Welcome to Morning Open Thread. On Thursdays, I will continue the tradition of a theme.

But the theme is very expandable, in whatever clever ways you devise to do that! And there are no demerits for straying from the theme.

thanks! to all the folks who join the thread.

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Special note, our friend Denise Oliver Velez transitioned yesterday, here’s one diary about that.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/7/15/800069862/community/our-warrior-healer-has-left-on-the-next-part-of-her-journey/

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There is an essential requirement for a diarist to claim the MOT diary slots for Thursdays, no later than the beginning of September.

I’ll be 80 years old in September, so do not want to have ‘commitments’ at that age and beyond.

>>>>>Plagiarizing from RandomNeuron:

Hey. We need Hosts for Thursday. You can write about anything or nothing. And opus or a paragraph. <<<<<<

To request Thursday diarist role, contact Ozarkblue. The best way to contact is by KOSmail.

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Now back to the theme:

WIkis: ==========================

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satin_Doll

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_Doll_(Mills_Brothers_song)

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“Satin Doll” is a jazz standard written by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn with lyrics by Johnny Mercer, written in 1953. According to Strayhorn biographer David Hadju, Ellington wrote the main melodic themes for “Satin Doll”, then asked Strayhorn to harmonize and orchestrate the tune and write an original lyric. Hajdu wrote that Strayhorn did pen a lyric for the song that was a tribute to Strayhorn’s mother (whom Strayhorn called “Satin Doll”), but that Strayhorn’s lyric was not performed and is now lost. The Duke Ellington Orchestra recorded the piece as an instrumental in 1953, and the song charted that same year and remained popular through the 1950s.

Around 1959, Johnny Mercer was asked to write a new lyric for the song. The song has been recorded by  and many vocalists. As an instrumental, it has been recorded by hundreds of jazz artists.

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“Paper Doll” was a hit song for The Mills Brothers. The success of the song represented something of a revival for the group after a few years of declining sales. The song was written in 1915 (although it was not published until 1930) by Johnny S. Black.

Black was apparently inspired to write the song after he was jilted by a girlfriend. The author Jack London Riehl wrote that Black was “a pianist, who augmented his income by boxing. His girlfriend ran off with another boxer, and he wrote this song, which began, ‘I’d like to buy a paper doll that I can call my own …’ and ended ‘I’d rather have a paper doll to call my own than have a fickle-minded real live girl.

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Satin Doll

Paper Doll

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