A Salty Dog Rat

As a former radio DJ, the temptation is great for me to feature even more music here than I do. The mood that Procol Harum’s “A Salty Dog” evokes is unsettling in a way that, for me, has never been matched.

I first knew Salty from this live recording. A high school friend played it for me the summer after we graduated, and its effect was both powerful and hypnotic. It felt like I was remembering a past life as a sailor on a doomed ship centuries ago. I immediately bought a copy of the album.

A Face Too Good For Radio

This video was recommended to me by YouTube from one of my subscriptions.

I gasped, even before playing it. The woman on the record jacket cover could be a twin for the woman I worked with when I was a voice on the radio, many years ago. I was the news guy during her afternoon shift. We used to indulge the sort of on-air playful banter that became more common later in the business.

Why would such a stunningly beautiful woman choose to work in radio, rather than being seen on TV? Because she was married, and being as smart and strong-willed as she was beautiful, she didn’t want to be objectified by men, to use a current expression.

Adolescent Sexual Fantasies in the Adult Suburban Male

The 1962 farce Boys’ Night Out is on Watch TCM for a couple more days. It seems to have been inspired by 1960’s The Apartment, but without Billy Wilder’s sardonic edge.

The premise is of its time, peak Mad Men era. Four men split the cost of a Manhattan apartment for a beautiful young woman to live there, so they can take turns sleeping with her. Being the early 60’s, nothing actually happens, of course.

When I first saw Boys’ Night Out on TV, I was just old enough to be interested in the implications of the arrangement between the four business buddies and the girl. Living in Norwalk, Connecticut, I liked the references to places I knew, like Stamford. There was also this screen credit that filled the family’s 23″ RCA color console, thanks to the need for panning-and-scanning.

Did women think this movie was all in good fun? Or did they consider the idea behind it offensive, but said it only in the company of their girlfriends? Many women were married to men who had served overseas in WWII, and perhaps that made them more tolerant of the male mindset.

P.S. According to TCM, Kim Novak herself was behind the production.