Sony and ArkivMusic celebrate the 100th anniversary of songwriter Frank Loesser.

There may be no better shorthand for Frank Loesser’s genius than the words “heart and soul.” They never deserted him, from the dapper hit-parade favorites he wrote for Hollywood, to his ambitious Broadway career that produced – in little more than a decade – Where’s Charley?, Guys and Dolls, The Most Happy Fella and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. A complex and sophisticated man, Loesser somehow managed to keep the essence of “heart and soul” in everything he wrote, without ever seeming glib. His craft deepened and broadened, but it never lost an almost streetwise honesty that is as dazzling and sharp as a diamond. You never feel cheated or manipulated in a Frank Loesser song. Seduced, maybe. Teased and kidded, certainly. Moved, almost always. And joyously entertained.

-- David Foil