On this week's edition of Mark Steyn on the Town we have a cavalcade of Non-Stop Number Ones, some wild, some mellow, after which we take tea with lyricist Irving Caesar, and enjoy Frank Sinatra getting his Irish up. Plus lepers and yellow-striped trousers.
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~Thank you for your kind comments about last week's edition. Diane, a Maryland Steyn Clubber, kicks things off:
Caterina Valente to Telly Savalas – definitely something for everyone...
Liked very much the Pink Martini rendition of 'Bolero'.
Thanks, MS, eclectic and engaging as always.
Not sure about that "something for everyone", Diane. A lot of it trembled on the brink of nuthin' for no one. Our West Coast music maven Gary Alexander writes:
Thanks for letting Cyrille Aimée have her way with us in Ravel's 'Lamp is Low' and especially for not interrupting the hot tenor sax solo by Joel Frahm in their Live at Birdland album I've played often on my radio show (it's her best band, I'd say). She has been a regular on the Jazz Cruise recently, but not in this recent edition.
I hope you didn't lose any 'easy listening' Serenade fans by playing this Peppy Pavane by a very Live Princess, but thanks for that one -- from your 'West Coast musical maven.'
It sure topped the strangest Sinatra Sextet you've yet presented.
Actually, Gary, I prefer "The Lamp Is Low" at a slightly less frantic tempo that brings out the misterioso quality of both the music and the words. But I'd played the young Sinatra's version with Harry James last year, and I couldn't find another ballad treatment I liked as much. So in the end I thought what the hell...
As to that Sinatra Sextet, David, a California Steyn Clubber, wasn't totally opposed:
Interesting to hear a few examples of Sinatra at his less-than-best. I've always thought Mercer was a much better songwriter than singer, but I have to agree that he 'got' Gentle on my Mind better than Frank did. Even his version can't compare with Glen Campbell's, which in turn can't compare with John Hartford's original.
Telly Savalas was cringe, and I say that as somebody who loved Dirk Bogarde's recited lyrics of Just the Way You Look a few months ago, enough to track down the whole album. Dirk was celebrating great lyrics while Telly just seemed to be somebody who couldn't sing. (And it's hard to imagine anybody making art from the lyrics of 'If', which while lyrical are on the whole unsatisfying.)
It was another set of lyrics that Katy, a Steyn Club member in St Louis, had a problem with:
A great show. Thank you for sharing it with the Club too. I won't lie, I laughed out loud a bit with those lyrics to Cycles. Seasons changing and winter going to spring...reminded me of Chauncey Gardener in Being There. Clearly a tough time for FS.
And I loved hearing Caterina's multilingual take on Dankeschon. Delightful!
Now you've got me working on Being There - The Musical, Katy. On the other hand, from Peter, a First Week Founding Member of The Mark Steyn Club:
That bloke from Dexy's Midnight Runners may not have cared for 'Cycles', and admittedly the lyrics are not its strong suit.
But there is something to the single - Sinatra's world-weary singing against the seemingly carefree chugging piano of Costa's arrangement, and the smooth background singers - that never quite seems to mesh, and almost feels unsettling. Perhaps this clash gave the single resonance with older listeners, like Frank unsure of where they were as the 60's trudged on.
Not all of Sinatra's later experiments worked, but some deserve a re-listen.. especially Watertown, his collaboration with Bob Gaudio of the Four Seasons. Hopefully Mark can look at that someday. Great show as always.
One more from Chris, a Steyn Clubber from upstate New York:
As always, an education filled romp across the last 150 years. You wouldn't think Ravel's humble beginnings would wind up producing something ground breaking like Bolero. 'Gentle on My Mind' is a great favorite of mine and certainly loved Glen Campbell's version, laughed a bit at Frank's version (I couldn't even get past him 'stashing' his bag behind anyone's couch, let alone the cracklin soup in a train yard, and Mercer, to me, can do no wrong.
My take-home lessons for the day:
1) All prepared to annoyingly educate everyone on Dankeschon vs 'shane' and the appropriate rhymes thanks to Caterina,
2) Am submitting MS essays to the Telly Savalas treatment and hope to produce an album called 20 Years Ago (#1 in the UK.!!)
and 3) my last bit of advice would be to perhaps lay off any other shipwreck songs, even beguiling ones that have you and 150 girls alone on an island, when the Steyn Cruise is right around the corner. Next week 'Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip...'
All praise to the Skipper of the MS Club.
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.
Because some parts of the world have sprung into summer but others haven't, for this month only Mark Steyn on the Town can be heard on Serenade Radio at the following times:
Saturday 5pm London time/1pm New York
Sunday 5am London time/10pm Los Angeles
Steyn's Song of the Week continues on Sunday, Monday and Thursday at the usual hour GMT, but one hour later than usual in the Americas.