On our annual Bastille Day episode of Mark Steyn on the Town, we count down a cavalcade of Non-Stop Number Ones down the decades and enjoy a sextet of Franco Sinatra, even if the French gets a bit iffy. Plus Zorba the Greek meets the washerwomen of Portugal.
To listen to the programme, simply click here and log-in.
~Thank you for your kind comments about last week's edition. Jackie, a Pennsylvania Steyn Clubber, says:
Outstanding show Mark! One of your best and the hour flies by! Such a great lineup along with the background as only you can do! I could have done without Frank's greasy hair but hey Hal Singer's Let's Rock was terrific! You truly have a gift!
Anne Kearney, a First Month Founding Member of The Mark Steyn Club, writes:
Another wonderful show, Mark, thank you! I couldn't stop laughing at 'Sioux City Sue.' A bit dismayed at Frank's vitriol toward 'Jealous Lover'! It's grown on me over the years ... I think it has a nice swing to it! Oh well what do I know. Only that I loved dancing in my kitchen to most of your selections this week LOL.
Nancy writes from Montana:
When I remember how much my generation hated when Sinatra's music played on our Top 40 radio stations in the 1960s - at least his music then was MUCH better than his 1950s 'rock music'.
Also, I enjoyed sharing the lyrics about the beaut named Hannah from Butte Montana with my Montana native husband. His look of amazement was so worth it. Cheers from Helena!
You're the best, Mark Steyn - thanks for all the entertainment.
Josh, a Steyn Clubber from Massachusetts, was taken aback by last week's celebrity duet:
Bill Haley AND Caterina Valente? Do my ears deceive me? My eyes don't. And I still can't believe it. (Say it ain't so.) Can't really believe Sinatra as a rocker either. He feels rushed, out of breath, SO out of his element.
But 'Rock Around "Le Cloque"'? Mon dieu! Je crois.
One more from Grant Carlson, a Canadian Clubber who was there at the beginning:
Hi Mark, I was lucky enough to see Bill Haley in Winnipeg in 1956 when I was 14. It was so very new and so exciting that only a few of us several hundred teenagers knew what to do. Only a few sophisticates knew how to jive so the rest of us just stared and bounced around a bit. Gene Krupa was a wild guy on the drums but nothing like Haley's bassist who was strumming the instrument while on his back.
Then came the great Little Richard, Bo Diddley and all the rest and we finally learned how to dance. 1942 was a great year to be born as we passed through every musical phase until today, though there doesn't seem to be anything near as new or exciting now.
~On the Town is Mark'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, now in its 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
