Episode 475. A Queer Boy’s Favorite Pop Divas
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We are still in the midst of our summer holiday. And oh, what a sweltering summer it is turning out to be! Because of this, rather than producing a brand-new episode today, I’m bringing you an episode from nearly six years ago which celebrated a landmark birthday of mine, which is a playlist of a few of my favorite pop divas, my association with some of whom stretches all the way back to my childhood. But what a motley assortment it is! Marlene Dietrich, Judy Garland, Edith Piaf, Barbara Cook, Eartha Kitt, Juliette Gréco, ABBA, Barbra Streisand, Bonnie Raitt, Cyndi Lauper, Billie Holiday, Eurythmics, Jackie DeShannon, Dolly Parton, Laura Lee, Rosemary Clooney, Yma Sumac, the recently departed Nicole Croisille, Linda Ronstadt, Freda Payne, Joey Heatherton, Dinah Washington, Dalida, Aretha, and of course my beloved Dusty. This is a playlist worthy of any diva-loving late-middle aged homosexual that any lover of occasionally good music and usually fantastic singing can enjoy. The episode begins with a memorial tribute to the late Erie Mills.
RECORDINGS HEARD IN THIS EPISODE
Alban Berg, text adapted by the composer from Frank Wedekind: Wenn sich der Menschen [Lied der Lulu] (Lulu-Suite). Erie Mills, Erich Leinsdorf, Chicago Symphony Orchestra [live 09.V.1985]
Yma Sumac: Remember [Les Baxter]
Billie Holiday: All or Nothing at All [Arthur Altman, Jack Lawrence]
Marlene Dietrich, Burt Bacharach: Honeysuckle Rose [Fats Waller, Andy Razaf]
Renata Scotto: Over the Rainbow (The Wizard of Oz) [Harold Arlen, Yip Harburg]
Helen Morgan: More than You Know (Great Day) [Vincent Youmans, Billy Rose, Edward Eliscu]
Norman Luboff Choir: You Go to My Head [J. Fred Coots, Haven Gillespie]
Eurythmics: I’ve Got a Life [Annie Lennox, David A. Stewart]
Cyndi Lauper: Heading West [Cyndi Lauper, Billy Steinberg, Tom Kelly]
Cher: Just Like Jesse James [Desmond Child, Diane Warren]
Linda Ronstadt: When Will I Be Loved [Phil Everly]
Jackie DeShannon: The Weight [Robbie Robertson]
Judy Garland, Barbra Streisand: Get Happy/Happy Days Are Here Again [Harold Arlen, Ted Koehler; Milton Ager, Jack Yellen]
Dinah Washington: I Wanna Be Around [Sadie Vimmerstedt, Johnny Mercer]
Tony Pastor, Rosemary Clooney, The Clooney Sisters: Saturday Night Mood [Chummy MacGregor, Harry Harris]
Céline Dion: Pour que tu m’aimes encore [Jean-Jacques Goldman]
Edith Piaf: Paris (L’homme aux mains d’argile) [Georges Bernheim]
Juliette Gréco: Je suis comme je suis [Joseph Kosma, Jacques Prévert]
Joni Mitchell, James Taylor: California [live at the BBC 1970] [Joni Mitchell]
Aretha Franklin: Chain of Fools [Don Covay]
Freda Payne: Band of Gold [Edythe Wayne (Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, Eddie Holland), Ron Dunbar]
Laura Lee: Rip Off [William Weatherspoon, Angelo Bond]
Dalida, Alain Delon: Paroles, paroles [Gianni Ferrio, Leo Chiosso, Giancarlo Del Re; Michaële (French lyrics)]
Dolly Parton: Crimson and Clover [Tommy James, Peter Lucia]
ABBA: Angeleyes [Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus]
Alanis Morissette: You Oughta Know [Alanis Morissette]
Dusty Springfield: Tupelo Honey [Van Morrison]
Eartha Kitt: I Want to Be Evil [Lester Judson, Raymond Taylor]
Barbra Streisand: Down with Love [Harold Arlen, Yip Harburg, arr. Peter Matz]
Les Baxter: Simba [Les Baxter]
Joey Heatherton: Gone [Smokey Rogers]
Barbara Cook: Ain’t Love Easy [Carol Hall]
Nicole Croisille: Si l’on pouvait choisir sa vie [Jacques Demarny, Henri Djian]
Bonnie Raitt: Sweet and Shiny Eyes [Nan O’Byrne]