The Styrous® Viewfinder: 2025

September 27, 2025

78 RPMs 13: Thanks for the Memory & Bob Hope

On Tuesday, September 27, 1938, Thanks for the Memory, composed by Ralph Rainger, was heard for the first time on the The Bob Hope Show. That was years before I was born but the tune was a big part of my life because it was Hope's signature song which he employed his entire professional life. And I was a fan of his most of mine.

Thanks for the Memory - sheet music

Other songs Rainger wrote are I Wished on the Moon sung by both Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday, Holiday's version is slightly faster & bouncier. Love in Bloom (comedian Jack Benny's theme song) was introduced in the film She Loves Me Not by Bing Crosby and Kitty Carlisle, Faithful Forever Easy Living, June in January, Blue Hawaii. And with Leo Robin on the 1938 Oscar-winning song, Thanks for the Memory, sung by Bob Hope in the film The Big Broadcast of 1938.

The Big Broadcast of 1938. lobby card

Thanks for the Memory - "B" side

Two Sleepy People - "A" side

Tracklist:

Side 1:

Two Sleepy People (from film "Thanks For The Memory")

Side 2:

Thanks For The Memory (from film "The Big Broadcast of 1938")

Credits:

Accompanied By – Harry Sosnik & His Orchestra*

Notes:

Barcode and Other Identifiers

Bob Hope And Shirley Ross – Two Sleepy People / Thanks For The Memory
Label: Decca – 2219
Format: Shellac, 10", 78 RPM
Country: US
Released: 1938
Genre: Pop, Stage & Screen
Style: Vocal

Viewfinder links:

Jack Benny

Kitty Carlisle

Ella Fitzgerald

Billie Holiday

Bob Hope

Ralph Rainger

Shirley Ross

Net links:

YouTube links:

Jack Benny ~ Love in Bloom

Bing Crosby and Kitty Carlisle ~ Love in Bloom

Ella Fitzgerald ~ I Wished on the Moon

Billie Holiday ~ I Wished on the Moon

Bob Hope & Shirley Ross ~

Two Sleepy People

Thanks for the Memory

Styrous® ~ Wednesday, February 17, 2021

78 RPMs Archive

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September 22, 2025

Walt Whitman articles/mentions

mentions

Isao Tomito ~ The Planets (vinyl LP)

Walt Whitman - 1887

photo by George C. Cox

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Books/Authors

MAIN MENU - Blog Articles
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William Morris articles/mentions

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mentions:

Isao Tomito ~ The Planets (laserDisc)

Isao Tomito ~ The Planets (vinyl LP)

William Morris - 1887

Photo by Frederick Hollyer

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Art people

MAIN MENU - Blog Articles
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Stanislaw Fernandes articles/mentions

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mentions:

Isao Tomito ~ The Planets (laserDisc)

Isao Tomito ~ The Planets (vinyl LP)

Stanislaw Fernandes - 1961

Photo by Richard Hamnett

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Art people

MAIN MENU - Blog Articles
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Edmund Rubbra articles/mentions

mentions:

Patrick Gleeson ~ Beyond The Sun

Isao Tomito ~ The Planets (laserDisc)

Isao Tomito ~ The Planets (vinyl LP)

Edmund Rubbra - 1948

photo: Elliott & Fry Studios

Music People

MAIN MENU - Blog Articles
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September 21, 2025

20,000 vinyl LPs 399: Isao Tomita: Gustav Holst ~ The Planets

Isao Tomita ~ Gustav Holst ~ The Planets

vinyl LP front cover detail

cover illustration – Stanislaw Fernandes

detail photo of album cover by Styrous®

On September 21, 1874, composer Gustav Theodore Holst was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. Apart from The Planets and a handful of other works, his music was generally neglected until the 1980s, when recordings of much of his output became available.

Isao Tomita ~ Gustav Holst ~ The Planets

vinyl LP front cover

cover illustration – Stanislaw Fernandes

photo of album cover by Styrous®

Some of his friends and influences were Ralph Vaughan Williams, George Bernard Shaw and fabric designer William Morris. Holst was also frequently inspired by literature, Max Müller, Walt Whitman, Thomas Hardy and Robert Bridges.

Isao Tomita ~ Gustav Holst ~ The Planets

vinyl LP back cover

illustration – Stanislaw Fernandes

photo of album cover by Styrous®

Patrick Gleeson, who did several classical synthesizer albums using the Emu Modular synthesizer, released his own version of the Holst Planets on Mercury Records (link below). There was some consternation at RCA and Mercury that both artists had worked unknown to each other on a synthesizer version of the same piece. 'The Tomita Planets' was more than likely so named in the USA to avoid the confusion the record companies were fearful of.

