By Steven Suskin
11 Oct 2009

KAY THOMPSON: Think Pink! [Sepia 1135]
Kay Thompson (1909-1998) is best remembered, when remembered at all, as the creator and author of "Eloise," who was kind of a mid-century cosmopolitan version of Penrod. (If you don't remember Penrod, so be it.) Thompson is also recalled by fans of movie musicals for her appearance as Maggie Prescott in the 1957 film "Funny Face." Fred Astaire and Audrey Hepburn were the nominal stars, and they certainly lit up the screen; but Thompson gave an uproarious and unforgettable performance as a fashion editor who counseled her minions to "Think Pink." It is hard to accept the fact that this is her only full-scale acting performance; Thompson in this film is an out-sized personality along the lines of Eve Arden and Carol Channing, and one supposes she simply wasn't interested in an acting career. Thompson's main concentration, though, was as one of the few woman of talent and power in the Hollywood music game. She was vocal arranger-in-charge at M-G-M during that studio's years of dominance in the movie musical field. If you recall that fabled M-G-M sound, what is ringing in your ears is no doubt Kay's handiwork.

If Thompson is more or less vanished from the scene, that perennial six-year-old Eloise remains in circulation (although the heirs have been making some questionable steps of late). What's more, Thompson's goddaughter last year reached into the archives and dusted off some of Kay's vocal charts, bringing them to Broadway in Liza's at the Palace! (Ms. Minnelli was not only Thompson's goddaughter; she purportedly served as model for Eloise, the tyke who runs along the upper floors of the Plaza Hotel banging sticks along the halls.) The results contained in the Minnelli revue could only approximate the real thing. Now, Thompson's biographer Sam Irvin — with the aid of that invaluable musicologist Michael Feinstein — has compiled "Think Pink! A Kay Thompson Party."

This three-CD set, from the British label Sepia, is a Kay Thompson party indeed. The first disc is a compilation of studio recordings; the second, rarities and live performances; and the third contains demos, radio transcriptions, and several helpings of Eloise. Rather than give you a blow-by-blow account of the 75 tracks, let's just say that: (A) the 40s (and 50s) sound wafts over you, the ear enveloped by Thompson's lush vocals; (B) a good amount of the songs were written by Thompson herself, with the top items being "I Love a Violin," "Eloise," and "Love on a Greyhound Bus"; and (C) a long list of interesting people appear with Thompson on various tracks, including Judy Garland, Fred Astaire, Audrey Hepburn, Tony Martin, Danny Kaye, Ann Miller, Bing Crosby, Peter Lorre, Andy Williams, Louis Jourdan, Monty Woolley, and Helen Hayes. Highlights are too many to mention, but I'm especially glad to find a dynamite 1944 recording of Johnny Green's "The Steam Is on the Beam." Think Pink, why don't you?