Saturday, June 14, 2008

Mancini

No, not Ray "Boom Boom." Henry Mancini. Larry Aydlette has a nice appreciation up.

I actually have what I think is a pretty funny Mancini anecdote. The man himself was not involved, but...

My brother plays the violin, and when he was growing up played in a number of youth symphonies. The director of one of them had the memorable name of Joseph Monte de Rey, and he had the demeanor to match the name - in other words, he was a bit on the pompous side. So one year, the whole family is there attending one of their concerts, and as the program moves to its finale, "Monte" proudly and loudly exclaims, "and now, ladies and gentlemen, and tribute to one of the great American composers...Hank Mancini!

WTF...Hank Mancini!? Now think about it. Have you ever, in your entire life, heard anyone refer to Mr. Mancini as "Hank?" No, I didn't think so. Maybe his friends perhaps, of which Monte was most assuredly not one of, but in the public arena I can't recall a single time hearing "Hank" applied to Mancini.

It's a family joke that has lasted for decades. At any given moment, you might hear a conversation like this:

"So, what would you like to listen to during dinner?"

"Oh I don't know. How about some Hank Mancini?"

1 comment:

Anthony said...

This reminds me of something that's confused me more than once and for many years.

How did the name Jack become interchangeable with the name John?

Aside from that, two more things...

Have you checked out Wha I See Out My Window?

I'm hoping you'll consider sharing your review. If you can point some folks my way it would be much appreciated.

Lastly, I joined Stumble Upon and stopped by to review your site. Hopefully it will give you a traffic bump.