Remembering 1950s singer/actress Peggy King

0:00This week on the NPR Politics Podcast, the midterms and the New South. In places like Georgia and Mississippi, black voter turnout was off the charts. Now Democrats see a new roadmap for 2028. It's demographically where things are moving and growing and changing. You look ahead to the census. The South is arguably in the driver's seat of the future of American politics. Listen now on the NPR Politics Podcast. This is Fresh Air. I'm David Bianculli. Today, Peggy King, a singer and actress who got her start singing in big bands in the 1950s, and had a string of hits, a contract with MGM, and was a popular fixture on many TV variety shows.

0:39She died late last month at the age of 96. Here she is in 1951 with Ralph Flanagan and his orchestra. I give myself very good advice, but I very seldom follow it. That explains the trouble that I'm always in. Be patient is very good advice, but the waiting makes me curious. And I'd love the change should something strange begin. Peggy King signed a long-term contract with Columbia Records and recorded two best-selling albums, Wish Upon a Star, and Girl Meets Boy. In 1952, MGM signed her to a movie contract. She was often told at MGM she looked and sounded like Judy Garland, something King disputed.

1:40She made a singing cameo in the film The Bad and the Beautiful. And she became a regular on the TV variety shows starring Mel Torme and George Goebel. She made guest appearances on other TV programs, like Dragnet. In 1955, on that show, she played a nightclub singer who may have encountered a suspect.

2:14Yeah, sure, a pretty song. Well, thank you very much. It's a new song written by a fellow named Arthur Hamilton. Yes, very nice. Now, what's this about a man I'm supposed to have seen? Well, we told you there was a shooting at 14th and Flower. Uh-huh. Well, one of the people in the neighborhood recognized you, and he tells us that the suspect ran right by you. Is that right? Gee, I don't remember. Um, just a minute. Oh, no, I remember. Yeah, he ran out of the store, almost knocked me down, didn't even stop to say anything. Did you get a good look at him? Well, he ran into me. Hmm. Can you tell us anything about him?

2:45Well, I'm afraid not. I didn't pay any attention. Something that happens and you don't think about it, you know. Yes, ma 'am. Would you know the man if you saw him again? I don't think so. The whole thing happened so fast. There's nothing about him that you remember? No, unless it was his eyes. Ma 'am? His eyes, like he was looking right through you. Peggy King also toured with the USO. Here she is with Bob Hope in 1956, performing for the troops during a stop in Alaska. What are you going to sing for us? Well, Bob, I thought I'd do that terribly pretty number for my fair lady. I've grown accustomed to your stage.

3:22Well, the stage is yours. Thank you. But I thought that since it's such a nice, intimate number, I wondered if I could go down there and sing it. Into the audience? Yeah. You mean down in that snake pit? Yes.

3:39She must be bucking for Section 8. Go, Peggy.

4:04Peggy King stopped performing in 1961 and moved to Philadelphia with her husband to raise their family. In the 1980s, after her children were grown, she returned to show business with renewed vigor. She sang with the Philly Pops Orchestra, the All-Star Jazz Trio, and with other musicians. She performed in theaters and nightclubs, and had stints in New York City at Michael's Pub and the Metropolitan Room. And she recorded new albums of standards, songs by Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin, the Gershwins, and Rodgers and Hart. In tribute, we're going to listen to Peggy King's Fresh Air concert from 1983.

4:43She was about to release her album Rain Sometimes. At the piano was Michael Abeni, who was featured on and wrote the arrangements for the album. It's a great pleasure now to welcome and introduce singer Peggy King and pianist Michael Abeni. Thank you.

5:04Thank you. Thank you, Terry, for not saying that you weren't born when I was singing before. I appreciate that very much. Thank you. They all laughed at Christopher Columbus when he said the world was round. They all laughed when Edison recorded sound. They all laughed at Wilbur and his brother when they said that man could fly. They told Marconi wireless was a phony. It's the same old cry. They laughed at me wanting you Said I was reaching for the moon But oh, you came through Now they'll have to change their tune They all said we never could be happy They laughed at us and how But ho ho ho, who's got the last laugh now?

