Sing-a-long king

Mitch Miller died a couple of weeks ago. Didn’t know him? You’re not alone.

Even if you’ve been following the music scene for the past 40 years, you may not remember the guy best known for a single accomplishment: a television show called “Sing Along With Mitch” that was popular from 1961-1964.

According to a New York Times obituary, Miller was a talented musician (he played the oboe for major orchestras in the 1940s and ’50s) and a big-time producer (he resurrected the careers of Rosemary Clooney and Tony Bennett). For awhile, he seemed to have the golden touch, culminating with a TV show based on a simple premise: Viewers sang along with his men’s chorus while a ball bounced atop lyrics scrolling along the screen.

For several years, “Sing Along With Mitch” was all the rage on TV, as people watched the crisply dressed, goateed Miller cruise through renditions of then-favorites such as “It’s A Long Way To Tipperary” and “Home On The Range”.

Highbrow critics disliked the show — one said it was best viewed with the sound off — but for a few years, audiences loved the downhome shtick and atmosphere.

If stardom was his dream, he achieved it. And then the rest of his life happened.

Just as suddenly as Miller stumbled into the limelight, he faded into the shadows. The TV show was canceled. He failed to sign Elvis Presley for his record label. He passed on signing Buddy Holly. He trashed the then-budding rock ‘n’ roll movement, memorably saying: “It’s not music. It’s a disease.” He effectively shoveled dirt on his own musical grave.

The years passed, and his legacy gathered dust. Then things became even worse. Shopping malls began playing “Sing Along With Mitch” to drive away loitering teens, and ATF agents used “Sing Along” Christmas carols in an attempt to flush Waco’s David Koresh out of his Branch Davidian compound.

Seeing his greatest accomplishment turned into a r unning joke had to hurt. But Miller hung around showbiz, producing a few Broadway musicals (mostly failures) and periodically serving as a guest symphony conductor. Maybe it wasn’t the life he dreamed of — it definitely wasn’t the life he lived earlier — but it appears he made the best of it.

It turns out I was in Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan at the same time Miller was there dying. But I didn’t know it, because there was no celebrity buzz in the halls and no paparazzi encamped in the lobby.

When Miller died at 99, he had lived long enough to see himself go from celebrity to

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214.292.0487 / kmitchell@advocatemag.com afterthought. At the end of his obituary, this caught my eye:

“What pleased me the most,” Miller told an interviewer asking about his life, “was a fellow who came up to me after a concert in Chicago and said, ‘You know, there’s nobody in the whole country who hasn’t been touched by your music in some way.’

“That really made me feel good.” emilY T oman 214.292.2053 / etoman@advocatemag.com raCHel ST one 214.292.0490 / rstone@advocatemag.com web editor: CHriSTY ro B in S on 214.635.2120 / crobinson@advocatemag.com senior art director: JYnne TT e neal 214.560.4206 / jneal@advocatemag.com art director: JU lianne ri Ce 214.292.0493 / jrice@advocatemag.com designers: Jeanine miCHna-BaleS, l arrY oliVer, SanDra eVanS contributing editors: Jeff Siegel, SallY Wamre contributors: Sean CHaffin, SanDY gre YSon, Bill keffer, gaYla kokel, erin moYer, george ma Son, Blair monie, ellen raff photo editor: C an Türk YilmaZ 214.560.4200 / cturkyilmaz@advocatemag.com photographers: roBerT BUnCH, CaiTY ColVarD, mark DaViS, mollY DiCkSon, BenJamin Hager, WeSle Y STringer interns: CaiTlin BUrnS, a SHle Y CorDell, Cameron JoneS, eliZaBeTH miller, raCHel riCe, DaiSY SiloS, amY STroTH, BriTne Y YanCeY

It appears that what mattered most to Miller when his road ended was the journey.

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City Budget Woes

Excellent points, Jeff [“Dallas budget winners and losers” by Jeff Siegel on the Advocate Back Talk blog]. I will be bringing each one of these points to the budget briefings. Thanks for your hard work. I encourage folks to bring these up at the town hall meetings as well.

—COUNCIL MEMBER DELIA JASSO, VIA

My spouse and I can afford to pay more taxes and should be asked. I am appalled at the mayor’s intransigence on this. As city employees lose their jobs, they spend less, and we all suffer as a result. That should be added to the public safety and quality of life issues.

