Saturday 9: Big Spender

Saturday 9: Big Spender (1966)

On Saturdays I take a break from the heavy stuff and have some fun…

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

 

1) In this song, Peggy Lee invites a gentleman to join her for fun, laughs, and a good time. What will you be doing for fun this weekend?

After having the kitchen in the cottage remodeled, I am trying to find where to put everything back in the cupboards and clean up the mess from the construction.

 

2) Peggy was blessed with perfect pitch. It's estimated that just 1 in 10,000 has this gift. Tell us about something that comes naturally to you.

Definitely not signing. I would have to pick… um… let me think on this for awhile.

3) Peggy was an influential performer whose fans included singers as diverse as Carly Simon, Petula Clark, and Joni Mitchell. Bette Midler even did a Peggy Lee tribute album. What songstress do you listen to most often?

Linda Ronstadt

4) Paul McCartney was also a big Peggy Lee fan. In the 1970s he was invited to meet her in her London home. He arrived with a carefully chosen hostess gift: a bottle of champagne and an original song ("Let's Love") which she recorded and he produced. Have you more recently given or received a gift?

Nope. The older we get the fewer gifts we get… it is more important that you are there for me.

5) Cy Coleman wrote the music to "Big Spender." Unlike Peggy Lee, who never took a music lesson, Coleman was classically trained and studied composition, conducting, and orchestration at New York City’s High School for the Performing Arts and at the New York College of Music. If you could take classes in anything that interested you, what would you choose to learn more about?

Well you know here in Connecticut seniors can take college classes for free and it has crossed my mind a couple of times to take a class. Maybe… a class in pottery, or photography, or women studies. But life keeps getting in the way.

6) Coleman met lyricist Dorothy Fields by chance, at a party. Though Fields was more than 20 years his senior, they hit it off immediately and he invited her to work with him. Their collaboration resulted in two Broadway shows including Sweet Charity, which featured "Big Spender." Think about the person you spent the most time with last week. Were they older, younger or about the same age as you?

Younger. I was at a party for Memorial Day.

7) In 1966, when disc jockeys were playing this record, consumers were discovering garage door openers. These transistorized devices weren't cheap. Typically about $150 in 1966, that would be more than $1,000 in today's dollars. These days garage door openers are far more affordable and common. Can you think of something that was a luxury item when you were a kid that today you take for granted?

A private line for a phone… kids today haven’t even heard of a party line, they think we are talking about a conference call with friends.

8) 1966 found Jacqueline Susann atop the best seller list with her steamy novel, Valley of the Dolls. Though it was savaged by critics, countless Americans enjoyed the book. Do you have a similar guilty pleasure? Is there a book, movie, TV show or song you enjoy, even though you know it has little artistic merit?

Well I like SiFi books and not very many have made it the New York Times best seller list.

9) Random question: When at a Mexican restaurant, what's your go-to order?

Quesadilla and my favorite restaurant is Coyote Flaco where they know my name.

Thanks so much for joining us again at Saturday: 9. As always, feel free to come back, see who has participated and comment on their posts. In fact sometimes, if you want to read & comment on everyone's responses, you might want to check back again tomorrow. But it is not a rule. We haven’t any rules here. Join us on next Saturday for another version of Saturday: 9, "Just A Silly Meme on a Saturday!" Enjoy your weekend!

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