Piano Lessons in Peapack, NJ

The Music of Cole Porter

Tony Villa
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“I’m in Love Again”

April 14, 2018 by anthonyvilla

This song has an unusual story. Published in 1925, it was only added to the show “Greenwich Village Follies”, a salute to the Village’s history and denizens, after the New York opening. Porter’s version of the early history of the song was captured in a letter that he wrote to his mother in 1927 (see […]

Filed Under: Music, Popular & Jazz Piano, Popular & Jazz Singers

“Do I Love You?”

March 18, 2018 by anthonyvilla

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, […]

Filed Under: Music, Popular & Jazz Singers

“How Could We Be Wrong?”

February 18, 2018 by anthonyvilla

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 […]

Filed Under: Music, Popular & Jazz Singers

“Why Don’t We Try Staying Home”

January 14, 2018 by anthonyvilla

“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 […]

Filed Under: Music, Popular & Jazz Singers

“Looking at You”

December 3, 2017 by anthonyvilla

“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 […]

Filed Under: Music, Popular & Jazz Singers

“It’s Alright with Me”

October 29, 2017 by anthonyvilla

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 […]

Filed Under: Music, Popular & Jazz Singers, Uncategorized

“Night & Day”

September 17, 2017 by anthonyvilla

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 […]

Filed Under: Music, Popular & Jazz Singers

“Too Darn Hot”

August 20, 2017 by anthonyvilla

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 […]

Filed Under: Music, Popular & Jazz Singers

“I’ve Got You on My Mind”

July 15, 2017 by anthonyvilla

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 […]

Filed Under: Music, Popular & Jazz Singers

“You’ve Got That Thing”

June 18, 2017 by anthonyvilla

“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 […]

Filed Under: Music, Popular & Jazz Singers

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