In MKE Music Rewind we revisit notable Milwaukee music that was released before Milwaukee Record became a thing in April 2014. This week: the original Song Sung Blue documentary from 2008, which has now been adapted into a Hollywood biopic of the same name.
It’s a Milwaukee story through and through: a man and woman meet at Ma Fischer’s in 1989; the man—a Neil Diamond impersonator—and the woman—a Patsy Cline singer—form a Neil Diamond tribute act called Lightning & Thunder; the tribute act takes off and becomes a local sensation; the man and woman get married at the Wisconsin State Fair in 1994; Pearl Jam and Eddie Vedder show up; tragedy strikes; tragedy strikes again; a years-in-the-making documentary is released; and, decades later, Hollywood comes calling and turns the story into a major motion picture.
Yes, it’s the story of Mike and Claire Sardina, who performed in Milwaukee and beyond for years as Lightning & Thunder. The major motion picture in question is Song Sung Blue, starring Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson, coming to a theater near you on Christmas Day. Here’s the trailer:
For the purposes of this article, however, let’s focus on the original 2008 documentary. Hell, let’s just watch it. The Greg Kohs-directed Song Sung Blue is currently available for free on YouTube. It’s a remarkable piece of work. If you haven’t seen it, set aside 90 minutes and watch it NOW.
There are many ways to take in Song Sung Blue. It’s an inspiring story of two dreamers. It’s a harrowing story of two dreamers on the edge. It’s an even more harrowing story of a family on the edge. It’s a stranger-than-fiction story full of odd coincidences and bizarre tragedies. It’s funny, sad, entertaining, draining, triumphant, and sad again. “Roller coaster of emotions” hardly covers it.
It’s also an extremely Milwaukee film. For one, it plays as a perfect companion piece to 1999’s American Movie. Secondly, for Milwaukee viewers of a certain age, the folks who pop up throughout the doc are worth the price of admission alone: former scene fixture Mark Shurilla; former musician and archivist Dr. Martin Jack Rosenblum; former Milwaukee Journal Sentinel columnist Jim Stingl (wait, he’s Thunder’s brother?!); former Summerfest booker Bob Babisch; still-active musician Damian Strigens; former Milwaukee Mayor John Norquist. The Eddie Vedder footage? Provided by former Atomic Records owner Rich Menning.
“He’s normal!” Rosenblum says at one point about Mike Sardina. “And that’s why he’s big in Milwaukee! Milwaukee is normal! Although 10-years-ago-normal, but it’s normal!”
I have yet to see the Hollywood version of Song Sung Blue. (I saw Hugh Jackman, though!) Early reviews have been…mixed. But whatever. The original doc is a masterpiece. Like I said earlier, if you haven’t seen it, watch it NOW. Oh, and read Kohs’ incredibly detailed behind-the-scenes story of Song Sung Blue—from conception to the Hollywood biopic—HERE. It is, as they say, so good, so good.
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