On this week's edition of Mark Steyn on the Town, we have questions, waltzes, Swedes ...and tongues. Plus: Sinatra, Lulu, Julie London, the Three Degrees, a cavalcade of Number Ones, and a repurposed mammy song.
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Last week's edition of On the Town wished a happy birthday to Broadway lyricist Lee Adams, and attracted a range of comment. David Graham, an Ulster Steyn Clubber, says:
Hi Mark,
Awake early this Sunday morning and what better way to start the day than lying in bed listening to your Saturday evening show. As ever, it was a bundle of tranquillity and joy, amongst the mayhem.
A couple of hours later, up and about making breakfast, and the show was so good, I played it again!
Thank you so much – it has, I think, kept me sane for another day.
Bart Nielsen, a First Week Founding Member, writes:
Thanks, Mark, as always, for furthering my woefully inadequate public school education.
Prior to today, the 'Put on a Happy Face' song was only known to me as the ad jingle [modified] for Baby Ruth bars.
It was a great jingle. I could still do it today if the room needed clearing out.
Oh, no no no, Bart. The best "Put on a Happy Face" ad was the one from (I think) the late Eighties/early Nineties for a brand of makeup I've forgotten. At the time, ladies of my acquaintance said it had a terrific spirit that captured exactly what it's like when you're happy and putting your face on.
Our peerless music maven Gary Alexander notes the aptness of at least one Strouse & Adams song title:
Thanks for the great show. I had a 30-minute tribute to Lee Adams' centennial on my Friday radio show here, up north of Seattle (to be repeated Monday). Lee's first hit sort of predicted his longevity ('A Lot of Living to Do') with positive secrets to longevity along the way ('Put on a Happy Face' and 'This is the Life').
The male leads in both initial productions of Birdie are still alive and nearing a centennial at age 98+. Dick Van Dyke was the lead on Broadway (born December 13, 1925), and Peter Marshall starred in the 1961 West End production (born March 30, 1926). And Chita Rivera, starring in both, made 91 before dying earlier this year.
A lot of living to do, indeed.
Glad'ja highlighted that great rhyme, which I always point out on the radio and to friends, boring them to death.
As a 1962 high schooler deep into first love in a 'world sweeter than we knew,' Adams' 'Once Upon a Time' always brings a tear.
Indeed. A few days after Gary's comments came the news that the above-mentioned Peter Marshall had taken his leave at the age of ninety-eight. Many of you will know Peter from his many years as host of Hollywood Squares, but he was a great old-school song'n'dance man.
That said, Bill Holcomb, a Steyn Club member from Alabama, disdains the formidable talents of Dick Van Dyke, Matt Monro, Sammy Davis, Tony Bennett and Frank Sinatra on last week's show in favour of ...well:
Hi Mark - as usual, you have provided another magnificent musical sojourn.
Tonight, though, I pulled up your Clubland Q&A from Jan 13, 2023 and scrolled to -5:32 as I have done many times this past year and a half.
There hides the sublime 'Ton sourire est dans mon coeur'. That perfect spare arrangement, your vocals, the elegance of the French lyric, and one of the great melodies of all time combine in a unique prosody that moves me every time. Your political acumen is a rare gift, but it's your literary and musical content that keeps my credit card info updated & my autorenewal on cruise control. Please maintain these superb elements of evanescent Western Civilization, which produce simultanous joy & melancholia. As we slide off the proverbial cliff, I find peace there.
Too kind, Bill. If you would like to hear "Ton sourire" less hidden and shorn of whoever was two points up in Iowa that week, you can find it here.
One more from Fran, a First Weekend Founding Member in New Mexico:
Just so happy I made my appointment radio time today. I was able to put on a happy face again, forget about the ugly news, and dance a little, swing to some fabulous trumpet sounds and catch some great lyrics. Thanks all to the masterful radio host, who can put it all together like nobody else, the great Mark Steyn.
Thanks for all your comments. On the Town is my weekly music show on Serenade Radio every Saturday at 5pm British Summer 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 listeners 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 the shows here every weekend.
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 hours:
Saturday 5pm London time/9am Los Angeles
Sunday 5am London time/12 midnight New York
Steyn's Song of the Week continues at its usual hour on Sunday, Monday and Thursday.