—KIM, VIA

Leppert is thinking about his run for the Senate. He can’t raise taxes — that’s anathema to Republicans. He can’t cut projects that his backers, the business lobby, like. And if you can leave the mess for the next guy to have to clean up, nobody will notice. So get ready to have less police and fire protection. Get ready for the streets to get worse — although how much worse they can get in Oak Cliff? Get ready for reduced trash pickups, city office closings, and basically your life to be more difficult, unless you live in Park Cities, Preston Hollow, or the other zip codes with high median incomes and high Republican voter turnout. Will the last person leaving Dallas turn the Reunion Tower off?

—OLIVER BABBISH, VIA

OIL AND COTTON CREATIVE EXCHANGE

I am so excited [“Unique art-supply shop and ‘creative exchange’ to offer classes” by Rachel Stone, Advocate Back Talk blog]! This is going to be an amazing place. All the best to [owners Shannon Driscoll and Kayli House].

—JESSICA STEWART, VIA

Yet another unique artsy presence in the Cliff! How’d we get so lucky?

—LAUREN NITSCHKE, VIA

WE LOVE YOUR BACK TALK. Visit advocatemag.com to read and comment on this month’s stories and daily Back Talk blog updates. Comments may be printed in the magazine.

FaCeBooK Fan proFile // ST ephan Ie “ Te FI ” hI nD all, 35, is a writer by day, but by night she’s a jewelry designer (tefidesigns.com), event planner (handmadebash.com) and Etsy Dallas organizer. She owns a rescue dog named Oliver and has an 18-month-old son, Ian, with “baby-daddy and fake husband of over nine years, Jason Wright.”

What’s your most embarrassing moment?

I don’t really get embarrassed. I’ve learned life is much sweeter if you just own up to your “stuff” and allow yourself to be human.

What would your career be if you could do it all over again without consequences?

I’d be a private investigator, righting wrongs without having to follow “procedure”. Like Magnum, P.I., sans moustache.

What’s your most treasured possession?

I keep a little piece of the Berlin Wall on my jewelry studio table. It has a large splatter of blue spray paint. I don’t know why, but it keeps me inspired. What’s your strangest or most random Facebook friend connection?

Once Gary Coleman tried to friend me. My reply: “Wha-choo talkin’ ‘bout, Willis?”

What did you want to be when you grew up?

I wanted to be all these things at once: interior designer, writer, “Solid Gold” dancer, naturalist, saver-of-the-world.

If you could only eat at one neighborhood restaurant for the rest of your life, which would it be?

Gloria’s, hands down. Between the black beans, guacamole and pupusas, Gloria’s is a little piece of heaven on earth — and an Oak Cliff original!

Whole Foods, Central Market, Kroger, Tom Thumb or somewhere else — where do you grocery shop and why?

I love my neighborhood Tom Thumb. Everyone who works there smiles and says hello to me. But I go to Whole Foods for beauty and cleaning products — no animal testing, if I can help it.

What brings a smile to your face every time?

My charismatic son, Ian. He says the most ridiculous things and makes the silliest faces. What item in your closet is most humiliating?

A pink pair of jelly shoes and a Def Leppard tee from back in the day. Add a pair of acid-washed jeans, and you’ve got a recipe for disaster (or awesomeness, depending on how you look at it).

What are some jobs you’ve held in the past?

I worked at Taco Bueno for three weeks in high school, worked at a bookstore through college in Austin, and I’ve helped women measure their boobs at Victoria’s Secret. That last one? Not. Fun.

What celebrity would you most like to meet for coffee and why?

Colin Firth, because he’s a dreamy god-creature.

What’s your favorite guilty-pleasure website?

Regretsy.com, only I feel no guilt when I snark on insanely ill-conceived crafts. Do you have a favorite quote?

“Speak softly and carry a big stick. You will go far.” I freakin’ love Teddy Roosevelt.

What are you afraid of, rationally or irrationally?

Riding a bicycle. I grew up in the inner city and never learned. Once, I drove a Vespa in Rome on Christmas Eve for about 10 yards before crashing into a median.

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