Going My Way: The (Secret) History of Bing Crosby

One of the greatest of all Holiday movies: the classic starring Bing Crosby. It was in this movie that "White Christmas" was first performed.
One of the greatest of all Holiday movies: the classic starring Bing Crosby. It was in this movie that “White Christmas” was first performed.

Editor’s Note: Parts of this piece were originally published on risicompetizione.com during the coverage of the Laguna Seca ALMS race. This particular post is excerpted from that original post and featured here because of one reason: Bing Crosby. Bing will be all over the media landscape this holiday season, singing “White Christmas”, in his three holiday classics, “Holiday Inn” (yes, that’s where the name came from), “Going My Way”  and “White Christmas“. Each film is a holiday classic but what is sometimes missed in the shuffle is precisely how good Bing Crosby was in so many different areas, from entertainment to venture capital. Here’s a portion of the story of one of the great entertainers of all time. It’s more amazing than any Hollywood film. 
Paying Attention: Before we dive into the details, minutiae, and results of the Laguna Seca race, this seems like a good point to go back in time to the event that really put the Monterey Peninsula on the map and that was Der Bingle’s Bing Crosby National Pro-Am. Crosby started the tournament—perhaps the first Celebrity backed big time golf tournament—in 1937 when he hosted it at Rancho Sante Fe Golf Club in Rancho Sante Fe, California. Rancho Sante Fe is a very tony development outside San Diego, California. Crosby—like best pal Bob Hope—was an accomplished golfer (he had a two handicap and played in both the U.S. and British Amateur championships) and one of America’s biggest media stars with an impressive career in film, as a singer, and on radio.  Crosby had a powerhouse radio program, produced 300 hit singles, and won an Academy Award for his role in the Christmas classic, “Going My Way” (however, don’t overlook “Holiday Inn”, the movie in which the song “White Christmas” was introduced on film by Bing). Crosby was also famous for teaming up with Hope in the famous/infamous series of “road” movies, in which the two bumbled their way through adventures and women in various exotic locales ranging from Rio to Hong Kong.
Crosby’s business life is not nearly so well known as his public persona, but he and his companies revolutionized broadcasting, first by developing and using magnetic audio tape to record and pre-record radio shows (he wanted a way to pre-record his shows to free himself from the demands of live broadcasting schedules) and then by funding the development of videotape (he was an early investor in the AMPEX company) to do the same thing for visual images. Crosby also owned a TV station and was a part owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball team until his death. Quite a life.
An avid golfer, Bing died in 1977 on a golf course outside Madrid, but the Crosby tournament at Pebble Beach had, by then, achieved a life of its own and continues today, although the name has been changed to the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am (note: It’ll be on the PGA schedule this coming February, 2016). When Bing died, Bob Hope—who hosted a similar event, the Bob Hope Tournament in Las Vegas—said that “if friends could be made to order, I would have asked for one like Bing”. Bing Crosby was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame and, along with Bob Hope, given the Bob Jones Award from the United States Golf Association in recognition of distinguished sportsmanship. The two friends were all-in for golf and golf competitions long before the general population was paying attention.
The tournament that Bing started is played in February, over three of the area’s top courses: Pebble Beach Golf Links, Spy Hill Golf Course, and Monterey Peninsula Country Club. It attracts a great group of both pros and amateurs and, not surprisingly, some of the celebrity amateurs are pretty good: Actor Jim Backus actually made the 36 hole cut in 1964. This past year, Denver Bronco’s QB Peyton Manning made a good showing and most people who follow the tournament know that Bill Murray—a favorite celebrity—will brighten things up if rain dampens the event, which it has on several occasions.
The tournament is technically demanding and not suitable for every pro’s game but there are some golfers for whom it’s the golf equivalent of a “home game”. Mark O’Meara has won 5 times, Phil Mickelson has won 4 as did Slammin’ Sammy Snead. Jack Nicklaus won it three times and so did Johnny Miller. Nicklaus also won the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach (1972). Gene Littler holds one of the most interesting records for the tournament: he is the only person to win it as an amateur (1954) and as a pro (1975).
Regrettably there is no time for a round at Pebble Beach during the Laguna Seca race weekend, but it would be a very good promotional idea for the race organizers to work with the tournament organizers and see if a few celebrity spots might be available for class winners of the Laguna Seca TUSCC race.—along with one spot reserved for the writer who thought of the idea. What a terrific way to tie together two of the classic events in the peninsula.
 
