On this week's edition of Mark Steyn on the Town Mark observes the centennial of Puccini's death with his somewhat unlikely biggest hit. Plus there's a Sierra Leone double-play and a very operatic Sinatra Sextet.
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~Last week's edition attracted a lot of comment. Nicola, a Mark Steyn Club member from francophone Ontario, writes:
Thanks for the two French songs that I never heard before as song by Caterina Valente. She does in French sound a bit like Francoise Hardy.
From Massachusetts, Josh agrees:
Is it possible to fall in love with Caterina Valente in multiple languages? She's like having a girl in every port without leaving home.
Anne Crowcroft says:
Hi Mark,
Love your shows! Yesterday's was great, especially the Quincy Jones feature. Was reminded that a young Peter Grant recorded an album around 2005. Which was heavily promoted by Michael Parkinson at the time, and did quite well. In this album he recorded 'On Days Like These' and also 'Walk Away', another collaboration of Don Black's lyrics and Matt Monro's singing. Both I thought Peter Grant did well.
Olga, an Arizona Steyn Clubber, thinks the show could soar even higher:
'Come Fly with Me' and 'Fly Me to the Moon' are definitely in my top ten of elevated songs ~ dare one hope for an all-flight show in the future? I bet many a Steyn Clubber would enjoy that en route to the embarkation port in April.
Olga adds:
At the risk of being impertinent, I sometimes wonder...
As many anecdotes as you have in your repertoire, Mr. Steyn, could they all, really, fit into one man's lifetime?
But, then, again, you do claim to be 157 years old, which would make for a very reasonable monthly anecdote average...
Ah, yes, but all Mark's anecdotes occurred in his first thirty years...
Our West Coast music maven, Gary Alexander, liked our opening number:
What a brilliant opener of 'Soul Bossa Nova' with the stratospheric soprano (Christiane Legrand?) of the Swingles. How do you find all those gems?
And speaking of soaring, Frank was up in the air with 'Q' in your Sextet, starting with 'Come Fly with Me' then (#2) in the lyrics of Cy Coleman's 'The Best is Yet to Come' ('I'm gonna teach you to fly,' and 'you think you've flown before, but baby, you ain't left the ground') and then the moon-bound swinger, 'Fly me to the Moon.'
Chris, a New York member of the Steyn Club, enjoyed Q too:
I knew with the recent passing of Quincy Jones that you would have something to say and I admit I mostly have a dead zone of knowledge about 'Q' and so appreciated all your words and insights. It seems to me I had always considered Quincy Jones more contemporaneous with me in age if not talent so when you commented he hit it big with Frank in 1958 I had to go check to note he was all of 25 at that time! Just a kid as far as professionals go but a generation older than I. All the changes he had seen over the decades, quite different it seems to me, then when we talk about Nelson Riddle, Don Costa or Johnny Mandel who seem to fit an age; albeit, even if we are wrong, they belong to a particular locus in our mind. Not really true for 'Q.'
And thanks for Daphne Walker from New Zealand on Samoa. The closest I've ever gotten to either place is Hawaii. My experience with 'Hawaiian music' had been limited to Don Ho and then Iz but arriving in Maui one year for vacation, I couldn't leave my hotel room because an FM radio station was playing incredible local music within that genre but so expansively yet true to its roots that it was a revelation, unlike any other local music I've heard in Ireland, Italy, Mexico etc. Thanks for that memory, and maybe I'll comment one day on the phenomenal natural music of Samoa and NZ.
And one more from Mark's fellow Granite Stater, John Barrett:
Another great show. You wrote that Serenade Radio has shows 'through the day'. That's just what we do - leave the station on to enjoy Showstoppers .... and then all the way to Sunday's Soft Folkus and more. Thanks for introducing us to Serenade Radio and all it has to offer.
Thanks for all your comments - including the critical ones. On the Town is Steyn's 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 mentioned above, Mark is a great believer in old-school appointment listening, and loves 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.