week, on our final episode of the year, SUDDENLY investigates. And we're joined by David Nichols - Australian history expert, senior lecturer in Urban Planning at the University of Melbourne, and author of Dig: Australian Rock and Pop Music 1960-85 - to help us put together the pieces. We also learn about West Melbourne Stadium's second life as Festival Hall, and weave a story spanning seven decades that that takes us all the way up to 2023. Selected media discussed in this episode: * Frank Hardy's novel Power Without Glory (1950) * Howard Cosell's introduction of Frank Sinatra from The Main Event (1974) * Ben Folds Five's "Boxing" from Ben Folds Five (1995) * Newsfront (1978) * Recordings of The AMPOL Show from 1957, documenting early Australian performances of Bill Haley and the Comets, Litltle Richard and others. Released as Rock n' Roll Radio Australia 1957. Available in full on YouTube. * The Beatles' concert from Festival Hall, Melbourne, 1964. Filmed in full and available on YouTube. No longer on social media! Check out our website - SUDDENLYPOD.GAY Get in touch with us - suddenlypod at gmail dot com Donate to the show @ ko.fi.com/suddenlypod

Frank Sinatra's first Australian visit in 1955 followed shortly after the repeal of decades-old laws preventing "coloured" musicians, or any foreign musicians, from performing in the country. The tour was part of the initial run of the now-legendary "Big Shows" put on by mysterious American promoter Lee Gordon, who took advantage of the newly-liberated times to bring acts like Ella Fitzgerald, Johnnie Ray, Nat King Cole and Louis Armstrong to Australia for the first time. But how did we end up with such racist, bizarre laws in the first place? To understand that, we need to go back to the 1928 Australian tour of an African-American jazz band called Sonny Clay's Coloured Idea, and unravel the elaborate conspiracy that faced them when they arrived. This week, we're examining Sinatra's 1955 Australian tour by putting it in its proper historical context - with a cliffhanger ending you won't see coming. Selected media discussed this week, with links: Five Nights at Freddy's.Bring Me to Life.Harlem Nights: The Secret History of Australia's Jazz AgePhoto 1Photo 2 Central Station concourse in Sydney a shelf full of Sex and the City DVDs Little Man, What Now?Australian Music Maker and Dance Band NewsHarlem NightsSilences and Secrets: The Australian Experience of the Weintraubs Syncopators Dancing the Jitterbug at the Booker T. Washington Club (Albion Street) 1943Murders Most Foul: Sydney True Crime History ToursA Foggy Day (In London Town)In Concert.Live in Melbourne Australia 1954 and 1956. Sinatra Gets Tumultuous WelcomeLive in Melbourne, Australia.Felix playing OverwatchGod Save the Queen News story No longer on social media! Check out our website - SUDDENLYPOD.GAY Get in touch with us - suddenlypod at gmail dot com Donate to the show @ ko.fi.com/suddenlypod

Surprise! We're joined from Los Angeles by the legendary Karina Longworth, renowned film historian, author, critic and host of the iconic podcast You Must Remember This. This week, we're jumping ahead to discuss HIGH SOCIETY (1956). Louis Armstrong definitely deserved better, and we tackle the explicitly racist treatment of his character in the context in which 1950s Australian audiences would have received it. Also, what's with the old-timey trope of old men singing to little girls about how they'll be hot when they grow up? This week, opinions, perspectives and historical insights vary significantly between the four of us, but all come together to form a cohesive picture. As Karina says, "Your mileage may vary." Deirdre O'Connell's Harlem Nights: The Secret History of Australia's Jazz Age is available from Macquarie University Press. Dream Empire (2016) is streaming on Vimeo On Demand. Listen to Henry's new show with W.M. Akers, I'll Watch Anything. The new season of You Must Remember This - a continuation of the Erotic 90s series - begins on September 5th. No longer on social media! Check out our website - SUDDENLYPOD.GAY Get in touch with us - suddenlypod at gmail dot com Donate to the show @ ko.fi.com/suddenlypod

Because six hours wasn't enough, it's a special, informal bonus episode where Henry and Rabia discuss some leftover elements of our GUYS AND DOLLS series we didn't find time to discuss. Here we finish off the story of Damon Runyon's life and his legacy today, discuss the critical reception of the 1955 film, and spend some time thinking about the unsung victims of all of this: horses. No longer on social media! Check out our website - SUDDENLYPOD.GAY Get in touch with us - suddenlypod at gmail dot com Donate to the show @ ko.fi.com/suddenlypod

Fall in love with people, not with gamblers. It's all too strange and strong. Sit down, you're rocking the boat. This week, Henry leads us through the third and final part of our epic GUYS AND DOLLS series. We've got a spectacular supercut of Sinatra recordings of "Luck Be a Lady" through the ages, and a climactic 10-minute mashup that brings together all the themes we've explored throughout this six-hour odyssey. Henry's new podcast I'll Watch Anything will be out soon. Check out his website here. Watch Sinatra's version of "Luck Be a Lady" from A Man and his Music on YouTube. No longer on social media! Check out our website - SUDDENLYPOD.GAY Get in touch with us - suddenlypod at gmail dot com Donate to the show @ ko.fi.com/suddenlypod Artwork for this series of episodes by Felix (art instagram @saint_mcfly)

