Episode 151: More Songs Of The Season

This is the second part of my recent conversation with author Thomas Hischak regarding his new book, Song Of The Season — Outstanding Broadway Songs Since 1891. In this captivating book, Hischak looks back at the history of the Broadway musical by chronicling of every New York theater season from 1891 to 2022 and then audaciously selecting one single song as the song of that particular season. To facilitate this discussion, I selected one or two songs from each decade covered in the book for us to discuss. On this music-filled episode, we begin in 1938 with “September Song” from Knickerbocker Holiday and continue with his admittedly controversial selection of “I Enjoy Being A Girl” from Flower Drum Song (1958), “Do-Re-Mi” from The Sound Of Music (1959), a mind-blowing leap of only seven years to “Aquarius” from Hair (1968), and on through “All that Jazz” from Chicago (1975), “The Lambeth Walk” from Me And My Girl (1986), the title song from Ragtime (1998), "Omar Sharif" from The Band’s Visit (2017), and the title song from Some Like It Hot (2022). Thomas Hischak retired from full time teaching in New York State and now teaches theatre part-time at Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida, USA. He is the author of over 30 non-fiction books on theatre, film and popular music. Become a PATRON of Broadway Nation! This podcast is made possible in part by the generous support of our Patron Club Members, including Tayrn Darr and Cheryl Hodges-Seldon. For just $7.00 a month, you will receive exclusive access to never-before-heard, unedited versions of many of the discussions that I have with my guests — in fact, I often record nearly twice as much conversation as ends up in the edited versions. You will also have access to additional in-depth conversations with my frequent co-host, Albert Evans, that have not been featured on the podcast. All patrons receive special “on-air” shout-outs and acknowledgment of your vital support of this podcast. And if you are very enthusiastic about Broadway Nation, there are additional PATRON levels that come with even more benefits. If you would like to support the work of Broadway Nation and receive these exclusive member benefits, please just click on this link: https://broadwaynationpodcast.supercast.tech/ Thank you in advance for your support! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices