12. Peggy LeeMirrors
It’s a very strange but very complex album, and a very beautiful album. I was introduced to it in the late 80s, by Hal Willner, and I knew and loved ‘Is That All There Is’, which was a big hit in 1970. It was written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and they decided four or five years later to regroup and do an album, using that as the touchstone.
I think it’s Leiber and Stoller’s homage to Kurt Weill and Bertholt Brecht, because musically, it really is like an art version of old cabaret in a Brechtian way, but where they bring her lyrically, it’s so fucking crazy. I mean, from the opening track, which is about an older person, it’s almost like that movie The Dresser. It’s somebody putting on the wig, putting in the fake teeth, and ready to begin again. It’s almost like getting up to set it out, you know, in that sort of chanson way.
There are two tracks that really are compelling. There’s one called ‘The Case Of M.J.’ And you go, “It’s this eerie sort of fairy tale.” And you go, “Oh, Jesus! This is about child abuse,” but it’s all so hidden. And like another one called ‘A Little White Ship’. And you go, “Well, this is all dreamlike.” And then you go, “Well actually, it’s about taking drugs. This is mother’s little helper for people that need more help than just sleep.” It really is otherworldly. And then there’s ‘Tango’, which is seemingly about some old Hollywood Valentino-type actor who’s murdered while cruising. This is a fucking die-hard classic, and it’s quite unknown. Not many people talk about it, but go there and you’ll never come back. It’s astounding.
