June 9th, 1891– Cole Porter. At just 10 years old, I was so enamored of the songs of Cole Porter & the story of his life & friendships that my parental units gave me huge “coffee table” book about the great American songwriter for Christmas & then followed it up with another big book of his collected lyrics for my birthday the next week. I still have both books. Even now in the 21st century, Porter’s lyrics come off as urbane & witty & his melodies sinuous & brooding.
Born in Peru, Indiana that is, Porter studied music from an early age & began composing songs as a teenager. After high school he attended Yale, where he was voted “most entertaining man”, a moniker for which I always strive. Ivy League all the way, he went to law school at Harvard, but his interest always remained with music. At Harvard he continued to write songs & a few of his tunes were used in the Broadway revues popular during his era.
In 1916, his first full score was performed. That musical, See America First, was a flop & closed after just 15 performances. Bruised by the whole experience, Porter began to travel around Europe & found an apartment in Paris. It was the beginning of his lifelong affection for the city, which he would return to in songs You Don’t Know Paree & I Love Paris. During his time in Europe, Porter contributed material to many musicals, but until his song Let’s Do It (Let’s Fall In Love) appeared in the 1928 musical Paris, he had not had a big hit. Paris, the city, not the musical, was a place Cole flourished socially. He attended parties with his pal Noel Coward. The fetes of the era were fancy & fabulous, attended by the upper-crust. Porter’s own events were marked by gay & bisexual shenanigans, cross-dressing, international musicians & actors, & a large surplus of recreational drugs. He once hired the entire Ballet d’ Monte Carlo to entertain.
Porter started spending time with American divorcee Linda Thomas & they became BFFs quickly. Their financial & social status made them prefect as a married couple. The fact that Linda’s ex-husband was abusive & Porter was gay made the pair even more perfect match. Thomas was always one of Porter’s staunch supporters & being married simply increased his chance of success. Being married to Porter allowed Linda to keep high status in society for the rest of her life. They married in 1919 & lived in a happy special arrangement, a successful public relationship but a sexless marriage, until Linda Thomas’ death in 1954. They adored & respected each other. The couple valued each other’s advice, shared the same passion for travel, art & parties.
Porter was happy with a life writing songs in Hollywood in the 1930s, including working in a more liberal film industry where Porter enjoyed increasingly open gay adventures. At the time, it was somewhat more acceptable to be an eccentric gay artist, but Thomas feared for Porter’s reputation & career. Her standing in society was threatened by his assignations & the rumors whirled in her upper-crust social circles.
Despite a horseback riding accident in 1937 that crippled him for the rest of his life, Porter produced much of his best work in the 1940s & 1950s. He wrote 100s of songs for Broadway shows, film musicals, & TV specials. His most successful musical Kiss Me Kate opened in 1948 & ran for over a 1000 performances.
Even Porter’s song titles sound gay, among them: I Get A Kick Out of You, You Do Something To Me, I’ve Got You Under My Skin, My Heart Belongs To Daddy, What Is This Thing Called Love?, Just One Of Those Things, Love For Sale, Don’t Fence Me In, Every Time We Say Goodbye.
A recluse in his later years, Porter took that final bow in Beverly Hills in 1964.
As I compose this post, The Husband is watching the film Night & Day (1945) on his default TV network, Turner Classic Movies. Directed by Michael Curtiz & produced by Arthur Schwartz & Jack Warner, Night & Day stars Cary Grant & Alexis Smith. It is allegedly a bio-pic of Cole Porter. The film has almost nothing to do with the actual life of the songwriter. In fact, it has nearly zero relationship with reality & completely leaves out the important his gay life & that sexless marriage of convenience.
Hollywood never did get it right. The dismal, dreary film De-Lovely (2004) with an improbable Kevin Kline as Porter, came a tiny bit closer to the true story & featured beautiful sets, major actors, famous current musicians, along with a big marketing campaign & soundtrack. But for me, this movie is a miserable mess.
The 1990 album Red, Hot, + Blue features Cole Porter songs sung by popular musicians of the 1980s & early 1990s, including: Annie Lennox, Tom Waits, Debbie Harry, Iggy Pop & Jimmy Somerville It remains a favorite of mine. The album raised funds for AIDS research & treatment.
Live & let live,
Be & let be,
Hear & let hear,
See & let see,
Sing & let sing,
Dance & let dance.
I like Offenbach, you do not,
So what, so what, so what?
Read & let read,
Write & let write,
Love & let love,
Bite & let bite,
Live & let live & remember this line:
“You’re bus’ness is your bus’ness & my bus’ness is mine.”
Live & let live,
Be & let be,
Hear & let hear,
See & let see,
Drink & let drink,
Eat & let eat,
You like bouillabaise, I do not,
So what, so what, so what?
Pray & let pray,
Slip & let slip,
Dress & let dress,
Strip & let strip.
Live & let live & remember this line:
“You’re bus’ness is your bus’ness & my bus’ness is mine.”
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