Published in 1939, “Do I Love You?” was introduced in Porter’s bawdy, comedy “DuBarry Was a Lady” (the last musical to open on Broadway in the 1930’s), which starred Betty Grable, Bert Lahr and Ethel Merman. The show was described in a 1996 NY Times review “as sticking to an old Broadway formula: vaudeville shtick, […]
“How Could We Be Wrong?”
This song was featured in “Nymph Errant”, a “lost” Porter musical based on an identically titled, madcap novel which was first produced in London in 1933, starring Gertrude Lawrence. As musical theatre, it was considered to be “too English” for American audiences of the day and it did not appear on Broadway until 1982. While […]
“Why Don’t We Try Staying Home”
“Fifty Million Frenchmen” (1929), one of Cole Porter’s first successful, Broadway shows, featured a number of songs that are still sung today; “You Do Something to Me”, “You’ve Got That Thing”, “You Don’t Know Paree”. Many shows of the era rarely existed in a definitive edition. Songs left during tryouts and were replaced by others […]
“Looking at You”
“Wake Up and Dream” (1929) was a musical review that didn’t attract much critical acclaim its day although it did introduce two Porter songs that have remained popular; “What is This Thing Called Love” and “Looking at You”. While it has not been widely recorded, the lyrics of “Looking at You” are sufficiently charming that […]
“It’s Alright with Me”
Porter’s musical, “Can-Can”, a show about the Montmartre quarter of Paris in the 1890’s, opened in New York (1953) to tepid reviews. Critics of the day complained that Porter had not come up with another “Begin the Beguine” or “Night and Day”. The NY Times even declared that “there was nothing original in the score […]
“Night & Day”
Looking back over some of the blog notes I’ve posted since the beginning of last year it struck me that I did not attach a vocal version of this wonderful song to my original post. Porter’s songs are meant to be sung as well as played for their charm lies in the interplay of the […]
“Too Darn Hot”
Based loosely on Shakespeare’s “Taming of the Shrew”, the Broadway show “Kiss Me Kate” (1948) featured a number of memorable Porter tunes: “Why Can’t You Behave”, “Wunderbar”, “So in Love” (see my post of 3/20/16), “Always True to You in My Fashion”, “Brush Up on Your Shakespeare” as well as “Too Darn Hot”. Per his […]
“I’ve Got You on My Mind”
Tucked away in Porter’s musical “Gay Divorce” (1932) – Fred Astaire’s last Broadway show, after which he moved to Hollywood & began his romantic, movie career with Ginger Rogers – among such evergreens as “After You, Who?”, “Night and Day” and “How’s Your Romance” is a charming and not often performed number entitled, “I’ve Got […]
“You’ve Got That Thing”
“Fifty Million Frenchmen” opened in New York (November, 1929) in the midst of the stock market’s collapse to mixed reviews. This was Porter’s first major bid as the composer of a complete score without a collaborator. The plot centered on an American playboy who bets his best friend that he can exist without his money […]
“Begin the Beguine”
This is the only Porter song I am familiar with that is written in the style of a rumba. Porter described the tempo as similar to a rumba only faster. He claimed that the melody was inspired by the first four bars of the musical accompaniment to a native dance that he witnessed on the […]
