The "singer's singer"

I fear that even this early on in the year, the "Dolores Delargo Towers Book of the Dead" is already beginning to fill up a chapter - with the news that the marvellous Buddy Greco has finally joined his Rat Pack chums in that eternal casino in the sky...

Mr Greco - whose 90th birthday we celebrated in August - was a real trouper, keeping that swinging sound going right to the very end. He was still performing (in the UK) in 2014, and made an appearance on stage in Las Vegas in November last year to be inducted into that city's Entertainment Hall of Fame.

His version of Lady is a Tramp is an enduring classic - see here - and in this clip Mr Greco is the consummate showman, as he joins Trini Lopez and Andy Williams on the latter's show:

Buddy Greco, Andy Williams & Trini Lopez, The Andy Williams Show

Now, that's what I call "Sunday Music"!

RIP Buddy Greco (born Armando Joseph Greco, 14th August 1926 - 10th January 2017)

Twist and tap

Sometimes the most incongruously-matched things end up making something wonderful when placed together.

Whoever would have thought that the combination of the divine Miss Eleanor Powell "tapping her brains out" and the swinging sounds of today's birthday boy Mr Buddy Greco (90 today, and showing no sign of stopping!) would work?

This made me smile - it's Twistin' To The Blues:

Buddy Greco - Twistin' To The Blues

Facts about Armando "Buddy" Greco (born 4th August 1926):

• His entry into performing was as a singer and pianist with with Benny Goodman's band.
• In his heyday he hung out with The Rat Pack, and counted among his friends Marilyn Monroe, Ella Fitzgerald and Lena Horne.
• He still owns a house in Palm Springs, California (where he had a nightclub) but lived for several years in Essex [a bit of a contrast, I'd say!].
• In 2013 he celebrated 80 years in showbiz, with a gala in... Southend.

Spirit of Las Vegas

While at the theatre in Croydon for Stepping Out on Friday, I spotted among the flyers and posters for tribute bands, comedy nights, faux Proms, stage versions of Hi de Hi and Fireman Sam and the touring production of Joseph, a poster for an evening with Buddy Greco and his Swinging Las Vegas Show!

To me the Fairfield Halls seems a slightly incongruous venue for such a legendary figure in swing music - it being, as we discussed on the evening, a sort of combination of old NHS hospital, cross-channel ferry and regional airport lounge.

For Snr Greco was one of the many musicians who played with the Rat Pack back in their heyday, and hob-nobbed with the greats such as Marilyn Monroe, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis and Shirley MacLaine. Indeed none other than Frank Sinatra took Buddy under his (considerably influential) wing back in the 50s, got him a recording contract and supported his career as a band-leader and singer. He even had a major hit with a version of Frank's standard The Lady Is A Tramp.

Buddy Greco is a rare thing these days - alongside the likes of Tony Bennett - a genuine survivor of those heady days of US post-war musical decadence among the glittering lights and Mafia-influenced casinos of Las Vegas. His musical career spans seven decades, with hundreds of hits and awards to show for it. It is fab to find that at the age of 84 he is still performing (even if it is in Croydon) - and in the true spirit of "Sunday Music", Viva Buddy Greco!

Buddy Greco - The Lady is a Tramp (Scopitone)

Buddy Greco - She Loves Me

Buddy Greco website