Programming note: Tomorrow, Sunday, I'll be here with Part Twenty of the twentieth-anniversary audio serialisation of my highly prescient demographic bestseller, America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It.
~On this week's edition of Mark Steyn on the Town, we start on a Manhattan roof terrace and end with a ballet classic. In between come a diverse range of vocalists from Mario Lanza to Roberta Flack to, er, Bono. Plus: a Sinatra masterpiece.
To listen to the programme, simply click here and log-in.
~Thank you for all your kind comments on last week's episode. Nancy, a Montana member of The Mark Steyn Club, says:
Mark used the word legato and I asked my very musical husband what it means. Essentially it means smooth and connected.
On the Town this week is a splendid example of legato in programming.
Our trio of butch Number Ones was much appreciated. From First Fortnight Founding Member Glen Flint on truckers:
Mark,
Really enjoyed Convoy, On the Town. It took me back to the good old days when my Dad got a CB radio and we'd listen to the truckers as we drove across Nebraska. It reminded me where many odd phrases that baffle my younger coworkers come from. Cell phone reception is 'wall to wall and tree top tall' for example.
From Steyn Clubber Bradford Stephen Kyle on coal miners:
I was five years old in November of '55. We were on our way in the light-green, '50 Nash to my Great Grandfather's birthday party in Buffalo, Texas when I first heard 'Sixteen Tons' come on the radio. Spooky.
From Juli in Minnesota on horn-players:
I grew up with a dad singing or whistling 'The Music Goes'Round and Around'. He probably had the Tommy Dorsey version on a record. Great memories. Thank you.
For Josh, an East Coast member of the Steyn Club, it was our opening number:
About five years ago or so, I first heard (or became aware of) the song "Hindustan", and have hummed it to myself since. About one year ago or so, I first heard (or became aware of) Caterina Valente, and have snapped my fingers to her since. Who could be surprised to hear the former (played so often on Mark's 100 Years Ago Show) sung by the latter (played so often, yet not often enough, On the Town)? I was... and I wasn't. Caterina's version was suitably finger-snapping, no tired caravan for her!
One more from Larry Durham, a Steyn Clubber from the Carolinas for whom the legato programming had the desired effect:
Now I have a Convoy ear worm thanks to this week's On the Town. To modify Buford T Justice - a Smoky and the Bandit character virtually born from the citizen band craze - 'when I get home I'm gonna punch Mr. Steyn right in the mouth'.
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.
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