A Town Without Pitney

Today is the birthday of the great singer/ songwriter/ producer Gene Pitney (1940-2006). I’d never heard his 1961 signature tune “Town Without Pity” until a friend sang it at his wedding (what was THAT all about?). I naturally assumed the friend was exagerating in his performance — surely the original didn’t contain all that melodrama and bathos? Oh, but come to find out, it has all that and more. See for yourself! It’s essentially Peyton Place set to music.

For more on show biz history, consult No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous, available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and wherever nutty books are sold.

And don’t miss my new book: Chain of Fools: Silent Comedy and Its Legacies from Nickelodeons to Youtube, just released by Bear Manor Media, also available from amazon.com etc etc etc