After my recent successful zero hits Google search [which, of course, now yields three hits, all to my blog posting], I was stunned to find that another random thought process which led me from "Karl May" to "Lloyd Price" was hugely unsuccessful, with a resounding "About 1,060 results." But given the popularity of Karl May books and movies in Germany and of Lloyd Price songs, I guess it should not be a surprise, especially since almost all of these Google hits are to sellers or resellers of CDs, DVDs, etc. [The only "substantive" hit I came across was a pairing of February 25: Karl May's birthday in 1842, and Lloyd Price being Number 1 on the U.S. singles chart in 1959 with Stagger Lee.]
But, how did I come to connect these two contributors to popular culture? What were my six steps?
Step 1: The New Yorker issue of April 9, 2012 and the article--"Why Karl May captivates Germany" by Rivka Galchen. In writing about how cowboys and Indians so captivate Germany, she refers to Karl May "whom most Americans have never heard of but whose stories of the American West are to this day better known to Germans than the works of Thomas Mann." Well, I am one of those Americans who have both heard of him and read at least one of his books (in translation). I was introduced to Karl May (and to the proper "pronounced 'my'" as Galchen writes) by my father, who was born in Germany in 1914, had grown up in a Karl May culture, but I cannot remember when, or in what context, but clearly many years ago.
Step 2: I tell my wife about the article and she jokes about how urbane I am. Well, I object and say, in any case, since I heard it from my father, his association with it could not be considered urbane. And, while my Internet wandering did not start there yet, I do believe that the Free Dictionary definition would bear me out--familiarity with Karl May--particularly in Germany--could not be considered "Polite, refined, and often elegant in manner."
Step 3: I make a joke. So in bantering about the urbane, I start singing a song about how "I got urbanality" to the tune of a song I could not remember the real words to. So first Internet wondering was did I just invent "urbanality"? Well, quick answer (9,380 results) is an even more resounding NO! It appears in a lot of different guises, but I must admit my favorite are the urBANALity t-shirts.
Step 4: Margaret starts sings the real words "`cause you got personality/ Walk, personality/ Talk, Personality/ Smile, Personality/ Charm, personality/ Love, personality" which, of course, I have to check to see if she knows the real lyrics, which, of course, she does!
Step 5: Oops, I dissemble, it only took 5 degrees of separation to find out who wrote and sang "Personality" and we have Lloyd Price.
But, how did I come to connect these two contributors to popular culture? What were my six steps?
Step 1: The New Yorker issue of April 9, 2012 and the article--"Why Karl May captivates Germany" by Rivka Galchen. In writing about how cowboys and Indians so captivate Germany, she refers to Karl May "whom most Americans have never heard of but whose stories of the American West are to this day better known to Germans than the works of Thomas Mann." Well, I am one of those Americans who have both heard of him and read at least one of his books (in translation). I was introduced to Karl May (and to the proper "pronounced 'my'" as Galchen writes) by my father, who was born in Germany in 1914, had grown up in a Karl May culture, but I cannot remember when, or in what context, but clearly many years ago.
Step 2: I tell my wife about the article and she jokes about how urbane I am. Well, I object and say, in any case, since I heard it from my father, his association with it could not be considered urbane. And, while my Internet wandering did not start there yet, I do believe that the Free Dictionary definition would bear me out--familiarity with Karl May--particularly in Germany--could not be considered "Polite, refined, and often elegant in manner."
Step 3: I make a joke. So in bantering about the urbane, I start singing a song about how "I got urbanality" to the tune of a song I could not remember the real words to. So first Internet wondering was did I just invent "urbanality"? Well, quick answer (9,380 results) is an even more resounding NO! It appears in a lot of different guises, but I must admit my favorite are the urBANALity t-shirts.
Step 4: Margaret starts sings the real words "`cause you got personality/ Walk, personality/ Talk, Personality/ Smile, Personality/ Charm, personality/ Love, personality" which, of course, I have to check to see if she knows the real lyrics, which, of course, she does!
Step 5: Oops, I dissemble, it only took 5 degrees of separation to find out who wrote and sang "Personality" and we have Lloyd Price.
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