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SINGER ANITA DARIAN REMEMBERED FOR GENRE-SPANNING CAREER
National Public Radio
February 12, 2015 Thursday
SHOW: All Things Considered 08:00 PM EST
GUESTS: Anita Darian, The Tokens, Lynda Wells, Mickey And Sylvia
ROBERT SIEGEL: A moment now to remember a soprano whose voice was
heard by millions of people who never who she was.
(SOUNDBITE OF UNIDENTIFIED SONG)
ANITA DARIAN: (Singing) How I wish we weren't...
ROBERT SIEGEL: Anita Darian died last week at age 87. This is from
her singing Ned Rorem's "Four Dialogues." She sang classical music,
musical comedy and pop music. She was a studio singer with a vocal
range to match her stylistic range.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE LION SLEEPS TONIGHT")
THE TOKENS: (Singing) Near the village, the quiet, the lion sleeps
tonight. Hey, hey.
ANITA DARIAN: (Vocalizing).
LYNDA WELLS: And there she is. It is the floating voice of Anita
Darian.
ROBERT SIEGEL: And that's Lynda Wells, who was friends with Anita
Darian for nearly 50 years.
LYNDA WELLS: Well, let me tell you a funny story about "The Lion Sleeps
Tonight." The arrangers and producers called Anita in to record with
this new group called The Tokens. And when she got into the session,
they showed her the chart that she was to sing, and they tried it once
through and she said it's too low. I need to sing it up an octave. And
the producer and the arranger looked at her and said you can't do
that. And she said, well, let's try it.
ROBERT SIEGEL: (Laughter) So this is her range. This is her natural
range that we're hearing her sing at.
LYNDA WELLS: (Laughter) She had four workable octaves without going
to falsetto.
ROBERT SIEGEL: Now, she, in addition to other things, performed in
musical theater. She performed in opera, yes?
LYNDA WELLS: Absolutely. She did everything from Helen the Hellmann's
hen in commercials to the beginning voices of "Alvin And The Chipmunks"
to imitating a theremin for Burt Bacharach to going onto Broadway.
ROBERT SIEGEL: Wait a minute. Did you say Hellmann's hen for Hellmann's
mayonnaise?
LYNDA WELLS: Yes (laughter).
ROBERT SIEGEL: So she did a lot of studio singing.
LYNDA WELLS: She did a lot of studio - and she did voices, so she
did cartoon voices.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LOVE IS STRANGE")
MICKEY AND SYLVIA: (Singing) Love, love is strange.
ROBERT SIEGEL: This was a famous record by Mickey and Sylvia called
"Love is Strange."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LOVE IS STRANGE")
MICKEY AND SYLVIA: (Singing) You'll never wanna quit.
ANITA DARIAN: (Singing) No, no.
MICKEY AND SYLVIA: (Singing) After you've had it...
ROBERT SIEGEL: Wait a minute. Is she doing the no-no?
LYNDA WELLS: Yes (laughter) yes, yes.
ROBERT SIEGEL: That's Anita Darian.
LYNDA WELLS: It's not the same woman that you heard on "The Lion
Sleeps Tonight," is it?
ROBERT SIEGEL: And she seemed to carve out some kind of niche for
exotic songs.
LYNDA WELLS: She did. When she was recording for Cap Records, they
decided to use the exotica of her Armenian heritage doing an album
based on some Armenian songs and things like "Come On-A My House,"
which had been a hit for Rosie Clooney, but had never been done in
the original Armenian.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "COME ON-A MY HOUSE")
ANITA DARIAN: (Singing in Armenian) I'm gonna give you candy.
ROBERT SIEGEL: It's probably better than the English there.
LYNDA WELLS: (Laughter) Well, it was really cute.
ROBERT SIEGEL: Do you ever wonder how it is that someone like Anita
Darian, who had a wonderful voice - yet had all kinds of studio work
singing in all kinds of famous records but not - not what we think
of as a star who was a household name. Why not?
LYNDA WELLS: I think that she was so versatile that she would fall
into niches, so she became the backup singer. You'd either bring in
a string section or you'd bring in Anita Darian.
ROBERT SIEGEL: Well, thank you very much, Lynda Wells, for talking
with us about the remarkable voice and the remarkable career of your
friend the late Anita Darian, who died last week at age 87.
LYNDA WELLS: Thank you so very much.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MISIRLOU")
ANITA DARIAN: (Singing) Desert shadows creep across purple sands.
