Luthiery Laboratories

Hollywood and the music industry are not totally bereft of talent today. Here is actress Zooey Deschanel and her musical partner M Ward doing a wonderful rendition of Dusty Springfield's 1964 Stay Awhile:

Deschanel has a very nice singing voice. And while she's not Eleanor Powell or Ann Miller, she competently dances her way through a clever and stylish video. I can't speak for her acting, the only thing I've seen her in is The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy; the rock I live under gets very bad TV reception. She was good in that though, so I'll give her all three - sing, dance, act.

There was once a 'making of' video for this. Much of the time she is dancing with a real partner in a head-to-toe blue suit, in the house. The partner was then digitally removed - the opposite of green screen. They also removed his shadow, but not hers. The guitarist is obviously just playing air-guitar, but look for the shadow on the wall at the end when he puts it down - a nice touch. ( His air-guitar also has a ground noise issue. ) All in all, this is one of the best music videos I've seen in a long time, and a great version of a great song.

And here is the original:

Not sure which is better, Dusty's exuberance, or Zooey's melancholy.

What? You never heard of Dusty Springfield? The White Queen of Soul? Sheesh, kids nowadays! Here's what she is probably best-known for:

Maybe this will ring a bell:

Update:

YouTube keeps recommending that Pet Shop Boys video, and I keep playing it, and not for the showgirls. Well, not just for the showgirls. ( I like the one in the nerd glasses! ) That is such a great song, and it has an interesting progression: it starts out all him, and ends all her. Very cool of the Pet Shop Boys to basically give the song to the Grand Dame! ( In fact, they wrote it with only her in mind. )

All this about Dusty, I feel like Zooey has gotten short shrift, and she really is quite talented. So here's another: