Rather than sing another song from his shows, Fred Astaire visited the Columbia studios to perform something a little different, a song he partly composed. The songwriting credits are worth a closer look. Carter must surely be Desmond Carter, a British lyricist who worked on a number of musicals from this period. The middle credit is obvious but Astaire did very little song writing, \"I'm building up to an awful let down\", from his Hollywood days, perhaps his best known composition. As for the third contributor, Van Phillips, I'm sure is a name familiar to many discerning dance band enthusiasts and was Musical Director for Columbia.
Whilst describing Fred Astaire as a \"comedian\" is odd, I'm thankful to Columbia for issuing this Fred Astaire record. Instead of a theatre orchestra we have the added bonus of Al Starita and his Boyfriends, (round two years before Carroll Gibbons used the term!). The record did not sell well and is very awkward to find today. This being the only copy I've seen.
Recorded c. March 1929.
