Mark Evans is a musician, a composer, scholar, writer, and critic. His book, soundtrack,

the music of the movies, is, in fact, a standard reference work.

He has also authored our musical heritage from Yankee Doodle Dandy to Carnegie Hall, Broadway, and the Hollywood soundtrack.

We also have Mark My Words, How to Discover discover the joy of music, the delight of language,

and the pride of achievement, which is out in a new edition and serves as our topic today. Welcome,

Mr. Evans. Thank you so much. It's a pleasure to join you. It's always nice to talk to another Mark,

and especially one that I've actually had the

pleasure of quoting in one of my own books. Very good. I'm glad to hear that. Glad to hear you know,

I didn't give the full subtitle of your work, the delight of language and the pride of achievement

in the age of trash talk and cultural chaos. Let's not forget that part in the book, which I think puts it just about right.

Let's jump right in on a sweeping statement about the present.

In the introduction, you say, quote, in the world of popular music, we are treated daily to a parade of superstars whose voices and

musical skills are an embarrassment. Now, how can this situation come about when there's so much

money? I mean, can we get the very best talent producing the very best stuff in an age where

so many people are making so much money? Well, the talent is there, Mark,

but there's always been a disparity between the talent and the intentions of the people who

make the decisions about the talent. Let me perhaps give you a little bit of my own background

so I can explain how I came to these conclusions. I'm, as you said, a composer and pianist and conductor.

My backgrounds in music, I grew up in Southern California. I sometimes call myself a self-proclaimed

fugitive from the Hollywood rat race. And I grew up in the music department of a large Hollywood

movie studio. One of my mentors was Ervin Talbot,

who was the conductor for 45 years at Paramount Pictures. And I had the great pleasure

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