Richard Rodgers - Wider Influence

Wider Influence

  • The Internet Movie Database lists 276 film and TV soundtracks using songs by Rodgers, as well as 46 films and TV events that credit him as the composer.
  • In 1960, the saxophonist John Coltrane recorded a jazz version of "My Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music whose rich modal improvisations proved germane. The tune became a regular part of his repertoire.
  • The entry "You'll Never Walk Alone" (from Carousel) discusses in detail the many cover versions of this song, and its extraordinary popularity with professional soccer teams and their fans.
  • Jerry Lewis ended his Labor Day telethon by singing "You'll Never Walk Alone".
  • "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" from Oklahoma! is sometimes mistaken for a traditional folk song.
  • "Edelweiss", "Ländler" (Rodgers' adaption of a traditional Austrian folk dance tune), and "Do-Re-Mi", all from The Sound of Music, frequently go unrecognized as Rodgers' tunes.
  • "Happy Talk" is covered by Daniel Johnston and Jad Fair. Captain Sensible did a jaunty rendition in the 1980s, complete with burlesque organ. The British rapper Dizzee Rascal uses the chorus of this song.
  • Several professional awards in musical theater are named for Rodgers.

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Famous quotes containing the words wider and/or influence:

    “Our life is a faint tracing on the surface of mystery, like the idle, curved tunnels of leaf miners on the face of a leaf. We must somehow take a wider view, look at the whole landscape, really see it, and describe what’s going on here. Then we can at least wail the right question into the swaddling band of darkness, or, if it comes to that, choir the proper praise.”
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