6:04They all laughed at Rockefeller Center Now they're fighting to get in They all laughed at Whitney and his cotton gin They all laughed at Fulton and his steamboat Hershey and his chocolate bar Ford and his Lizzie kept the laughers busy That's how people are They laughed at me Wanting you, said it would be hello, goodbye But oh, you came through Now they're eating humble pie They all said we'd never get together Darling, let's take a bow Cause ha ha ha, who's got the last laugh? Hee hee hee, who's got the last laugh? Ha ha ha, who's got the last laugh now?

7:11Thank you. That was from a film called Shall We Dance? I think Fred Astaire sang that song. You'll find that I do a lot of songs that Fred Astaire sang. I love his singing. People look at me like I'm crazy, but I love his phrasing. I love what he does with the lyric. for a man with absolutely no voice. He's always been one of my favorite singers, and when I met him, I told him that, and he said, I said, Oh, Mr. Stare, I really love your singing. He said, You mean my dancing? And I said, No, I mean your singing. And he said, God bless you, Peggy King. This is, I won't tell you the name. We'll just surprise you.

7:49This is the oldest song we're doing. It's from 1928, and I absolutely love this song.

7:59I could cry salty tears. Where have I been all these years? Little while Tell me now How long has this been going on

8:35There were chills Down my spine And some thrills I can't define Listen sweet, I repeat How long has this been going on? Oh, I feel like I could melt into heaven I'm hurled I know how Columbus felt Finding another world

9:44Kiss me twice Then once more That makes thrice Let's try four, four, four What a break For heaven's sake How long has this been going on Kiss me once Then once more What a dance I was before What a break, for heaven's sake. How long has this been going on? How long has this been going on?

11:22Those of you under 35, this song came from a film, a Gene Kelly film called An American in Paris. For those of you a little older than that, it came from a 1938 movie by Sam Goldwyn called Goldwyn Follies, I think. It's very clear Our love is here to stay Not for a year But ever and a day The radio and the movies And the movies that we know May just be passing fancies And in time may go, but oh my dear, our love is here to stay. Together we're going a long, long way. In time the Rockies may crumble, Gibraltar may tumble, they're only made of clay. But our love is here to stay But, oh my dear, our love is here to stay Together we're going a long, long way In time the Rockies may crumble, Gibraltar may tumble They're only made of clay But our love is here to stay

13:23For you, for me

13:34Forevermore, it's bound to be.

13:45Forevermore, it's plain to see. We found by finding each other the love we waited for.

14:07I'm yours, you're mine And in our hearts The happy ending starts

14:27What a lovely world this world would be With a world of love in store For you, for me, forevermore

14:50I'm yours, you're mine And in our hearts The happy ending starts

15:13What a lovely world this world would be With a world of love in store

15:27For you, for me, forevermore

15:55Thank you. Thank you. I didn't want to stop because I really wanted to go right into that. But that's from a 1947 film. George Gershwin died in 1937. But when they started doing this, Ira rummaged around and came up with some wonderful old melodies. And he loved that one. And he put these words to it. It was from a Betty Grable film called The Shocking Miss Pilgrim, which I saw. I was a little tiny girl, and I don't remember who the man was who sang it, unless it was Dick Hames. It was. Somebody here knows. Okay, you're showing your age, sir. Thank you. Thank you. Those were all Ira and George Gershwin.

16:39And then, of course, you know that Ira went on to write with just about every one of the great composers, and he died just a few weeks ago. I thought it might be interesting to do some songs by a contemporary songwriter And this is someone I know very, very, very well When I was just coming away from Metro-Goldwyn-Mare Films Where I had been sitting and filing my nails for several years And taking fencing lessons and all sorts of things like that And not doing much else Because it was the end of the big movie time Arthur Freed had taken me there I got a phone call I did a local show and I got a phone call from a young man named Arthur Hamilton.

