For our final Song of the Week of 2020, Mark presents an audio special saluting those songwriters we lost in the last twelve months, from all kinds of genres - rock'n'roll and country-&-western to film and theatre and television ...even unto "the stupidest song ever written". Along the way you'll hear all kinds of performers from Bing Crosby, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr to Elvis, Bill Evans and Joan Jett via Peter Sellers, Mae West and Bent Fabric.
We hope this hour-and-a-half or so of music and lyrics are a pleasant break from the civilizational assault all around this Boxing Day weekend.
To listen, simply click above. It's not intended to be comprehensive, so please don't complain if Mark left out a favorite composer or lyricist who took his leave in 2020: It's simply a sample of those whose passing struck him and about whom he has something to say.
If you're one of that small brave band who prefer Steyn in visual formats, well, he'll be on telly throughout the coming week.
Steyn's Song of the Week is made possible by members of The Mark Steyn Club. Mark launched the Steyn Club over three-and-a-half years ago, and we're immensely heartened by all the longtime SteynOnline regulars - from Fargo to Fiji, Madrid to Malaysia, West Virginia to Witless Bay - who've signed up to be a part of it. Membership in The Mark Steyn Club also comes with non-poetic benefits, including:
~Our latest audio adventure in Tales for Our Time, and its over forty thrilling predecessors;
~Other audio series on pertinent topics, such as last year's nightly installments of Climate Change: The Facts;
~Exclusive Steyn Store member pricing on over 40 books, mugs, T-shirts, and other products;
~The opportunity to engage in live Clubland Q&A sessions with Mark;
~Transcript and audio versions of Mark's Mailbox, The Mark Steyn Show, and other video content;
~Advance booking for Mark's live appearances around the world, assuming such things are ever again permitted;
~Customized email alerts for new content in your areas of interest;
~The opportunity to join Steyn and his guests on our annual Mark Steyn Cruise, likewise assuming we are ever again permitted to sail;
~and the chance to support our print, audio and video ventures as they wing their way around the planet.
To become a member of The Mark Steyn Club, please click here. And for our special Gift Membership see here. Oh, and by the way, that Steyn cruise always includes a live performance of our Song of the Week.
One other benefit to Club Membership is our Comment Club privileges. So feel free to comment away below. Please do stay on topic on all our comment threads, because that's the way to keep them focused and readable. With that caution, have at it.
There's much more for your listening pleasure in our easy-access Netflix-style tile-format music department. You'll find live performances by everyone from Herman's Hermits to Liza Minnelli; Mark's interviews with Chuck Berry, Leonard Bernstein and Bananarama (just to riffle through the Bs); and audio documentaries on P G Wodehouse's songs, John Barry's Bond themes, Simon after Garfunkel, and much more. We'll be adding to the archive in the months ahead, but, even as it is, we hope you'll find the SteynOnline music home page a welcome respite from the woes of the world.
