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PODCAST

SUDDENLY: a Frank Sinatra podcast

Rabia, Felix & Henry

SUDDENLY... exploring the 20th century from a trans, queer & radical Australian perspective through the legacy of Frank Sinatra. Catgirl noir, ring a ding ding, etc. Join us as we deep dive into Sinatra"s work and the nuances of history in abstract & creative ways, with episodes structured around Sinatra"s albums, songs, films and radio appearances. Hosted by Rabia & Felix in Melbourne, and Henry Giardina in Los Angeles. Check out our website: suddenlypod.gay. Contact: suddenlypod at gmail dot com

music music history

All Episodes

01:45:27

35: and

SUDDENLY: a Frank Sinatra podcast ·

2023/08/07

Why can't Nathan Detroit remember the colour of his own tie? In the second part of our GUYS AND DOLLS series, Henry begins taking us through the musical (and the 1955 Sinatra film) proper, beginning with "Fugue for Tinhorns", "Oldest Established" and "I'll Know." We discuss the intertwined relationship between gambling and religion, and finally come across some real life catgirls to justify the podcast logo in "Pet Me, Poppa." There's gender politics, weaponised incompetence and the beauty of the

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01:29:51

34: Guys

SUDDENLY: a Frank Sinatra podcast ·

2023/08/01

Henry Giardina takes the lead as host for the first time as we begin our month-long GUYS AND DOLLS odyssey. In this first installment, the stage is set as we're introduced to the world of legendary short story writer, journalist and master of the "historical present", Damon Runyon. Best known today as the author whose stories inspired the musical Guys and Dolls (later adapted into the 1955 film starring Sinatra), Runyon was a lifelong and loving observer of human nature whose work sprang from the

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02:46:51

33: Love Like Surgery

SUDDENLY: a Frank Sinatra podcast ·

2023/07/14

It's 1955 and we're deep into the masculinity crisis. It's an era of lofty 800-page novels adapted into 2-hour-plus movies. We've got navel-gazing middle-aged white men, coming out of a period of deep repression and trauma, wondering who and what they really are. Sinatra is one of their icons, as here is Robert Mitchum. This week’s film could have been a later-season episode of Rocky Fortune, and it also could have called From Here to Eternity 2: Dr. Maggio’s Revenge. Once again, Sinatra throws us a

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04:19:02

32: Three Coins Reloaded (with Justin Gausman)

SUDDENLY: a Frank Sinatra podcast ·

2023/07/01

That's amore. Non paghiamo il fossile. And just like that... Boom, kiss, come on, God bless America. In 1966, a pilot for a potential Three Coins in the Fountain TV series was filmed on location in Rome. It only aired on TV once in August 1970, was not picked up thereafter and has never been made available ever since. Probably very few people have ever seen it at all. This week, we've unearthed it - and since it's turned out to be in the public domain, you can now watch it in full with English

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03:33:15

31: Transcribed

SUDDENLY: a Frank Sinatra podcast ·

2023/06/22

The word "homosexual" was first uttered on American television on the night of October 21st, 1963. The show was Breaking Point, a drama series set in a psychiatric hospital. The episode was a confronting take on sexual harassment and toxic masculinity that directly posed the question to its audience: "What is a man?" Despite network objection, this milestone in queer history happened solely because of the determination of the show's producer: George Lefferts. This show was just one of many

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01:47:10

30: Lost and Found - Bobby Long and the World of...

