Blossom Dearie: I'm Hip

"I'm too much," proclaims Blossom. "I'm a gas." We wholeheartedly agree, but the subject of her song is another matter; the lady doth protest her hipness too much, we think. Her fate is sealed when she pleads, "Bobby Darin knows my friend." Recorded live before a swinging '60s London audience, "I'm Hip" is proof that most would-be hipsters lead lives of hilarious desperation. It's also proof that lyricist Dave Frishberg is in a class with Ira Gershwin. As for Miss Dearie, she concludes this loving lampoon with a scatted quote from Birth of the Cool's "Budo." How hip is that?