Mel Torme

So I'm sorry, I'm going to continue to talk to the people, because I do believe that if they get to know…

— Mel Torme

As a singer, the biggest joy I have are the arrangements.

— Mel Torme

I hadn't been a recording artist all that long when albums came on the scene, and I was one of the first…

— Mel Torme

Because Chicago was to radio what Hollywood was to films and Broadway was to the theatre: it was the hub of radio.

— Mel Torme

But, in fairness to them, too, the popular song per se is really a pretty shallow medium to perform in.

— Mel Torme

As Buddy Rich, for instance, broke into the business at the age of three, I think it was, on drums, so indeed…

— Mel Torme

Since the advent of Benny Goodman, there have been too few clarinetists to fill the void that Goodman left. Ken Peplowski is…

— Mel Torme

Whenever I did a good performance, my Dad and my uncles, who were rabid movie fans, took me to the movies. There…

— Mel Torme

To me, nostalgia is nothing more than a mindless plundering of the past for the commonplace.

— Mel Torme

How many radio shows I did is lost to memory now; it's in the hundreds - maybe even close to being in…

— Mel Torme

See, I never wrote arrangements for the band for Judy Garland; I did strictly special material, special lyrics, put together all of…

— Mel Torme

There isn't a dearth of it, but I will confess that it's harder for me to find songs on which I'm willing…

— Mel Torme

I want to sing for the broadest possible audience.

— Mel Torme

It may sound a bit like an army barracks, but the truth of the matter is: there must be some time laid…

— Mel Torme

Talking money is crass; so I'm not going to tell you what I made last year.

— Mel Torme

I would be a liar if I said it wouldn't be lovely and soothing - that's the word - to have a…

— Mel Torme

I got into radio when I was eight, and I was one of the busiest child dramatic actors in America.

— Mel Torme

As regards my feelings about drummers - there's Buddy Rich, and then there's everybody else.

— Mel Torme

My initial career, really, as a baby, was as a singer.

— Mel Torme

Because obviously the whole purpose of putting records out is purely and simply to make money.

— Mel Torme

I was a singer professionally when I was four years old, and I did not really begin to play any instrument -…

— Mel Torme

Buddy Rich is one of a kind; he's a genius, and that's all there is to it.

— Mel Torme

I'm going to continue to talk to the people, because I do believe that if they get to know you and what…

— Mel Torme

Right now, my career is in three directions: as a performer, as an arranger, as an author - and I don't give…

— Mel Torme

I didn't really have an act per se - a theatrical performance, as opposed to just: here I am, folks, and you're…

— Mel Torme