Tag Archives: Linda Eder

25 Days Of Christmas Music 2021: Day 4

Posted in Christmas, Holidays, Music by

Hello, everyone. Welcome back to the countdown.

christmas-4

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Today’s song was featured on my countdown in 2018. I love the story that goes with it about how I discovered the singer so I decided to repost it for those of you who are new to my blog. I hope you enjoy it.

I love soap operas.  Love them.  Notice that I wrote in the present tense, despite the fact that I do not watch them anymore because nearly all my favorite ones were cancelled.  I watched General Hospital for decades but they lost me over the years, especially when Tony Geary (the iconic Luke Spencer) retired.  However, I must admit I find myself tuning into “The Bold & The Beautiful” if I remember it is on since Thorsten Kaye-All My Children’s beautifully delicious Zac Slater-is on it.  I still like the genre for the most part.  Some of the tried & true story lines like- who’s the real daddy of the baby despite what the first blood test results are because we all know so & so switched the DNA samples -should be retired.  But I digress.

I started watching soaps with my mom when I was little, then when I was home sick from school or on summer vacation and later on when I could record them on my VCR.  Then I would marathon all five episodes on the weekend.  For today’s crowd, marathon was the original term for binge-watching.  I really believe I invented that.  But again, I digress.

My favorite soap of all time is Another World.  I adored that show.  Adored it.  It was cancelled nearly 20 years ago, and I still miss my friends from Bay City.  Every.  Single.  Day.  AW had some of the best (and most underrated) actors & writers in the business, and depicted true solid enduring friendships and love stories in a way that was both believable and touching.

I learned some captivating poetry when a few characters recited some of the best ones (“A Drinking Song” by William Butler Yates and “I Carry Your Heart With Me” by E.E. Cummings are just two the soap introduced me to).  One character-the extraordinary Charles Keating’s Carl Hutchins-in particular even quoted King Lear, among other Shakespeare plays.  And I discovered an absolutely astounding singer thanks to AW, too.

AW

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

In October 1995 a beloved character named Ryan Harrison was killed off.  He was the proverbial good guy-nice, romantic, worked as a cop, was adored by his fiancé, loved by his family, etc.  The scenes of him saying goodbye to the great love of his life were hard enough, but watching the various characters getting the news of his passing was unbearable.  It was done at the end of the episode in a montage of scenes.  But there was no dialogue.  Just music.  And singing.  One voice.  One song.  And it was exquisite.

It was written for a Broadway play, but it fit the scene like a glove.  I had never heard it before but from the first note I was enthralled.  And then I was sobbing, not only because of Ryan’s death, or the other actor’s mesmerizing performances, but because the lyrics  told such a beautiful heartbreaking story.  I was so overwhelmed by emotion I actually stood up and applauded the actors, the singer and the genius who brought them both together.  Whoever the person was in charge of the music on AW deserved an award-or perhaps even the Nobel Peace prize-for bringing us such a stunning moment.

I do not know who that person was, but the song was “Once Upon A Dream” from the Broadway hit “Jekyll & Hyde”.  It was written by composer Frank Wildhorn and sung by his then wife, actress/singer Linda Eder.  To this day, I cannot hear that song without wanting to cry my eyes out.  And I can recognize Eder’s undeniably elegant & unbelievably beautiful voice the second I hear it.

Linda Eder

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

That is why when I heard today’s Christmas song I knew it was her.  She was a guest vocalist on a 1998 classical album by harpist Jung Kwak.  The music is gorgeous to match Eder’s voice and the lyrics exude wishes for the holiday season and always without being overly sentimental:

“Let there be peace, let there be love
Listen to the silence, listen for the song”.

Jung

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Jung Kwak featuring Linda Eder: “The Gift” (1998, credit(s) unknown).

I do not own the rights to anything.  I am just sharing some things that I love with you  

What are some of your favorite Christmas songs?

Until next time, happy listening!!!

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25 Days Of Christmas Music 2018: Day 15

Posted in Christmas, Music by

Hi, Everybody!!!  Welcome back to the countdown.

day 15

Pretty Christmas decorative display found on Pinterest (original source unknown).  

I love soap operas.  Love them.  Notice that I wrote in the present tense, despite the fact that I do not watch them anymore because nearly all my favorite ones were cancelled.  I watched General Hospital for decades but they lost me over the years, especially when Tony Geary (the iconic Luke Spencer) retired.  However, I must admit I find myself tuning into “The Bold & The Beautiful” if I remember it is on since Thorsten Kaye-All My Children’s beautifully delicious Zac Slater-is on it.  I still like the genre for the most part.  Some of the tried & true story lines like- who’s the real daddy of the baby despite what the first blood test results are because we all know so & so switched the DNA samples -should be retired.  But I digress.

I started watching soaps with my mom when I was little, then when I was home sick from school or on summer vacation and later on when I could record them on my VCR.  Then I would marathon all five episodes on the weekend.  For today’s crowd, marathon was the original term for binge-watching.  I really believe I invented that.  But again, I digress.

