Cole Porter (1891-1964) Episode 2 of 5: Playboy First broadcast: Tuesday 29 July 2014
He was one of the most famous Broadway composers of his time, and many of his songs still live on in our consciousness today, this week Donald Macleod explores the life and music of Cole Porter.
Cole Porter and his wife Linda were spending much of their time in Venice, where they rented a majestic palace on the Grand Canal for $4,000 a week. They organised legendary parties, including shipping over a Jazz band from America to play on a barge in the lagoon. Porter was determined to pursue his career as a composer, but producers were wary of him. His rich and lavish lifestyle gave the impression that Porter was a dabbler, not to be trusted. He did contribute a number of songs for the American show, Greenwich Village Follies, including Two Little Babes in the Wood, and I'm In Love Again. By the time the show went on tour, all his songs had been dropped.
By the late 1920s, Porter was achieving international success. Irving Berlin commissioned Porter to compose music for a revue in Berlin's Music Box Theatre in New York. The show was set in Paris, with a cast of bohemian characters, and Berlin realised that Porter knew this territory better than he did. The outcome was Fifty Million Frenchmen, which included the song You Do Something To Me.
00:01 Cole Porter We Open in Venice, from Kiss Me Kate Singer: Josephine Barstow. Singer: Thomas Hampson. Singer: Kim Criswell. Conductor: John McGlinn. Choir: The Ambrosian Singers. Orchestra: London Sinfonietta. Singer: George Dvorsky. EMI:CDS7540332, EMI, 6
00:07 Cole Porter Two Little Babes in the Wood, from Greenwich Village Follies Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Singer: Thomas Hampson. Choir: The Ambrosian Singers. Conductor: John McGinn. EMI: CDC7542032, EMI, 4
00:13 Cole Porter I'm In Love Again, from Greenwich Village Follies Orchestra: Roosevelt Hotel Orchestra. Singer: Ben Bernie. Singer: Billy Hillpot. Singer: Scrappy Lambert. ASV : ERA AJA-5044, ASV, 3
00:18 Cole Porter Hot-House Rose Singer: Lee Wiley. Orchestra: Bunny Berigan Orchestra. SONY MUSIC : A-33714, SONY MUSIC, 22
Play 30 second sample Add "Cole Porter || Werent We Fools" to PlaylisterAdd to Playlister Image for Cole Porter 00:27 Cole Porter Let's misbehave Singer: Phil Saxe. Orchestra: Irving Aaronson and His Commanders. CEDAR: CDHD181, CEDAR, 2
00:30 Cole Porter Which Performer: William Bolcom. Singer: Joan Morris. OMEGA : OCD-3002
00:35 Cole Porter Let's Do It, from Paris Singer: Leslie A. Hutchinson. CONIFER : CDHD-213, CONIFER, 1
00:39 Cole Porter You Do Something To Me, from Fifty Million Frenchmen Conductor: Evans Haile. Singer: Howard McGillin. Singer: Susan Powell. Orchestra: Orchestra New England. NEW WORLD : 80417-2, NEW WORLD, 2
00:39 Cole Porter Overture, from Fifty Million Frenchmen Conductor: Evans Haile. Orchestra: Orchestra New England. NEW WORLD : 80417-2, NEW WORLD, 1
00:42 Cole Porter You Don't Know Paree, from Fifty Million Frenchmen Conductor: Evans Haile. Singer: Howard McGillin. Orchestra: Orchestra New England. NEW WORLD : 80417-2, NEW WORLD, 13
00:44 Cole Porter Paree, What Did You Do To Me?, from Fifty Million Frenchmen Conductor: Evans Haile. Singer: Howard McGillin. Singer: Susan Powell. Orchestra: Orchestra New England. NEW WORLD : 80417-2, NEW WORLD, 13
00:48 Cole Porter Overture, from Gay Divorce Conductor: John McGlinn. Orchestra: London Sinfonietta. EMI: CDC7543002, EMI, 22
00:53 Cole Porter Night and Day, from Gay Divorce Conductor: John McGlinn. Orchestra: London Sinfonietta. EMI: CDC7543002, EMI, 20