Funny story about "Mack the Knife": In 1959, New York's WCBS
banned all
vocal versions of the song, claiming:
"The glamorization of lawlessness as expressed in the lyric
is not to be
condoned. There is little doubt that records are of
particular
importance to teen-agers. We feel that=A0in not airing the
lyric we are
fulfilling our duty as broadcasters to the public.
"We, of course, recognize the brilliance and artistry of
Weill.
However, this is a lyric taken out of context of The Three
Penny Opera.
Performed separately it creates an impression never intended
by the
composer."
At the time, Darin's "Mack the Knife" was at #24,on its rise
to nine
weeks at number one.
Marianne Faithfull does a harrowing version of the song
(along with
numerous other Weill songs, including "Pirate Jenny" from the
same
opera) on "20th Century Blues."
No hardboiled music collection would be complete without Nick
Cave,
particularly "Murder Ballads." This contains a particularly
nasty
version of the classic "Stagger Lee," any version of which
is
reminiscent of Jim Thompson or James Cain.
Along with Tom Waits, who has been mentioned, is Johnny
Cash's "American
Recordings," with "Delia's Gone" and, of course, Bruce
Springsteen's
"Nebraska."
These are all hardboiled in content; instrumental hardboiled
would
require another long missive.
Mark
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