Robin Urdang of “Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” in season four’s Needle Drops

Emmy-winning music supervisor Robin Urdang doesn’t like saying no to The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel creators Amy Sherman-Palladino and Dan Palladino. With the show’s music steeped in American standards, 1950s and ’60s tunes to reflect the era, Urdang found himself down rabbit holes in search of masters and license songs. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, starring Rachel Brosnahan, features a mix of familiar and obscure songs. The show’s fourth season soundtrack, on the other hand, is full of well-known and rare gems. For nightclub legend Miss Beverly Shaw’s “I’m Nobody’s Baby,” Urdang searched for an heir – a quest that led her to Shaw’s relatives. “We had to master [the song], but there was no recording,” she says. “So, [her family] sent us the vinyl and we mastered it.”

Here, Urdang shares the stories behind some of her favorite pindrops from the show.

“Coney Island” – The Barry Sisters

“Amy said we would be in Coney Island. She said, “I want a song about Coney Island, but it has to be the 1960s.” I researched everything and found the song. We had used the Barry Sisters quite a bit in “Maisel”. I sent it along with a few other songs. I haven’t checked if it’s deletable.

“I deleted the master but when I tried to delete the release it was a black hole. There was no way to find it. I checked every publisher and everything. We found an heir. I sent a Facebook message and Twitter. I ended up finding the author’s grandson who could license it to us. It’s never been used before – but we got it.”

“Race the Clock” – “The Pajama Game”

“Midge is moving back into her apartment in New York City. She’s trying to restore her credit. Dan wanted to use “Racing With the Clock”. We adopted the original version [musical] ‘Pajama Game’ but it didn’t work. We had it sorted out, but we needed more of an instrumental. So we put that in the picture with an orchestra. We don’t have a score; We use songs as a score to support the story.”

“Goodnite Sweetheart Goodnite” – The Spaniels

“Brian Tarantina, who played Jackie, died in real life. They devoted themselves [episode] 4:03 for him. Jackie was the manager of the Gaslight Cafe. There is a memorial to Jackie with three ocarina players on stage playing the song. The important thing is that the ocarina part was scripted. We had to find a song and arrange it to have at least three octaves because we learned that each ocarina can only do one. “There’s a small community of people in New York who perform with this instrument. The contractor found people and we sent them to Dan and Amy. We had a week and a half to put this together and we did it. You had to play the role and look.”

“I’m Nobody’s Baby” – Miss Beverly Shaw

“It’s a well-known song. Beverly Shaw was the artist on this film and Midge takes Suzy to the Trapdoor, a lesbian bar. We didn’t want a typical, well-known lesbian song. We wanted something underground and no one knew. I searched and searched for the owner and finally found out that they had a club at Laurel Canyon. It was the first known lesbian bar in California. “Anyway, she released and recorded her own music. I found her great aunt who said her kids are in their 90’s now. I’ve finally found possession. But the story behind this woman is incredible. It was on their label so it had never been released before and this is the first time it has been released on a soundtrack.”