The Fine Print:  All rights reserved by their respective rights holder. Photo Used under Creative Commons license.  This visual has not been altered in any way. Posted on Flickr by Insomnia Cured Here. Thanks to Insomnia and Flickr for sharing. 
 

Christmas One More Time: VII

The Hunt for New (Christmas) Music:
This is the seventh in our series of of posts on the very best music of the Christmas/Holiday season. There are a couple of absolute standouts on this list: The Tractors version of “Santa Clause is Coming to Town”, a live version of “Holiday Road” (theme from National Lampoon’s Vacation movie) by Lindsey Buckingham, and “God Trying to Get Your Attention” by blues artist Keb ‘Mo are fabulous performances, but, really, everything on the list is terrific.
Enjoy the season and the spirit of the music.
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When Bad Things Happen to Goodwill: The Unwinding of the J.Crew Brand.

Paying Attention:  At one time, J.Crew was the hottest brand going. It had perfect pitch for millennial styles. The right sweaters (cashmere). The right shoes (ballet influenced flats). The right cut to the suits; the perfect fabric for the shirts. And then…they lost the touch. It happens and–warning to brand management pros everywhere–it’s going to happen a lot more frequently in the months and years to come than in the past because we are in an era of “now”..i.e. real time, fast-reaction analyze and stock to suit era. Get with it or it’s over.Perhaps that’s why Ralph Lauren–designer of some of the most conservative clothing in the world–picked an expert in fast-reaction manufacturing to be the new CEO. And perhaps that’s why the folks at J.Crew have had to write down their goodwill–you know, the intangible brand value that means that their shirt is worth more than someone else’s–in a very dramatic way. Here’s the whole story, from Bloomberg.com. If you’re running a retail business, read the article and make notes. It could happen to you (and surely, when you sell, you don’t want to go only for asset value).
 

Imagine

Paying Attention: John Lennon was assassinated on 8 December 1980, thirty-five years ago.  He was shot outside of his apartment in New York City–a place he had moved because he believed he could have more “freedom” than in England. In New York, John Lennon could become anonymous…but not anonymous enough. The irony is powerful and unmistakeable. His final album “Double Fantasy” had been released three weeks earlier; not  surprisingly, it was one of his very finest musical productions.  Pete Hamill, who did a landmark interview with Lennon in 1975, once called John Lennon “the dark side of The Beatles” and that he certainly was: he was direct, critical, quick, judgmental, creatively dangerous, rebellious, egotistic, talented, and an audacious risk taker who fought for what he believed in. Lennon was not the most beloved of The Beatles and there were–and still are–many who despised him for whatever reason (maybe it was because he had a habit of challenging the status quo in almost every area of culture). His popularity or personality, however, should not form the basis for our appreciation or disapproval  of him. It should be the art he created: his music, drawings, poetry, writings. He was an artist and he had an artist’s temperament. He was one of the founders and leaders of the most commercially popular and culturally influential music group in history. Period. Only four people knew what it was like to be a Beatle and only those four knew what the experience could do to someone. Everyone else–even those closest to the band–did not have a clue. Tonight, we remember John Lennon the very best way: by appreciating his work and imaging what might have been if he had not left us so soon. Below, the lyrics to perhaps his most famous song. Above, the video he produced for the song. Enjoy both.
” Imagine there’s no heaven
It’s easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today…
Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace…
You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will be as one
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world…
You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will live as one..
The Fine Print: Songwriter: John Lennon. Published by and Lyrics (C) SONY/ATV MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC. The video, embed via YouTube from JohnLennonMusic. All rights reserved by the respective rights holder. We thank everyone for sharing. 

 

The Netflix December Lineup

Paying Attention: It’s December and you’ll be home for the holidays. With plenty of time to watch some great new films or old classics…on Netflix, maybe. Netflix is a disruptive company. They crushed Blockbuster (and Blockbuster’s oppressive late fees) with a simple order-it-online/return-it-via-mail DVD business model, then upped the ante again with major league streaming technology and upped once more by producing their own series for the channel(“House of Cards” with Kevin Space and Robin Wright is a classic). So…we like Netflix, for all the right reasons, and this month, we’re liking it even more as the lineup of top films to watch this month is stocked with greats, new finds, and classics. Here’s a list of the Top 100 Films streaming on Netflix in December, courtesy of our pals at PasteMagazine.  This is a definitive list with reviews–not just a listing–and very well done. Dig in, turn on the Apple TV and flat screen, fire up the soundbar and take’em all in.
 

