Dark Monday • Lost in the Stars

While I normally use my Dark Monday posts to pay tribute to the wonderful artists who have worked in musical theater to leave such an amazing bounty of material. From performers to writers to composers to dancers to designers, the rich history is truly something. After all, the term 'dark Monday' was a reference to the fact that musicals were dark on Mondays, not open for business, and the marquee lights were not shining. But today, I thought I would combine great music from the musical theater with the loss of a favorite of mine, Lou Reed. He passed away over the weekend at 71 years of age. In 1985, the album 'Lost in the Stars: The Music of Kurt Weill' was released that included a wonderful version of "September Song", from the musical 'Knickerbocker Holiday'. The music was composed by Weill, with lyrics by Maxwell Anderson. This is Lou Reed singing "September Song".

The second track on the album is "The Ballad of Mac The Knife", from 'The Threepenny Opera', and performed by Sting and Dominic Muldowney. The song with music by Kurt Weill and lyrics by Bertolt Brecht, and was their most famous song. It was recorded by many, in so many styles. There was the original German music hall style, true to the original, as well as Pop and Jazz interpretations by artists as varied as Bobby Darin, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald and Westlife. The song is a classic, and I bet most could sing along with it. This is Sting singing "The Ballad of Mack the Knife".

"Ballad of the Nazi Soldier's Wife" by Marianne Faithfull was written by Weill in 1942 with Bertolt Brecht. It was intended to be performed on German radio, chronicling the the gifts the German wife received from her soldier husband from the Russian front, until the last 'gift' arrived, the notification of his death on the battleground. Faithfull is such an exceptional interpreter, this is an amazing track. I hope you enjoy Marianne Faithfull singing "Ballad of the Nazi Soldier's Wife".

Kurt Weill's September Song

Top: Bertolt Brecht & Kurt Weill. Bottom left: Lotte Lenya Bottom right: Lou Reed

I couldn't think of a better way to welcome in the new month than with the amazing song written by Kurt Weill & Maxwell Anderson, September Song. The song originally was part of the Broadway score for the 1938 show Knickerbocker Holiday. Weill had been primarily known for his work in Germany with Bertolt Brecht, including their best known work, the Three Penny Opera. Their work was highly charged, considered quite political in the 1920s and 30s. However, the Jewish Weill left his homeland in 1933 to escape persecution by the Nazis. He went on to write for Broadway and Hollywood. His songs have been sung by some of the top singes of the last 70 years, including Barbra Streisand, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, and countless others. As a theater geek, one of my favorite versions was sung by the leading lady in many of Weill's work, Lotte Lenya. She was also his wife off-stage, as they married in 1926, and divorced in 1933, then again in 1937 until his death.



Lou Reed recorded the song in 1985 for the tribute album Lost In The Stars; The Music of Kurt Weill. He used a more up-beat tempo and rock guitars. He returned to the song in 1997, when he decided to slow it all down.



In 1984, Ian McCullock, lead singers for Echo & The Bunnymen, recorded a version of the song, and it made it on to the UK singles chart.



The Doors covered The Alabama Song, also known as Whiskey Bar and Moon of Alabama, a song written by Weill and Brecht for their show The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny. While the song was written in the 1920s, the show premiered in 1930. Nearly 40 years later, The Doors, featuring rock god Jim Morrison on lead vocals, did their own version of the song. When performing live, they often used the song together with another of their hits, like Love Me Two Time or Backdoor Man.



There was a strong tradition of popular musicians reaching into the rich musical history of theater for songs that seems to have all but faded away now. But it does remind me it might be time I started putting together a post for The Doors. Jim Morrison was, after all, sex on a stick.