THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

944-Ella Fitzgerald-Anything Goes.

1956-It has never been released as a single in the UK.

Best Bit-At 0.47. Perhaps if Cole Porter had lived long enough to see ‘Punk Rock,’ and ‘Gangsta Rap’ he may have been more tolerant of his own era.

‘Anything Goes’ was written by Cole Porter for the 1934 musical ‘Anything Goes,’ it was based on an original script collaborated on by the Anglo/American playwright Guy Bolton, (1884-1979) and the English writer P.G. Wodehouse, (1881-1975) but shortly before it went in to production it was heavily revised by the team of the American playwrights Howard Lindsay, (1889-1968) and Russel Crouse (1893-1966.)

Cole Albert Porter (see also best songs 655-295 and 73) was born on June 9th, 1891, in Peru, Indiana, United States, he died of kidney failure on October 15th, 1964, at the age pf 73. Porter is one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th Century, with many of the songs that he wrote for stage musicals, later being used when those shows were made in to films. Dozens of his compositions have been covered by generations of artists, with several of those songs being acknowledged as part of the ‘Great American Songbook.’ There are 31 songs from the ‘Great American Songbook’ on this ‘1000 Best Songs’ list (see best songs 281 for the listing.) Most music critics agree that Cole Porters ‘golden era’ was during the 1920’s, and 1930’s,as in 1937 Porter suffered a serious horseback riding accident that left him disabled and in constant pain, which affected his future work, although in 1948 he made a triumphant comeback with his most successful musical, ‘Kiss Me, Kate,’ which won the first ‘Tony Award’ for ‘Best Musical’ in 1949. ‘Anything Goes’ may appear to some as prudish, but Cole Porter was far from that. Porter was a homosexual in an era where it was frowned upon, but it is said that in private he used his wealth to extravagantly live life to the full.

‘Anything Goes’ has been recorded on hundreds of occasions down the decades, including by many of the world’s most renowned artists. The version I have chosen was the first of two significant recordings by Ella Fitzgerald (1917-1966) (see also best songs 702-286-231 and 100.) This 1956 recording was released on the ‘Verve’ record label, and was track 2 of 32 Cole Porter written songs on the double Album ‘Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Song Book,’ with the production being by Norman Granz (1918-2001) (see also best songs 286 and 100) In 1972 Ella Fitzgerald recorded a second Album of Cole Porter songs called ‘Ella Loves Cole,’ which this time was issued on one disc, that was released on the ‘Atlantic’ records label, and included 12 tracks. This time her version of ‘Anything Goes’ which was produced by Nelson Riddle, (1921-1985) (see also best songs 877-286 and 73) was a far more uptempo re-make.

‘Anything Goes’ has a fascinating lyric, warning that the people of today (1934) are becoming morally out of control, and they should look for guidance from their predecessors. Cole Porter probably meant by that the ‘Edwardian’ era (1901-1910) when ‘Showing a glimpse of stocking was something shocking. Porter was also not afraid to state his thoughts about well known people, and celebrities of the day, in the songs lyrics, but you will have to seek out some of the other versions by various artists in order to hear the verses in full, as Ella Fitzgerald edits out the most controversial bits in her recordings.

One of the earliest, and most popular versions that include all of the lyrics is the 1934 recording by ‘Paul Whiteman (1890-1967) and his Orchestra,’ with vocals by Ramona Davis (1909-1972.) ‘Anything Goes’ opening verse mentions ‘Plymouth Rock,’ in Massachusetts, United States, many believe that the lyrics influenced a 1964 speech by the ‘Civil Rights Movement’ minister ‘Malcolm X,’ (1925-1965) who said,’Our forefathers were not the Pilgrims, we didn’t land on Plymouth Rock, the rock was landed on us.’ ‘Anything Goes’ also mentions the Hollywood sex symbol ‘Mae West,’ (1893-1980) the industrialist John D. Rockefeller, (1839-1937) the film producer Max Gordon, (1892-1978) and the wealthy American Vanderbilt family.

‘The world has gone mad today and good’s bad today, and black’s white today, and day’s night today, and that gent today, you gave a cent today, once had several chateaux.’