17:18And he was working for Jack Webb on Dragnet and he said he'd written a song for me and he'd like very much to have me come on a Dragnet and do it. And I did and that began a very long and happy relationship. This first song by Arthur is the name of my new album, Rain Sometimes. I don't think you've ever heard it. It was written in 1965, but it's a very nice song.

18:02Rain sometimes Money down the drain Sometimes Sometimes reason to complain. Sometimes that's how it'll be. But there'll be champagne. Sometimes lobster flown from Maine. Sometimes we'll ride the gravy train. Sometimes just you wait and see We may be stranded in the rain Sometimes dream our dreams in vain Sometimes lose more than we gain Sometimes, but this I guarantee Love is not for sometimes Love is for all times For all times For you and me Love is not for sometimes Love is for all times For all times For you and me

20:07Rain sometimes

20:22It sounds like an old song, doesn't it? Peggy King, performing in concert for Fresh Air in 1983. She also spoke to Terry Gross about her life in music. She died late last month at age 96. After a break, we'll hear more from that Fresh Air visit, and Justin Chang will review Bitter Christmas, the new film by Spanish director Pedro Almodovar. I'm David Bianculli, and this is Fresh Air.

20:55It's a lazy afternoon And the beetle bugs are zooming. And the tulip trees are blooming. And there's not another human in view. But us too. Stay tuned for the following announcements and messages from our sponsors. Making Up First takes overnight shifts from dedicated journalists across the country, and it's only possible with listener support. When you give a few bucks a month through NPR Plus, you power our newsroom. And as a thank you for your support, you can save over seven hours a year with sponsor-free episodes. Give a little and get more NPR all in less time. Sign up right now at plus.npr.org.

21:47Happy fall! Yes, the days are getting shorter and colder, and the rain can be a drag. But this is also the perfect time of year to get cozy. Life Kit has lots of ideas so you can embrace the change of seasons, with episodes on everything from making soup to exercising outdoors. Listen to the Life Kit podcast in the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. This next song will be very familiar to you because it's really become a classic. Before it had ever been recorded, before anybody ever did it, I opened up Mocombo at the height of the Goebel show. Hello, George. George is in Valley Forge today.

22:25Hello, George. and it was Arthur's birthday and he'd never heard this song done by anybody it hadn't been recorded and no one had done it anywhere and he was sitting right there in the front row and about halfway through the show I said Arthur, happy birthday Now you say you love me You cry the long night through Well you can cry me a river Cry me a river I cried a river over you

23:10Now you say you're sorry For being so untrue Well, you can cry me a river Cry me a river I cried a river over you You drove me Nearly drove me out of my head While you never shed a tear Remember, I remember all that you said Told me love was too plebeian Told me you were through with me And now you say you love me Well, just to prove you do Come on and cry me a river Cry me a river I cried a river over you

24:34You drove me Nearly drove me right out of my head Why you, you never shed a tear Do I remember, yeah, I remember all that you said Told me love was too close to being real Told me you are through with me And now you say you love me Well, just to prove you do Come on and cry me a river Cry me a river I cried a river over you

25:29I cried a river over you I cried a river over you

25:53Thank you.

25:59Peggy, did you always plan on coming back to performing after you took your break? No. I really didn't plan to take that long a break. But, you know, we moved to the suburbs. I had two children in a year and ten days, and I was very busy. And, you know, I was, you know, the chauffeur, I was doing all the, you know, the PTA or whatever, those things. No, not the PTA, the brownies. That's it, the brownies. I was the greatest brownie leader that you ever had. Right, Susie? My daughter will tell you. But I never thought about it. I'm kind of a freak. If I don't sing for three or four years, then I open my mouth and it's there.

26:40One day I'll open my mouth and it'll be dust if I don't stop that. I think now that I'm older, I will have to warm up a little. My husband says that someone said to him, I'd like to use Peggy's warm-up thing, whatever she uses up. And Sam said, that's easy. Peggy goes, ahem.

