Cole Porter Wrote a Song

One of the best songs written by Cole Porter is I've Got You Under My Skin. In fact, it is one of the best songs ever written by anyone. But it was Frank Sinatra who made the song famous. Or, if like me, you think it is the horn section that makes this version of the song what it is, then you might say Nelson Riddle's arrangement was key to its success. But really, it took all three of them: Cole Porter, Nelson Riddle, and Frank Sinatra.


The first time I heard the song was during an appearce of Martin Short on the Tonight Show. He was nuts!!!! He was thrilling!!!! He was like a three-way cross between Frank Sinatra, Ethel Merman, & Bobby Short (Most people know Short from the Charlie commercial though he was an institution in at the Cafe Carlysle). With only one exception, which is at the bottom of this post) I can't hear the song without seeing Martin Short running in to the audience to sing "...use your mentality..." as loudly as possible. It was a total spoof, but as I would learn later, he totally captured the essence of the song as performed by Sinatra and then amplified it X10. Not long after that I did hear the song by Frank. (He lets me call him Frank). And I began to appreceiate the song for what it was, a very grown up song about coming to terms with being in love with someone.






Even though he is the one who made the song so unbelieveably famous, even turning it into a cliche to be performed by Martin Short, Frank Sinatra's version is only one of several good versions of the song. Among the versions I like are Michael Bubble's almost reincarnatin (the dates don't quite work) of Frank. The piano only version by by Vanessa Paradis is cute if you need something to tap dance to, and I can even listen to Bobby Darin's bizarre Rock & Roll version of the song. Sammy Davis Jr. (he was really wild.) did drums only version in his stage show. Even I, just a few months before I met my wife, did a duet of the song in a resturaunt with cocktail waitress. But there is one version of the song that is almost hypnotizing. Here it is: The only version of the song that can block Martin Short out of my mind.