Editor’s Note: This article was originally written for Wonkavision magazine back in 2010.
Since the first “talkie” pictures in the 1920′s, actors have wanted to sing and singers have wanted to act. Actors such as Paul Robeson, Harry Belafonte and Telly Savalas were as well known for their songs as they were for their movies, and singers like Isaac Hayes and Barbra Streisand became equally famous for their acting chops. Yet, for every one of these successful crossover artists, there are dozens who were never quite able to pull it off. Here are some of my personal favorite “almost did it” celebrity records from my own collection.
Bruce Willis – The Return Of Bruno
Bruce Willis released his debut album, The Return of Bruno, in early 1987 on Motown Records. At 32-years-old, he recorded this collection of cover songs just a year before his performance in the film Die Hard launched his career as one of the top-grossing action stars of his generation. Nine out of ten tracks on the album are covers of Motown classics such as “Respect Yourself” (which peaked at #5 on the Billboard pop charts) and “Under the Boardwalk,” and feature backing performances by Booker T. Jones and The Temptations. The lone original track is “Jackpot (Bruno’s Bop),” which was co-written by Willis and producer Robert Kraft. He released a follow-up album in 1989 and contributed music to his 1991 flop Hudson Hawk, but ever since has chosen to concentrate on his acting. The Return of Bruno was re-issued on CD in 1997 by Razor and Tie Records, and all ten tracks made it into the 2000 French CD release Classic Bruce Willis: The Universal Masters Collection. Vinyl copies of the original 1987 album are available on eBay for around ten bucks.
Herschell Gordon Lewis and the Amazing Pink Holes – South’s Gonna Rise Again
In 1963, director Herschell Gordon Lewis made film history by creating the first “gore” horror movie, Blood Feast. It spawned an entire movie genre now populated by characters such as Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees. In 2004, at the age of 75, he recorded new versions of theme songs he’d written for his films 2000 Maniacs and Moonshine Mountain (both from 2004). The recordings are backed by Cleveland punk band The Amazing Pink Holes, and marked their first activity in 15 years. South’s Gonna Rise Again was released by Smog Veil Records on CD and as a limited edition blood-splattered 7-inch vinyl. Both are still available from their website, with the vinyl version selling for less than three bucks. In 2006, I met Herschell Gordon Lewis and got him to autograph my vinyl copy in blood-red sharpie marker.
The Tarriers – Eponymous
More than 50 years before winning a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for the film Little Miss Sunshine, acclaimed actor and director Alan Arkin was in a folk trio called The Tarriers. In 1957, 22-year-old Arkin and bandmates Erik Darling and Bob Carey released their first full-length LP on Glory Records. Eponymous contains 14 tracks, including a cover of “The Banana Boat Song” which earned them some chart success but was overshadowed by Harry Belafonte’s version later that same year. The back of the LP jacket says that Alan Arkin had an early interest in acting, but “with a successful career in music assured, he has given up his yen for acting.” Ten years later, Arkin became one of just 8 actors to get an Oscar nod for their first film performance, in The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming. The album was re-issued on CD in 2001 by Folk Era Records, but copies
of the original vinyl pressing are hard to find.
Ted Knight – Hi Guys
When Ted Knight released his singing comedy album Hi Guys on Ranwood Records in 1975, he was at the top of his career. Five years into his gig as “Ted Baxter” on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Knight was already a household name and an Emmy winner, and children around the country listened to his deep voice narrating the Super Friends cartoon on Saturday mornings. The 14-track LP is full of entertainment, from his cover of “Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini” to the truly odd “I’m In Love with Barbara Walters,” and captures the comedic sense of this wonderful talent well. Sadly, Ted Knight lost his battle with cancer just over a decade later in 1986, at the age of 62. So far as I could find, the album has never been released on CD, but original vinyl copies are floating around on eBay and elsewhere for around fifteen bucks.
Tim Curry – Read My Lips
In 1975, actor Tim Curry leapt onto the national stage and into cult stardom with his gender-bending performance as “Frank N. Furter” in The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Just three years later, he released the first of three solo music albums, Read My Lips, on A&M Records. What makes this LP a prized gem also makes it nearly un-listenable as a whole. Eight of the nine tracks are covers done in pretty much random musical styles. He records The Beatles’ “I Will” as a reggae tune, and does “Wake Nicodemus” with what sounds like an army of bagpipe players accompanying him. The album sold well enough for him to do to more, but never produced any hits. Today, these records are largely forgotten as his volume of film and TV acting jobs buries it deep in his resume. While Read My Lips has never had a CD reissue, three tracks made it onto the 1989 A&M release The Best of Tim Curry, and vinyl copies remain readily available for five bucks or less.
Rodney Allen Rippy – Take Life A Little Easier
In 1973, fast-food burger chain Jack In The Box made an overnight pop culture sensation out of a five-year-old boy named Rodney Allen Rippy, who tried in commercials to eat the Jumbo Jack burger but couldn’t, exclaiming “It’s too big-a-eat!” The catch-phrase became a national fad a decade before Clara Peller did the same thing for Wendy’s with her eternal question, “Where’s the beef?” Within months of the first commercial, Bell Records had put together and released the album Take Life A Little Easier. Eleven tracks featuring the cute little boy that had captured the nation’s heart include covers of “It’s A Small World” and “The Candy Man,” from the film Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory. Rippy went on to appear briefly as young Sheriff Bart in Mel Brooks’ west-sploitation comedy Blazing Saddles, as well as some guest shots in television shows, before abandoning acting at the ripe old age of 8 to focus on school. In 2003, he dusted off his vocal chords to help record the song “Child Stars” for the David Spade comedy Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star. The album has never been released on CD, but vinyl copies are floating around the internet for between twenty and fifty bucks.
