R.I.P. Richard M. Sherman

[Mister Tee]

Reading the Times obit today, I find out he and his brother were also responsible for the top ten hit "You're Sixteen", which I always thought contained the line that epitomized 1950's America: "You came out of my dream, and into my car".

As for "It's a Small World" and "There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow" -- I gather they endure at Disneyland, but, for me, they'll always be part of the 1964-65 Worlds Fair. Since I lived just a 15-minute subway ride from the Fair, and I was 12/13 those years, I went there well more than a dozen times, and patronized those pavilions (Pepsi and GE, respectively) on many occasions.

I liked both songs, but I can see how they can be annoying as brain worms. I had a bunch of cousins who took the Pepsi ride and had it break down midway -- they were stuck there for like half an hour, hearing the song over and over, and I think they'd probably react to it even today like the Three Stooges would to "Niagara Falls."

[Big Magilla]

Their last three nominations had me groaning as well, but I loved the Sherman Brothers' other five post-Mary Poppins nominations for the scores of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, and Tom Sawyer, and the songs, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and The Age of Not Believing. I also loved their score for The Happiest Millionaire and much of their score for Broadway's Over Here!

They had very long careers as well as lives, but sadly were only at the top of their game from 1964-1974.

[Mister Tee]

Most of his later nominations were ones that had us groaning in the late 60s and 70s. But I can do the Mary Poppins soundtrack from memory, and still love basically every bit of it.

[Big Magilla]

9 Oscar nominations and 2 wins, the Mary Poppins composer was 95.

https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Culture/rich ... =110565272