If you enjoy Steyn's Song of the Week at SteynOnline and on Serenade Radio, please note that there will be a live stage edition during this year's Mark Steyn Cruise - along with many other favourite features from SteynOnline and The Mark Steyn Show. More details here.
~At the dawn of the century, yours truly used to make quite a big deal about the Academy Awards - and, golly, I'd even seen most of the films. In some years, we didn't observe merely Oscar Night, but a whole Oscar Week.
But that was long, long ago..
Nevertheless, many longtime Song of the Weekers say they still enjoy the occasional Oscar song as an annual reminder of the Silver Screen's better days. So herewith the story of composer Harry Warren, who wrote three Oscar-winners and many more nominees. The first statuette came his way at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles nine decades ago: March 5th 1936. And, with due respect to Mr Warren, who was somewhat antipathetic to his choreographer, with this show we're also marking the fiftieth anniversary of the death of a most distinctive Hollywood director: Busby Berkeley, who left us on March 14th 1976.
So enjoy our celebration of Harry Warren, as sung by everyone from Bing to Beyoncé, in a special Serenade Radio edition of Steyn's Song of the Week. Click above to listen.
Anita, the wife of my late producer Brian Savin, said she thought this was one of the best Song of the Week episodes - and, after thinking it over, Brian and I were inclined to agree.
~Steyn's Song of the Week airs thrice weekly on Serenade Radio in the UK, but please note that, due to non-synchronised hemispheric springtimes, that this week and next it's an hour later in North America:
5.30pm Sunday London (1.30pm New York)
5.30am Monday London (4.30pm Sydney)
9pm Thursday London (2pm Vancouver)
Whichever you prefer, you can listen from anywhere on the planet right here.