On today’s The Right Hook, George will be contemplating one of pop music’s most enduring mysteries... Just who was Carly Simon singing about in You’re So Vain?
Joined in studio by the brilliant Bill Hughes, George will listen and learn about another essential song of the 20th century, the 1972 smash-hit single that’s kept everyone guessing ever since it topped the charts all over the world.
Tune in live at 6.20pm: http://www.newstalk.com/player/
Although, not everyone is guessing...
The list of celebrities that You’re So Vain is supposedly about is a who’s who of 1970s stars: Mick Jagger, James Taylor, Warren Beatty, Kris Kristofferson, Cat Stevens, David Bowie...
Simon has continuously refused to reveal the name, asked in every interview and never actually confirming anything, even saying to VH1 in 1990 that she can never give it away. Whoever he is, his self-regard and dodgy apricot ascots have had propelled the song to the 71st place on Billboard’s 100 Best Songs of All Time.
But one man does know the answer, American TV executive Dick Ebersol.
In 2003, a charity auction was held in Martha’s Vineyard, where one of the lots was the opportunity to find out from Carly Simon herself just who You’re So Vain was all about.
Bidding $50,000 the then president of NBC placed in the winning bid.
Ebersol, a man with deep pockets, also had to sign a legally-binding contract saying that he would never reveal the name of the man. And given that he holidays in Martha’s Vineyard and can bid so heavily in charity auctions, it’s unlikely he can be bribed – so start digging through his rubbish bins, maybe...
Ebersol was, at the very least, allowed to give out a clue: the man whose vanity piques every time he hears the song, has a name with the letter E in it.