My favorite soap of all time is Another World.  I adored that show.  Adored it.  It was cancelled nearly 20 years ago, and I still miss my friends from Bay City.  Every.  Single.  Day.  AW had some of the best (and most underrated) actors & writers in the business, and depicted true solid enduring friendships and love stories in a way that was both believable and touching.

I learned some captivating poetry when a few characters recited some of the best ones (“A Drinking Song” by William Butler Yates and “I Carry Your Heart With Me” by E.E. Cummings are just two the soap introduced me to).  One character-the extraordinary Charles Keating’s Carl Hutchins-in particular even quoted King Lear, among other Shakespeare plays.  And I discovered an absolutely astounding singer thanks to AW, too.

AW

In October 1995 a beloved character named Ryan Harrison was killed off.  He was the proverbial good guy-nice, romantic, worked as a cop, was adored by his fiancé, loved by his family, etc.  The scenes of him saying goodbye to the great love of his life were hard enough, but watching the various characters getting the news of his passing was unbearable.  It was done at the end of the episode in a montage of scenes.  But there was no dialogue.  Just music.  And singing.  One voice.  One song.  And it was exquisite.

It was written for a Broadway play, but it fit the scene like a glove.  I had never heard it before but from the first note I was enthralled.  And then I was sobbing, not only because of Ryan’s death, or the other actor’s mesmerizing performances, but because the lyrics  told such a beautiful heartbreaking story.  I was so overwhelmed by emotion I actually stood up and applauded the actors, the singer and the genius who brought them both together.  Whoever the person was in charge of the music on AW deserved an award-or perhaps even the Nobel Peace prize-for bringing us such a stunning moment.

I do not know who that person was, but the song was “Once Upon A Dream” from the Broadway hit “Jekyll & Hyde”.  It was written by composer Frank Wildhorn and sung by his then wife, actress/singer Linda Eder.  To this day, I cannot hear that song without wanting to cry my eyes out.  And I can recognize Eder’s undeniably elegant & unbelievably beautiful voice the second I hear it.

Linda Eder

That is why when I heard today’s Christmas song I knew it was her.  She was a guest vocalist on a 1998 classical album by harpist Jung Kwak.  The music is gorgeous to match Eder’s voice and the lyrics exude wishes for the holiday season and always without being overly sentimental:

“Let there be peace, let there be love
Listen to the silence, listen for the song”

Jung.jpg

Jung Kwak featuring Linda Eder:  “The Gift” (1998)

I do not own the rights to anything.  I am just sharing some things that I love with you  🙂

What are some of your favorite Christmas songs?

Until next time, happy listening!!!

Christmas Song Countdown Day 6

Posted in Christmas, Music by

Hello, Vixens!!!  Welcome back to the Christmas Song Countdown!!!

I have included pictures of some very interesting Christmas trees I spotted today…..

Like the angel one below…..

img_20161206_1525021

Beautiful, right???

So I hope you enjoy them also!!!

Yesterday I told you about my dear childhood friends, the Peanuts.  Well, I discovered them through another great love of mine-TV.  I have had a profound TV addiction since I was born and I make no apologies for that.  It is part of the charm of me   🙂

Another thing I make no apologies for is my love for daytime soaps.  Of course I was wild for “GH” during the Luke & Laura years, but my all-time favorite one was “Another World” (AW).  I used to watch it with my mother when I was home sick from school and on summer vacations and continued  watching it as an adult until it was cancelled in June of 1999.

another_world-show

Complete aside.  I bought my house in May 1999.  A month later, the soap opera I watched for my entire life was cancelled.  Talk about the yin and yang of life!!!  I still miss my friends from Bay City every day.  Sigh.

But I digress.

One of the reasons why I always loved AW was because it kept surprising me.  The way it celebrated great friendships, had several characters quoting W.B. Yates & E.E. Cummings and used great music in every episode, 20 years before “Grey’s Anatomy” made it a staple in evening TV.  One of the singers I heard for the first time was the artist with the #6 song.

“AW” used one of her Broadway solos in an especially sad scene after a favorite character, Ryan, died.  The song played as the audience watched his loved ones get the news (including Ryan’s dad, played by my beloved Charles Keating).  Their raw emotion set to the power of her voice and her delivery of the song had me, at first, in uncontrollable tears to giving the cast a standing ovation from my bedroom.  That is what happens when the right song is used in the right moment of a show.

And how could it not work in a mourning scene with lyrics like these:

“Once upon a dream, you were heaven sent to me 

But it wasn’t meant to be, now you’re just a dream…”

Oh, no…..I’m getting verklempt   😦

aw-carl

Charles Keating as Carl Hutchins in “Another World”

The tune was “Once Upon A Dream” from the “Jekyll and Hyde” Broadway play.   I never forgot the song or the singer.  She left an indelible mark on my heart and my memory.  So when I heard the song at #6, I knew it was her.  The music is by an unbelievably talented acoustic guitarist named Sungha Jung.  The combination is mesmerizing.

Linde Eder:  The Gift.

I do not own the rights to anything.  I am just sharing some things that I love with you   🙂

What are some of your favorite Christmas songs?

Until next time, fellow Vixens, happy listening!!!

And say “Hi” to the snowman tree below!!!  I love him!!!

img_20161206_1524081