A Greene Man’s Blog

Here I am singing and signing the song “Pure Imagination” from the movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, one of my favorite songs since I was a little kid.

And here are the lyrics:

Come with me / and you’ll be / in a world of pure imagination / Take a look / and you’ll see / into your imagination

We’ll begin / with a spin / traveling in a world of my creation / What we’ll see / will defy / explanation

If you want to view paradise / simply look around and view it / anything you want to, do it / want to change the world? / there’s nothing to it

There is no / life I know / to compare with pure imagination / living there / you’ll be free / if you truly wish to be

A Minute in the Moonlight, originally uploaded by danielgreene.

A word,
A song,
A dance,
A kiss.

Oh, sweet-
heart, what
I’d give
For this!

A chance,
My dear,
Your love
To woo–

A minute
in the moonlight
with you.

–lyric by Daniel Greene

Carolina Jasmine flower in the moonlight. 60-second bulb exposure.

I met Liza when I worked at J.W. Robinson in Beverly Hills in 1987. I walked up to her and gushed! She smiled, shook my hand, and said, “Thank you.”

I worked at Fred Segal on Melrose for about a week and waited on Liza Minelli. She was looking for a scoop-necked t-shirt. At one point, she was said something silly and then chided herself, saying, “Oh, Liza!” I was able to find her the shirt she wanted.

I just thought of something very interesting. Liza Minelli: Three Weeks at Carnegie Hall was the first CD I ever bought. And I met Liza only weeks after buying that CD. I sang with ABBA when I was 11, and “Dancing Queen” was the first 45 RPM single I ever bought. I met Toni Tenille at Robinson’s, too, and Love Will Keep Us Together was the first LP vinyl record I ever bought. Basically, I have met all the artists I admired so much that theirs were the first recordings I rushed out to buy. How many people can say that?