Welcome to another brand new post-coma edition of Mark Steyn on the Town. On today's show, Mark's sunny disposition leads only to the breadline, our Classical Corner and Non-Stop Number Ones meet up for a little opera, and we luxuriate in the all-time lamest song title - all performed by a diverse range of musical artistes from Al Jolson and the Ink Spots to Linda Ronstadt and Hugh Laurie.
To listen to the programme, simply click above.
~Thank you for all your kind comments on last week's show. Gary Alexander, our West Coast musical maven, has discovered you no longer have to spend a fortune on Blue Cross Blue Shield if you simply listen to On the Town:
You (and Frank) worked a miracle today. My back had been thrown out of alignment for the previous 36 hours, and as I began listening to your Serenade of Frank's dance songs this week, I was heavy into Tylenol and ice packs, but when you said, "If you don't know what a sacroiliac is, count yourself lucky..." At that very moment, my lower spine snapped into place and the pain ceased. Did your dance medley do it?
I missed your show last week, while putting on an "American 250" show of my own at Freedom Fest in Las Vegas, and the flight home threw the old back into those old spasms. Thanks for the healing balm, sir. But I won't be tackling the Hucklebuck anytime soon, or trying any Batman (or Spiderman) stunts, or twisting with Frank.
No idea what if any ailments Barbara, a Steyn Clubber in California, was suffering from, but the show seems likewise to have done the trick:
Great as usual - my Sunday musical treat! A little Frank Sinatra-forward but he is ubiquitous for good reasons.
Michael Smith, a Maryland member of the Steyn Club, enjoyed the detour into superheroics:
I come for the death-defying, coma-inducing Ukraine war correspondentry. But I stay for the musical genesis of theBatman theme - bravo Mark!
Peter, a Steyn Clubber from Virginia, agrees with Michael on the superheroes:
Fabulous to hear Batman and Spider Man!
My reaction, it turns out, is the same now as it was then: "awww yeah"
Thanks Mark
By contrast, First Day Founding Member Pat Duva appreciated our Non-Stop Number Ones:
Crispian St Peters and Pied Piper - hadn't heard it in a million years, but as soon as it started, I knew every word. (Why can't I remember my passwords?!)
Another great show.
Sandy, a Steyn Clubber from the Canadian Maritimes, has a new desert island disc:
Knocked it out of the park once again Mark! Such a joy! Thank you?? I may have to play Everybody's Twistin' over and over and over.....
Jake, a member of The Mark Steyn Club from the English West Country, also liked our exploration of the dancing Sinatra:
The Sinatra sextet was a doozy, especially Begin the Beguine, which I've secretly regarded as the Moby-Dick of popular song in that it's a classic but dull and exhausting yet Axel weaves his magic and the voice shimmers in that warm, fuzzy fog on lines like 'clutches my heart,' and suddenly its appeal opens up to me. Such a fine, sweet blues of a lyric to rhyme 'beguine' with 'a memory evergreen,' as well as other delicious couplets.
Could it be that the Sinatra sequence was so successful because all the recordings were studio-based? It might be contentious to say, but I'm not a fan of his concert recordings because... (OOF! KA-POW! UNGH!!)
Great show, Mark!
Tari, a First Fortnight Founding Member from Illinois, agrees with Jake on Sinatra in concert:
My first exposure to Sinatra that I knew was Sinatra was an aging live Sinatra, and I thought it sounded like he was making it up as he went. Meh. And then some time after I discovered Mark, Mark covered Sinatra, and boom...Mark broadens my horizons hither and yon such that I was almost a Sinatra expert at one time, and certainly a diehard fan. But (sigh) my horizons recede, so I'm no expert or ardent fan anymore, but I do love me some Sinatra when I run into it.
~On the Town is Mark's weekly music show on Serenade Radio every Saturday at 5pm London 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 in its tenth 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/9am Los Angeles