Simon & Garfunkel and Tom and Jerry

Simon and Garfunkel doesn't seem to be a name that needs any explanation. Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel. But they were originally known as the duo "Tom and Jerry" and that might require an origin story, especially for younger readers here.

They formed the group Tom and Jerry in 1957 and had their first success with the minor hit "Hey, Schoolgirl." The two were friends throughout childhood and grew up in Forest Hills, Queens, New York, just blocks away from each other. They met in elementary school in 1953, when they both appeared in the school play Alice in Wonderland (Simon as the White Rabbit, Garfunkel as the Cheshire Cat). They were classmates at Parsons Junior High School and Forest Hills High School, and began performing together in their junior year as Tom and Jerry, with Simon as Jerry Landis (whose last name he borrowed from a girl he had been dating) and Garfunkel as Tom Graph (so called because he was fond of tracking or "graphing" hits on the pop charts. But "Tom and Jerry" was also known at the time as the name of a popular cartoon duo and animated show. Tom & Jerry is a compilation album released in 2002 that contains songs from their early career.

They began writing their own songs in 1955, and made their first professional recording, "Hey, Schoolgirl", for Big Records in 1957. It was released on 45 rpm and 78 rpm vinyl records, with the flip-side song "Dancin' Wild." The recording sold 100,000 copies and hit #49 on the Billboard Magazine charts. These early songs were heavily influenced by The Everly Brothers. They got to perform their hit on TV's American Bandstand, right after Jerry Lee Lewis performed "Great Balls of Fire".

However, they weren't as successful after that initial rush. After high school, the duo went to separate colleges - Simon at Queens College and Garfunkel at Columbia University. 

Though still friends, it was mostly Simon continuing to write and perform. By 1963, they had established themselves as Simon & Garfunkel (with & in place of and) as part of the Greenwich Village folk music scene. But they didn't release music under their own names until October 1964 with the debut of their studio album, Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.

Three of Simon's songs - "Sparrow", "Bleecker Street", and "He Was My Brother" are typical of that period. "He Was My Brother" was later dedicated to Andrew Goodman, a friend of both Simon and Garfunkel and a classmate of Simon's at Queens College, who was one of three civil rights workers murdered in Mississippi on June 21, 1964.

Those were three of the five original songs by Simon that were on their first album for Columbia Records, Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M, which initially sold very poorly when it was released. It wasn't until a year later—when producer Tom Wilson overdubbed electric instruments onto the acoustic track "The Sound of Silence,"—that the duo became superstars and the first album went on to good sales.

They are well known for their close vocal harmonies and were among the most popular recording artists of the 1960s. Their biggest hits from five original albums include: "The Sound of Silence", "Bridge over Troubled Water", "I Am a Rock", "Homeward Bound", "A Hazy Shade of Winter", "Mrs. Robinson", "The Boxer", "Cecilia", and "Scarborough Fair/Canticle."

Many compilations, live albums and special editions of their music have been released since they dissolved the duo in 1970, and though they have reunited several times since then, currently they only have solo careers. They have received several Grammys and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.

Paul Simon has continued to record, perform, and win Grammy Awards. His first solo release - simply called Paul Simon - was released in 1972. Some of his most popular albums are Still Crazy After All These Years, There Goes Rhymin' Simon , and Graceland.

Paul's official site is http://www.paulsimon.com

Art Garfunkel went on to act in several films, including Carnal Knowledge, Catch-22 and Bad Timing. 
He has released solo albums in a more pop vocal style. Some of his popular albums are Breakaway, Angel Clare, Watermark, and Fate for Breakfast. He has also published Still Water: Prose Poems.

Artie's official site is http://www.artgarfunkel.com

FURTHER READING  Simon and Garfunkel: Old Friends : A Dual Biography

Toast

One noun form of "toast" is the common bread that has been heated and made crispier. It makes sense since the verb "toast" means to cook or brown (food, especially bread or cheese) by exposure to a grill, fire, or other source of radiant heat.

But there is also the noun used connected to a drink to the health or in honor of (someone or something) by raising one's glass together with others. These well-wishes, offered to an individual or a group, typically commemorate a significant life event, such as a wedding, graduation, or birthday. There is the drink and also the speech. The speeches are traditional rather than standardized, with different contexts and cultures providing templates that toasters can amend as they see fit. The lone constant is that toasts are usually concluded by a call to drink in honor of that event. 

But why call that drink and speech a toast?

The toasting tradition dates back to at least ancient Greece. The term “toasting” is a metonym: Toast was frequently placed in wine to reduce its acidity and add flavor. Over time, the ingredient became shorthand for the speeches many made with wine in their hands.

