I first became aware of Cole Porter during the Parents Music Resource Center Congressional hearings during the 80s. I remember Tipper Gore saying, “There’s a big difference between ‘The birds do it, the bees do it’ and ‘I’ll force you at gunpoint to eat me alive.'” (Thanks to Cletus for tracking down that second lyric for me.)

In my old age I’m becoming a fan of Porter’s songwriting. Here are a few examples of his craft.

David Byrne “Don’t Fence Me In”
There’s been a whole series of Red, Hot, and Something CDs to benefit AIDS research. The first one was a tribute to Cole Porter called Red, Hot + Blue. David Byrne was one of the contributors with this wacky rhythm-happy tune.

Joan Jett and Paul Westerberg “Let’s Do It”
This comes to us from the sound track of the film Tank Girl. No, I don’t remember that movie either.

Sophie Milman “My Heart Belongs to Daddy”
A strange arrangement. It starts out with a Peter Gunn vamp, slides into more traditional jazz territory, and ends up back in spy-ville.

Local band The Blacks do a great, sleazy version of this song live but they’ve never recorded it as far as I can tell. And that’s just a damn shame.

Tom Jones And Juliet Prowse “I Get A Kick Out of You”
Mr. Jones restrains himself in service to the duet here, but it still takes care of my jones for Jones. For you trivia fans, Juliet Prowse was the first guest on The Muppet Show.

Enoch Light “I Get A Kick Out of You”
Enoch Light is one of the gods of the lounge/exotica movement. Sadly he’s not as well known as Esquivel! or Martin Denny. Sometimes life isn’t fair. This song features some great roller-rink organ. From the album A New Concept of Cole Porter.