Born On This Day, New Year's Eve... Songwriter Jule Styne

He wasn’t gay, but he sure gave gay people something to sing about. Many of his tunes are connected to gay sensibities & gay culture in the 20th century. As a young Musical Theatre Queen, Jule Styne played a significant role in my early love of theatre music. Styne the versatile, prolific songwriter whose tunes became standards for 3 generations & the composer of such classic Broadway musicals as Gypsy, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes & Funny Girl, was born on this day- December 31st, in 1905.

Among Styne's enduring songs are: the Oscar-winning 3 Coins in the Fountain, I Don't Want to Walk Without You, Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend, Everything's Coming Up Roses, & Don’t Rain On My Parade.

His name was always less familiar than his music. This was probably because of his very flexibility. Styne: "You write as well as who you write with," & he usually let the lyricist & the star set the tone for the score.


Styne: "If you can't be a collaborator, you don't belong in the theater, & I am the greatest collaborator there is."


Styne estimated that he had written 2,000 songs, had published 1,500 and had 200 hits. Styne: "I'm talking about hit hits. The others were popular, but there were 200 hit hits: It's Been a Long, Long Time, It's Magic, Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!, Time After Time, People, Five Minutes More.


In Hollywood, he teamed up with Sammy Cahn for the romantic: I've Heard That Song Before, I'll Walk Alone & 3 Coins in the Fountain. On Broadway, he shifted from satire: Gentlemen Prefer Blondes with Leo Robin, to drama- Gypsy with Stephen Sondheim, to glitter- Funny Girl with Bob Merrill, & also working with Comden & Green on shows including 2 On The Aisle & Bells Are Ringing.

His songs often bore the stamp of the singers who introduced them: Carol Channing, Judy Holliday, Doris Day, Mary Martin, Barbra Streisand & Ethel Merman. How gay is that?

He once told an interviewer that he preferred to write the music before the lyrics, as he had done on Gypsy, his collaboration with Sondheim. Styne: "When the music is written first, the lyricist will do his best job because he is not writing to his own preconceived rhythmic notions."


Don't Rain on My Parade

Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend

Everything's Coming Up Roses


Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out to Dry


I Fall In Love Too Easily


I Still Get Jealous


Just In Time


Let Me Entertain You


Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!


Long Before I Knew You


Make Someone Happy  


The Party's Over


People


Saturday Night (Is the Loneliest Night of the Week)


Time After Time

My favorite Styne song is Neverland:

Happy Birthday to Jackie DeShannon!

A really perfect sentiment for these demented times.

The extremely talented, prolific & versatile Jackie DeShannon was one of the first successful female singer/songwriters on the music scene back in the 1960s. DeShannon has done music in such diverse genres as folk, orchestral pop, gospel, country and rock'n'roll. Born Sharon Lee Myers on this day in 1944 in Kentucky to show business parents. At age 6, DeShannon was singing country music on the radio &, at 11, she was hosting her own radio show. The British rock group- The Searchers, scored big hits with their covers of DeShannon's Needles & Pins & When You Walk in the Room. Jackie performed with The Beatles during their 1st US tour. In the fall of 1964, DeShannon went to London, England & recorded songs with Jimmy Page which included the rousing Don't Turn Your Back on Me. DeShannon wrote the hit song Come & Stay With Me for Marianne Faithfull.



Ironically she scored her 1st major breakthrough hit with a song written by someone else- What the World Needs Now Is Love, written by Burt Bacharach & Hal David. Jackie had another substantial success with Put A Little Love in Your Heart, (check out the Annie Lennox & Al Green duet version). Kim Carnes scored a massive #1 hit with Bette Davis Eyes, which Jackie co-wrote with Donna Weiss. After the song Bette Davis Eyes became a hit single, Bette Davis wrote letters to singer Kim Carnes, Donna Weiss & DeShannon & asked how did they know so much about her. One of the reasons Davis loved the Grammy winning song is that her granddaughter heard it & thought her grandmother was "cool" for having a hit song written about her. DeShannon was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame on June 17, 2010. Love her!

Perfect For This Time Of Year: Everyday Will Be Like A Holiday

I am a big fan of Canadian jazz singer Holly Cole & her very original covers of the pop music songbook. I am also a big fan of William Bell's 1967 song- Everyday Will Be Like A Holiday, which I hereby nominate as a perennial December favorite. I have covers of this tune by Hall & Oates (oh, how I love Hall & Oates), The Sweet Inspirations & The Hearts Of Soul. The Holly Cole live version features Joshua Redmond on bass & the great John Pizzarelli on guitar:

End Of The World

I think this is one of the most beautiful & heartbreaking songs I have ever heard.
The first day that I downloaded it, I listened to it, on my Ipod, 7 times in a row on the Max train going home. The video is astonishing.

I've got the music in me

Music has always been the most important element in my life (well maybe after love & sex).

My parents both have good singing voices & my mother played flute. The Spokane public school system tested all students in the 3rd grade for musical ability & then made a recommendation to the parents as to what that child should or should not study (this was in the early 60s). I am quite sure they don't offer this service now. It is just wrong that schools have continued to cut The Arts from curriculum.

I had started piano at age 6 & studied until my junior year of high school. The school district's recommendation was for me was to play drums, but my parents said no to that. I wanted to play flute like my Mother, but she thought that playing flute would make me a homosexual...& we all know how that turned out. I started with trumpet & then I got braces. I switched to cello. I played cello until Jr. High when the conductor asked me to switch to String Bass because no one played it. I thought it was a great way to be first chair with little effort. I guess I was pretty good. I played in the Spokane Junior Symphony & had a scholarship at 14 to Tangelwood.

I gave up being an instrumentalist my sophomore year of high school to concentrate on being on stage. I was able to use my musical training as an actor a few times. I played the cello when I played Henrik in A Little Night Music (the pit cello usually played & the actor mimes) & I played the bass in Pump Boys & Dinettes (R thinks that it was my best show ever).

One of my favorite blogs- Deep Dish, challenged readers to name their 35 most influential songs.

Here is my entry:

Once In A Lifetime- Talking Heads

Beyond The Sea- Bobby Darrin

Waters Of March- Antonio Carlos Jobim

Every Breath You Take- The Police

God Only Know- The Beach Boys

Shiver Me Timbers- Tom Waits & Bette's version

If I Had A Boat- Lyle Lovett

Naive Melody- Talking Heads

My Hand Over My Heart- Marc Almond

I Get Along Without You Very Well- Frank Sinatra

Vivaldi's Song- Michael Franks

Train in Vain- The Clash & the Annie Lennox version

Things Have Changed- Bob Dylan

The Windmills Of Your Mind- Dusty Springfield

Fly Me To The Moon- Frank Sinatra (& others)

Take Me To The River- Talking Heads & the Annie Lennox version

One For My Baby- Frank Sinatra

I Get A Kick Out Of You- Jamie Cullum (& lots of others)

One- U2

Mack The Knife- Bobby Darrin (& lots & lots of others)

Little Red Corvette- Prince

Let's Dance- David Bowie

I Will Survive- Gloria Gaynor

I Remember- Stephen Sondheim

Every Day I Write The Book- Elvis Costello

Every Time We Say Goodbye- Annie Lennox

Crying- k.d.lang & Roy Orbison

Older- George Michael

Cigarettes & Chocolate Milk-Rufus Wainwright

Across The Universe- The Beatles

The Ballad Of Lucy Jordon- Marianne Faithfull

God Give Me Strength- Elvis Costello

Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most- Julie London

Anyone Can Whistle- Stephen Sondheim

End Of The World - Matt Alber

Care to contribute yours?