The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

marcapra wrote:I think you have to have lived in the 60's to remember Mrs. Miller. She was laughed at then for her renditions of popular songs. She didn't sing opera though like FFJ. She was on some popular TV shows as a kind of gag. I haven't thought about her since the 60s.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWoWH8W3sVo

Oh ... my ... gawd....

De Soto Frank wrote:

marcapra wrote:I think you have to have lived in the 60's to remember Mrs. Miller. She was laughed at then for her renditions of popular songs. She didn't sing opera though like FFJ. She was on some popular TV shows as a kind of gag. I haven't thought about her since the 60s.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWoWH8W3sVo

Oh ... my ... gawd....

I used to see those Mrs. Miller records in garage sales in the 1980's. For some reason it never impressed me.

I know what I'm getting some friends for Christmas gifts...

I played the RCA Victor 10 inch LP called "A Florence!Foster!!Jenkins!!!Recital!!!! for a friend of mine.She thought FFJ sounded like Minnie Mouse!edisonplayer

I am fortunate to have them all. There are four 12” and one 10”, all pressed on Melotone (not the ARC Melotone). When the Bilton phonograph show used to be in New Jersey, just outside of NYC, I was lucky to get all five in one shot.

I first heard Florence in 1992 and laughed so hard I had tears in my eyes. How could something so bad be so good? How can singing so bad make me so happy? And as I learned more about her life, I loved these records even more.

One thing for sure, if you are ever having a bad day and need a little pick-me-up, listen to Florence Foster Jenkins performing Queen of the Night by Mozart: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6ubiUIxbWE One of my friends here in Detroit owns a record store and we played this version in the store last week; it’s hard to explain but every customer in his shop was instantly smiling.

From Wiki: Jenkins refused to open her performances to the general public, and was clearly aware of her detractors. "People may say I can't sing," she once remarked to a friend, "but no one can ever say I didn't sing."

A nice brief summary of her life: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Foster_Jenkins

RIP “Lady Florence”, your rock in my book,

Ken Flaherty

Once again, a reminder to one and all who are interested in FFJ: you must see the movie with Meryl Streep in the title rôle, Hugh Grant as her lover/protector/manager, St. Clair Bayfield, and Simon Helberg as her long-suffering accompanist, Cosmé Moon. Brilliant performances, beautifully filmed, and very sympathetic to the complex character that was Mrs. Jenkins. To paraphrase an old aphorism, I came to laugh, and left weeping (well, almost, but certainly with more insight and understanding). I will never laugh at her again!

In 2003, Pablo Helguera, Mike Loughlin, Peter Dilg and I performed at the Museum of Modern Art/Gramercy Theatre In New York City. Pablo performed his work “Parallel Lives. We used several phonographs with pre-recorded cylinders, one told the history of Kindergarten, another about the Shakers, and another was... Florence Foster Jenkins. Each phonograph was around the stage, and the phonograph types represented the different people, of course Florence had the bright flowered horn. The phonographs told the story they represented, themselves. Any other collector ever do such a thing, it was really enjoyable and fun.