We're honored to present another live-performance edition of Mark's Song of the Week:
Cole Porter's birthday fell on June 9th and, in celebration of one of the greatest of all songwriters, we've found something from the Valentine edition of The Mark Steyn Show, which most of you won't have seen, since it was imprisoned behind a paywall. But, if you caught Robert Davi on our 50th anniversary commemoration of John Barry and Don Black's "Born Free", you'll know you're in for a treat. Who better than a classic Bond villain and Hollywood tough guy to sing one of Porter's most enduring love songs? Robert reveals a few secrets of vocal training and the movie break he owes to Sinatra, and then lets rip with Eric Harding and the Steyn Show band. To enjoy, simply click below:
Robert Davi was accompanied by Eric Harding, piano; Michel Berthiaume, drums; Jon Geary, guitar; Mathieu McConnell-Enright, bass; and Jean-Pierre Zanella, alto sax.
Mark will be back on air later tonight for Mark Steyn Club members with Part Three of our new Tales for Our Time radio serial, H G Wells' classic The Time Machine.
Tales for Our Time and The Mark Steyn Show are made possible through the support of Founding Members of The Mark Steyn Club. Among the pleasures of Founder Membership is that you can enjoy our TV content in any medium you desire: video, audio or text. So, if you'd rather sample our Song of the Week in audio only, please log-in here. You can find more non-visual content from The Mark Steyn Show over in our Audio & Transcripts department.
Speaking of Cole Porter, if you're interested to know what he would have made of The Mark Steyn Club, let's go to a forgotten song of his from the score of his 1929 show Fifty Million Frenchmen:
Find Me A Primitive Man
Someone with vigor and vim
I don't mean the kind that belongs to a club
But the kind that has a club that belongs to him...
Whether you're the kind that belongs to a club or the kind that has a club that belongs to him, if you're a Founding Member, feel free to weigh in in our comments section. For more on The Mark Steyn Club, see here.
~"There's more live music from Steyn's Song of the Week:
#295: Cheryl Bentyne sings "The Meaning of the Blues"
#294: Tal Bachman performs "I'll Never Smile Again"
#293: Carol Welsman sings and plays "As Time Goes By"
#292: Don Black reminisces about "Born Free", with Robert Davi
#291: Tim Rice recalls "A Winter's Tale", with Emma Kershaw
#290: Patsy Gallant sings "La Vie en rose"
#289: The Klezmer Conservatory Band perform "Dance Me To The End Of Love"
#288: Cheryl Bentyne sings "This Masquerade"
#287: Maria Muldaur sings "Aba Daba Honeymoon"
#286: Mark asks "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?"
#285: Anthony Kearns sings "The Wexford Carol"
Mr. Davi has a very solid voice of size — with what is called "squillo" — meaning, it has a ring tone in the timbre. Good for theatre, necessary for lyrical opera. With the wrong squillo, though, the sound can be very grating. His is pleasant.
Not that I have ever watched American Idol, but I have pressed the mute key a bit too late for sporting events, and heard the mangling of the Anthem begin — those Idol winners do NOT possess squillo (or even a singing voice) — because current pop music is monotonous. Plus, anyone singing in her underwear really does not have taste.
Mr. Davi, on the other hand, has taste, and a singing voice large enough that the technique artfully controls the instrument (instrument = voice).