Donald Clarke:

> ...even Irving Berlin allegedly thought that a measure of quality was how
> much money the song made.

I don't quite follow this "even".  Irving Berlin?  The composer of "White
Christmas," "Puttin' On The Ritz," "Anything You Can Do," "There's No
Business Like Show Business," etc.?  Such enjoyable show tunes and
Hollywood 'classics' suggest a master of popular song who'd be highly
attuned to the money his music would generate.  It doesn't seem at all
odd that he'd see it as a kind of valid yardstick of musical quality.

Speaking of Irving Berlin, I gather that Winston Churchill once had his
secretary invite him to Downing Street for dinner, but that every attempt
at conversation, which the PM steadily steered toward war issues, led
to perplexed or just trite responses.  Although he felt flattered, Berlin
was unused to being called 'professor', and the attentions of the respected
PM also made him uncomfortable.  Churchill, in turn, was puzzled by
several of Berlin's replies, wondering if some might be ironic.  He was
also intrigued by Berlin's seemingly American accent.  In the end it
turned out that the songster had been invited by mistake, as Churchill
had confused him with Isaiah Berlin, the philosopher.

Any chance a similar mix-up is at the bottom or your "even", above?

Bert Bailey

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