26:59That's because I did so much live radio and live television. You really didn't have a lot of time to get yourself together. You recorded several albums. Oh, yeah. A lot of albums with Columbia, yes. And you just went back into the studio and recorded one that I think you produced yourself. I didn't produce it. Michael Abene produced it with the engineer whose name is Jay Messina. They produced it. You had the kind of control, I think. I had a lot of input. What was the difference for you between what you wanted from the album now and what albums were like in the 50s? Well, the big difference was that Mitch Miller wasn't in the booth, and I couldn't see all of that conducting.

27:33No. The major difference today in recording is that they do it in pieces. They do it in sections, you know, which we did not do the album in sections. We did it in three three-hour sessions right straight through. Michael felt very strongly, and so did I, that we would get more of an emotional recording if we did it all at once. I think you tend to lose some of the... When you've done a song over and over and over, it almost becomes too emotional for me. I never like singers who cry while they sing. I think the trick is to make everybody else feel like crying or laughing while you do not do it yourself.

28:13But if you sing a song like that over and over, you will cry just from sheer exhaustion. So I don't think we did more than two takes on anything. We just kind of did it right through. And Michael plays so beautifully. I really didn't need to do that many takes. You have a lot more control than you did before, both in the recording studio, but also in terms of what you want to do. like you referred before to being at MGM where it was in the tail end of the big studio days. Yes. And they created their performers into what their performers to be, and they told them what movies they were going to be, and someone had very little control there.

28:46What kind of changes do you want to make in your career now? What kind of career do you want to have that's different from the one from the 50s? Well, I'm not one of those singers who ever says, oh, that song is terrible. You know, that's a terrible song. For instance, one of the songs, the one I like almost the most on the album, is I'm in Love Again, which is 1929 Gershwin and, you know, everybody that I ever mentioned it to until Michael Ebene said, oh, that's a corny song. It isn't. It comes out. It's terrific. I love it. I never turn a song down without looking at it. But I don't ever want to be told.

29:19I just don't want to be in one of those ruts again. I don't want to be told that I sound like Judy Garland or that I sound like, I don't know who else, Peggy Lee. You know, I mean, by the time you finish your career, they'll tell you that you sound like everybody. You know, I don't really think that I sound like anyone. I don't copy anyone. I don't try to sing like anyone. And I think that for the first time, you know, I'm a grown woman. I think people tend to take a grown person seriously. I'm not a kid. And I think that I want to be a little more relaxed. I'm not hungry any longer. I don't have to make a living.

29:54That's a terrible thing to say, but you tend to be a little more relaxed when you know that an axe is not going to fall and tomorrow you're going to be on the street. You know, it is a little different. Peggy King appearing in concert on Fresh Air in 1983 and speaking with Terry Gross. More after a break. This is Fresh Air. Stay tuned for the following announcements and messages from our sponsors. The number one issue in America right now is the economy. Whether it's the high price of gas, a potential AI bubble, or the unsteady job market. At NPR's The Indicator, we've got you covered. Understand the economy in 10 minutes or less each day.

30:32Listen to The Indicator from Planet Money on the NPR app or wherever you listen to podcasts.

30:41This week on Here and Now Anytime, the spy scandal rocking NVIDIA exposed how lax the government has been in forcing its ban on AI chip exports to China. Also, meet the scientists studying kids who claim to have memories of past lives. You know, a toddler talking about a traumatic death is surprising to a lot of parents. Here and now, anytime. Listen on the NPR app or anywhere you listen to podcasts. I'm Jesse Thorne. On Bullseye, Murray Hill. The Drag King has a new memoir. Why'd he write it? People only see in the end because it has blood, sweat, and tears to arrive to this point. Plus, Murray Hill tells me about the time Paul Rubens, that's Pee Wee Herman, made him a grilled cheese sandwich.

31:24Find Bullseye in the NPR app at MaximumFun.org or wherever you get your podcasts. My, if I had to choose a favorite set of, I love, I love Jerome Kern and I sing a lot of Kern, but I really, really love the lyrics of Lorenz Hart. I think there has never again been any one of his like. He was the most prolific, the most incredible lyricist that ever lived. He was a dynamic little man under five feet. He never walked when he could run, they say, and he never giggled when he could laugh, and he never talked when he could scream. There were no grays, and I understand that because that's me. He was just all out, and he had an unhappy life.

