Have you ever heard of Art Lund?
Don’t think so.
Well, he wasn’t exactly a household name. He was a big-band singer and soloist who later became an accomplished actor-singer. In staged musical productions. Broadway and such. As it turned out, over the course of three decades I had a connection with him of one kind or another.
In what way?
In the 1940s, in the early years of television, before TV stations got serious about live daytime programming, they would fill their air time with other stuff.
Test patterns? I’ve heard about them.
Well, that was in the early, early days. When TV sets needed adjustments and the installers needed some kind of image to get, for instance, the vertical and horizontal sizes right. That’s why the test patterns had a circle.
How about Howdy Doody?
Yes, that came later.
And there were old movies and short subjects. And some shorts were filmed performances by singers of the day. One such short that caught my attention was that of Art Lund singing his signature song, “Mam’selle.”
In the video he would sing just the one song and then the station would broadcast something else. But that “Mam’selle” video stuck in my mind.
Fast-forward to the 1950’s. Growing up, I became a fan of Broadway musicals, and I went to see several. One of them, The Most Happy Fella, featured Lund in a supporting role. He played Joey, a womanizing farmhand, who sang that he moves on to the next job
“… When I’ve had all I want
Of the ladies
In the neighborhood.”
I think I’ve heard it.
After a few Broadway shows, Lund played regional theaters in local productions of stage musicals. Being older, his roles changed.
In the 1960s, along with my California sister-in-law, I attended a production of The Sound of Music at the Sacramento Music Circus. Lund was playing the father of the Trapp family.
My sister-in-law, who was involved in the production, arranged for me to meet Lund after the show. I told him about my seeing him on Broadway, and I mentioned that it is one of my favorite shows. And that I have a recording of the show and I listen to it often.
As we talked, I kidded him about his being such a “rat” by seducing that vulnerable young woman while singing
“Don’t cry.
Don’t cry.
Come on back in the house
And don’t cry.”
So we reminisced during that third decade of our connection.
That was a long-time connection.
Yep. So thank you, Art Lund, for entertaining me so well over the years.