Skip to main content

Stuck on Show Tunes

All this time spent with Sirius radio and the Broadway channel has got me stuck on show tunes. I can't get them out of my head.

I am a Readers' Digest baby--I grew up in a house filled with Readers' Digest books, the condensed ones my mother read from cover to faux-leather-bound cover. We received a shipment every month. It was through this book club that my mother ordered a song book full of all the great show tunes from Broadway and from the movies. We kept it open at the piano, so it was always available to me when I wanted to sit down and plunk out a few tunes.

I discovered George and Ira Gershwin:

There's a somebody I'm longing to see...I hope that he turns out to be ...Someone who'll watch over me

I fell in love with the tunes of Show Boat (hooray for Kern and Hammerstein--oh, and the gorgeous Howard Keel) :

Fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly...I gotta love one man 'til I die...So I can't help lovin' that man of mine.

I played Cole Porter:

Time marches on and soon it's plain...You've won my heart and I've lost my brain...It's delightful, it's delicious, it's de-lovely.

There was Body and Soul, Smoke Gets In Your Eyes, S'Wonderful, Blue Skies, Begin the Beguine, Stardust, and one of my favorites:

You're the cream in my coffee...you're the salt in my stew...you will always be my necessity...I'd be lost without you.

Ah, now that I have discovered show tunes on the radio, it's all coming back to me--how I spent hours as a kid playing through that old book, dog-earring the pages with my favorite tunes and mooning over the lyrics and the schmaltzy arrangements. Other kids were out at parties and making out with boys, but I sat happily on the piano bench and pretended to be accompanying Fred Astaire--Someday when I'm feeling low, and the world is cold, I will feel a glow just thinking of you, and the way you look to night. What a dork.

This old wonderful book is sold used on Amazon. I think I'll order one and play me a tune or two.

Comments

Cheltenhamdailyphoto said…
Well, thank goodness for Readers Digest then, eh. Who'd have thought it. Must say i've never looked inside them much, but somehow assumed it was full of readers' letters beginning "Imagine my surprise when..." and "Why oh why oh why..."
8:03 AM
Anonymous said…
Ah yes...show tunes. I too have been a lover of Broadway shows and all those "schmaltzy" arrangements! They're awesome :) I remember having those Readers' Digest condensed books around too...in fact, I think I inherited several of them...now gathering dust on my bookshelf. Perhaps I'll dig one out...
Pianist friend
8:18 AM
dive said…
Me too, Robyn. The proper old Readers' Digest books, not the silly magazine you get now. I think Mum's still got loads of them.
And I love all of those tunes …
8:53 AM
Scout said…
Lynn, the hardback condensed novels aren't the same as the magazines.

PF, I may have to borrow your dusty old copies if I can't get them on Amazon.

Dive, I'm surprised Mum doesn't have the songbooks as well. They're great fun.
10:38 AM
Neponset River Bridge Dig said…
George Gershwin a true genious of music
10:39 AM
Alifan said…
Mum did have some wonderful old song sheets,!!!! as my Mum used to sing in a concert party, and rather early for you Robyn, "Hang out the washing on the segfried line" (I have possible spelt that wrong, and "Nobody loves a fairy when she's forty"....."Moonlight Bay" A Nightingale sang in Berkley Square"and loads more,Dive will tell you I am sure of some of the things I used to play on the piano..rather badly...

Also yes I have still got some old Readers Digest hard backed books....! does that make me more sad than cool!
2:22 PM
Gina said…
Show tunes, when I am in a certain mood, make me happy.
3:31 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Classic Green Bean Bake

In anticipation of Thanksgiving, I feel I must post a recipe with plenty of good old American tradition. The classic Green Bean Bake was invented in 1955 by Dorcas Reilly, a home economist who worked for the Campbell's Soup Company. A study was done determining that 50% of all Americans have eaten the classic Green Bean Bake, and 38% of those believe it is best served during the holidays, mainly Thanksgiving. So, for the other 50% and for those in other countries where this dish may be unfamiliar--my treat: The Classic Green Bean Bake serves 6 to 8 1 can Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup 1/2 cup milk 1 teaspoon soy sauce Dash of fresh pepper 1 20-oz. bag frozen cut green beans, thawed* 1 2.8 oz can French-fried onions -Preheat the oven to 350 F -In a casserole dish, combine the soup, milk, soy sauce and pepper. Stir in the green beans and half of the onions. -Bake until bubbling, about 25 minutes. Top with the remaining onions and bake for 5 more minutes. Serve hot. *Or cook 1 ...
7 comments
Read more

Bring On the Bombs

In today's edition : I generally try to keep on top of cultural trends even if I don’t adopt them, but there is a growing movement that I have only just discovered. Not long ago, I was walking along in Berkeley, California while visiting my daughter, and I saw a signpost that had been covered with yarn, like someone had sewn a knitted scarf to it. It was colorful and randomly striped, and I pointed it out as if it were the most unusual thing in the world. That’s when my daughter explained the nature of what is known as yarn bombing. It’s when knitters attach something they’ve created to a public object, most often doing their deed stealthily and anonymously. They leave a “bomb,” so to speak, for no other purpose than to brighten up the place and to bring a little cheer to those passing by. Their work has been equated with graffiti, except that the woven yarn is not permanently installed and does no damage to the object it covers. And instead of signifying the territory of a street ...
2 comments
Read more

Cindy Loo Who In October

What is it with people and Cindy Loo Who? Of my last one hundred blog hits, forty have been direct visits from regular readers, and fifteen have been as a result of people searching for "Cindy Loo Who," the little pixie from Seuss's How The Grinch Stole Christmas . A couple of years ago, I posted an image of the original Seuss illustration as compared to the TV cartoon image, and for some reason, that post is bringing in the crowds, relatively. Maybe it's the weather. It isn't even November yet, and already we've had frost and have had to dust off our winter coats. When it gets cold like this, I start to think about Christmasy things like listening to Nat King Cole and decorating the tree. It's ironic because I am offended when retailers start pushing holiday stuff early, but I don't mind my own private celebrations. When my sister and I were much younger and still living with our parents, we would pick a day in July, close the curtains to darken the ...
8 comments
Read more