Mel Brooks’ favourite song of all time: “Young people don’t know”
Extraordinarily, US comedy titan Mel Brooks is still with us, and the world is all the brighter for it.
Fast approaching his centenary, Brooks stands as one of the last two living links to American comedy’s first bloom on television during the mid-1950s, along with Woody Allen. Charged with an undimmed energy that puts much of Hollywood half his age to shame, as recently as last September, Brooks was recounting the zest for life that battery powers his continued pursuit of a top gag.
“Some days I’m not feeling as great as I want to. But other days I don’t even notice that I’m not 37 anymore,” he revealed to The Sunday Times. “I talk on the phone and I write – every day. Always writing, always correcting, always questioning.”
Brooks entered immortality with his 2000 Year Old Man bit, performing the semi-improvised exchange between Carl Reiner’s straight man probing of the titular ancient Jewish witness to history with a distinct New York accent, performing the skit together as late as the 1990s. It would be his Hollywood features with star Gene Wilder that cemented his stature in comedy canon, however.
Kicking off with the spectacular exercise in Nazi-musical bad taste with The Producers, subsequent efforts Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein routinely enjoy critical acclaim as some of the greatest laughs in film history.
Anyone who’s ever interviewed the esteemed comic will know that even casual conversation can veer into hilarious anecdotes and enthused tangents at a whim, small talk and minor TV spots often boasting an impromptu skit with ease. From singing old standards to revealing a spilt tea debacle while on air, Brooks’ 1978 appearance on BBC Radio 4’s long-running Desert Island Discs series revealed a fascinating insight into his career beginnings and creative trajectory to that point amid the witty detours.
Speaking to host Roy Plomley, Brooks opted for cases of the Château Lafite Rothschild vintage wine from Bordeaux as his luxury item and his book of choice, Stendhal’s The Charterhouse of Parma historical romance, yet above selections from the world of classical music and Rat Pack swing was an icon of 20th century croon dubbed by Brooks as “perhaps the greatest American singer that’s ever lived”.
“Young people don’t know how good Bing Crosby was,” Brooks added. “When I was growing up, I always thought Crosby was passé.”
Highlighting the shift toward ‘White Christmas’, what the singer is most remembered for, Brooks picked his cherished ‘Can’t We Talk It Over?’ from 1932 as his favourite song of all time. Originally written by Victor Young with lyrics by Ned Washington, several recordings have been cut since Ben Bernie and His Orchestra’s first version, but Crosby’s rendition is often considered the definitive.
Brooks was so swept up in the old number he confessed to having fallen “madly in love” with Crosby the moment he’d heard it, overturning any perceptions he’d had of ‘Der Bingle’ prior. When pressed by Plomley to mark his definitive disc selection for the castaway island, Brooks nabs ‘Can’t We Talk It Over?’ without missing a beat.
