Fifties, Name That Tune

NAME THAT TUNE (July 2, 2023)

Nancy's Notes 🖊️🎶

Happy Sunday and welcome back to another installment of Name That Tune.

I hope you’re ready for some fun and a bit of a challenge today! This one might be a little more difficult so get out those thinking caps.

Misky, my money’s on you today; “five’ll get ya ten” it’ll be a shoe-in for you [HINT HINT].

Without further ado, here are your clues:

  1. Today’s song came from a 1928 German “play with music“, lyrics by Bertolt Brecht and music by Jurt Weill. That musical play was based on an 18th-century English ballad opera by John Gay called “The Beggar’s Opera”.
  2. The singer of today’s tune was born in 1936 in New York City, his birth name being Walden Robert Cassotto. In 1959 at the age of 22, he made his first big “splash” in the music world by recording our featured piece which became a million-selling single.
  3. Today’s tune about a blade-wielding criminal of the London underworld was performed by numerous artists; however, according to Frank Sinatra, our featured artist recorded the “definitive version”.
  4. Today’s performer was extremely versatile; in addition to singing, he was a songwriter, a dancer, an accomplished musician on various instruments, a music arranger/conductor and an actor. As a child he had recurring bouts with rheumatic fever which left him with a seriously weakened heart. Sadly, we lost this giant of the music industry in 1973; he was only 37 years old.
  5. This song, easily recognizable by its 8 beat intro, is our featured artist’s signature piece. It was inducted by the Library of Congress in the National Recording Registry. It was also ranked as No. 15 in the list of Songs of the Century by the Recording Industry of America and the National Endowment of the Arts. No small potatoes.

Those are some impressive credentials and I could not gloss over them. It doesn’t matter when you were born; this is one of those songs that transcends generations and will live on long after we’re gone.

Do you have any ideas? Let’s see who got this brain teaser today. Scroll down for the big reveal.

The video is about to start and I can’t wait to see it again; it’s one of my favorites!

Our very famous performer is the one and only Bobby Darin doing his signature piece, “Mack The Knife”.

Let’s listen, shall we?

What an amazing talent he was! His gestures and arm movements aren’t just for show; he’s actually leading the orchestra during this performance, something he did many times.

Here’s a little factoid I did not include in the questions: Bobby Darin was an adult when he found out the woman he thought was his sister was actually his mother, an embarrassing fact his family thought best to keep from him. This is not as bizarre as it sounds; some other victims of the same ruse are Liv Tyler, Eric Clapton and Jack Nicholson.

Well, that does it for today. Join us next time for another installment of Name That Tune. Have a great day!

I’m The Sicilian Storyteller

NAR © 2023

25 thoughts on “NAME THAT TUNE (July 2, 2023)”

        1. Interesting. I’ve never heard that version and I was expecting to hear the voices of the Dick Hyman Trio.

          You know how to whistle, don’t you? Put your lips together and blow. [That classic line delivered by the sultry voice of Lauren Bacall from “To Have and Have Not”]

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        1. ❤️‍🩹 He was a real trouper!
          I remember seeing him perform when I was a kid at an amusement park near my home in The Bronx called Freedomland. Other performers were Connie Francis, Bobby Rydell, Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello, Tommy Sands and others like them. Fun times!

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  6. I got the song but only really on the clue about London. It sounds very Sweeney Todd. To read its origins though was fascinating, it does not surprise me it was Weimar. I know nothing about Darin except he became well-known for covering other people’s songs.
    The song seems like it has been around forever, and I’ve heard it covered by so mamd artists, I didn’t know who sang it originally. My favourite? I’d have to say Satch. But I’ve heard it so many times… I’m probably saying that because it’s an artist I love.

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    1. You’ll get no argument from me about BD doing a lot of covers; that doesn’t bother me because he did them superbly in his own style and put a different spin on all of them. He brought a lot of forgotten songs back to life.

      My eyes must be playing tricks on me because I thought I saw a mention of Charles Trenet in your comment. Anyway, comparing “La Mer” to “Beyond the Sea” is an excellent point; again we have totally different deliveries of the song. Trenet was exquisite to listen to in everything; you’ll never hear me say otherwise. I wish you had posted a vid of Trenet singing “La Mer” but then I would have had to counter with Darin and we’d be here all day!

      Satch. Well he was one of a kind and very entertaining, a far better trumpet player than a singer IMO. He was fun and people loved him. I always felt he was a caricature of himself. All three sang in their own style and comparing them is the proverbial apples to oranges. And for the record, Satchmo recorded MtK first.

      It’s the amazing power of music!

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  7. I got to clue two before getting this week’s entry terribly wrong. Then, when I found out what the song was, and read between the lines that it’s a particular favourite of yours, I wasn’t going to even demean the song by saying what conclusion I’d jumped to. Then, I searched for my song and found out that it was sung by the same person, so I wasn’t as far out as I’d initially thought!
    Splash Splash was my song… although thinking about clue two now, it would be a bit obvious so early on. I must be getting better, though. Better at veering off along a parallel track, that is! 🤣
    And I know both of these songs! 😇

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    1. Fantastic! Your last sentence really made me smile.

      It’s obvious (to me, anyway) that you are dedicated to this little game and determined to deconstruct the clues to get to the answer. That’s what it’s all about and I truly enjoy reading your thought processes.

      Kudos to you for knowing both songs and for your determination to find out the right answers.

      I’m almost tempted to let you have a shot at guest posting a song and some clues of your own … almost! 😉

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  8. Well, Nancy…
    I was takin’ a bath
    Long about a saturday night, yeah Rub-a-dub, just relaxin’ in the tub Thinkin’ everything was alright
    Well, I stepped out the tub, put my feet on the floor, I wrapped the towel around me And I opened the door, and then …

    What the factoid …sister/mother?!😆

    Splish, Splash! I jumped back in the bath!!

    Happy 4th of July!

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    1. Well, Nick, you picked one of BD’s sillier songs but I can’t fault you because your comment was great and you had me laughing out loud with What The Factoid!

      Splish Splash was a favorite when I was a kid; as I got older and realized “Hey, this guy can really sing”, I wasn’t interested in hearing Splish Splash any more. But it was fun to hear it today. Memories of my youth.

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