To purchase the Original Broadway Cast Recording of FUNNY GIRL, click on the image above.

1. “Don’t Rain on My Parade” from Funny Girl

I have always loved this song and, strangely enough, my first experience of it was not Barbra Streisand’s definitive introduction of it into the show tunes repertoire, but a short extract that was included in a medley sung by Gregory Hines and Nathan Lane on the Tony Awards in 1995. The first Streisand version of the song that I heard followed that, when I was given a cassette of Barbra: The Concert. My next discovery was the Bobby Darin version, which was used in American Beauty and it was only in that film that the power of this song to make one feel completely invincible. That sensibility has been tapped into several times on TV, notably in a cute little medley of show tunes in Beautiful People as well as in Glee, with the song being belted out by Lea Michele as Rachel Berry every so often. It’s that version that I have on my gym mix.

Well, I hope you have enjoyed reading through this list of ten of my favourite show tunes from the 1960s. What are some of your favourites? Share your thoughts using the comments box below.