This really is it folks! Episode 100, final and last Forgotten Songs from the Broom Cupboard podcast. No Sinatra type returns this time. Hope you enjoy this 90 minute trawl through some old favourites. I'm not abandoning the cause and will be using 78rpm records for a couple of drama type projects. Link below to one. The Brownbread Tapes. He's a man who just might have a bit of a dodgy occupation. Twelve episodes in all, done to various 78 records. Short and hopefully sweet.  https://thebrownbreadtapes.libsyn.com

Here are the artists in our finale- Bob Skyles, Eddie Peabody, Winifred Atwell, Harry Parry, Jelly Roll Morton, Fats Waller, Kay Starr, Tenneesse Ernie Ford, Frank and James McCravy, Teresa Brewer, Joe Turner, Jimmie Rodgers, Harry Torrani, Michael Holliday, Billy Banks, Hoagy Carmichel, Michijakko, Bob Hamilton Trio, Bessie Smith, Saunders King, Hot Lips Paige, Lou Ella Robertson, Tiny Bradshaw, Lulu Zeigler and to see us out, Nat King Cole. The utterly marvellous My Flaming Heart. Its been an absolute pleasure. Stay safe, be happy and healthy.

We open with the madness of Irish Mambo from Alma Cogan. The two sides of Nat King Cole. First, pared back with his trio- Nat on piano, Oscar Moore guitar and Bob Miller drums. They give us- I'm lost. Then rich, orchestrated Nat with the Four Knights giving vocal backing- That's all there is to that. Great title. Perry Como with 'Look out your window (Thats me standing in the rain.) Always check the weather forecast before attempting this! Then Catch a falling star. Based on a melody by Brahms apparently and featuring the Ray Charles singers. A massive world wide hit. Absolute 1930s nonsense from Billy Cotton- A Bungalow, a Piccolo and You. Love it. Our Bob Cosby section: Black Zephyr (Decca American Recording label), Fools Rush In(vocals Marion Mann), Speak to me of Love            ( Vocals Marion Mann), Down Argentina Way( Vocals Bonny King), Milk Cow Blues( Vocals Nappy Lamare), I'm Nobody's Baby( Vocals Marion Mann), Big Noise from China(Drums Ray Baudec) and the fabulous Sigh no more ladies. Music by Arthur Young, lyrics William Shakespeare! Great vocals by Marion Mann.  Mann(1914 to 2004) was discovered by band leader Emerson Gill and sang for him in the early 1930s.She was badly injured in a car crash in 1933 but recovered and sang for Bob Crosby and Jan Garber in the late 30s and early 40s. She seems to have left the business in 1947. Love her voice. We finish with the 'B' side to Catch a Falling Star, Magic Moments. Which reached No1 in Britain in 1958.     

Hardly forgotten but Frankie Laine certainly doesn't get the credit he deserve in the history of pop. An astonishing 75 year career. Singer, songwriter and actor.  A big powerful voice that succeeded in all genres of music he tackled. Acknowledged as precursor to rock and roll. He happened to be a great guy too. Here he gives us- Some day, Love is such a cheat, The little boy and the old man( duet with Jimmy Boyd.) Your cheatin' heart and, of course, Blowing wild. Eartha Kitt starts us off with Cest si bon. Cherokee Canyon from Tex Beneke, Cherokee from Charlie Barnet. See what I did there.  An artist that Frankie Laine admired as a young man was Gene Austin, falsetto crooner and songwriter. We hear him singing- I've grown so lonely thinking of you and then two interperations of Austin- Skilkret's Lonely Road. Jules Bledsoe sings the original song that was used in Showboat. Bledsoe was the first  black singer/ actor to regularly appear on Broadway. He was the original Joe in Showboat. Mugsy Spanier takes the song, written in the style of an African, American folk song, and makes it a jazzy, blues classic. Big noise from Winnetka from Bob Haggart and Ray Baudec, two members of Bob Crosby's Bobcats. Legend has it they improvised its composition while the rest of the band were taking a break. A cool track, string bass, drums and whistling. Listen to  Baudec play the lower part of the bass with his drum sticks. Marvellous stuff.