Glee as nostalgia machine

One of the things I love about the popularity of the new TV show Glee is that it propels songs to new audiences; older viewers who come for the show tunes get to hear some new music, and vice versa. Put it together with YouTube, and you can venture down the path of memory in unexpected ways.


Here's the band Journey, doing the original version of the song "Don't Stop Believing" from 1981 that was featured in the pilot of Glee. Since then, the show has brought lots of songs back to popularity, some recent, some old enough so that old people like me can go on a nostalgia trip. The latest episode included a great cover of Christina Aguilera's song "Beautiful," a favorite of mine.

I think Christina's live vocal at the Grammy's was amazing, but the offical video is also very powerful



I was thrilled when Curt Colfer's character sang "A House is Not A Home"--it provided one of the strongest emotional moments in the show (yes, I cried), and showed off a lovely lower register. Luther Vandross had a hit with this song in 1981, and there are a lot of live versions floating around YouTube because it is so strongly associated with him, to the point that many younger viewers think Luther's version is the original. But it's a Burt Bacharach song from 1968. So many great singers have covered it. Dionne Warwick was the original muse, but Della Reese has a bluesy version that is fun, less fragile, more mature. I'm also fond of Dusty Springfield's live version with Bacharach on the piano because she has such a unique timbre in her voice. I had never heard Ella Fitzgerald singing it live in 1969 at the Montreux Jazz Festival until today. A master class in singing.

I don't know if she ever sang the song; I can't find it, but I wish I could hear what Sarah Vaughan would have done with it. In 1946 you could already hear the range in her voice.

In this live performance of "My Funny Valentine" the voice is deeper, gravelly, sometimes even ugly, but always amazing.