Programming note: Later today at SteynOnline I'll be here with another of our Christmas Tales for Our Time. Hope you'll join me.
~This week's edition of Mark Steyn on the Town is our Christmas show - an extended seasonal visit to our Café Continental featuring Yuletide classics from the steppes of Russia to the streets of Paris - and with some old friends dropping in along the way.
To listen to the programme, simply click here and log-in.
~Thank you for your kind comments about last week's show. I was truly gratified by how many of you were thrilled to discover the late Nancy LaMott. Anne was one of the few who already knew her:
Hi Mark,
Lovely to hear Nancy Lamott on the radio again albeit the tragic anniversary of her passing. I first heard Nancy on Don Black's Radio 2 show a few years back. I brought some of her cds and was surprised about her story. Such a beautiful singer living at times in terrible pain and passing at such a young age. I loved all of her songs but my favourite is Autumn leaves/when October goes which is poignant but too long for a radio show.
I love your shows it is always full of fascinating facts!
Thank you, Anne. We'll keep your favourite in mind for this coming autumn. Olga, an Arizona Steyn Clubber, thinks we need a biopic:
I was pretty sure I'd never heard of Nancy LaMott, so I had to look her up after the episode ended.
Imagine my surprise when not a single movie about her popped up on the old goolag. There are a fair few documentaries, but no movies. Not even a Movie-of-the-Week, or a Hallmark, or an After School Special. & that's back in the days when Hollywood still (sort of) knew what it was doing.
I suppose it's pointless to expect some enterprising young screenwriter to snap up the rights now. More's the pity ~ there's surely a story to be told behind that deathbed marriage alone.
Robert Fox, a First Week Founding Member of The Mark Steyn Club, writes:
Beautiful tribute to Nancy LaMott. Mark has a keen knack for remembering important figures in the arts and entertainment arenas that everyone else in media forgets. Listened to the show on Monday morning at work and there wasn't a dry eye in my cubicle...Another fantastic installment of On the Town!
Teresa, a California Steyn Clubber, says:
I can see why you adored Nancy LaMott's voice, Mark. Her rendition of Moon River is beyond breathtaking.
And one more from JC, a member of The Mark Steyn Club in Weston-super-Mare:
Marks music - Everyday's a school day!
So there I was listening to Frank's 110th birthday party & his number with a children's choir featuring Don Costa's daughter. Then you mention how proud of Don would be of his daughter Nikka's own singing career & suddenly the dots were joined: this is the same Nikka Costa who is already in my music collection via tracks like "Everybody got their something" & an album "Nikka & Strings: underneath & in between".
A big thank you Mark for continuing my musical education.
Thank you all. On the Town is my weekly music show on Serenade Radio every Saturday at 5pm Greenwich Mean Time - that's 6pm in western and central Europe or 12 noon North American Eastern. You can listen from almost anywhere in the world by clicking the button at top right here. We also post On the Town at SteynOnline every weekend as a bonus for Mark Steyn Club members. 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, which makes a perfect Christmas present..
Mark Steyn on the Town can be heard on Serenade Radio at its regular times:
Saturday 5pm London time/12 noon New York
Sunday 5am London time/9pm Los Angeles
