The 'flue

Brother, Can You Spare A Dime? - Eartha Kitt
Today's song is a Depression era classic in tribute to the economic meltdown that continues to send stock markets rising and falling like a drunken roller coaster. But to help lessen the bitter pill we have Eartha Kitt singing it! Mmm, Eartha Kitt… sorry, I was lost there for a few minutes. Eartha Kitt is best known (to many of my generation) for her role as Catwoman on the Batman TV series from the 1960s. Concieved by rape, unsure who her mother was, Kitt was born on a cotton plantation in South Carolina. After the death of her first 'mother' Kitt was sent to New York City to be raised by a woman she believed to be her real birth-mother. What followed was a childhood of abuse and neglect. She overcame all of this and became a member of the Katherine Dunham Company, made her film debut in 1948's Casbah. She is a talented singer with a rather distinctive voice who's hits include "Let's Do It," "Mink, Schmink" (which I promise to feature some day, one of my person favorites of Kitt's), "Love for Sale," "Under the Bridges of Paris" and her most recognizable song, "Santa, Baby." Her American career was severely set back in the late 1960s after making anti-war comments at a White House luncheon. IT was said her words made First Lady Lady Bird Johnson cry. Cultural references to Kitt grew during her time performing in Europe. She made her return to the U.S. in the Broadway spectacle Timbuktu! and never looked back. Interesting Fact: Orson Wells, who cast Kitt in Dr. Faustus and also had a torrid affair with nicknamed her "the most exciting woman in the world." I would pay good money just to listen to her read the phone book.

Mmmmmm