32:20He had an unhappy time. The world wasn't really ready for his personal life. And he was in Philadelphia doing a show and kept running to Wanamakers and buying raincoats and overcoats because he kept running out without them, getting cold. And he did that once too often, and he died at a very, very young age. but he left us this incredible legacy. Richard Rodgers, of course, went on to write with the great Oscar Hammerstein, and that's wonderful too. But for me, there isn't anything like Rodgers and Hart.

33:02Okay.

33:06Once I was young Yesterday perhaps Danced with Jim and Paul And kissed some other chaps Once I was young But never was naive I thought I had a trick or two Up my imaginary sleeve And now I know Oh, I was naive.

33:37But I didn't know what time it was. Then I met you. Oh, what a lovely time it was. How sublime it was, too. I didn't know what day it was. You held my hand, warm as the month of May it was, and I'll say it was grand. Grand to be alive, to be young, to be mad, to be yours alone. Grand to see your face, feel your touch, hear your voice say I'm all your own But I didn't know what year it was, life held no prize I wanted love and here it was, shining out of your eyes I'm wise and I know what time it is now

34:48Grand to be alive, to be young, to be mad, to be yours alone Grand to see your face, feel your touch, hear your voice, say I'm all your own But I didn't know what year it was, life held no prize I wanted love and here it was Shining out of your eyes I'm wise And I know what time it is Now

35:44Thank you. This is my favorite song of all. I think it's the unhappiest. It's from Slaughter on Tenth Avenue. And I think it's the greatest verse ever written by anybody. You have to picture the girl singing this song looking in a mirror. It's very important.

36:09Look at yourself. If you had a sense of humor, you would laugh to beat the band. Look at yourself. Do you still believe the rumor that romance is simply grand? Since you took it right on the chin You have lost that bright toothpaste grin My mental state is all a jumble I sit around and sadly mumble

36:52Fools rush in, so here I am Very glad to be unhappy I can't win, but here I am More than glad to be unhappy

37:16Unrequited love's a bore And I've got it pretty bad But for someone you adore

37:34It's a pleasure to be sad

37:41Like a straying baby lamb With no mammy and no pappy I'm so unhappy

37:57But oh, so glad

38:27Peggy King appearing in concert and speaking to Terry Gross in 1983. She died October 25th at age 96. You can find her other appearances on Fresh Air at freshairarchive.org. Let's conclude our tribute to Peggy King with this Jerome Kern song. Dearly beloved, how clearly I see Somewhere in heaven You are fashioned for me

39:11Angel eyes knew you

39:22Angel voices let me to you You,

39:35nothing could save me Faith gave me a sign I know that I'll be yours Come shower or shine So I say

40:02Merely

40:08Dearly Beloved Be mine

40:17Coming up, Justin Chang reviews Bitter Christmas, the newest film by Spanish director Pedro Almodovar. This is Fresh Air. Stay tuned for the following announcements and messages from our sponsors. For over 25 years, NPR's Alison Aubrey has investigated questions surrounding science and health. Now she's investigating a new mystery, midlife. In our conversation, we're unraveling what it takes to excel in midlife and how middle age doesn't need to be a crisis. Listen to It's Been a Minute on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.

40:56At age 77, Pedro Almodovar, the prolific Spanish director known for such films as Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, All About My Mother, and Pain and Glory, shows no signs of slowing down. His 24th feature, Bitter Christmas, opens in select theaters this week. It tells the stories of two different filmmakers who draw heavily on their own lives and the lives of their friends for artistic inspiration. Our film critic, Justin Chang, has this review. Like many great filmmakers deep into their careers, Pedro Amadovar is sometimes accused of making the same film over and over again. a reductive criticism that's nonetheless worth unpacking.

