As the carousel of music history goes round and round, it's always appropriate to revisit artists who made their mark long ago. Before computerised sweetening was ever present in recording industry vernacular, there were vocalists like Julie London. Accompanied only by a bass and lips practically brushing the mic, Julie could seduce the listener into a foggy field of enchantment with her smokey, hushed but crystal clear melodic poems. Her 1957 recording of Cry Me A River still sends me to a place I can't even articulate. Miss London didn't begin her career as a singer but as an actress. Appearing in a number of 1940's feature films, Julie enjoyed a respectable degree of success in a series of "B" pictures. It wasn't until the mid-fifties that she embarked on a recording career that encompassed nearly thirty albums, all with ultra-fabulous titles, i.e., Whatever Julie Wants, The Wonderful World of Julie London, In Person at the Americana and my personal fave, Nice Girls Don't Stay for Breakfast. If some of these titles sound a touch narcissistic, that's quite apropos in my opinion. If I could sing like Julie London one of my albums might have been titled, Welcome To My Universe. Also known to TV Land fans as Nurse Dixie McCall on the 1970's TV hit, EMERGENCY!, Julie's rich career spanned four decades. Do yourself a favor and if you don't already own any of Julie's albums, get one. Wait for a rainy day and curl up with a good dog and a hi-ball next to your hi-fi. Get real close and tell Julie all your problems-- she'll understand completely and sing them away. I'll never forget living in Los Angeles and hearing on the radio that just a few miles away in the valley, Julie died in her Encino home. That day I naturally thought of my favorite Julie London recording. Although I didn't cry her a river, I did shed a very sympathetic tear-- and thanked her for her magic.
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