Programming note: Tonight, Saturday, I'll be here with Part Nine of our current Tale for Our Time, Sax Rohmer's Mohammedan caper The Quest of the Sacred Slipper.
~If you fancy an hour's respite from war this weekend, welcome to the latest edition of Mark Steyn on the Town. Today we present our annual spelling bee, accompanied by bouquets of English violets and Welsh daffodils, and ably assisted by musical artistes from Ambrose and his Orchestra to Sinéad O'Connor.
To listen to the programme, simply click here and log-in.
~Thank you for all your kind comments on last week's show. David Thackray says:
Rock & Roll Waltz from Mark Steyn on the Town was such a delight. At first I thought it might be sung by Dinah Washington but it turned out to be Kay Starr – how come I don't have a single record by such a stellar singer? Caterina Valente and Earl Bostic are also relatively new names to me introduced by Mark. Never miss his show!
Too kind, David - and nothing to be ashamed of in hearing a little Dinah Washington in Kay Starr. I vaguely recall some reviewers saying as much about Kay's album with Count Basie - although I far prefer her to Dinah. As to Signora Valente, I adored her and consider her one of the all-time greats. We may have to create a weekly Café Caterina.
Anne Kearney, a First Month Founding Member of The Mark Steyn Club, would be on board with that:
Keely Smith, Kay Starr ... does it get much better?
So agree that Frank never really landed Beguine, thank you for pointing that out! How could that be?! Maybe I was just hungering for it, but I have to say that Feinstein did a pretty great job with that Riddle'esque arrangement ... as close as we'll ever get. Imagine what could have emerged with Frank's voice and Riddle's subtlety.
And Mark, you can never go wrong with Caterina Valente. Love that gal. Wish I had a name like that.
No need to stew in envy of Caterina, Anne. Just mononymise your own mellifluous moniker to Anqeena.
~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.
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