Natives kneel in prayer by their caravans.
National Public Radio
February 12, 2015 Thursday
SHOW: All Things Considered 08:00 PM EST
GUESTS: Anita Darian, The Tokens, Lynda Wells, Mickey And Sylvia
ROBERT SIEGEL: A moment now to remember a soprano whose voice was
heard by millions of people who never who she was.
(SOUNDBITE OF UNIDENTIFIED SONG)
ANITA DARIAN: (Singing) How I wish we weren't...
ROBERT SIEGEL: Anita Darian died last week at age 87. This is from
her singing Ned Rorem's "Four Dialogues." She sang classical music,
musical comedy and pop music. She was a studio singer with a vocal
range to match her stylistic range.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE LION SLEEPS TONIGHT")
THE TOKENS: (Singing) Near the village, the quiet, the lion sleeps
tonight. Hey, hey.
ANITA DARIAN: (Vocalizing).
LYNDA WELLS: And there she is. It is the floating voice of Anita
Darian.
ROBERT SIEGEL: And that's Lynda Wells, who was friends with Anita
Darian for nearly 50 years.
LYNDA WELLS: Well, let me tell you a funny story about "The Lion Sleeps
Tonight." The arrangers and producers called Anita in to record with
this new group called The Tokens. And when she got into the session,
they showed her the chart that she was to sing, and they tried it once
through and she said it's too low. I need to sing it up an octave. And
the producer and the arranger looked at her and said you can't do
that. And she said, well, let's try it.
ROBERT SIEGEL: (Laughter) So this is her range. This is her natural
range that we're hearing her sing at.
LYNDA WELLS: (Laughter) She had four workable octaves without going
to falsetto.
ROBERT SIEGEL: Now, she, in addition to other things, performed in
musical theater. She performed in opera, yes?
LYNDA WELLS: Absolutely. She did everything from Helen the Hellmann's
hen in commercials to the beginning voices of "Alvin And The Chipmunks"
to imitating a theremin for Burt Bacharach to going onto Broadway.
ROBERT SIEGEL: Wait a minute. Did you say Hellmann's hen for Hellmann's
mayonnaise?
LYNDA WELLS: Yes (laughter).
ROBERT SIEGEL: So she did a lot of studio singing.
LYNDA WELLS: She did a lot of studio - and she did voices, so she
did cartoon voices.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LOVE IS STRANGE")
MICKEY AND SYLVIA: (Singing) Love, love is strange.
ROBERT SIEGEL: This was a famous record by Mickey and Sylvia called
"Love is Strange."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LOVE IS STRANGE")
MICKEY AND SYLVIA: (Singing) You'll never wanna quit.
ANITA DARIAN: (Singing) No, no.
MICKEY AND SYLVIA: (Singing) After you've had it...
ROBERT SIEGEL: Wait a minute. Is she doing the no-no?
LYNDA WELLS: Yes (laughter) yes, yes.
ROBERT SIEGEL: That's Anita Darian.
LYNDA WELLS: It's not the same woman that you heard on "The Lion
Sleeps Tonight," is it?
ROBERT SIEGEL: And she seemed to carve out some kind of niche for
exotic songs.
LYNDA WELLS: She did. When she was recording for Cap Records, they
decided to use the exotica of her Armenian heritage doing an album
based on some Armenian songs and things like "Come On-A My House,"
which had been a hit for Rosie Clooney, but had never been done in
the original Armenian.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "COME ON-A MY HOUSE")
ANITA DARIAN: (Singing in Armenian) I'm gonna give you candy.
ROBERT SIEGEL: It's probably better than the English there.
LYNDA WELLS: (Laughter) Well, it was really cute.
ROBERT SIEGEL: Do you ever wonder how it is that someone like Anita
Darian, who had a wonderful voice - yet had all kinds of studio work
singing in all kinds of famous records but not - not what we think
of as a star who was a household name. Why not?
LYNDA WELLS: I think that she was so versatile that she would fall
into niches, so she became the backup singer. You'd either bring in
a string section or you'd bring in Anita Darian.
ROBERT SIEGEL: Well, thank you very much, Lynda Wells, for talking
with us about the remarkable voice and the remarkable career of your
friend the late Anita Darian, who died last week at age 87.
LYNDA WELLS: Thank you so very much.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MISIRLOU")
ANITA DARIAN: (Singing) Desert shadows creep across purple sands.
Natives kneel in prayer by their caravans.