Why can't Nathan Detroit remember the colour of his own tie? In the second part of our GUYS AND DOLLS series, Henry begins taking us through the musical (and the 1955 Sinatra film) proper, beginning with "Fugue for Tinhorns", "Oldest Established" and "I'll Know." We discuss the intertwined relationship between gambling and religion, and finally come across some real life catgirls to justify the podcast logo in "Pet Me, Poppa." There's gender politics, weaponised incompetence and the beauty of the pre-dawn hours. Then, finally, we talk about the thing you've been thinking this whole time. Next week, DOLLS. No longer on social media! Check out our website - SUDDENLYPOD.GAY Get in touch with us - suddenlypod at gmail dot com Donate to the show @ ko.fi.com/suddenlypod Artwork for this series of episodes by Felix (art instagram @saint_mcfly)

Henry Giardina takes the lead as host for the first time as we begin our month-long GUYS AND DOLLS odyssey. In this first installment, the stage is set as we're introduced to the world of legendary short story writer, journalist and master of the "historical present", Damon Runyon. Best known today as the author whose stories inspired the musical Guys and Dolls (later adapted into the 1955 film starring Sinatra), Runyon was a lifelong and loving observer of human nature whose work sprang from the journalistic climate of the early 20th century in America. This week, the world of William Randolph Hearst and his "Gee Whiz!" headlines, Runyon biographer Jimmy Breslin, the struggles of addiction and the budding mythology of a street called Broadway... as we find out what Guys and Dolls really is, where it came from, and why it matters. No longer on social media! Check out our website - SUDDENLYPOD.GAY Get in touch with us - suddenlypod at gmail dot com Donate to the show @ ko.fi.com/suddenlypod Artwork for this series of episodes by Felix (art instagram @saint_mcfly)

It's 1955 and we're deep into the masculinity crisis. It's an era of lofty 800-page novels adapted into 2-hour-plus movies. We've got navel-gazing middle-aged white men, coming out of a period of deep repression and trauma, wondering who and what they really are. Sinatra is one of their icons, as here is Robert Mitchum. This week’s film could have been a later-season episode of Rocky Fortune, and it also could have called From Here to Eternity 2: Dr. Maggio’s Revenge. Once again, Sinatra throws us a curveball in the form of a serious medical drama about the mental health of surgeons: NOT AS A STRANGER (1955). On this episode we deal with a lot of personal trauma, talk about the history of transgender surgeries, learn about Swedish immigration and drop an obscure racial slur that we're 90% sure we're allowed to say. Raoul Wallenberg was a Swedish hero who saved thousands of lives during the Holocaust. He is commemorated in Melbourne, Australia in the form of a park in Kew and a tree in St. Kilda. Watch Raoul Wallenberg: Behind the Lines here. Henry Giardina's Substack. Longread article on "Butcher Brown" - Why Did He Cut Off That Man's Leg? The Peculiar Practice of John Ronald Brown by Paul Ciotti. Read here. The list of trans surgery GoFundMes is here. No longer on social media! Check out our website - SUDDENLYPOD.GAY Get in touch with us - suddenlypod at gmail dot com

That's amore. Non paghiamo il fossile. And just like that... Boom, kiss, come on, God bless America. In 1966, a pilot for a potential Three Coins in the Fountain TV series was filmed on location in Rome. It only aired on TV once in August 1970, was not picked up thereafter and has never been made available ever since. Probably very few people have ever seen it at all. This week, we've unearthed it - and since it's turned out to be in the public domain, you can now watch it in full with English subtitles on the new SUDDENLY YouTube channel. In what somehow turns out to be our longest episode to date, Justin Gausman of TCBCast: An Unofficial Elvis Presley Fan Podcast joins us to examine "Caesar's Ghost", the first and only episode of the rejected Three Coins series. Is this the best manifestation of the franchise? Could it have been the Sex and the City of the 1960s if someone gave it a chance? We say yes - and it also turns out that this very obscure piece of lost media has significant overlap with the Elvis movie universe. That's right; because three-and-a-half hours wasn't enough, we're talking about Three Coins in the Fountain once again. We're back to talk about this obscure pilot, and also as a mark of respect to Ultima Generazione (Last Generation), the climate activists who turned the Trevi water black just weeks ago. During our record, we fire up the Trevi Fountain webcam once again and witness street sweepers, selfie-takers and a very special surprise that you'll love. Also, stay tuned after the closing theme for a bonus 45-minute discussion with Rabia & Justin about the future of AI in music, recorded spontaneously at 8am due to a timezone mix-up. Watch Three Coins in the Fountain ("Caesar's Ghost") on the SUDDENLY YouTube channel here. Tune into the Trevi Fountain webcam live as you listen here. Justin is the co-host of the highly recommended show, TCBCast: An Unofficial Elvis Presley Podcast. You can also join his Patreon to watch the "Blue Suede Reviews", and check out his appearance on the YouTube show EAP Society here. Also, check out our new official website! suddenlypod.gay CONTACT: SUDDENLYPOD AT GMAIL DOT COM WEBSITE: suddenlypod.gay @SUDDENLYPOD on TWITTER / INSTAGRAM / YOUTUBE / MYSPACE Donate to the show @ ko-fi.com/suddenlypod