"Midnight, the Stars and You", the theme song from John Batchelor's
radio show, is a most romantic tune.

I started listening to Batchelor before the elections, and his is a very interesting program. Unlike most talk radio, his tone is never strident, and he manages to convey a huge amount of information in a large variety of subjects through interviews with experts in each subject. Batchelor first came on the air on September 12, 2001. Good as the show is, to me the most interesting part of the program is his choice of music. He plays snippets of everything from Baroque to jazz, and if I'm not mistaken, even some early music. The final theme always is "Midnight, the Stars and You", followed by Kate Smith's rendition of "God Bless America". As the Batchelor program ends at 1AM and I get up early, it's not often that I get to listen to those two songs (or, for that matter, to the entire Batchelor show).

"Midnight, the Stars and You" is an enchanting tune (words and music by Jimmy Campbell, Reg Connelly and Harry Woods). The lyrics are sexy:

Midnight, with the stars and you,
Midnight, and a rendezvous.
Your eyes held a message tender,
Saying, "I surrender all my love to you."
Midnight brought us sweet romance,
I know all my whole life through
I'll be remembering you,
Whatever else I do
Midnight with the stars and you.

The music is romantic but not coy, and it evokes women in Mainbocher ball gowns and satin gloves dancing with dashing men at the Rainbow Room, the glamour and romance of the Art Deco era. Sung by Al Bowly with the Ray Noble orchestra, "Midnight" is a song that belongs so specifically to the era it was written that Stanley Kubrick used it in The Shining to demonstrate Jack's submission to the ghosts of the past. In the film the paradoxical effect of the song was intensified by the very soothing cords of the music. "Midnight" was written for seduction, and Kubrick noticed.

I found the Guitar Guy's version on line. If I can get a hold of the sheet music for piano, will add it to my "repertoire" -- but for now I'm trying to play it by ear. If any visitors know of where I could find the sheet music, please let me know.