Happy New Year!

from Tiki Chris, Colleen, Tiki the cat, Cat the cat,  the parrots, Mo and all these foster animals hanging around!

You probably recognize this post’s title as a song title, the song written in 1947 by Frank Loesser (of ‘Guys and Dolls’ and ‘Heart and Soul’ fame). It’s been recorded hundreds of times by nearly every pop singer of the golden era, from Sinatra to Ella, and is still being covered in our era by notables such as Harry Connick Jr. and, as the video below shows, Diana Krall.

If you’ve read my posts here or at The Retro Tiki Lounge on Facebook, you know I’m a big Diana Krall fan. She’s got that perfect combination of true jazz soul, real talent, a velvet voice and looks to match. She is, in a word, a dish. She’s playing the Broward Center for the Arts (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) on February 5th, but at $93 to $700 a ticket, I think I’ll stay home and watch the chick on line. Actually, for 500 clams I could probably bribe the security guard to get me to have a drink with her backstage. Krazy ticket prices. Remember when it cost 50 cents to see Frank Sinatra and a movie too on Steel Pier? No, I don’t either. But those were the good old days. (continue to see more videos)

Here’s a version by The Carpenters from the early 70s…nice and swingy. The video is a little out of sync with the audio, but hey, it’s almost 40 years old…

Here’s a version from the 50s by the Orioles, no video but such a great version I had to include it…

And Ella Fitzgerald’s timeless version, again no video but hey, it don’t get no better than this, kids.

Hope this puts you krazy kats and swingin’ chicks in the right mood for tomorrow night. The Tiki Lady and I will be celebrating with friends, chocolate fondue and cocktails, a solid way to swing in the new year.

-Tiki Chris P. reporting from on the floor where he fell after seeing the ticket prices at the Broward Center. Tiki Lounge Talk, the Tiki news blog for retro lovers.