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Song of the Day #4,447: ‘Dig Down Deep’ – Marc Cohn

Here’s a track from an album making its first appearance on Random Weekends: Marc Cohn’s 1991 self-titled debut.

This is the only Cohn album I own, so it’s no surprise that it took this long for it to win the Meet Me in Montauk lottery. We’re talking 11 songs out of more than 13,000.

Cohn has released nine albums since this one, though two are live albums, one is a greatest hits, one is a collection of unreleased tracks, one is an album of covers of songs from 1970, and one features re-recordings of his own songs with the gospel group Blind Boys of Alabama.

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Song of the Day #4,446: ‘Same Ol’ Mistakes’ – Rihanna

‘Same Ol’ Mistakes’ is the ninth track on Rihanna’s excellent 2016 album Anti. After releasing seven albums in eight years, Rihanna took her time before releasing Anti, waiting four years after 2012’s Unapologetic to drop this record.

The approach worked, with Anti generating the best reviews of her career and producing four hit singles.

It’s been another four years since Anti‘s release and, despite rumors about her ninth studio album, there’s no indication yet of when we might hear it.

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Song of the Day #4,445: ‘Wouldn’t It Be Loverly?’ – Audrey Hepburn

Continuing my personal ranking of the 25 movie musicals deemed essential by the American Film Institute…

#9. My Fair Lady – 1964
(#8 on the AFI list)

My one memory from a childhood viewing of My Fair Lady is Audrey Hepburn’s Eliza Doolittle, newly refined, slipping in to her former dialect at a horse race and shouting “Move yer bloomin’ arse!” to the horror of the upscale crowd around her.

That is indeed a standout moment in a movie that is filled with good humor, great songs, and delightful performances by the entire ensemble cast.

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Song of the Day #4,444: ‘Dancing in the Dark’ – Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse

Continuing my personal ranking of the 25 movie musicals deemed essential by the American Film Institute…

#10. The Band Wagon – 1953
(#17 on the AFI list)

This is the second Fred Astaire film on the list, this time pairing him with the long, lean and gorgeous Cyd Charisse in her first leading role.

The Band Wagon is about a fading musical star (Astaire) who gets a chance at a comeback through a Broadway musical. He is paired with a rising star ballerina (Charisse) and the two get off to a rocky start before, naturally, falling in love.

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Song of the Day #4,443: ‘You’re Awful’ – Frank Sinatra and Betty Garrett

Continuing my personal ranking of the 25 movie musicals deemed essential by the American Film Institute…

#11. On the Town – 1949
(#19 on the AFI list)

On the Town… also known as the movie where a 34-year-old Frank Sinatra pretends he has never been to New York.

The directorial debut of Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, this film is an adaptation of the stage musical of the same name. Kelly, Sinatra and Jules Munshin play three sailors on a day of shore leave in the Big Apple, and Betty Garrett, Ann Miller and Vera-Ellen play their love interests.

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