Hugh Martin, composer, lyricist, vocal arranger, pianist, singer, actor and the man who gave the world the great seasonal gift of "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas", was born one hundred years ago this week - August 11th 1914, in Birmingham, Alabama. To mark his centenary, here's an encore presentation of Mark's two-part audio tribute to Hugh first broadcast upon his death three years ago at the age of 96.
As longtime listeners will recall,Hugh Martin was a guest on The Mark Steyn Christmas Show on a couple of occasions. In this special podcast, Mark draws on those archive interviews to celebrate Hugh's many talents. In this two-part program, we'll hear "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" sung by everyone from Frank Sinatra to Twisted Sister, and from the Steyn archives we'll hear Hugh Martin's own lovely and distinctive live performance of his seasonal standard - followed by Mark and Jessica's very different take on the song (which can also be found on our full-length album, Making Spirits Bright).
In the first part of our podcast, Hugh talks about working on the Judy Garland film Meet Me In St Louis, and learning the tricks of the trade from Kay Thompson, author of Eloise; and we dust off some of his classic vocal arrangements. You can listen to Part One by clicking above. This show was first broadcast when Hugh Martin died in 2011.
To hear Part Two, simply click here.