The Best Magazine Cover Ever

 
 
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Transitions: Michael Gross (1948-2015). Before there was Saturday Night Live there was National Lampoon, a humor magazine founded by former members of the Harvard Lampoon  along with a random, wild-bunch group of writers, illustrators, humorists, photographers, most of whom were educated at East Coast Ivy League colleges and all of whom possessed a very healthy (and for quite some time) very commercial outlook on the inherent zaniness and humor of the American culture. From National Lampoon came the great humor writers of the last part of the twentieth century, lead by Doug Kenney, the Editor-In-Chief who would go on to write two of the funniest and most iconic films of all time, Animal House and Caddyshack. National Lampoon was not so much a publication as an attitude and the Golden Rule at the magazine was that “no one gets a free pass..not your mother, your father, the President, the Pope, your wife, your ex-girlfriend. Everyone is a target.”  Realistically, that’s the only way such a publication can approach editorial content, because if anyone gets a pass–i.e. is not subject to withering scrutiny and humor–then the nasty issue of joke favoritism comes up and, well, that’s not funny.
The co-conspirators at National Lampoon, besides ringleader Kenney, included PJ O’Rourke,  Henry Beard, Michael O’Donoghue, Anne Beatts, George W.S. Trow, John Hughes, Chris Miller, Gerry Sussman, Sean Kelly, Tony Hendra and many others.  The talent pool was astounding and smart (dumb people are not funny intentionally…..it takes a very smart person to produce great humor).  You can read the history of National Lampoon in Rick Meyerowitz’s terrific book, Drunk, Stoned, Brilliant, Dead (you would not necessarily think that humor writing is a hazardous task but it is, not because of the work itself but the lifestyle that generates such a mindset). From this group came, eventually, the long-running hit TV show, Saturday Night Live , which was born out of the National Lampoon Radio Hour,  Lemmings, a live National Lampoon stage show that brought us, among others, John Belushi, Dan Ackroyd, Chevy Chase, Harold Ramis, Christopher Guest, or in short, a good portion of the original cast of Saturday Night Live.  The talent, risk-taking, and generally dangerous attitude of the contributors combined to create a super-nova of humor, whose influence has been felt for over 40 years now.
Organizing the editorial material of a publication like National Lampoon was a next to impossible task–the content was random, and always right on the deadlines and the budgets could fit in a coffee shop change jar– and ultimately the job went to Michael Gross, a California-born art director/designer who brought a strong streak of professionalism to a publication that personified the credo of “making it up as we go along”. A National Lampoon idea session (editorial meeting) was just as likely to evolve into an uproarious cocktail (and other substances) party as a formal meeting, but out of those sessions came the ideas and concepts that turned the publication into a legend.  Gross was noted in his New York Times obituary as the designer of the logo for the Ghosbusters movies (he became an accomplished film producer), probably because that’s the piece of his work that is most widely known. But to those who followed National Lampoon it was Michael Gross’s ability to communicate humor with a single image or to parody something as iconic as a high school yearbook with perfect pitch.  The Times obit covers the broad span of Gross’s eclectic career, but to many people, the cover above that Gross produced for the magazine, is the very best magazine cover ever.  Michael Gross was a very big part of American culture and we all laughed a lot because of it. He will be missed, but he will not be forgotten.
 
The Fine Print: the writer contributed to National Lampoon and has one (tiny) piece featured in Would You Buy A Used War  From This Man. A Collection of Political Humor from National  Lampoon. He doesn’t remember much about the experience and will neither confirm nor deny any stories about that era of his life. 
 
 

The Very Best Apps For The Mac

Screen Shot 2015-11-27 at 10.06.08 AMPaying Attention: It’s the Holiday Season. You’ve been good. You’ve been bad. You’ll be getting  stuff. (“everybody’s getting sumpin'”).  Maybe you’ll getting a new Mac for Christmas. If you do, after it’s unpacked, plugged in, connected, and configured with software, you might want to check out this list of the very best apps for the Mac, from LifeHacker. They’ll not only make Mac life easier, but more fun. Both of which are very good things.