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Last broadcast on Sun, 26 Jul 2009, 21:00 on BBC Radio 2.
Synopsis
Frank Loesser, songwriter, composer and creator of some of Broadway's and Hollywood's most successful musical shows is under the spotlight this week with Russell singling out examples from The Most Happy Fella (The Four Lads and Jo Sullivan); The Perils Of Pauline (Betty Hutton) and Hans Christian Andersen (Lucy Reed and - from the soundtrack - Danny Kaye & Jane Wyman).
Russell considers the possibility of one subject providing the seed for another, suggesting that a line from Schwartz & Dietz's Shine On Your Shoes is responsible for Loesser's Can't Get Out Of This Mood. One more Loesser novelty song Bloop Bleep , which we hear sung by the composer, gives rise to an exploration of plumbing in song. Russell comes up with some gems like The Bathtub Ran Over Again and - amazingly - Plumbing, a Cole Porter song from his 1933 show Nymph Errant.
This Week's Show
Our Trip To The Moon last week prompted more than the usual amount of email correspondence, almost as soon as the show had gone out! Most helpfully, Laurence Purcell wrote:
“Dear Russell, Regarding last night's programme: The acme (if that's the word I want) of pop adaptations of the Moonight Sonata is surely an offering from 1966 by those Sarah Bernhardts of teen melodrama, the Shangri-las. It's called "Past, Present and Future" and is very restrained, even tasteful, by the Shangri-las' standards (nobody dies): Even so, prepare yourself for a deeply affecting experience.”
Another correspondent reminds us of an obscure but much loved recording of a Hoagy Carmichael ‘Moon’ song. Richard Allen (for it was he) writes: “Many years ago in a second-hand shop in Crawley… I picked up a 78 of 'Moonburn'. Not the well-known Bing version; this was by a band calling itself Bob Terry and his Orchestra. It's a nice song; I still don't know who the vocalist was, but a fellow collector at work told me that this was a studio 'pick-up' group consisting mainly of musicians associated with the Red MacKenzie groups.
It's a treasured record, not least because it features Caspar Reardon on harp; harps didn't often feature in bands except for novelty features. I don't think this has ever been transferred to CD.” No, we believe you’re right, Richard: But we can tell you the vocalist was Wayne Gregg and it was Bunny Berigan on trumpet. Keep those letters and queries coming – we welcome them!
Recommended: Michael Flanders and Donald Swann
Recommendations
If, like us, you love the wit and musical bonhomie laced with social comment of Michael Flanders and Donald Swann, a box of treasures well worth investing in is EMI/Parlophone’s 3 CD set of The Complete Flanders And Swann. It contains both the LP performances of “At The Drop Of A Hat” – recorded during the final performance at The Fortune Theatre in London on May 2nd 1959 and the follow-up “At The Drop Of Another Hat” as well as their third Parlophone LP “The Bestiary Of Flanders And Swann”. And as if all that was not enough, they’ve added a number of rare tracks, including some recorded in Canada during the pair’s Americas tour.
Canada provides the link into The Four Lads vocal group (yes, all Canadians) are best-remembered here for ‘Standing On The Corner’, the chart-entry that opens this 2 CD set: “ Moments To Remember – The Fabulous ‘50s”. 62 tracks and surprising variety: Amidst the novelties (‘Cleo and Meo’, ‘Istanbul’, ‘Gilly Gilly Ossenfeffer’) there are decent ballads (I’ll String Along With You’, ‘Long Ago And Far Away’ ‘Dancing In The Dark’) and it’s not just The Lads – There are guests like Frankie Laine, Cathy Johnson & others. You’ll find it on Jasmine JASCD 492.
Just room to mention Daryl Sherman’s latest – “Johnny Mercer: A Centennial Tribute” on Arbors, which we’ll be returning to with the Mercer Centenary looming. Plenty of delicious, unfamiliar JM items here as well as old classics like ‘JeepersCreepers’ and ‘Lazybones’. ARCD 19388 is the number.
Tracklist
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The Four Lads — Standing On The Corner
Moments To Remember, Jasmine, JASCD 492 -
Lucy Reed — Inchworm
The Singng Reed – Lucy Reed With Bill Evans, Fantasy, OJCCD-1777-2 -
Betty Hutton — The Sewing Machine
It’s Oh So Quiet, Delta Leisure Group, 26601 -
Sarah Vaughan — Can’t Get Out Of This MoodSarah Vaughan In Hi-Fi, Columbia Legacy, CK 65117 -
Mel Torme & George Shearing — A Shine On Your Shoes
The Complete Concord Recordings, Concord, CCD7-2144-2 -
Original Broadway Cast “The Most Happy Fella” — Aren’t You Glad
The Most Happy Fella OST, Sony Broadway, S2K 48010 -
Benny Goodman & His Orchestra — Ain’tcha Glad
Early BG 1931-1935, Timeless Historical, CBC-1-065 -
Rosemary Clooney — They’re Either Too Young Or Too Old
For The Duration, Concord, CCD-4444 -
Frank Loesser — Bloop Bleep
Frank Sings Loesser, Koch International Classics, 3-7241-2 H1 -
Daryl Sherman — The Bathtub Ran Over Again
Daryl Sherman Johnny Mercer Centennial Tribute, Arbors, ARCD 19388 -
Flanders and Swann — The Gasman Cometh
At The Drop Of Another Hat, Parlophone, CDFSB 12 -
Emile Belcourt — Plumbing
Cole Porter’s “Nymph Errant” Complete Recording, EMI Angel, CDC 7 54079 2 -
Ella Fitzgerald — Steam HeatElla Sings Broadway, Verve, 549 373-2 -
John Lithgow — Singin’ In The Bathtub
Singin’ In The Bathtub, Sony Wonder, 63501 -
Danny Kaye & Jane Wyman — No Two People
Danny Kaye Sings Your Favourite Songs, The Entertainers, CD 340
Broadcast
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Sun 26 Jul 200921:00
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