Songs from Broadway musicals boosted American spirits during the Great Depression. Cole Porter’s 1934 score for Anything Goes, starring Ethel Merman as Reno Sweeney and William Gaxton as Billy Crockett, was a popular source. However, when the show was made into a movie in 1936, featuring Merman and Bing Crosby, Production Code censors nixed the saucy lyrics of the stage production. The only remaining numbers were “Anything Goes,” “I Get A Kick Out of You,” “There’ll Always Be a Lady Fair,” and “You’re the Top.” Read more music history in A Brain. A Heart. The Nerve. (see NOVELS).
