Happy Mother's Day

​This is a terrific song written for the original Broadway production of Bye Bye Birdie, but never saw the light of day.  The problem was that Kay Medford, the actress hired as the guilt-inducing mother of Albert (the character played by Dick Van Dyke), was a wonderful performer but couldn't sing, so they cut the song.  And the same thing happened for the movie version with Maureen Stapleton.  However years later when the did the remake for television, Tyne Daley had starred on Broadway in the musical Gypsy, and sang very well -- and was a big TV name, having starred for a long time in the series Cagney and Lacey..  So, the song was put back in, not only because it was so good, but also I'm sure to give the actress more to do which would attract her to the part.  And it's since been put back in the official version of the stage show where it is now performed in college, high school and community theater productions -- "A Mother Doesn't Matter Anymore."

Alas, there is no video of the TV movie scene.  I did come across a lot of videos from local productions, but the original simply has the best vocal performance and best music arrangement.  So, that's how we're going to fly.
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