AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Les Crane

Artist:Les Crane

Song:Desiderata

Album:American Pie: Great Tales & Sagas in Song

This 1971 spoken word recording of the poem Desiderata was a surprise top ten hit. Then they had to record an album around it. Never heard of it? If you are familiar with the expression "You are a child of the universe", you likely heard it on this record. The guy who recorded this was radio and TV host Les Crane. He was born Lesley Stein Dec. 3, 1933 in New York City. He graduated from Tulane University as an English major. Then he was a pilot in the US Air Force. In the early 60s, he hosted a very popular talk show on San Francisco radio station KGO. Then he moved to TV and hosted the late night talk show Night Line on ABC's flagship station WABC in New York. The Rolling Stones made their first American TV appearance on that show. The show title was changed to The Les Crane Show. The show went national in 1964 as The New Les Crane Show to compete with The Tonight Show. The talk was more serious than The Tonight Show. The show was innovative at the time. But I don't think audiences were ready for it and ABC cancelled it after 14 weeks and replaced it with Nightlife. Crane was one of several rotating hosts. This too was cancelled. Crane tried acting but he returned to radio in 1968 with a talk show on Los Angeles radio station KLAC. He also hosted a syndicated TV talk show. Then he approached Fred Werner about recording the poem Desiderata. Crane thought it was old and therefore public domain. But it was actually written in 1927 by Max Ehrmann. Werner won a Tony as Best Conductor and Musical Director for the 1964 musical High Spirits. He moved to Los Angeles in 1967 and worked on Bob Fosse's 1972 film Cabaret among other things. On Desiderata, he had Crane read the poem and studio singers Carol Carmichael and her mom Evangeline sing "You are a child of the universe". With overdubbing, they made it sound like a choir. Los Angeles studio musicians Michel Rubini on keyboards, Louie Shelton on guitar, Jim Horn on flute, Joe Porcaro on drums and Emil Richards on percussion played on the album. Desiderata won a Grammy for Best Spoken Word Album. Desiderata reached #8 on the Billboard Hot 100. Supposedly it was a hit because of the message of peace and love. But I think it was the catchy refrain. In 1972, National Lampoon released a spoof called Deteriorata with the chorus "You are a fluke of the universe". The album Desiderata is available on CD. But I would recommend this various artists Reader's Digest 4CD comp. Crane left TV in the 70s and resurfaced in the software company The Software Toolworks in the 80s. They were known for chess games and Mavis Beacon typing software which Crane developed. The company sold for millions in the 90s. Crane died on July 13, 2008 at age 74. Here's a video for Desiderata by Les Crane.