Just ahead of Episode Thirteen of Mark Steyn's Passing Parade, a tip of a grateful hat on this fourth birthday of The Mark Steyn Club to all those First Month Founding Members who've decided to re-up for a fifth year. But we treasure not just the old-timers but the johnnies-come-lately, too. Jim writes from lovely Kewarra Beach on the Captain Cook Highway in northern Queensland:
Hi Mark, love your show. I've been listening for a while and I thought it was time to stop skiving and stump up.
Keep up the excellent work. Cheers.
Cheers to you, Jim, and welcome to our ranks. Hope you'll prowl around the archive and enjoy some of the stuff you've missed.
Meanwhile, here's this weekend's episode of Mark Steyn's Passing Parade, and the concluding instalment of our musical section. We begin at the dawn of rock'n'roll...
Go back to that summer's day in 1953, when Phillips first heard that voice. He wanted Elvis, but he didn't want him singing 'My Happiness'. Nobody needed a one-man Ink Spots, or a hillbilly Eddie Fisher. 'I always said,' Phillips told everybody, 'that if I could find a white boy who could sing like a black man I'd make a million dollars.'
...and we end with a postscript from the freak end of pop celebrity, with Michael Jackson. There's more on Wacko Jacko from one of the few men on this earth who knew the non-wacko side of him, the man who wrote his first solo Number One, Don Black.
Members of The Mark Steyn Club can hear me read Part Thirteen of Mark Steyn's Passing Parade simply by clicking here and logging-in. Earlier episodes can be found here.
Tomorrow, Sunday, I'll be here with another audio adventure in Tales for Our Time.
If you've yet to hear any of our tales, you can do so by joining The Mark Steyn Club. For more details, see here - and don't forget our special Gift Membership. I'll be hosting Part Fourteen of Mark Steyn's Passing Parade right here next weekend.
