Something a little different on today's Fantastic Foursome. I'm still giving you four different versions of a song and asking for you to vote for your favorite, but I'll tell you right up front that I'll be voting for Nat King Cole. His rendition of "The Very Thought Of You" is one of my all time favorites. The song was written by bandleader Ray Noble in 1934, and it probably wouldn't surprise you to hear that one of the first hit records of the song featured his band and its star vocalist [...]

In our area of the Midwest, daytime temperatures have been rising into the 60s. That's pretty amazing for mid-February, and even though I know there's bound to be lot of bad weather still to come, I can't help but wonder if Spring is at least not TOO far away. That being the case, I thought I'd present a little slideshow of growing things that have been made into magical shapes. Hopefully it will get everybody into the right frame of mind. And for an appropriate musical accompaniment, what could be better than this one - performed by crooner [...]
First off, I'm not even sure if you can be technical about ethereality, but you help me compile a list of songs that feature women who are not just mysterious, not just intriguing, but also in some way maddeningly elusive? To illustrate by example, here are some titles: Laura (Raskin/Mercer) - Dick Haymes Ruby Tuesday - The Rolling Stones Girl - The Beatles She's Not There - The Zombies My Cherie Amour - Stevie Wonder I'm Mandy, Fly Me - [...]

Made this mix for The Duchess right after Duke Jr. was born. The Dairy Barn was my nickname for the breastfeeding mother. Of course, while she was pregnant, I called her The Vessel . I am strange, aren’t I? 1. Tommy Dorsey ∞ Opus One 2. Bing Crosby ∞ Swing On A Star 3. Jimmy Dorsey ∞ Amapola 4. Benny Goodman ∞ Tea For Two 5. Count Basie ∞ [...]