Alan Cumming

Alan Cumming is a true entertainer whose flair for the dramatic is on full display in his Guest DJ set – from his selection of a “super intense” aria to the song that accompanied him down the aisle. Alan has found fame in film (X-Men United), on Broadway (Cabaret) and is making a special appearance on the hit CBS Series The Good Wife this week.

For More: www.alancumming.com

www.cbs.com/primetime/the_good_wife/

Tracks

1. The Proclaimers - Letter from America

2. Maria Callas - "Ebben? Ne Andro Lontana" from La Wally

3. Kate Bush - Breathing

4. Shane McGowan - You're the One

5. Rufus Wainwright - Poses

Transcript

Marion Hodges: Hi I'm Marion Hodges and I'm here with acclaimed actor Alan Cumming. He has found fame working in films like X-Men United and on stage. He won a Tony for his role in Cabaret and also created his own traveling cabaret show I Bought a Blue Car Today -- while still finding the time to appear on the hit CBS Series The Good Wife. Today, we will be playing excerpts of songs he's selected that have inspired him over the years as part of KCRW's Guest DJ Project. And first off, I just want to say hi Alan and welcome to KCRW.

AC: Indeed. This is a song that was The Proclaimers first, sort of, hit. It's called "Letter From America.” And I think they're amazing, and they're still amazing. But they're really great because they were the first sort of, you know, rock-y pop - or however you want to call them - band from Scotland that I heard that actually performed in their own voices. And this is something I always think is really stupid, when British people who talk like me or talk with an English accent - and suddenly when they start singing they always sing in an American accent. I think that's stupid!

AC: Now we're delving into the classical world with Maria Callas. And it's an aria from this opera, which I always think is a very funny title, called La Wally. Because in Britain, if you're a "wally," it means you're kind of a bit of a dope. So this is the opening song from the Opera and it's called "Ebben? Ne Andro Lontana” and it's about her saying good bye to this person. That she's going away, away from the clock tower and everything.

AC: Well, I just think Kate Bush is amazing. She was very influential on me actually when I was a little boy because of the fact that, as you said, she was so theatrical and in a time when it was quite packaged, structured, and formulaic pop, she was this hugely different and really innovative artist. I just thought she was amazing. I was very inspired by her. Also, this song is about nuclear war – about a child inside a mother's body who's talking to her about the fact that there's been this nuclear war. So, it's pretty intense stuff. And when you're in your early teens, and you're just starting to realize what's going on in the world, and there was all this during the Cold War and all this awful, scary stuff going on. So really, this song really resonates with me. The fact that someone was actually making this, sort of, protest song about this and doing it in such an amazing and artistic way. I, on many levels, related to it. And I just think she's a really brilliant artist. And I don't know that people know her so well in this country. I don't think she really broke in the way that she did in Britain.

AC: “You're the One.” And it's sung by Shane Macgowan from The Pogues and Maire Brennan. And it's quite a slushy love song. And why it's significant to me, is that it was the theme song for a movie I was in called Circle of Friends, this Irish film. My friend Pat directed it. I was just so excited that Shane Macgowan was going to be singing the theme, so I just really always liked it and thought it was a really beautiful. It's just this sort of thing about saying "You are it! You are definitely the one!" And I just love that phrase and I kind of used it to ensnare my husband. And so when we walked down the aisle when we got married in London we had a string quartet playing “You're the One.”

AC: The next song I'd like to play is by Rufus Wainwright. It's called “Poses.” And I think Rufus is a great artist and - he's a friend of mine actually - and I just admire him so much. The album that this one came from, it was called “Poses,” I thought was just genius. It was a really - I remember when that came out - it was just an amazing time. I think Rufus is so unusual in that, for an artist, and especially an artist who writes his own work, how, kind of unprecious he is about it.