Steyn writes about "One for My Baby," another Johnny Mercer miracle. Imagine thinking of "One for My Baby" as one item on a long list of "and then I wrote" tunes. Everyone associates the song with Frank Sinatra and rightly so. But it was introduced by Fred Astaire in some movie I'd never heard of.
Frank's famous version and Fred's introductory version are both on youtube. Watch the first half of the Fred version (you can watch the whole 10 minutes but once he walks out that door at 5 minutes or so, there isn't much point -- except as an explanation of why you never heard of the movie). His vocal is splendid but the acrobatics of his dance are startling. He seems like a destructive drunk, in a barroom brawl with a bunch of glassware. He pays for the damages, too, which was a nice touch.
Frank's famous version and Fred's introductory version are both on youtube. Watch the first half of the Fred version (you can watch the whole 10 minutes but once he walks out that door at 5 minutes or so, there isn't much point -- except as an explanation of why you never heard of the movie). His vocal is splendid but the acrobatics of his dance are startling. He seems like a destructive drunk, in a barroom brawl with a bunch of glassware. He pays for the damages, too, which was a nice touch.