As much as Johnny Mathis has been known for his singing he was known at one time for being an outstanding athlete as well. On both the Track and Field and basketball teams for his school he was one of the best and he still holds one of his school’s records today. He got into music when he was young and was fully encouraged by his parents, who bought him a piano that today would be well over $300, not much really but enough to get him going and really start him up when it came to teaching him a thing or two. On top of that he traded out house cleaning for the chance to learn a lot more about music and from that he gained a new perspective that helped him to become one of the best known and most popular singers of his time. In this day and age you might hear his songs now and again and not recognize who’s singing them, but perhaps after reading this article you’ll have a better idea.
Here are five of Johnny’s songs as they’ve been heard in TV and movies.
5. Fear the Walking Dead – Sleigh Ride
This is an odd song to hear on a show like this but then the irony of such a show is usually part of what sells it. Ever since The Walking Dead became a big hit there seems to have been a question as to what was going on in the rest of the world when the zombie outbreak hit. When this show came on it had an extremely slow start that a lot of people didn’t think too highly of. But once it got going it did manage to take off and provide more questions than answers, which in all honesty is what people want so that they can theorize and wonder just what’s going to happen before each new episode.
4. Malcolm in the Middle – Chances Are
It was a struggle to find any clips pertaining to the episode that makes use of this song, but Malcolm in the Middle was a show that stood out as both funny and kind of intriguing in its own way. In the episode where this song is used the older brother, Francis, is working on a cattle ranch for an inept German named Otto and is attempting to get the ranch’s bull to mate with a fake cow so as to collect a specimen from the bull. The only reason it doesn’t work is that while Francis did everything right he didn’t spread a special vial of pheromones on the fake cow to entice the bull. Unfortunately Otto thought it was sunscreen and once the bull got a whiff of it, well, you get the idea.
3. Home Alone 2: Lost in New York – It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas
This is more or less the same thing as the first one but in a different location and with a few different traps thrown in for good measure. One of the funniest things to do is go online and really get the lowdown on just how some of these injuries would have waylaid Harry and Marv before they even got inside the house. One brick to the face from that high up would no doubt cave in a person’s skull, and taking a steel pipe to the face would mash in everything from the crown down. But since this is a kids’ film, yikes, the consequences of such violent acts have to look like they hurt but at the same time aren’t going to flat out kill the bad guys. It’s like a live-action Looney Tunes movie in a way.
2. Goodfellas – It’s Not for Me to Say
Goodfellas makes use of a lot of different classic songs as well as singers and is one of those films that you simply expect it in. Being based on the real story that happened decades ago with Jimmy Burke and Henry Hill it’s easy to assume that the movie took a lot of liberties. But what’s amusing is that the real Henry Hill approved of the movie and went on to say that a lot of what was depicted in the movie actually happened, if just not in the same way. It makes a person wonder just how crazy those days were and how Hill managed to get out alive at all. Living around Jimmy Burke didn’t seem to be good for anyone’s health.
1. Silver Linings Playbook – Misty
This was an oddball movie when it started out but as it went along and Pat started getting control of himself it became kind of pleasant as the audience could watch the transition from Pat being and out of control nutjob to a guy that was really trying to make his life better and at the same admit to himself and to Tiffany that he had genuine feelings for her and that the past was finally being put behind him. In this particular scene they were doing their best just to get a decent score to help his father win a bet, but it turned out to be a rather interesting and vibrant dance that became a highlight of the movie.
Johnny Mathis still stands as one of the classic musicians of all time.
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