Metonym and Synecdoche

A metonym is a figure of speech in which an object or concept is referred to by the name of something closely associated with it, rather than by its own name.

Unlike a metaphor, which relies on similarity (e.g., "life is a rollercoaster"), a metonym relies on association or proximity.

Some Common Examples of Metonymy

• The White House stands for The U.S. Presidential Administration based on the building where the work happens.
• Hollywood = The American film industry because of the geographic location synonymous with movies.
• Silicon Valley = the tech industry because it is the region where many tech giants are based.

Metonymy and Synecdoche are often confused. While a metonym uses a related concept (like "The Crown" for a King), a synecdoche uses a specific part to represent the whole (like "wheels" for a car).

Pilates

Pilates might seem like something that just appeared on the exercise scene recently, but it goes back 100 years.

After the outbreak of World War I, Joseph Hubertus Pilates, a German physical trainer and inventor, was interned as an enemy alien on the Isle of Man. During his three-plus years at the internment camp, Pilates developed a regimen of muscle strengthening through slow and precise stretching and physical movements, using minimal equipment. To allow those who were confined to their beds to exercise.

He used springs and straps from the beds as resistance training, greatly aiding their rehabilitation. He later opened a fitness studio in New York City in 1925, offering the exercise system he developed during the war to the general public. 

He went on to patent 26 exercise apparatuses, and his eponymous Pilates regime gained worldwide popularity. 

The Smiths

The Smiths are often described as the most important band of the 1980s that never truly "went mainstream" in the traditional sense. It was a brief, five-year flash of fame from 1982 to 1987. 

The band was formed when guitarist Johnny Marr knocked on the door of Morrissey, a shy, bookish writer in Manchester. Along with bassist Andy Rourke and drummer Mike Joyce, they created a sound that systematically dismantled the synth-heavy, glitzy "New Romantic" pop of the era.

The band got its name from lead singer Morrissey. He chose "The Smiths" because it was a very ordinary, common name, a deliberate contrast to the more flamboyant and elaborate band names popular in the 1980s. He wanted the name to represent "ordinary folk."

In just five years, they released four studio albums—The Smiths, Meat Is Murder, The Queen Is Dead, and Strangeways, Here We Come—plus several legendary compilations. They stayed on an independent label (Rough Trade), maintained complete control over their iconic "indie-film" cover art, and famously refused to use synthesizers, relying instead on Marr's "jangle-pop" guitar layers.

The Smiths were the first "indie" band to prove you could be uncompromising, literate, and deeply depressed, and still be popular.

Like many great partnerships, the tension between the "moping" poet (Morrissey) and the musical architect (Marr) became unsustainable. They split in 1987 at the height of their powers, famously never reuniting since.

Part of their appeal is in the way the music sounds like a sunny afternoon, but the lyrics feel like a rainy midnight. Morrissey gave a voice to the shy, the alienated, and the "clumsy and shy." He made it fashionable to be bookish and miserable, often using sharp, dark humor to poke fun at his own despair.

Johnny Marr provided the genius. His style was intricate and melodic, often sounding like multiple guitarists playing at once. You could dance to songs or just listen to the lyrics about loneliness.

In an era of big hair and aggressive masculinity, they celebrated a "genderless" or soft-focus version of rock that paved the way for Britpop and modern Indie.

Picking "bests" is a loser's game, but you can always list favorites. Here are 5. Feel free to comment on your own favorites.

"There Is a Light That Never Goes Out" (1986) Widely considered the band’s masterpiece, this track from The Queen Is Dead perfectly balances Johnny Marr’s lush, cinematic arrangement with Morrissey’s lyrics about romantic devotion. It’s the ultimate "morbidly romantic" anthem.

"How Soon Is Now?" (1984)  Originally a B-side, this song became the band's most recognizable hit globally. It features an iconic, pulsing tremolo guitar effect that was unlike anything else in the 80s. Lyrically, it’s the definitive anthem for anyone who has ever felt like an outsider at a club: "You go and you stand on your own, and you leave on your own..."

"This Charming Man" (1983)  The song that truly introduced the world to the "Smiths sound." It’s upbeat, jangly, and remarkably catchy, featuring one of Johnny Marr’s most celebrated guitar riffs. It captured the band's unique blend of sexual ambiguity and kitchen-sink realism.

"Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want" (1984). At under two minutes, this is one of the shortest songs in their catalog, but also one of the most poignant. It’s a simple, mandolin-heavy plea for a break in life that has resonated in countless movie soundtracks (most notably Ferris Bueller's Day Off and 500 Days of Summer).

"Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now" (1984). This song title became a shorthand for the band's entire persona. It’s a witty, ironic take on the drudgery of daily life and the feeling of being unhappy even when things are technically "fine."