June 2007 Archives

This composition by Dave Frishberg and Bob Dorough is a hilarious sendup of self-conscious hipsters. Anyone who has ever slavishly followed trends or pretended to be cooler than they really felt will recognize themselves in this song. I'm not talking about me, mind. No sir! I mean some, um, hypothetical other person who might have posed as cool at some time in the past.

"I'm Hip" has been done by Blossom Dearie, Bette Midler and Barry Manilow, but by far the best performance is by Mel Tormé. The song appears on his live albums Instant Party: Just Add Mel Tormé and An Evening at Charlie's. If all you've heard from Mel Tormé is the Velvet Fog, if you don't know how much he could swing or how funny he was, "I'm Hip" will be a revelation. Check it out!

For years Christa Wessel has brought swellegant music to the Triangle every week, on her WXDU Durham radio show Divaville. Divaville features classic jazz and pop vocalists from the 1920's through the 1960's like Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, and of course Betty Hutton. Alas, Christa will be leaving the area in July 2007, and can no longer continue hosting Divaville.

Divaville Lounge is the follow-up show to Divaville: the same great jazz and pop vocalists, the same schedule (Sunday afternoons from 3 to 5 pm), with a new host: Sarah Ovenall. Longtime guest host of Divaville, Sarah is excited to continue the Divaville tradition. Divaville Lounge's first air date will be July 22 at 3 pm.