April 7, 2010

"Ten Cents a Dance"

Taxi dancers waiting for a customer; gosh, they look so friendly and welcoming...

I am currently playing through Bioshock 2 and loving it almost as much as the first game. For one thing, the soundtrack is just as great as the original's (the licensed tracks). There is some seriously good (if not old) music on both games, and it usually is used quite effectively to establish (or reinforce) the creepy mood of the game. I would probably have never discovered The Ink Spots or heard Billie Holiday's "God Bless the Child" (God bless her soul for it) had it not been for Bioshock. I think my current favorite on the sequel is "Ten Cents a Dance," as popularized by Ruth Etting.

Ruth Etting in her prime

Rising to fame in the twenties and early thirties, Ruth Etting was renowned for her great beauty, her gorgeous voice and her tragic life. She starred on Broadway, made movies in Hollywood, married a mobster, had numerous hit-records, fell in love and was known as America's Sweetheart of Song.

(From her official site, maintained by a granddaughter of one of her cousins.)



Yikes - the blondes must have been overworked or something

More on taxi dancers.

2 comments:

vida dia real said...

Very interesting post.

It took me a long time to really listen to "God Bless the Child" and understand what she was talking about, and she is/was very right.

Chris said...

Thanks.

Yes, she is difficult to understand - the recording is old, and it's played on that old radio, into the guys video camera, and through our computer speaker's. That's okay, because it's all about the melody for me. She apparently co-wrote it. "God bless the child" was an expression she used.