The end of a 17-year search for Sarah

It was January 31, 1991, when I first saw Sarah Brightman and heard her sing.

If I had been a Broadway fan, I probably would have known her from "Phantom of the Opera," but I'm one of the three people in America who never saw that show. So when Sarah came out to sing on "The Tonight Show," it was my first exposure to her.

It was actually her third appearance on what most of us called "Carson," but I wasn't a regular viewer and had missed the first two.

She sang an adorable, funny song that I thought must have been called "Have a Nice Day," and which the Johnny Carson Website calls "Welcome to Beverly Hills."

I immediately started looking for Sarah Brightman CDs in hopes of finding that song, but I didn't come across it in her more recent releases.

Over the years, I have become a big fan of her work, and by now I probably have seven or eight of her collections -- including a couple of imports -- but I still have never found any songs on them that even resemble the one I vaguely remembered from all those years ago.

Google had never worked for me on this one, but finally I decided that someone as popular as Sarah must have a fan site, and of course she does. I signed up, went to the message boards and opened a new topic. I asked if anyone had heard of the song or knew where it could be found.

Within 24 hours, I had a response. The song wasn't called "Have a Nice Day" or even "Welcome to Beverly Hills." It was called "Capped Teeth and Caesar Salad" and was from a show called "Song and Dance." The only soundtracks of the show featured other performers singing it.

But there was a happy ending. I was directed to a clip on YouTube. Someone had posted Sarah's performance, and today, for the first time in more than 17 years, I listened to her singing the song I had heard only once before.



It made me happy, but it also filled me with an ineffable nostalgia for the days when Johnny Carson ruled the nighttime and when I rarely turned the television off until I at least had heard his monologue.

Sorry, but Leno isn't the same. Neither is Letterman.

Watching Johnny Carson do late night was like watching Willie Mays play baseball or listening to the Beatles singing.

Once in a lifetime.

Well, twice anyway, thanks to YouTube.