The Planets was taken out of market for a few years by court order from the Holst's relatives. They claimed that Tomita had manhandled their father's great composition, and the record company withdrew some 30,000 records from the stores. Despite this, The Planets is Tomita's most complete and popular work, and was listed as one of the best keyboard albums by Keyboard Magazine. It was the last album to be released by RCA Records in the quadraphonic format.

There have been many interpretations of The Planets; Emerson, Lake & Palmer did a version of Mars The Bringer Of War.

Isao Tomita ~ Gustav Holst ~ The Planets

vinyl LP back cover detail

illustration – Stanislaw Fernandes

detail photo Styrous®

There is more information on Holst and Tomita on a previous article I've written about the LaserDisc version of this recording (link below).

The illustration for the cover of The Planets was created by Stanislaw Fernandes who also did the cover for the Enchantment album by Utopia (to be a future article).

Isao Tomita ~ Gustav Holst ~ The Planets

vinyl LP, side 1

photos by Styrous®

Isao Tomita ~ Gustav Holst ~ The Planets

vinyl LP back cover detail

illustration – Stanislaw Fernandes

detail photo Styrous®

Tracklist:

Side 1:

A1 - I. Mars, The Bringer Of War - 10:48
A2 - II. Venus, The Bringer Of Peace - 8:46
A3 - III. Mercury, The Winged Messenger - 5:28

Side 2:

B1 - IV. Jupiter, The Bringer Of Jollity; V. Saturn, The Bringer Of Old Age - 17:35
B2 - VI. Uranus, The Magician; VII. Neptune, The Mystic - 9:37

Companies, etc.

Phonographic Copyright ℗ – RCA Records
Copyright © – RCA Records
Pressed By – RCA Records Pressing Plant, Indianapolis
Published By – G. Schirmer

Credits:

Composed By – Holst*
Illustration – Stanislaw Fernandes
Performer [Electronically Performed] – Isao Tomita*
Producer [Produced By] – Plasma Music, Inc.

Notes:

Includes a poster of the front sleeve, and a poly-lined Red Seal inner sleeve.
Some copies have a Demonstration/Not For Sale gold stamp on the back cover.

Artist/title on front cover:
The
Tomita
Planets

Artist/title on spine:
Holst · The Planets – Isao Tomita

Artist/title on labels:
Holst
The Planets

Artist/title on back cover:
Holst
The Planets
Electronically performed by
Isao Tomita

Info on back cover:
TMK(S) ® Registered • Marca(s) Registrada(s) RCA Corporation • © 1976 RCA Records, New York, N.Y. • Printed in U.S.A.

Info on labels:
(Recorded in Japan)
TM(s) TCA Corp.—Made in U.S.A.

Runouts are stamped except the last letter or number is etched (e.g. A).

Barcode and Other Identifiers

Rights Society: ASCAP
Pressing Plant ID: I
Price Code (on spine): 0698
Matrix / Runout (Side A label): ARL1-1919-A
Matrix / Runout (Side B label): ARL1-1919-B
Matrix / Runout (Side A runout variant 1): ARL1-1919A-1 I A0 3
Matrix / Runout (Side B runout variant 1): ARL1-1919B-2 I AC C
Matrix / Runout (Side A runout variant 2): ARL1-1919 A-6
Matrix / Runout (Side B runout variant 2): ARL1-1919 B-10
Matrix / Runout (Side A runout variant 3): ARL1-1919A-1 I ^0A
Matrix / Runout (Side B runout variant 3): ARL1-1919B-2 I ^2B
Matrix / Runout (Side A runout variant 4): ARL1-1919A-1 I A1 cC
Matrix / Runout (Side B runout variant 4): ARL1-1919B-2 I A C D
Matrix / Runout (Side A runout variant 5): ARL1-1919A-1 I Λ0 J
Matrix / Runout (Side B runout variant 5): ARL1-1919B-2 ΛI L
Matrix / Runout (Side A runout variant 6): ARL1-1919A-1 I A4C
Matrix / Runout (Side B runout variant 6): ARL1-1919B-2 I A2C
Matrix / Runout (Side A runout variant 7): ARL1-1919A-1 I A3 L
Matrix / Runout (Side B runout variant 7): ARL1-1919B-2 I A1 L
Matrix / Runout (Side A runout variant 8): ARL1-1919 A-6 I 1 Λ2B
Matrix / Runout (Side B runout variant 8): ARL1-1919B-12 Λ1P
Matrix / Runout (Side A runout variant 9): ARL1-1919 A-1 I A1H
Matrix / Runout (Side B runout variant 9): ARL1-1919B-2 I A4D
Matrix / Runout (Side A runout variant 10): ARL1-1919A-1 I Λ7 F
Matrix / Runout (Side B runout variant 10): ARL1-1919B-2 I Λ7 C
Matrix / Runout (Side A runout variant 11): ARL1-1919 A-3 I A3 A1
Matrix / Runout (Side B runout variant 11): ARL1-1919B-2 I A10 K

