We hope our Canadian listeners had a good Victoria Day a few days ago. At this shingle, we're old-school, and prefer to observe the occasion on the day itself. So, on this week's episode of Mark Steyn on the Town, we mark Queen Victoria's birthday with a diverse range of songwriters from Felix Mendelssohn to Tammy Wynette. Plus the Imperial Sinatra and a cavalcade of Non-Stop Number Ones.
To listen to the programme, simply click here and log-in.
~Thank you for your kind comments about last week's edition of our show. From Chris Hitchcock:
Hi Mark, Interesting program on the Eurovision, the early years had one thing in common 'Melody'. We lost the plot years ago. Is it a case of 'The Emperor's New Clothes'? Ireland had 7 wins all of them memorable. I think that it's time to ditch the contest. Nice to hear the soft tones of Dana. Innocent days!
Nicola Timmerman, an Ontario member of The Mark Steyn Club, says:
Yes! French songs back on the show!
Gave up on the Eurovision contest when Israel didn't win several times. And this year there is a beautiful, talented Nova survivor who is in the finale but again hasn't got a chance of winning.
Robert Wilkinson, an Arizona Steyn Clubber, writes:
I prefer Neil Diamond's cover of If You Go Away from his Stones album, far more evocative than Frank.
Not all of Neil's covers are such but often they are great. His covers of Cohen's Suzanne and the Hollies He Ain't Heavy He's my Brother are 2 others that are superior to most.
For Michael Smith in Maryland, the switcheroo at the end of the Ames Brothers has the makings of an entire thesis:
There appears to be a whole songbook of tunes ending with the surprise femme fatale being an infant, toddler or child. To these two could be added Chuck Berry's Memphis, Tennessee.
Perhaps a future theme show Mark, with Bubba Clinton introducing them all.
But for Gary Alexander, the "Naughty Lady of Shady Lane" already hits very close to home:
It was great hearing all the Sinatra anthems with Euro roots, but you really hit home on your finale since our address is 'Shady Lane,' and the Ames Brothers tickled a nerve since my bride of 57 years gets teased now and then for her Naughty Lady-hood.
Two other songs came out in the early 50s with our address embedded within them, most notably Les Paul and Mary Ford resurrecting a 1902 song in 1952, 'The Good Old Summertime' with Mary chanting 'Shady Lane' 32 times during hubby's guitar solo before and after singing 'strolling down that Shady Lane...' And then came Old Blue Eyes on 'Our Town' in 1955, with the second refrain beginning 'You will like the Shady Lanes in our town.' Yes, it's shady up here. Lots of Evergreens surround us. Doin' my Greenie duty.
There is probably an entire show, Gary, in street names I learned from songs. As a kid, I always assumed that Bing's record of "That Sly Old Gentleman from Featherbed Lane" was a fancy of the authors (Jimmy Monaco and Johnny Burke), and then I turned down Featherbed Lane in Rugby (Warwickshire). A few years back, I passed another Featherbed Lane in Vermont's Lake Champlain Islands.
Fran Lavery, a New Mexico member of The Mark Steyn Club, was struck by the contrasting fates of the writers of our opening Sinatra number:
Today's was truly a fabuloso show. Listening to each episode of Steyn On the Town is just like soaking up an enjoyable and enriching music class. Harry B. Smith's name didn't ring a bell, nor the names of the lyricists who were tragically and brutally murdered. Who would hurt a lyricist? A Nazi, I guess. One shudders to think.
While I was upset to hear of the two lyricists who were murdered, I was intrigued to hear Harry B. Smith wasn't murdered and on vacation died in a hotel room at the Marlborough Blenheim Hotel in Atlantic City where thirty-eight years later I waitressed in the grand dining room the summer after a year of college and fourteen years before its ball and crane demolition made the evening news and an era was gone forever. I found a musical related connection to the Marlborough Blenheim Hotel on Wiki: The second act of the 1925 Broadway musical comedy No, No, Nanette is set in the Marlborough-Blenheim and the song 'Peach of the Beach' contains the lyric: 'You can bet Nanette is the prize and pet of the Marlborough-Blenheim Hotel.' Maybe Mark will feature the tune some day on his show. I guess Harry B. Smith knew it well.
Thanks for the lovely respite from the hamster wheel news cycle, Mark.
And one more from Fraser, an East Anglian Steyn Clubber, re our Italian content:
I reckon there's a super-strong case for modern Medusa and superb all-round diva Iva Zanicchi in this entirely imaginary Tuscan roadhouse - if only for 'Testarda Io' so expertly used in Visconti's penultimate and much underrated film Gruppo di Famiglia in in Interno (1974).Ornella and Gino are a great start though!
~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 or 12 noon 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, as we commence our ninth years, see here - and don't forget our special Gift Membership.
Mark Steyn on the Town can be heard on Serenade Radio at its regular times next weekend:
Saturday 5pm London time/12 noon New York
Sunday 5am London time/9pm Los Angeles
