Note : The description below is by the broadcasting company.
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Premiere: Wednesday, August 18, 1999, at 9 pm on PBS.
(Check local listings as broadcast times and dates may
vary.)
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Yours for a Song: The Women of Tin Pan Alley
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| Photo: Courtesy of NBC
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YOURS FOR A SONG: THE WOMEN OF TIN PAN ALLEY revisits
a time when music was poetic and romantic, and had a decidedly
feminine touch. "Them There Eyes," "You Oughta Be in Pictures,"
"What a Difference a Day Makes," "Willow Weep for Me," "Witchcraft,"
and "Good Morning Heartache" are linked by three common traits.
All are classics of American music from the Tin Pan Alley era;
all of the songwriters are virtually unknown; and all of the
songwriters are women. This one-hour program, hosted and narrated
by singer/actress Betty Buckley, looks back at the years between
1920 and 1949, when 178 women joined ASCAP (the American Society
of Composers, Authors and Publishers). Their work turned up
nearly everywhere, from vaudeville to Broadway, from the repertoire
of the big band to the movies of Hollywood. One of the better
known female composers of the era was Dorothy Fields, whose
collection of almost 400 songs includes "I'm in the Mood for
Love" and "A Fine Romance." In her long career, she collaborated
with Oscar Levant, Cy Coleman, Harold Arlen, and Jerome Kern.
Through interviews, rare archival footage, motion picture clips,
and photographs, the program documents the lives and work of
Fields and other women of Tin Pan Alley.
CREDITS
YOURS FOR A SONG: THE WOMEN OF TIN PAN ALLEY is
a co-production of Thirteen/WNET and Lumiere Productions. Susan Lacy is
Executive Producer of AMERICAN MASTERS. Jac Venza is Director of Cultural
and Arts Programs at Thirteen/WNET.
Funding for AMERICAN MASTERS
is provided by Conseco, the National Endowment for the Arts, Rosalind P.
Walter, Jack Rudin, the Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation, and public
television viewers.
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