JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC

I didn’t watch the Academy Awards show — seldom do — but, of course, I heard about the smackdown.

Just tonight, though, Patty and Brooks were talking about the other seminal moment in the ceremony — when a wheelchair-bound, trembling and slightly confused Liza Minnelli presented the award for best picture, with some caring help from Lady Gaga.

I was very sorry to hear about that, mainly because my most vivid memory of Minnelli — daughter of Judy Garland, who starred in the immortal 1939 movie “The Wizard of Oz” — is of her singing the enchanting and whimsical song “I Like the Likes of You.”

In that song, which Minnelli recorded in 1965, when she was 19, she sounds forever young, playful and powerful. In addition, she was beautiful, with the dark, glowing eyes she got from her mother, high cheekbones and flawless skin.

Another reason Minnelli’s debilitated condition made me wince was that we are the same age, 76. I was born March 4, 1946; she on March 12, 1946.

But for good luck and relatively healthy living, I could also be confused and in a wheelchair. It wasn’t all bad luck for Minnelli: she abused drugs and alcohol and was married and divorced four times. The only drug I used was marijuana — and not very much of that — and thank God I quit drinking in 1981, when I was 34. In addition, following the lead of many an Irishman, I didn’t marry until I was 38.

The reason I stumbled onto “I Like the Likes of You” was that I was kind of an outsider in high school and my first couple of years of college. I had friends, but I spent many Friday nights at home watching “The Friday Night Fight of the Week,” on the Gillette Cavalcade of Sports, while most of my peers were out at parties, the bowling alley or sporting events.

As part of my “rebellion,” I gave up rock-n-roll radio for a while (which I regret to this day, although I caught up later) and listened to a lot of jazz and pop music. Among the pop music artists I liked were Vikki Carr (“The Surrey with the Fringe on Top”); guitarist Laurindo Almeida (“Goin’ Out of My Head”); and Petula Clark (“Kiss Me Goodbye”).

While listening to music in that vein, I heard “I Like the Likes of You” and immediately fell in love with it. The song, written by Vernon Duke and E.Y. Harburg, has been recorded by more than 25 individuals or orchestras between the time it was first recorded by Victor Young and His Orchestra in 1934 and Amanda Thorpe in 2014.

Minnelli’s version is the only version I’ve ever heard or wanted to hear. With her, it comes off as flirtatious and seductive, as if she’s peering around a corner, winking and beckoning a boy with her index finger. When I heard/hear it, that boy she was beckoning was/is me.

It features inventive lyrics, like…

I like your eyes of blue,
I think they’re blue, don’t you?
I mean I like your eyes of blue!

Oh dear, if I could only say what I mean,
I mean if I could mean what I say,
That is, I mean to say that I mean to say that;

I like the likes of you,
Your looks are pure deluxe
Looks like I like the likes of you!

**

For some reason, I never bought a Minnelli album, but I never forgot that song. And now, of course, I can hear it on YouTube whenever.

When Brooks was talking about Minnelli’s appearance — and how disturbing it was — I immediately went to the computer and pulled up the song. Brooks had never heard it. Patty had, and after I played it, she continued humming it.

…And now, after all this buildup, I’m going to play it for you. I hope you agree it’s pure de-luxe.