Jazzing up the Jaws theme
QUESTION How was Lalo Schifrin able to release a single called Jaws when John Williams had composed the theme music for the film?
LALO Schifrin and John Williams are great admirers of each other’s work, so it’s no surprise that Schifrin was allowed to rework Williams’s masterpiece.
An Argentinian-born American composer, arranger, conductor and pianist, Schifrin is famous for composing the theme for the Mission: Impossible TV series as well as scoring many classic film soundtracks including Dirty Harry, Bullitt and The Amityville Horror.
He has always maintained a side career as a jazz musician and his key success in this field was the 1976 album Black Widow, an innovative blend of jazz with the dance-friendly rhythms of the disco scene. He was the composer, arranger and keyboardist on Black Widow, aligning original pieces with unlikely but effective covers. Highlights include the title track and his transformation of Les Baxter’s Quiet Village.
Schifrin’s reworking of Jaws transformed John Williams’s ominous theme into a slice of funk built on wah-wah guitar and Schifrin’s own keyboard excursions. It hit No. 14 in the UK charts and became a Northern Soul classic. Dan Reid, Wolverhampton, West
Midlands.
QUESTION What’s the record for the slowest official marathon?
THE record for the slowest official marathon time is held by Britain’s Lloyd Scott. He completed the 2002 London Marathon in five days, eight hours, 29 minutes and 46 seconds. Charity campaigner Scott’s time was significantly impacted by the fact that he completed the race wearing a deep-sea diving suit.
A case could be made for Japan’s Shizo Kanakuri. He was a gifted runner who qualified for the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm.
He made a gruelling two-week journey to Sweden via boat and the Trans-Siberian Railroad. He then struggled with the change of diet and temperatures in excess of 32C. He passed out halfway through the race. Portuguese runner Francisco Lazaro died of heat exhaustion. When Kanakuri woke up, he was so ashamed that he left Sweden without notifying the Olympic officials. They had no record of him finishing so he was declared ‘missing’. In 1967 Kanakuri was invited to complete the race. At 75, he sprinted the final 100 metres for the cameras. His official time was 54 years, eight months, six days, five hours, 32 minutes and 20.3 seconds. He said: ‘It was a long trip. Along the way, I got married, had six children and ten grandchildren.’
Marc Davies, Cardiff.
QUESTION Was coal ever foolhardily sold to Newcastle?
THE phrase ‘carry coals to Newcastle’ is an idiom that means to do something redundant or unnecessary, and dates from the early 17th Century. Newcastle was, for centuries, a major coal mining centre, so carrying coal there was pointless. Equivalent sayings include sending cider to Herefordshire or salt to Dysart (Dysart in Fife was a major salt manufacturer).
The phrase became associated with a speculator who supposedly sold coal to Newcastle – one Timothy Dexter (1747-1806) from Massachusetts. He was an eccentric individual who made a fortune. His lucky break came when he spent his wife’s entire inheritance on purchasing Continental Dollars, which at the time were worthless. Alexander Hamilton came to the rescue, inserting within the Constitution a stipulation to honour Continental Dollars
at 1% of face value. John P. Marquand notes in Timothy Dexter Revisited (1960) that Dexter made $47,000, a fortune that allowed him to establish a large mansion in Newburyport, Massachusetts. Dexter forged a successful business career trading moosehide trousers, gloves, hides and whale blubber. He owned two ships and began an export business with the West Indies. Because of his eccentric behaviour, poor manners and extreme wealth, tall tales surrounded him. He penned a bizarre biography, A Pickle For The Knowing Ones, which featured unusual spellings and little punctuation, and his strange perspective on life.
He apparently annoyed his rivals so much they began recommending unusual trades, but Dexter always fell on his feet. For instance, he was persuaded to sell bed-warming pans to the West Indies. These were snapped up for use in a sugar-making factory and for frying fish. Famously, he was persuaded to send a shipment of Virginia coal to Newcastle and was fortunate enough that there was a miners’ strike at the time. But there is little to no evidence that these things ever happened. According to Marquand, Dexter made his money in a conventional way but his unusual behaviour made him the subject of ridicule and rumour.
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