SUDDENLY: a Frank Sinatra podcast ·

2023/06/10

We found out what happened to Bobby Long. Mostly. And on this episode we're joined by Mark Cantor, America's leading jazz film archivist. Mark is an expert in "Soundies", the early music videos/short films that played on Panoram video jukeboxes in bars, cafes and other public places across America throughout the 1940s. Yes, they had video jukeboxes, and music videos, as far back as the 1940s. We've crossed paths with Mark because he's uncovered an obscure Soundie titled Club Lollypop that stars

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01:51:21

29: Not By Ranting, Nor By Chanting

SUDDENLY: a Frank Sinatra podcast ·

2023/05/22

Millions know the song: "Forget your troubles and just get happy." But where does it come from, and what does it really mean? Why are we getting ready for judgement day, and how did Judy Garland end up associated with something that sounds so gospel? This week, we dive into the long and complicated multicultural (and especially Black) history of "Get Happy", the most memorably awkward track on Sinatra's first full-length collaboration album with Nelson Riddle, SWING EASY (1954). Our adventure

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03:35:35

28: Glamour

SUDDENLY: a Frank Sinatra podcast ·

2023/05/07

In 2007, Italian artist Graziano Cecchini poured red dye into the Trevi Fountain to protest the Rome Film Festival. "You wanted just a red carpet", he said. "We want a city entirely in vermilion. We who are vulnerable, old, ill, students, workers, we come with vermilion to colour your grayness." Escapism, tourism, power, vanity, royalty, memory, sex, romance - and water running blood-red. This week, a deep dive into the extended universe of Rome's iconic Trevi Fountain, spinning off from THREE

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02:10:38

27: The Long

SUDDENLY: a Frank Sinatra podcast ·

2023/04/25

For almost the entire back half of the 20th century, Sinatra sang "One for My Baby (and One More for the Road)" over and over again. At every show, he would proudly call himself a "saloon singer" and paint a picture for the audience: a drunk, broken-hearted loser, in a bar at 2:45am, pouring his fool heart out to the unlucky bartender. Sinatra revelled in this imagery, and the seductively suicidal "saloon singer" schtick became a beloved cornerstone of his act. History records that this persona

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02:17:10

26: A Tribute to Bobby Caldwell

SUDDENLY: a Frank Sinatra podcast ·

2023/03/19

The world has lost the legendary Bobby Caldwell. More than just a futuristic and soulful singer/songwriter, he was also the greatest Sinatra interpreter of his era. This week, we pay tribute to his life - from the strange original songs that made him a superstar in Japan during the City Pop era, to his stunning Sinatra-inspired recordings and the legacy he left for subsequent generations in hip-hop, vaporwave and neo-soul. Since the recording of this episode, Mary Caldwell has shared the details of

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02:54:31

25: In the Lamplight

SUDDENLY: a Frank Sinatra podcast ·

2023/03/15

Where does the visual motif of "leaning on a lamp post" come from? Since at least 1840, it was associated with drunkenness, sleaze and criminality. At some point in the mid-20th century, it became a symbol of sophistication, nonchalance and cool. How did this happen? All evidence seems to point to the cover of Frank Sinatra's 1953 album, SONGS FOR YOUNG LOVERS, as turning the tide. This week, a deep dive on two centuries of lamp post leaning, and Sinatra's place in it as the man who fused the drunk

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02:48:19

24: SUDDENLY

SUDDENLY: a Frank Sinatra podcast ·

2023/03/08

To a modern Australian audience, Sinatra's shockingly violent noir film SUDDENLY (1954) now seems like an obvious cautionary tale: Guns are bad for society, they drive you mad with power, and kids should be kept away from them. But 1950s American audiences took home the exact opposite message: that guns keep your home safe, everyone should own them and kids should get used to them as early in life as possible. How can this be the same movie? This week, we're looking at gun culture in the US and

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02:53:05

23: White Man's Graveyard

SUDDENLY: a Frank Sinatra podcast ·

2023/02/22

The Mau Mau Rebellion of 1952 saw the Kenyan Land and Freedom Army (KLFA) take up arms against the British Empire's occupation of their land. The struggle for decolonisation was bloody and protracted, with many of the KLFA ending up tortured by British soldiers in cruel labor camps. A film crew from Pathé arrived from London to film staged propaganda newsreels on Kenyan streets, depicting the Mau Mau as terrorists and white civillians as the real victims. Enter Ava Gardner and Frank Sinatra. In

