Not all successful popular composers begin by starving in a draughty upper room. Cole Porter was born into a rich family in Peru, Indiana on 9th June 1891, and had the benefit of a mother who appreciated him and nurtured his musical talents. His time at Yale gave him ample opportunity to contribute to the university glee club and other musical entertainments. But it was Broadway that attracted the youngster, and he was writing songs and shows >from his teen years onwards. He first started to attract real attention with his contributions to the revue See America First in 1916. A spell in the army during the First World War increased his cosmopolitan tastes (he would always feel at home in Europe and held legendary parties in Venetian palaces during the 1930s).
The 1920s found the young composer establishing his name and reputation on Broadway with The Greenwich Village Follies of 1924. In 1927 the Revue des Ambassadeurs offered Irving Aaronson and his Commanders among its stars, who created Lets Misbehave - and it is their recording that is the earliest Porter hit we offer here. Irene Bordoni, the ravishing French diseuse, opened the same year in the show Paris in which she introduced Lets Do It, Lets Fall In Love. Our version is by jazzs finest stylist, Billie Holiday. The lavish Charles B. Cochran London revue of 1929, Wake Up And Dream starred Jessie Matthews, but it was Elsie Carlisle who introduced What Is This Thing Called Love? and Tilly Losch who danced to it. Here is the legendary version by swing clarinet supremo Artie Shaw. Germanys greatest international musical export, Marlene Dietrich breathed her inimitable way through a hit number from Fifty Million Frenchmen - You Do Something To Me - and indeed she does? For the 1930 show The New Yorkers but subsequently eliminated from the score was the classic Just One Of Those Things, heard here in the definitive version by Sam Browne and the Ambrose Orchestra.
After his sister retired into marriage within the British aristocracy, singer, dancer, Fred Astaire forged a new and even greater career as a solo artiste. His first success came with the The Gay Divorce in which he introduced the insouciant, carefree Ive Got You On My Mind. Prudish censorship changed the title of the film based on the show to The Gay Divorcee. Incidentally, not all of Porters songs were written for shows. He wrote some ditties just to amuse his friends - and the heartlessly amusing Miss Otis Regrets, rendered here by Sam Browne, with the top British dance band of Jay Wilbur, is one of them. In 1933 Porter wrote a lavishly staged show for Gertrude Lawrence to perform in London. Nymph Errant offered many gems, and took its star to many exotic locations, including a harem, before returning demurely to England exactly a year later than expected back from finishing school in Switzerland. The incomparable Gertie offers Experiment and The Physician from its iridescent score. Al Bowlly, doyen of dance band singers adds How Could We Be Wrong? for good measure. How indeed?
Back on Broadway, 1934 saw the arrival of Anything Goes. This zesty shipboard romance of dance and song proved a world-wide hit. Our singer of the title song and of Youre The Top may not have the greatest vocal equipment, but as the composer and lyricist, he should certainly know how to put the numbers across! Veteran British trumpeter, and Louis Armstongs greatest fan Nat Gonella is the ideal person to invite a little angelic help in Blow, Gabriel, Blow. Porter was really getting into his stride. Jubilee (1935) featured a Princess Diana and some great songs - Joe Loss with Chick Hendersons classic vocal give a definitive invitation to Begin The Beguine. Chick, one of the most stylish and debonair of vocalists, lost his life on active service during the Second World War.
Hollywood really knew how to exploit Porters tuneful talents. Round faced, captivating Frances L