I have heard this phrase, and DJs often seem to hate it…what’s it all about? Sounds like I missed something? - Jinx
Play Misty for Me is a movie starring Clint Eastwood (his first movie as a director as well, IIRC) about a radio DJ (Eastwood) who has an affair with and is later stalked by a listener. Her signature line is “Play Misty for Me,” when she calls him at the station on the phone, meaning the jazz song “Misty.”
Pretty good movie, creepy in the right ways, and a sort of precursor to Fatal Attraction. I can see why it would not be a DJ’s favorite movie, though.
Trust me, I know half a dozen radio announcers who won’t watch that movie. It’s never particularly bothered me. Maybe it’s because my psycho stalker started straight out at the ‘loon’ stage, without the ‘Fatal Attraction/Play Misty For Me’ buildup.
Assuming that you haven’t seen the movie, Jinx, I assume also that you may not have heard the song Misty. Piano man Erroll Garner wrote this song back in the 50’s, and it fairly quickly became a jazz and pop standard. One of the most widely heard versions was sung by Johnny Mathis in the late 50’s.
I wouldn’t even hazard a guess as to how many different versions of the tune/song there are out by now, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s in the hundreds.
I also don’t recall whose version Eastwood’s DJ character played in the movie. That might be some fun trivia to investigate.
An episode of SNL (January 10th, 1976) had a montage by Gary Weis that showed a bunch of lounge pianists singing “Misty”. I also saw this montage on the SNL 15th anniversary special.
IMDB, at the link above, says it was Erroll Garner’s version.
The All Music Guide page is here.