A Salute to the Golden Age of American Popular Music

We salute the music from Broadway, Hollywood, New Orleans, Tin Pan Alley and the "melody makers;" i.e. the bands and singers that brought the music to us via the radio, recordings and live events in the period from the 1920's to the 1960's. This is the golden period of Gershwin, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, Richard Rodgers, Larry Hart, Oscar Hammerstein, Johnny Mercer, Hoagy Carmichael, Jimmy Van Heusen, Harold Arlen, Harry Warren, etc.

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Memories of Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and the Beatles

Bing and Frank
A small town girl from South Tyneside, England who hit the big time working with the stars died two years ago, just four days before her 75th birthday, after a five-year battle with cancer.

Mrs. Wilson, worked as a television casting director, rubbing shoulders with many of the greats, including The Beatles, Shirley Bassey,  Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra.


Her obituary contained these references to Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby and the Beatles;


FRANK SINATRA: "Myrna was the woman who persuaded Frank Sinatra to make his British television debut. Clinching the deal after nearly six months of negotiations, she was rewarded with an invitation to afternoon tea in the singer's suite at the Savoy Hotel in London. Wearing an expensive new pair of white leather gloves, Mrs Wilson told a national newspaper at the time: "Why I did that, I don't know, but it was worth it just to look into those amazing blue eyes.  "When he shook my hand, my knees turned to jelly."


BING CROSBY: "She then moved to Thames Television, working on shows including Bing Crosby specials, who she described at the time as "gorgeous and unassuming", putting her at ease after turning up to the studios with his toupee stuffed inside his jacket pocket."


THE BEATLES: "One of her biggest projects was securing The Beatles in 1968 for Blackpool Night Out. Before the show, Ringo Starr and John Lennon borrowed her Hillman Minx convertible, which she always kept in pristine condition. It was sheepishly returned with the interior completely shredded, a lasting reminder of the hysterical fans."

                                  From the film "High Society"

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