Hearken to the sounds of New York

That piece on Manhattan Tower resulted in two different reactions. One came from those inquiring where they can get a copy of the Gordon Jenkins album. I am sorry to say I do not know. I checked the web but the only albums of Gordon Jenkins songs available contain only selections from Manhattan Tower and not the complete musical. All I had until a few years ago was a tape that a friend of mine made from his own copy. Then I was able to get the LP from fellow Star columnist Mel Tobias who has since moved to Canada. And when I say LP that means vinyl discs, which you can play only on phonographs with needles. I do not also know if Manhattan Tower is now available or was ever released on CDs. For the moment you can try radio stations with extensive collections or libraries or better yet, ask friends or your parents, who might have been able to save their copies.

The other one is the suggestion that I come up with something about music inspired by New York. This is only understandable. Recent events have resulted in an outpouring of thoughts about New York and what it meant and still means to us. Manhattan, Broadway, Fifth Avenue, Central Park, the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty and grudgingly because there is so much pain now associated with it, the World Trade Center. We know in our hearts that no matter what happens, New York will never be the same again. And there is now this rush to bring to mind those things that will keep memories of the old days alive.

The music of New York is as eclectic as the city. It is romantic, An Affair to Remember, nostalgic, Autumn in New York, playful, Manhattan, inspiring New York, New York, lilting as Sidewalks of New York, as grand as Rhapsody in Blue, sweetly sentimental as in Moon River or descriptive of that cosmopolitan creature who inhabits the Big Apple Native New Yorker. For me though, the song most evocative of the simple joys of being in New York is Tommy Dorsey’s How About You. It goes like this:

I like New York in June, how about you
I like the Gershwin tune, how about you
I like the fireside when a storm in due
I like potato chips, moonlight and motortrips,
How about you?
I’m mad about good books, can’t have my fill
And ––‘s looks give me a thrill
Holding hands in a movie show
When all the lights are low, may not be new
I like it how about you.

June which is the beginning of summer is not the best time to be in New York but natives love their city whatever time of year. George Gershwin, a genius who died of a brain tumor at the age of 38, is the American composer best associated with New York. This is not only because of Rhapsody in Blue but also of his other works like Someone to Watch Over Me, Embraceable You, and Our Love is Here to Stay, first heard on the Broadway stage.

Firesides and potato chips recall cold winter evenings. Moonlight and motortrips evoke driving through the city streets at night when New York is most alive, dangerous and beautiful. New York is also a mecca for book lovers. I don’t just mean the vast array of selections at Barnes & Noble but those small shops of old books at the village where poetry of Emily Dickinson can be had for a dollar and where your mouth waters over a copy of the Dick and Jane primer that costs $150.

The blank space traditionally mentions the name of the current toast of New York. This depends on who is singing and the time when the song is being performed. I have heard versions of How About You that has Judy Garland, Betty Grable, Marlon Brando and others. Recently there was one that says, and Ricky Martin’s looks gives me a thrill during the Latin heartthrob’s Living La Vida Loca days. Of course, that line about holding hands while in a dimly-lit movie show may not really be solely evocative of New York but it is really self-explanatory.