Cole Porter (1891-1964) Episode 3 of 5: Anything Goes First broadcast: Wednesday 30 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 acheiving 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.
Donald Macleod focuses on a succession of Porter triumphs, including the hit Gay Divorce.
00:00 Cole Porter Night and Day, from The Gay Divorcee Orchestra: Columbia Studio Orchestra. Singer: Fred Astaire. ASV: CDAJA5044, ASV, 10
00:05 Cole Porter Solomon, from Nymph Errant Orchestra: Ray Noble Orchestra. Singer: Elizabeth Welch. PEARL: GEM0111, PEARL:, 22
00:08 Cole Porter The Physician, from Nymph Errant Singer: Gertrude Lawrence. Orchestra: Ray Noble and His Orchestra. PEARL: GEM0111, PEARL:, 23
00:12 Cole Porter Begin The Beguine, from Jubilee Singer: Frank Sinatra. COLUMBIA : 5078772, COLUMBIA, 2
00:15 Cole Porter Blow Gabriel, Blow, from Anything Goes Conductor: Jay Blackton. Singer: Ethel Merman. Orchestra: Studio Orchestra. PEARL: GEM0115, PEARL:, 5
00:19 Cole Porter You're The Top, from Anything Goes Orchestra: Buddy Bregman Orchestra. Singer: Ella Fitzgerald. VERVE: 5372572, PEARL:, 8
00:25 Cole Porter Begin The Beguine, from Jubilee Singer: Frank Sinatra. COLUMBIA : 5078772, COLUMBIA, 2
00:29 Cole Porter Why Shouldn't I? from Jubilee Singer: Frank Sinatra. COLUMBIA: 5078772, COLUMBIA, 8
00:32 Cole Porter Just One Of Those Things, from Jubilee Singer: Frank Sinatra. COLUMBIA: 5078772, COLUMBIA, 9
00:35 Cole Porter Rap Tap On Wood, from Born to Dance Director: Victor Young. Orchestra: The Warner Bros. Studio Orchestra. Singer: Frances Langford. CONIFER : CDHD181, CONIFER, 13
00:37 Cole Porter Easy To Love, from Born to Dance Orchestra: Teddy Wilson and His Orchestra. Singer: Billie Holiday. CONIFER: CDHD181, CONIFER, 14
00:41 Cole Porter I've Got You Under My Skin, from Born to Dance Singer: Virginia Bruce. Orchestra: The Warner Bros. Studio Orchestra. Director: Eddie Ward. CONIFER: CDHD181, CONIFER, 15
00:44 Cole Porter In The Still Of The Night, from Rosalie Singer: Vaughan Monroe. Orchestra: Jack Marshard And His Orchestra. CONIFER : CDHD-181, CONIFER, 17
00:47 Cole Porter Rosalie, from Rosalie Orchestra: Leo Reisman & His Orchestra. Singer: Lee Sullivan. CONIFER: CDHD181, CONIFER, 18
00:52 Cole Porter Get Out Of Town, from Leave It To Me Orchestra: Jack Hylton & His Orchestra. Singer: Dolly Elsie. OLD BEAN: COLC15, OLD BEAN, 17
00:55 Cole Porter My Heart Belongs To Daddy, from Leave It To Me Orchestra: Ambrose and His Orchestra. Singer: Evelyn Dall. OLD BEAN: COLC15, OLD BEAN, 16