Forget Mae West, forget Marilyn Monroe and forget Madonna, the real genuine ingénue and wild bisexual gal was a major stage and film star of the thirties called Frances Day!
If only her name had started with an M who knows what could have happened to her!!
Born Frances Victoria Schenk in New Jersey in 1907 her very birth started a sex scandal when it was reported that she was in fact the illegitimate daughter of automobile pioneer Horace Dodge!
Spotted in a New York Speakeasy she was bought to London in 1924 by Australian impresario Beaumont Alexander who immediately divested her of her American accent, dyed her hair platinum blonde
(before Jean Harlow!) and launched her into the world of exotic West End cabaret where she was known for performing in nothing but a g string and feather boa.and this was 1925!!
The Thirties were Frances decade and she appeared in countless shows and films, her greatest success being the stunning stage production of Jill Darling.
Described by her co-star Sir Frederick Ashton as absolutely incandescent Frances Day was certainly a uniquely talented, magical and enigmatic presence. She was a song stylist of supreme individuality as this wonderfully re-mastered Double CD from Avid
clearly shows.
Including many unreleased songs this is the definitive Frances Day release and AVID Entertainment are proud to make her timeless music available for the first time in the UK and in celebration of her centenary!
CD1
1. It’s De-Lovely
2. I Don’t Know Why
3. Everything But You with Max Kirby
4. Happy-Go-Lucky You (and Broken-Hearted Me)
5. When My Little Pomeranian MetYour Little Pekinese (with
Al Bowlly)
6. Now You’re Here
7. S’cuse Me
8. Did You Ever See a Dream Walking?
9. Faint Harmony*
10. My Kid’s a Crooner (with Sybil Jason)
11. Pardon My English
12. Dancing with a Ghost
13. Let’s Lay Our Heads Together (with Arthur Riscoe)
14. I’d Do the Most Extraordinary Things (with Arthur Riscoe)
15. Now I Understand
16. You Bring Out the Savage In Me
17. Show Me the Way to Romance
18. Swing
19. Me and My Dog
20. I’m a Fool for Loving You
21. A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody
22. So Must Our Love Remain
23. I’ve Got You Under My Skin
24. Easy to Love
*Previously unissued
CD2
1. You Have That Extra Something
2. A Little White Room (with John Mills)
3. I Will Pray
4. Midnight and Music
5. Whispers in the Dark
6. Music, Maestro, Please!
7. How Do You Do, Mr. Right?
8. Summertime*
9. I L-L-Love You So
10. Much More Lovely
11. Do I Love You?
12. A Pair of Silver Wings
13. But in the Morning, No! (with Bud Flanagan)
14. (a) It’s De-Lovely (b) Underneath The Arches (with Bud
Flanagan)
15. I Walked into a Dream Without Knocking
16. Daddy
17. Give Him the Oo-La-La
18. You’ve Got It, I Want It
19. An Englishman Spoke in Grosvenor Square
20. Caesar’s Wife
21. The Wheels of Love
22. Heartbreak Hotel as ‘Gale Warning & The Weather Men’
23. Why Shouldn’t We? (excerpt) (with Meier Tzelniker)
24. Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road?
25. Hang on to Happiness with Leslie Henson