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02:19:19

22: Lonesome Man Blues

SUDDENLY: a Frank Sinatra podcast ·

2023/02/13

In 1987, the Scottish band Danny Wilson released their debut album, Meet Danny Wilson. The name came from an old movie that band members Gary and Kit Clark had never actually seen. They knew Frank Sinatra was in it. Their father had seen it once and had complained he’d never been able to find it again. He wasn't alone. MEET DANNY WILSON (1952) borders on "lost film" status, rarely seen and mostly unavailable even today. Audiences and critics passed on it. Sinatra biographers consider it a footnote

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02:39:51

21: Brisbane's Jane Russell

SUDDENLY: a Frank Sinatra podcast ·

2023/02/13

Howard Hughes named DOUBLE DYNAMITE (1951) after Jane Russell's breasts - and the city of Brisbane was obsessed with them. This week, the lost stories of Fr. Kiley, the Catholic priest who tried to ban a Jane Russell film from the Brisbane suburb of Coorparoo, and Shirley Vercoe, the woman who became known as "Brisbane's Jane Russell." On theme with the exploitation and harassment of large-breasted women in Hollywood, we also watched Soleil Moon Frye's stunning found-footage documentary KID 90

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02:04:39

PREVIEW: TCBCast x SUDDENLY - A Very Clambake...

SUDDENLY: a Frank Sinatra podcast ·

2022/12/13

During the 2022 Christmas break, we went over to TCBCast and embarked on an epic four-part, six-hour deep-dive into Elvis Presley's CLAMBAKE (1967). Here's a special preview of Part 1. The rest can be heard on the TCBCast feed (episodes 246A-B, 247A-B). This was a really special experience and if you're into our regular episodes, you'll definitely get a kick out of it. Hope y'all are enjoying the holidays. SUDDENLY will return in early 2023.

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03:42:42

20: A Day in the Life (with Henry Giardina)

SUDDENLY: a Frank Sinatra podcast ·

2022/11/12

It's our final episode of 2022 and we're joined by Henry Giardina, Los Angeles-based film critic and co-host of Totally Trans Podcast, who discovered our show by chance while fending off an airport anxiety attack. This week the 1940s draw to a close with ON THE TOWN (1949), the most iconic and memorable of the three Gene Kelly/Frank Sinatra musicals. We're in more than capable hands as Henry takes us on a three-and-a-half hour deep dive into the film, the original stage musical, his childhood

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02:01:28

19: Boys and Girls Like You and Me

SUDDENLY: a Frank Sinatra podcast ·

2022/11/01

What happens when a brand mascot transitions? Cracker Jack - one of the original junk foods, and a brand that has been part of American culture since the late 19th century, most famously in the song "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" - became Cracker Jill earlier in 2022. This week we're watching the awkward middle child of the Gene Kelly/Frank Sinatra MGM musicals, TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALL GAME (1949). We dig into the awkward racial & gender politics of the film, then improvise our own Australian

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01:36:14

18: Sharkey's Night (with Gary Bohan Jr.)

SUDDENLY: a Frank Sinatra podcast ·

2022/10/22

History forgot to record that Sinatra's first acting role was inherited from a sea lion. Both stage & film versions of HIGHER AND HIGHER (1944) were poorly reviewed as a whole but succeeded anyway on the back of raves about a single performer, who, despite being tacked on to the haphazard plot at the last minute, stole the show with his unique talent. In the film version, Sinatra. In the original stage production, a sea lion named Sharkey. And their overlap did not end there. In many ways, Sinatra

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01:53:57

17: Don't Worry Darling

SUDDENLY: a Frank Sinatra podcast ·

2022/10/18

This week we're forced to soberly confront our own mortality to the stark strains of a Polish funeral dirge sung in a small-town graveyard. In MIRACLE OF THE BELLS (1948), Sinatra's film career makes a shockingly drastic departure from campy musicals to a dead-serious Catholic melodrama about a man making funeral preparations for a young woman who dies of lung cancer. This episode goes to some real dark places, including some long tangents about police abolition and climate justice. But the real

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