BCB After Dark: A time to celebrate

Welcome back to BCB After Dark: the afterparty for night owls, early-risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. No jacket or tie required. Bring your own beverage. We’re having a big celebration tonight.

BCB After Dark is the place for you to talk baseball, music, movies, or anything else you need to get off your chest, as long as it is within the rules of the site. The late-nighters are encouraged to get the party started, but everyone else is invited to join in as you wake up the next morning and into the afternoon.

Our big Cubs nation nightmare ended tonight as the Cubs beat the Phillies, 8-3 to snap the 11-game losing streak. Of course, the baseball gods giveth and the baseball gods taketh away as Kris Bryant left this game early with a hamstring injury. We’ve got no word as to how serious it is, so we’ve got our fingers crossed until we find out.

In any case, you’re finally free to discuss tonight’s game here if you want to. You always were, but who would have wanted to?

Last night I asked what the Cubs should do with Jake Arrieta. I got nearly 800 votes in the poll and while I’m not keeping track of it, that’s got to be a record or close to it. In any case, fully 49% of you thought the Cubs should just cut ties and release Jake. In second place, with 28%, was the option the Cubs actually went with, which was “put him in the injured list.” Only 9% of you though that Arrieta should make his next start.

Here’s the part where I talk about movies and jazz. You’re free to skip ahead to the baseball question at the end. You won’t hurt my feelings.

I’ve avoided big band jazz in this space because it normally doesn’t fit in with the small club, late-night vibe that I’m going for. But if breaking an 11-game losing streak isn’t a reason to break my own rules, I don’t know what is. So have some fun, put on your dancing shoes and cut a hole in the rug while you celebrate the Cubs win and dance to the Glen Miller Orchestra classic “In The Mood.” [VIDEO]

That clip is from the 1941 film Sun Valley Serenade, starring Sonja Henie and John Payne. I have seen that film, and as a film, it’s basically an excuse to play a bunch of Glen Miller tunes. In the days before television and the internet, the only way that fans could actually see the musical stars of the day, other than in person, was in the movies. So while Sun Valley Serenade was basically designed to be an extended early version of a music video, I’ve noticed that a lot of films from the thirties and forties had a musical number in it for no real reason at all. I’m not talking musicals where people start singing for no real reason. I’m talking about a crime movie where they have to go into a music club to find a suspect and they have to stop and listen to the song before looking for him or her.

Sometimes they did this to promote a star (See Doris Day sing AND act!) but sometimes it was just because a producer thought there needed to be a song in the film to sell more tickets. They could often get the song booked on a radio variety show and then tell the folks at home they could see it in the latest Hollywood picture. Basically, not much different than how the late-night talk shows work today.

But since on Wednesday night/Thursday mornings I am just tossing out a question for discussion, I’m going to ask about what songs in films do you really love. It’s not necessarily a song that you love or a movie that you love, but a song that’s in a movie that you just think is a perfect match. Like if you ever hear that song, you immediately think of the film. I’m not asking about musical scores here, although that would be a really great question for next week.

It can be from a musical, if you just happen to think that “Day by Day” from Godspell is just a great movie song, for example. Or it can be a song that is specifically written for a movie, like the theme from Ghostbusters. Or if you can’t hear The Doors sing “The End” without thinking of Apocalypse Now. It can be a song that someone in the film sings, or it can be something that is just part of the soundtrack and is played over the action in the film.

For me, it’s a kind of odd choice, since I don’t particularly love the song outside of the movie. (I like it. It’s solid) But I can’t help but get a warm memory of the film Slap Shot if I hear Maxine Nightengale sing “Right Back Where We Started From.” It just seems to work so well in that film. There are probably other examples, but that’s the one that comes to mind at the moment.

Today’s question is going to be simple and a celebration of tonight’s win: How many games are the Cubs going to win in a row right now? The winning streak is at one and Adbert Alzolay takes the mound for the Cubs tonight (Thursday) against the Phillies and Zach Eflin. Are the Cubs going to make it two in a row? Three in a row? More? How optimistic are you right now?

Thank you again for stopping by. We’ll see you again next week with BCB After Dark.