Doris Day still sings at 87, offers fans ‘My Heart’

Day, whose first hit was 1945’s “Sentimental Journey,” went  from big band singer to movie star of the 1950s and ‘60s. She  became the quintessential All-American girl and a major box  office draw with films such as “Calamity Jane” and “Pillow  Talk,” opposite Rock Hudson. In the late 1960s, she moved to TV  where she starred in “The Doris Day Show.”

But after that show ended in 1973, Day stepped out of the  Hollywood limelight, moved to California’s Central Coast and  devoted herself to helping animals through various charitable  groups, including the Doris Day Animal Foundation.

For the most part, she has stayed away from entertainment  circles for more than 20 years since accepting a lifetime  achievement honor from Golden Globe organizers in 1989.

Day recorded and released the songs for “My Heart” because  she wanted to help animals — sales proceeds go to her animal  foundation — and she dedicated the song “My Buddy” to her son,  the late record producer and songwriter Terry Melcher, who died  in 2004 after battling melanoma.

“He really was my buddy,” Day said of her son. “I wanted  that song to be there because it was for him and, well, all I  can say is that I miss him very much.”

 PICKING SONGS SHE LIKES      
Day’s voice is sharp on songs such as “My One and Only  Love” and “The Way I Dreamed It,” and she says she picked the  songs for the album simply because she liked them.

“It’s difficult to explain,” she said. “You pick the songs  that you like and like a lot.”

She agreed that she’s lived a magical life — from Ohio  schoolgirl to Hollywood star — but then remembered that not  all was sunshine and sweetness.

While her years in music, movies and TV will be known for  performing, Day’s setbacks notably included being left deeply  in debt after one husband and his business partner squandered  her earnings. Still, she recovered.

“I had a lot of bumps, but each one led me to something  better,” she said.

Of all her endeavors, Day said she loved singing the most  — singing and the movies equally, on second thought. Of her  favorite memories, she said, are those when she first became a  singer in a big band with a swinging sound.
“My Heart” already has been released in Great Britain, and  it landed in the top 10 on U.K. record charts, making Day among  the oldest singers ever to earn that achievement.
Day said she thinks the key to her longevity is “laughing a  lot … My entire family has gone to heaven, so I’m all alone.  But if I sat in my house and cried all the time, what kind of  life would that be?”
She ends the album with the song “Ohio” — a musical  reference to the state where she was born, with its classic  lyrics “Why, O why, O why-o//why did I ever leave Ohio?”
Day said she’s not really sure exactly why she left home so  many years ago, except that she simply loved to sing.
“I was going to marry a very nice man,” she said. “I was  going to have a nice little house and cook for him.”
She pauses to reflect.
“I still don’t cook,” she said, then laughs.