Civilized Behaviour

Today's earworms: "The Man With A Child In His Eyes" - Kate Bush, and "Civilization (Bongo Bongo Bongo)" - Danny Kaye and The Andrews Sisters

Saw the video for the Kate Bush song on VH1 Classic recently: the woman affectionately called "Kate's Bush" by an old acquaintance, doing that ethereal tantric voodoo she does so well. She's up there among my favorite female artists, her greatest hits compilation The Whole Story a source of much comfort over the years, and she's one of only five musicians who I've mentioned by name in my song lyrics (the others being Elvis, Yoko, Sean and, er, Sid Vicious.) I hear from reliable Spitgroove sources she's finally finishing up a new CD, her first in 12 years, and I look forward to giving it a spin.

Speaking of a man with a child in his eyes...the catchy Danny Kaye track (with Kaye ably backed by The Andrews Sisters) was discovered on a "Best Of Danny Kaye" CD checked out from the library. Kaye was the consummate showman, and to a family like mine so involved in theatre (my daughter's doing Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the high school this week, for example) he is one of those who set the standard for excellence. The "Best Of" CD suffers due to a pre-'50s lack of stereo quality -- and Kaye's uber-theatrics really worked better in a live or filmed setting -- but on recordings like "Civilization" ("They have things like the atom bomb / So I think I'll stay where I ahm"), "Bloop Bleep," "Minnie The Moocher," and "Ballin' The Jack," the charm of the performance transcends the technical limitations.

Kaye's CD, and Yo-Yo Ma's compilation "Classical Yo-Yo" have the distinction of being the first two CDs I copied on my new CD burner. (Yes, the new millennium has finally come to my house, music-wise.) I hope to eventually get as skilled with the CD compilations as I have with the cassette ones.