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Post by tonyloco on Jan 10, 2020 11:43:12 GMT
Yes, tmesis, Noel Coward's rewriting of Cole Porter's 'Let's Do It' is one of the very best of such comic lyrics, and is greatly enhanced by Coward's pronunciation of some of the words in his iconic 1955 recorded live performance.
I never understood why the last line (about Liberace) got such a big laugh, and one of my Australian writer friends was always wondering whether Coward got a clearance from all those celebrities (or their estates) to include their names in the song or whether he just took a chance that none of them would object or try to sue him? He was of course a pal of Cole Porter and they shared at least one boyfriend so one assumes Coward got a clearance from Porter or his publisher for the parody version of 'Let's Do It'.
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Post by tonyloco on Jan 10, 2020 11:47:14 GMT
I’m not sure who wrote this parody — it has apparently been attributed to both Lorenz Hart and Buddy De Sylva. I’ll be loving you Always Both in very big and Small ways. With a love as grand As Paul Whiteman’s band And ‘twill weigh as much as Paul weighs, Always. In saloons and drab Hallways You are what I’ll grab Always. See how I dispense Rhymes that are immense, But do they make sense? Not always. Many thanks, harrietcraig, for that brilliant parody of 'Always', which is new to me. I love it! |
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Post by tmesis on Jan 10, 2020 12:52:44 GMT
Since we've just been mentioning him, all these Coward classics achieve their century this decade:
Poor Little Rich Girl (1925)
A room with a View (1928)
Dance Little Lady (1928)
I'll see you again (1929)
Zigeuner (1929)
If Love were All (1929)
The latter is possibly my favourite Coward song, never more poignantly sung than by Judy Garland in her live Carnegie Hall concert, where she gives a definitive performance, just accompanied by piano.
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Post by tmesis on Jan 10, 2020 13:18:03 GMT
I think "London Pride" has to be my favourite by the Master, now you mention tmesis . I agree it's an absolutely lovely song with poignant words but also, what sometimes is overlooked in Coward, a stonkingly good tune. |
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Post by Mr Snow on Jan 11, 2020 11:34:33 GMT
Great to see one of my favourite threads revived with two new angles.
Sadly I don't play or sing so I haven't committed the following to memory, so I offer snatches in the hope some of you can help with the rest as Google is showing its limitations..
Benny Green used to refer to alternate lyrics that players would pass around. Nightclubs would seem to be the ideal home for these parody's and I'm sure some of them were not suitable for retelling on R2 Sunday Lunchtime's, but one he used to quote was a parody of the 42nd St song which started
"Every day, every night
....
You're getting to be a Rabbit with me."
Second time around the Chorus would add the line
"...Can't take it"
(There's also a comedy spoof by Alan Sherman where the object of his affections is a real 'bunny'.)
A couple of decades ago, Andrea Marcovicci used to do an annual stint at Pizza on the Park. One of her encores would feature the Pianist tapping out a familiar riff and her face would drop..
"New York, New York
he's playing it again."
Followed by a rewrite anti hymn to her adopted city.
But the most famous rewrite (not really a parody) is surely this rewrite by Sammy Cahn of his own title?
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Post by tonyloco on Jan 12, 2020 14:41:09 GMT
May I selfishly take this thread off on a different direction and ask members to list their favourite old movies that brought together a lot of great old songs either by a single composer or by a particular performer.
Top of my list has to be The Jolson Story (and Jolson Sings Again) in which every song is a winner and sung by the inimitable Al Jolson. Also among my favourites are the following:
My Gal Sal (songs of Paul Dresser)
When Irish Eyes are Smiling (songs of Ernest R Ball)
Hello Frisco Hello (American vaudeville songs)
Alexander's Ragtime Band (songs of Irving Berlin)
There's No Business Like Show Business (songs of Irving Berlin)
Yankee Doodle Dandy (songs of George M Cohan)
I know this is just the tip of the iceberg, and there are certainly other similar films that will come to mind in due course. And some people might have a special preference for the composer biopics like Words and Music (Rodgers and Hart), Night and Day (Cole Porter), Till the Clouds Roll By (Jerome Kern), etc, although the great merit of these films is that they preserve performances of songs by those composers given by some of their leading interpreters rather than give accurate biographies of the composers.
Anyway, come on folks...let us see your lists!
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Post by harrietcraig on Jan 12, 2020 14:51:38 GMT
Love Me or Leave Me, with Doris Day as Ruth Etting. Among the more memorable songs in the film are: Love Me or Leave Me Shaking the Blues Away Ten Cents a Dance and too many others to list here. The full list can be seen at www.imdb.com/title/tt0048317/soundtrack |
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Post by Mr Snow on Jan 12, 2020 15:00:56 GMT
Great idea. Two more.
Just imagine if you were the boss of the Musicals unit of the biggest Studio the world has ever seen, and you had previously been a songwriter, you might conceive of a way of bringing some of those songs together.
I bet you couldn't have imagined it turn out as well as Singing in the Rain.
All but two songs were previously little known items from the back catalogue of ARTHUR FREED and Nacio Herb Brown.
Production was delayed as Gene Kelly was busy at work on another 'portmanteau' musical, An American in Paris.
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Post by tonyloco on Jan 12, 2020 15:06:06 GMT
Love Me or Leave Me, with Doris Day as Ruth Etting. Among the more memorable songs in the film are: Love Me or Leave Me Shaking the Blues Away Ten Cents a Dance and too many others to list here. The full list can be seen at www.imdb.com/title/tt0048317/soundtrackSpot on, harrietcraig! One of the great movie musicals. I have just remembered Three Little Words (songs of Ruby and Kalmar) and The Best Things in Life are Free (De Sylva, Brown and Henderson) although I have no particular recollection of the latter film |
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Post by tonyloco on Jan 12, 2020 15:09:52 GMT
Great idea. Two more. Just imagine if you were the boss of the Musicals unit of the biggest Studio the world has ever seen, and you had previously been a songwriter, you might conceive of a way of bringing some of those songs together. I bet you couldn't have imagined it turn out as well as Singing in the Rain. All but two songs were previously little known items from the back catalogue of ARTHUR FREED and Nacio Herb Brown. Production was delayed as Gene Kelly was busy at work on another 'portmanteau' musical, An American in Paris. Also spot on, Mr Snow. I had originally thought of An American in Paris but forgotten about Singin' in the Rain – two of the all-time great movie musicals. |
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