Piece Comment

Review of Music At Sea


This piece brought a ray of sunshine to a rainy Sunday morning. A breezy history of music played on ocean liners, simply told with a rich variety of interesting information about hired "dance hosts" for single ladies, Glenn Miller versus Disco and the grotesque inaccuracies of "Love Boat." The balance of narration, speakers and music is just right. It ends with a touching story of the musicians on the Titanic and the haunting melody they played as the ship went down (not "Nearer My God to Thee" as Hollywood and Google would have you believe.) Keep this piece in mind for the April 14 anniversary of the Titanic tragedy - it has broader appeal than just music or arts programming. And don't cut into the very slow fade of music at the end. It's deliberate and very effective!