41:41It's true that his films are invariably full of strong women and sensitive men, photographed in scenes where wardrobe and decor are always perfectly color-coordinated. There's a backsplash tile pattern in his 2021 masterpiece, Parallel Mothers, that's stuck with me more than some movies. It's also true that Amadovar increasingly straddles the gap between melodrama and metadrama. In films like Bad Education, Volver, and especially Pain and Glory, he's drawn on details from his personal history and playfully explored the ways that art imitates life and vice versa. Amadovar's splendid new movie, Bitter Christmas, continues in this vein by telling a story within a story.

42:30It begins in Madrid in the winter of 2004. A director named Elsa, played by Barbara Leni, is experiencing severe panic attacks and migraines. She's well taken care of by her loving boyfriend Bonifacio, played by Patrick Criado, who drives her to the ER and, on another occasion, to the home of a rich friend who has some high-grade painkillers. Bonifacio is a firefighter who moonlights as a stripper on weekends. we get a sexy flashback to the bachelorette party where he and Elsa first met. Hilariously, Elsa's first move wasn't to ask him out, but to ask if he was interested in starring in an underwear commercial that she was directing.

43:14Before long, the movie pulls back the curtain. Elsa is a character in a screenplay that's being written in 2026 by Raúl, a veteran film director who's played by Leonardo Sparaglia. Elsa is a fictional stand-in for Raúl, who is himself a fictional stand-in for Amoldovar. Bitter Christmas cuts absorbingly between these two stories and time frames, and invites us to puzzle over their similarities and differences. Like Elsa, Raúl has suffered anxiety attacks and migraines, and Amoldovar has spoken in interviews about dealing with the same medical issues. Also like Elsa, Raul has an enormously supportive boyfriend named Santi, whom he sometimes takes for granted.

44:02There's another important character here, too, Raul's longtime assistant, Monica, who's played by Aitana Sanchez-Hijón. Monica is Raul's closest confidant, which, as we'll find out in due course, makes her also potentially his most dangerous enemy. The two stories unfold with such fluidity that you can almost forget which one is fiction and which one is fiction within a fiction. Sometimes, Amadovar seems to be saying, a work of art can be so vibrant and larger than life that it outshines its source of inspiration. And sometimes, too, art can be so powerful that it changes the course of our lives entirely.

44:46In one scene, Elsa hangs out with her friend Patricia, played by a fiery Victoria Luengo, who's just found out that her husband is cheating on her. Patricia plays Chavella Vargas' recording of the classic song, Bitter Christmas, and its bleak mood of holiday heartbreak inspires her to make a momentous decision about her marriage.

45:29A new conflict arises when Elsa decides to use Patricia's marital crisis as a plot point in a screenplay that she's writing, infuriating her friend. In a symmetrical twist, Raul finds himself in much the same predicament. when he's accused of exploiting someone's personal tragedy for his own artistic gain. The ethical implications of turning other people's lives into fiction have stirred endless debate over the years, especially in literary circles. Compared with, say, the recent scandal around Life of M, Rachel Cusk's novel about a celebrity allegedly inspired by Natalie Portman, Elsa and Raul's creative plundering seems relatively minor.

46:14Nonetheless, the movie doesn't let either of them off the hook so easily. What Bitter Christmas understands better than any film I've seen recently is how angry good friends can get at each other, how the closest pals can suddenly become the most bitterly estranged. And here I wonder if Almodovar might be speaking from personal experience. His own history is famously full of clashes and reconciliations with regular collaborators. including great actors like Carmen Maura and Antonio Banderas, that have become part of his legend. At the same time, I suspect that, for this filmmaker, art trumps life every time.

46:58How his characters come into being seems ultimately less important than what we feel for them, and how we get drawn into their world, as we are in Bitter Christmas. If this is Almodovar making the same movie over and over again, I truly hope he never stops. Justin Chang reviewed Bitter Christmas, the new film by Pedro Almodovar. On Monday's show, how Americans have dealt with criminals has evolved over the years. Most people in colonial America would have seen an execution at some point in their lifetime. Award-winning documentary filmmaker Lynn Novick talks about her new four-part series, Crime and Punishment in America, which airs on PBS next week.

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