Happy New Year to our viewers, listeners and readers around the world. I wish you all the best as this annus horribilis exits the stage - and a far better year to come in 2021.
We do our Song of the Week in print, audio and video, according to what suits. So, as a postscript to my essay on "Here Comes Santa Claus", and our live-performance audio special with Elisabeth von Trapp and Hanno Schilf on "Silent Night", here's a final seasonal song for 2020 - a first-footing video edition celebrating the second most successful New Year number after "Auld Lang Syne".
As many Mark Steyn Club members will know, we presented this great Frank Loesser song on stage in Montreal just a year ago - before the Covid shut down live music, apparently forever. Carol Welsman is one of my favorite singers and Russell Malone one of my favorite guitarists. We sort of combined two totally different arrangements here - Carol does the chorus as a breezy shimmering bossa nova, but I have always loved the slightly spooky verse. So I do that with Russell, and then Carol takes off with the band. Click above to watch.
Carol Welsman, vocals;
Russell Malone, guitar;
with The Mark Steyn Show Band:
Geoff Eales, piano; Michel Bertiaume, drums; Jon Geary, guitar; Mathieu McConnell-Enright, bass; Bill Mahar, trumpet; and Jean-Pierre Zanella, saxophone
arranged by Carol Welsman
verse arranged by Kevin Amos.
Happy New Year, and see you in 2021!
