Billie Holiday: Did I Remember as heard in Woody Allen's <i>Celebrity</i> (1998)

At 23, Billie Holiday was an untrained vocalist with no technique but oodles of charisma. She was fun to hear because she was obviously having fun. On this track, her unselfconscious artistry shines through a typically inane song from the mid-1930s. The band does its best with tepid material, with relaxed turns by Shaw and Berigan, but only Billie strikes the right note of saucy impertinence. At a time when most singers were stiffer than an Englishman's upper lip, Billies playfully conversational delivery was as refreshing as a Cockney barmaid at the Royal Academy of Headwaiters. Wot'll y'ave, guv?