Mark Spiteri Lucas and Marie Benoît converse about Spiteri Lucas Entertainment's forthcoming Golden Oldies production featuring some of the most memorable tunes from the ’50s and early ’60s
MB: The decade of the Fifties gave birth to Rock ‘n Roll. Bill Haley’s Rock Around the Clock became popular in 1955 and my generation learned to swing to a whole new sound…But Rock wasn’t the only music of the Fifties. Other artists with other songs had us humming for much of the decade – Pat Boone, Perry Como and Patti Page – just to mention the ‘Ps”.
The king of Rock ‘N Roll, Elvis Presley was giving us one hit after another. He would have been 71 last January. He was second only to The Beatles in total No 1 hits. Will you be singing any of his songs?
Mark: Of course. Three Elvis hits at least: Blue Suede Shoes, Hound Dog and Rock Around the Clock. Blue Suede Shoes was originally sung by Carl Perkins in 1955 and Elvis recorded it in 1956. He was followed by The Beatles, Johanny Cash, Jimmy Hendrix, Bill Haley and the Comets and others.
MB: Other stars of the ‘50s were Buddy Holly (remember Peggy Sue?), Ritchie Valens (La Bamba) and JP ‘The Big Bopper’ Richardson (Chantilly Lace). The three, together with the pilot, died in a plane crash on February 3, 1959 when their chartered plane fell within minutes of take off. You don’t seem to be singing any of their songs.
Mark: No, but one of the melodies on our programme is Paul Anka’s Diana. He, too, was touring with the singers you mentioned but had not joined them and instead went to the next concert by bus with the rest of the entertainers, thus saving his life.
MB: My teenage idol now has near five decades of musical past!
Mark: And five daughters and three grandchildren. It’s hard to believe that he, too, is growing old. He is considered to be one of the most successful pop songwriters in history and still going strong.
MB: He will be 65 on 30 July. He was born to a tight-knit Lebanese community in Ottawa, Canada and sings is several languages.
Mark: Paul Anka wrote Diana himself when he was just 16. It was his first single release in the early fifties (I wasn’t born then!) and it sold over 10 million copies and launched his career as an international teen idol.
MB: During a visit to Paris in 1968 he heard Claude François’ Comme d’habitude on the radio, secured rights to the song and rewrote it as My Way.
Mark : It was to become Sinatra’s signature song.
MB: I hear your production of Golden Oldies is part of the Summer Arts Festival and will be staged in the ruins of the Teatru Reyal which is going to be transformed.
Mark: Yes, our show is on for just one night – 8 August.
MB: You’re also singing some songs from The Platters – favourites of mine to this day.
Mark: Yes. The Platters were one of popular music’s most successful vocal groups during the 1950’s and early ‘60’s, selling an incredible 53 million records. Two of their most popular songs: Only You which entered the charts in October 1955 and The Great Pretender, their No 1, Pop song are on our programme.
MB: The Great Pretender was also sung by the unforgettable Freddy Mercury and Queen. These two Platters songs were the slow dance numbers in my time. Perhaps you will also sing Jerome Kern’s fabulous Smoke Gets in Your eyes and Harbour Lights as an encore?
Mark: We still haven’t quite finalized the programme. Maybe we will surprise you!
MB: I see Chuck Berry’s great classic Blueberry Hill is on the programme. He is alive and well and still singing away.
Mark: This will be an opportunity for the audience to relive the excitement and memories of post war music and its protagonists. Apart from the stars we mentioned we shall also remember
Nat King Cole, Neil Sedaka, Cliff Richard, Pat Boone, Fats Domino, Dean Martin…
MB: Just men? No women?
Mark: Of course we shall also commemorate popular female artists like Marilyn Monroe, Shirley Bassey, Connie Francis, Petula Clark and Doris Day interpreted by the likes of Nadine Axisa, Leontine, Debbie Scerri, Julie and Christabelle Borg.
MB: I’ve been to at least four of your shows and loved them. You yourself do not just sing...
Mark: Yes, as usual I shall be singing but I am also responsible for public relations and musical arrangements. Celaine Buhagiar is responsible for the choreography while Victor Scerri and his team are taking care of stage design which is reminiscent of the rock ‘n’ roll era. The list of songs is almost never-ending. The show will appeal to different generations since many of the songs we shall be singing are still popular to this day.
Ticket outlets: Dolceria Croce Bonaci, Valletta; Malta Arts Festival Information Stand in Freedom Square in Valletta; Tereza Bazaar, Zabbar Tel: 21 892730; Spiteri Lucas Entertainment - 21233958, 99896638, 99468429, [email protected]
Ticket Hotline: 9999 0145