On this week's edition of Mark Steyn on the Town we play a song for the season, a song for Mata Hari, and songs for the protean concept album. Plus mambo meets calypso, and Marianne Faithfull - forsooth!
To listen to the programme, simply click here and log-in.
~Thank you for your comments about last week's edition. Chris, a Steyn Clubber from New York, writes:
Haven't thought of Elaine Stritch in a while. Thanks for that. I was just coming of age in the 70's and was at TKTS in NYC often trying to get seats to Broadway plays. Never got the chance to see Stritch in Sondheim's Follies, which to me is her nom de guerre-'I'm Still Here'. Most think perhaps 'The Ladies who Lunch' from Company, but that 'I S H' was just her, warts and all, gravel voice already by then, but the very image of a New Yorker to bow to no one and take your punishment. She was from Detroit but adopted by all new Yorkers.
And, gosh I hate that Neil Sedaka song. It grates the hell out of me and I never could figure out how it did so well...
And what a gem that Sinatra singing 'I Wish I Were in Love Again'. New to me. The line 'the furtive sigh, the blackened eye' did make me wince with 2000 sensibilities, however. Overall, thanks MS. I'd rather be punch drunk with you than without you.
Teresa Maupin, a member of The Mark Steyn Club from California, also enjoyed that opening Stritch segment:
Along with her fabulous voice, I loved Elaine Stritch's hilarious quips.
Also, just wondering if you ever hear from any of Frank Sinatra's descendants regarding your insightful fun trips down Frank's voluminous memory lane.
Well, without wishing to betray any confidences, I've "heard from" several over the years, and at least one of them follows me on Twitter. However, there remains one I would be very interested to sit down with whom I've never run into.
Teresa's fellow Californian, Gary Alexander, files this dispatch from out on the briny:
Speaking of your potential tombstone (You're full of it, but you know who wrote Civilization: Bingle, Bangle, Bongo etc.), I'm on the Jazz Cruise right now with some pretty good musical minds, but I won the Jazz Trivia contest on Day 2. It's the current version of the retired Name That Tune contest, which I kept winning after I learned too much from you....
At any rate, all the difference in this latest contest came from my knowing the various lyricists to 'Memphis in June,' 'Moonlight Serenade' and 'I'm Beginning to See the Light' and 'Girl Talk' -- so my tombstone could run a few words longer than yours.
One more from Steyn Clubber Diane Calabrese:
Nice to be swept away by Elaine Stritch (with B. Goodman) at the beginning and then by the several versions of 'Where or When' in FS sextet. (Angels singing indeed.)
Could not connect with Neil Sedaka, Fiona Apple or 'Bongo, Bongo, Bongo.' Does not matter though. Got lost in thought regarding Lorenz Hart and how he did it...
Hart was writing snappy lyrics – so snappy they sounded "happy"/sound happy no matter who renders them. Perhaps not "Valentine..." but the 'unphotographable' looks that MS has discussed elsewhere is a phrase that always brings a smile.
Amazed always that Hart's songs could exude happiness – through words as well as the timbre of the voices – during not the greatest time and given his own trials. More than that, though, it seems that LH and Cole Porter, although on different tracks in their writing schemes, both tapped into something ethereal.
Yes, Johnny Mercer (love him) is great. But we never really leave planet Earth. What's going on? No idea at all.
Something comes through with Hart (and CP) that's not definable. We're in the 'glimpse of immortality' realm. (Rodgers rarely gets my attention except when paired with Hart.)
Thanks for the program, MS – almost all high notes, and very welcome. Verdi's not turning round in his grave. (In fact, believe he'd be impressed by LH and CP.)
Thanks for all your comments - including the critical ones. On the Town is my weekly music show on Serenade Radio every Saturday at 5pm Greenwich Mean Time - that's 6pm in western and central Europe/12 midday North American Eastern. You can listen from anywhere in the world by clicking the button at top right here.
As you know, I'm a great believer in old-school appointment listening, and love the way Serenade's Saturday schedule flows through the day. However, we appreciate that many potential listeners are, at the appointed hour, shampooing the cat. So, as a bonus for Steyn Club members, we post On the Town at SteynOnline every weekend. You can find all our previous shows here.
We do enjoy your comments on our weekend programming. Steyn Clubbers are welcome to leave them below. For more on The Mark Steyn Club, see here - and don't forget our special Gift Membership.
Mark Steyn on the Town can be heard on Serenade Radio at the following times:
Saturday 5pm London time/12 noon New York
Sunday 5am London time/9pm Los Angeles
Steyn's Song of the Week continues on Sunday, Monday and Thursday at the usual hour.
