On this week's episode of Mark Steyn on the Town, we remember one of the last great Broadway composers, who died earlier this month a few days before his ninety-seventh birthday. From the Steyn archives, Mark talks to Charles Strouse, who gave us hit shows such as Annie and Bye Bye Birdie, as well as flop shows from which some great songs managed to escape the rubble. We'll hear Charles's music interpreted by singers from Sinatra to James Taylor, the Poni-Tails to Jay-Z.
To listen to the programme, simply click here and log-in.
~Thank you for your kind comments about last week's somewhat eclectic edition. From Mark's fellow Granite Stater, John Barrett:
Well... . you somehow tied together: a tango - Sinatra - a Viennese waltz - Queen Victoria - Tammy Wynette - a zither-hit - and I'm missing a few. A very enjoyable variety of music, and that's what's great about On the Town and the Club. Congratulations on eight years, and many more!
Janis Patrick, a Texan member of The Mark Steyn Club, especially enjoyed our ante-penultimate number:
Mark, thank you for playing the theme from The Third Man. It was played on the radio so often when I was a teenager and I LOVED it! Didn't see the movie until many decades later.
Harry Royle, a Steyn Clubber from the English Home Counties, also appreciates the show wandering zither and yon:
I was delighted to hear the theme from The Third Man. I always joke with my friends that this was the film where Joseph Cotten played Holly Martins, Orson Welles played Harry Lime, and famous female zither player Shirley Abicair played Anton Karas! Keep up your fascinating music-related series on Serenade Radio each Saturday and Sunday.
Olga from Arizona preferred the temple bells from the old Moulmein pagoda:
Any episode that includes 'Road to Mandalay' goes straight to the top ten list. I could listen to a whole entire episode of just 'Roads to Mandalay'. Okay, maybe some additional roads would be acceptable, though, I suppose, 'Highway to Hell' would be veering too far afield. (Mr. Bachman does a grand rendition!)
The hard pivot from Strauss to Tammy Wynette was a neat trick. I've noticed a few such unexpected juxtapositions in the more recent episodes, & am now eagerly awaiting future contrasts. Hank Williams & Holst, Al Jolson & Liszt, Sophie Tucker & Tchaikovsky. Oh, the possibilities!
Thank you, Monsieur Steyn, for a swell episode!
Gary, The Mark Steyn Club's West Coast musical maven, favoured our exploration of the Imperial Sinatra:
I'm glad you capped that Grungy Gunga-Din limited edition with 'Now is the Hour' from Sinatra Sings Great Songs from Great Britain (1962), with Robert Farnon's great backing. My favorite from that disc is the final cut, Noel Coward's 'I'll Follow My Secret Heart.' Apparently, that was the only studio album that Old Blue Eyes ever recorded outside the U.S. He also reprised 'London by Night' on that album, but the live version you played was more intimate.
Good world tour there. I loved the 'banned' Kipling lyrics 'On the Road to Mandalay,' which he also commented on in his Australian tour with Red Norvo's group in 1959. Can't muzzle that man for long.
Fraser, another UK Clubber, is keen to enroll the Argentine in both the Commonwealth and the European Union:
Ángel d'Agostino y su Orquesta Tipica featuring vocalist Ángel Vargas singing 'Hotel Victoria' was a highly evocative and memorable start to another great edition of the show. Argentina may not be 'in the Commonwealth nor on the continent', as Sensei Steyn describes, but for so long it was regarded as an informal colony of the British Empire; London capital, Scottish rural management and labour, plus, eventually, millions of Italian and Spanish industrial workers that, in fact, it could have been in either Cafe Imperial or Café Continental or both! At all events, along with the two well-established cafés and last week's imaginary Tuscan roadhouse, this fan of Argentine traditional music suggests a pampa counterpart - 'Club Asado', maybe?! Oh well...
One more from Nicola, a Canadian Steyn Clubber:
Interesting to learn Queen Victoria could sing well and play the piano and that Prince Albert composed sings.
Always glad to hear Sinatra, young or old!
~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 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, 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, as we commence our ninth year, 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
