Capable of at least 5000 expressions, the human face has inspired at least that many songs, and we listened to most of them ...
The first one we thought of was this Monkees classic. And speaking of faces, doesn’t Davy Jones look just a little miffed that he’s not singing lead on this? The Monkees – “I’m a Believer” from 1966:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfuBREMXxts
A sinister song about how facial expressions may deceive us, here’s a live clip of The Undisputed Truth and “Smiling Faces Sometimes." Can you dig it?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sV69WBvFGBA&feature=related
This clip might make you want to punch Dick Van Dyke in the kisser, but that’s the point here. Janet Leigh remains unamused until the very end. From Bye Bye Birdie:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0GyZwQFOW4
We end the episode with the incomparable Mrs. Miller. Just to prove she is an actual person, here’s a rare and scratchy clip of Mrs. Miller with Jimmy Durante on Hollywood Palace singing “Inka Dinka Doo:"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWoWH8W3sVo
Every week on “Record bin Roulette,” KPLU’s John Kessler and John Maynard put an insightful and fun spin on a century's worth of discarded vinyl. The feature is published here and airs on KPLU 88.5 every Thursday during Morning Edition, All Things Considered and on Weekend Saturday Edition.
