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BBC Radio 2 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced Light Programme.

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The Great American Songbook

Music: Easy Listening, Soundtracks & Musicals

Sounds of the 50s

Leo Green explores figures associated with the Great American Songbook

The Great American Songbook: Harry Warren

Music: Country

Music: Folk

09/02/2016

Harry Warren

BBC Radio 2 - The Great American Songbook, Harry Warren

Leo Green wonders why it is that Harry Warren seems underappreciated.

Leo Green wonders why it is that Harry Warren is never discussed in the same way as Gershwin, Porter or Kern.

Leo Green considers why it is that we never seem to talk about Harry Warren in the way we do Gershwin, Porter or Kern. Was it, is as he said himself, that he was first and foremost a family man preferring to spend time with them away from the Hollywood party scene. Or did he just not need to be recognised as one of the famous. As one of eleven children born to a first generation Italian immigrant family in Brooklyn, Warren's rise to songwriting fame was astonishing - as well composing as a mere 42 top 10 hits of which 21 went to Number 1, his songs feature on more than 300 movies and his melodies can be heard on more than 100 Looney Tunes cartoons; There were also Academy Awards and the small matter of the musical 42nd Street making him an unrivalled master.

Amazing music. Played by an amazing line up.

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