“ALPHABETICALLY YOURS” SERIES 24. (X) – By Des Kelly She is a beautiful, multi-talented,entertainer that Australia is proud to call “their own”, however, she was born in England, of a German mother, Irene Born, and an English father Brinley Newton-John, who migrated to Melbourne in 1954, when Olivia Newton John was just six years old. Like all true “Stars”, Olivia started showing off her talents at a very young age, and became active in showbiz since 1963 when she was fifteen, singing and dancing her way into the hearts of everyone she met. Because of the nature of this “Series”, it is impossible to elaborate on the careers of the “Stars” or songs I feature, but suffice to say that Olivia Newton John, now 70 years old, became a World-famous Star, as “Sandy” in the film called Grease, with John Travolta, also starred in a film called Xanadu, which, although ...

“ALPHABETICALLY YOURS” SERIES 23 (W) – By Des Kelly Always an “outlaw” in every sense of the word. An extraordinary entertainer, as well. He owns an old acoustic guitar that he calls Trigger, a Martin N.20 style accoustic nylon string, his “baby”, which unfortunately, has taken a severe beating over the years of roaming around the World, with this Singer/Songwriter “Star” Willie Nelson, who, when he is not on tour, protects ” Trigger” in a bank vault, the reason being, that old and holey, it may be, but this particular instrument is worth a small fortune. Willie Nelson first based is guitar-style on another famous guitarist, Django Reinhardt, but latterly had his acoustic guitar tranformed into a “electric- guitar”, thereby bringing out his own style into the Country Music World. In “Alphabetically Yours”, especially for our readers and members of eLanka, I have picked out the very best version of ...

“ALPHABETICALLY YOURS” SERIES 22 (V) – By Des Kelly “She’s venom, wearin’ denim” is the name of the song. This is another PLUS for Country Music. “Song-titles”, the likes of which, would never be seen in any other genre of music. Clever titles, clever lyrics, stories in song, as I always call them, this time, telling us that we males should always be careful with these pretty “Ladies of the night”, whether they wear denim or silk. Of course, they are not all venomous, but do the wrong thing, boys, and you’ll know exactly what Junior Brown is trying to tell us. WHO IS Junior Brown ?, you ask. Well, I didn’t know either, until I heard this particular song which was included in my huge library of music. On doing a bit of research, I find that, here IS another unique character. Born in 1952, he came out of ...

“ALPHABETICALLY YOURS” SERIES 21 (U) – By Des Kelly A former founder-member of the “Sinatra Ratpack”,but, even more importantly the “Stand-up” man of the Jerry Lewis comedy duo, he was the happy-go-lucky type of bloke that anyone would have liked, to have had at their parties and celebrations. Tall, good-looking, always, it seems, with a drink in his hands, a typical Italiano, Dino Martino (born Dino Paul Crocetti on April 7th 1917), was indeed one of the most popular Actor/Producer, Singer/ Comedian entertainers of his era. He had the special charm and charisma of a genuine “Star” whose version of the beautiful memories, gleaned from “Under the bridges of Paris” will never be forgotten. Dean Martin, “The King of Cool” died on Christmas day, of 1995, aged 78. To all my eLanka readers, please enjoy Dean’s “top” version of a song dedicated to one of the loveliest Cities in the ...

“Alphabetically Yours”: Series 20. (T) – By Des Kelly It almost did. The bottle, that is. When I served my Country in the Royal Ceylon Navy from 1953 to 1961, give or take a few weeks, “bending the elbow” or “hitting the bottle”, call it what you like, was part and parcel of being a member of the “Senior Service”. If one did not “participate” in everything one should NOT participate in, one could not boast of being a Navy-Man. Yes, I have to say it, as it WAS. I have to blame it on my “grandfather” Jack, who drank anything but water. In the Navy, it was quite common to drink. The only problem was, how MUCH we drank.Speaking for myself, at least my head never had to have a close look into the toilet bowl, after any lengthy boozing session, I could “hold” my liquor. Coming to Australia ...

“ALPHABETICALLY YOURS” SERIES 19 (S) – By Des Kelly A father & daughter combination that is second to none. Frank Sinatra, “old blue eyes”, “cranky Frankie”, call him what you will, Sinatra (R.I.P.), was well known as technically, the best Vocalist in the entire World. He had his “good points”, he had his “bad”, but so does every one of us. During his “younger days”, no-one could touch him, in the entertainment stakes. He had his choice of beautiful women, mainly because, when he sang a song, he would pick a “beauty” in his audience and sing TO HER. He once said that he’d rather stay in bed than sing a few songs at the “Sands” hotel & casino in the Las Vegas Strip, in Nevada for 50 thousand dollars offered to him, one weekend in the mid 1950’s, and this was a huge amount of money, even in the ...