#dory previn

[lisamarie-vee]

[hamburguesaxd]

my dark attraction lies

with his

madness on the nightstand

placed beside

his loaded gun

in the terrifying nearness

of his eyes

[audiemurphy1945]

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[teddypng]

Dory Previn photographed for her album One A.M. Phonecalls, 1977

[plantingwhiteroses]

[ominous-synths-records]

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Esther's First Communion - Dory Previn

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[bestalbumtitle]

Round 2:

Which title do you like better?

The Shape of Jazz to Come

We're Children of Coincidence and Harpo Marx

Voting ended onDec 27, 2025

The Shape of Jazz to Come

Artist: Ornette Coleman

Release: 1959

Note: The Shape of Jazz to Come was a major influence on the nascent avant-garde jazz movement and a year later Coleman would both kick off and name the genre of free jazz.

We're Children of Coincidence and Harpo Marx

Artist: Dory Previn

Release: 1976

Note: Harpo Marx (1888-1964) was a comedian and harpist. Him and his brothers made up the Marx Brothers, who are considered to be some of the most influential comedians of the 20th century. The title is a play on the line "Les enfants de Marx et Coca-Cola" (We are the children of Marx and Coca-Cola) from Jean Luc Godard's film, Masculin Femenin.

[bitter69uk]

I haven’t seen the Pamela Anderson movie The Last Showgirl yet, but I do intend to! (It only recently opened in the UK). Alongside Demi Moore in The Substance, Andeson’s is the comeback story de nos jours. But what I did revisit in preparation is the ABC 1973 made-for-TV Third Girl from the Left, which shares a virtually identical theme. Written by singer-songwriter Dory Previn, it’s a downbeat, wistful character study starring Kim Novak (in her television debut) as Gloria Joyce, a veteran New York showgirl (so not Vegas!) who’s hit a crisis point in her life: at 36, after years of being centre stage in the line-up, she’s  been asked to “move to the back” to make space for a new girl. Has Gloria “aged out” of her showbiz career? (Isn’t it wild to reflect that 36 was considered “past it” in 1973? Novak herself is 40 years-old here). In addition, Gloria’s 13-year love affair with lounge crooner Joey Jordan (Tony Curtis, clearly having a blast luxuriating in this sleazebag role) is hitting the skids. Bruised and uncertain, she tentatively embarks on a romance with a younger man (Michael Brandon). Misty, ethereal and vulnerable, Novak seems to be deliberately evoking her earlier performance as Polly the Pistol in Billy Wilder’s Kiss Me, Stupid (1964). There are introspective songs via Previn (the genius who wrote the lyrics to the Beyond the Valley of the Dolls theme!). In the striking opening credits, we watch Gloria in close-up applying her stage make-up as Previn sings about her on the soundtrack (“Gloria / Remember her? A flowered blouse, a ribbon bow, the night you had a year ago … Her eyes were sad … you asked if you could see her place / A pale perfume, a paler face / You stayed a while / She liked your smile …”). You’ll notice the credit “Executive Producer: Hugh M Hefner”: Third Girl from the Left is a Playboy Production (perhaps inevitably, his then-mistress Barbi Benton has a supporting role. So does Anne Ramsay from Throw Mama from the Train!). Curtis and Novak would reunite years later in The Mirror Crack'd (1980). Watch it here.