Tomita – The Planets
Label: RCA Red Seal – ARL1-1919
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo, Indianapolis Pressing
Country: US
Released: 1976
Genre: Electronic
Style: Modern Classical

Viewfinder links:

Benjamin Britten

Emerson, Lake & Palmer

Stanislaw Fernandes

Patrick Gleeson

Gustav Holst

Gustav Holtz ~ The Planets (LaserDisc)

William Morris

Edmund Rubbra

George Bernard Shaw

Michael Tippett

Isao Tomita

Walt Whitman

Ralph Vaughan Williams

Net links:

Cultural influence of Holst's The Planets

Playbill ~ Why Holst's Masterpiece The Planets Is Out of This World

SF Crow's Nest ~ The Tomita Planets by Isao Tomita

Synth Junkie ~ Mars The Bringer of War: Two Synthesizer Interpretations

Isao Tomita ~ The Planets

ypoiw ~ Isao Tomita - The Planets

YouTube links:

Emerson, Lake & Palmer ~ Mars The Bringer Of War

Isao Tomita ~ Gustav Holst ~ The Planets (complete)

Styrous® ~ Sunday, September 21, 2025

20,000 Vinyl LPs Archive
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September 20, 2025

Jimmy Stewart ~ The Six Shooter

Jimmy Stewart - 1953

The Six Shooter

On September 20, 1953, Jimmy Stewart debuted as Britt Ponset, a drifting cowboy and a gunfighter, in the final years of the wild west on the radio western The Six Shooter on NBC.

The stories were sometimes serious western dramas, sometimes farcical, whimsical comedies but they were always entertaining. The outstanding feature of the program was Stewart's narration which was vary good and he would whisper the narrative during suspenseful scenes creating a wonderful sense of drama.

Each episode opened with this dialog: "The man in the saddle is angular and long-legged. His skin is sun-dyed brown. The gun in his holster is gray steel and rainbow mother-of-pearl, its handle unmarked. People call them both "the Six Shooter". He is a drifting cowboy with a reputation for fairness and a quick draw. Each episode tells a new story of adventure, justice, and redemption.

Some of the more prominent actors to perform on the program included Parley Baer, Virginia Gregg, Harry Bartell, Howard McNear, Jeanette Nolan, Dan O'Herlihy, Alan Reed (the original voice of Fred Flintstone on The Flintstones ), Marvin Miller, and William Conrad (often credited as "Julius Krelboyne" because he was also the star of CBS's radio show Gunsmoke, playing Marshall Matt Dillon at the time). Some did multiple episodes playing different characters.

The final episode, Myra Barker (lnk below), provided a satisfying (if melancholy) finale to the series. Ponset falls in love with Myra, and proposes marriage. Myra, after thinking it over, appears to accept, but then tells Britt she has heard that Sheriff Jennings of Eagle Falls has asked for his help, and Britt admits that he feels obligated to go. Myra tells Britt to go and not come back, telling him some adventure will always call him, and he will always go, or regret not going. Britt goes, resuming his wanderings, but not before revealing to the audience that he knows he was *not* needed in Eagle Falls, and knows Myra knows that, too. The moment comes across as a moment of supreme self-realization by Britt that he always will be a wanderer.

The theme music was arranged by series composer Basil Adlam and written by British film composer Charles Williams.

The radio series, comprised of 39 episodes, lasted only one season from Sept. 20, 1953 to June 24, 1954. One old-time radio directory called the program "a last, desperate effort by a radio network (NBC) to maintain interest in adventure drama by employing a major Hollywood movie star in the leading role."

Viewfinder links:

William Conrad

Marvin Miller
Alan Reed

James Stewart

Net links:

Best Old Time Radio ~ The Six Shooter Individual Episodes

Internet Archive ~ The Six Shooter Episodes

Old Time Westerns ~ The Six Shooter

YouTube links:

The Six Shooter Highland Lament

Audio Stories ~ The Six Shooter 19 episodes

Golden Radio Hour ~

Myra Barker (28 mins., 57 secs.)

The Outlaw’s Redemption (11 hrs., 55 mins.)

Spotify ~ The Six Shooter episodes