Listening to: I’m a Woman – Peggy Lee

I was well into my thirties before I realized that the music and lyrics for I’m a Woman were originally written as a mainstream pop song by famed songwriting duo Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller (Hound Dog, Jailhouse Rock, Love Potion #9) and not written expressly for a certain perfume commercial jingle that became a mini-sensation in the late seventies and early eighties (which is included after the jump below).

I didn’t figure it out until I randomly snagged up a Peggy Lee Greatest Hits compilation simply because I knew her as the voice of the Siamese cat duo in the film Lady and the Tramp, and remembered a famous mini-documentary shown on The Wonderful World of Disney where Miss Lee demonstrates how she recorded the voices of both “Si” and “Am.” It’s genius, you see!

“All you need is a home tape recorder, and another one you can borrow from a neighbor.”

Of course… because who would ever need TWO home tape recorders? (Peggy also explains in person after the jump below)

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Listening to: It’s Over Now – Carmen McRae

Would that we could all kiss off a lover this eloquently and with such matter-of-fact indifference.  This is one of those tracks you fall so in love with, you never get around to listening to the rest of the album.  Enjoy your Sunday afternoon.  Looks like rain in Los Angeles.  A better song to accompany this kind of weather I’d be hard-pressed to find!
its_over_now.mp3

Listening To: Sway – Dean Martin

“Sway” is the English version of “Quién Será”, a 1953 Latin pop song with a mambo beat written by Mexican composer and bandleader Pablo Beltrán Ruiz. In 1954 the English lyrics were written by Norman Gimbel and originally recorded by Dean Martin for Capitol. The song has been recorded and remixed by many artists including Bobby Rydell, Julie London, Jennifer Lopez, The Pussycat Dolls, Michael Buble and even Bjork, but the Dean Martin version is in my opinion, impossible to improve.

Listening to: You’re My Thrill – Dolores Gray

The slinky voice of Dolores Gray would be the perfect soundtrack to a midnight skinny dip or an evening trapped in a snowed-in cabin. It also soothes the beastly rage brought about by Los Angeles morning gridlock or your internet service provider being totally incapable of diagnosing your connection issues, not that I would know.

Dolores Gray was an actress and singer who won a Tony award for her performance in the Broadway musical version of the 1936 French film Carnival in Flanders.  The stage show, backed by Bing Crosby was generally hated and ran only six nights.  But Gray’s performance in the show still managed to win her the Tony Award in 1953 for Best Performance by an Actress in a Musical, which makes her the record-holder for shortest run of any actress to win the award. Take a listen below and find out why.

Listening To: Puttin’ on the Ritz – Terry Snyder

Break out your best fedora and call up your latest squeeze to hit the town (or the couch) with the provocative percussions of space-age bachelor pad bad-cat Terry Snyder and his band of “All Stars.”

Not too much info of Terry on the web beyond year of birth (1916) and year of death (1963 – gone too soon but haven’t tracked down cause of demise). This tune gets me every time because…

#1 – it’s fabulous

#2 – Thanks to Dutch musician Taco’s 1982 hit (and I guess originally Irving Berlin), I know the lyrics and can sing along, (“if you’re blue… and you don’t know… where to go to… why don’t you go… where fashion sits…” )

#3 – by the end of it I always somehow have a martini in my hand.

Enjoy the beats. And if you want to party with Terry and all his All Stars by the comfort of your own hi-fi, get yourself a copy of Ultra Lounge Volume Three: Space Capades