Saturday, August 10, 1985

50 years ago: “Cheek to Cheek” hit #1 for first of 11 weeks

Cheek to Cheek

Fred Astaire with Leo Reisman’s Orchestra

Writer(s): Irving Berlin (see lyrics here)

First Charted: August 3, 1935

Peak: 1¹¹ US, 1⁵ HP, 1⁴ GA, 1⁸ SM, 2 DF (Click for codes to charts.)

Sales (in millions): -- US, -- UK, -- world (includes US + UK)

Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 4.81 video, 10.93 streaming

Awards:

Click on award for more details.

Awards (Ella & Louis version):

Click on award for more details.

About the Song:

Many of the era’s top songwriters worked with Astaire, smitten by “his debonair touch with a song” ^TM and dance numbers, usually with Ginger Rogers, which rank “among the most powerful expressions of courtship, love and loss in screen history.” ^TM Over the years, composer Irving Berlin crafted thirteen songs which landed in Astaire movies – all of which peaked at #15 or higher. “Cheek to Cheek,” which Berlin wrote in a day, was one of three to hit #1. ^TM It wasn’t just any #1, though; it “became one of Berlin’s greatest commercial successes,” ^TY1 spending more weeks atop the pop charts than any other song from 1935. ^CPM

Berlin used Astaire’s “frail-but-convincing tenor” ^TM to his advantage writing lines like “And my heart beats so that I can hardly speak” to accompany a melody which jumped up to a note Astaire could barely sing. ^TM

The dance sequence for the song became he and Ginger Rogers’ “most famous romantic duet,” but it was not without problems. ^SB When Astaire sang and danced to it in the 1935 film Top Hat, Rogers wore a gown covered with ostrich feathers which, to Astaire’s horror, shed with every dance movement.” ^SB He later said, “It was like a chicken attacked by a coyote, I never saw so many feathers in my life.” ^SB

Despite Astaire’s reaction, Rogers was determined to wear the dress. Seamstresses were able to largely resolve the problem in time for another shoot the next day, but some hard feelings lingered. Astaire and Hermes Pan, the film’s choreographer, “serenaded Rogers with a parody of the song: ‘Feathers – I hate feathers/ And I hate them so that I can hardly speak/ And I never find the happiness I seek/ With those chicken feathers dancing/ Cheek to Cheek.’” ^SB Astaire later gave Rogers a small gold feather for her charm bracelet as well as a note saying, “Dear Feathers, I love ya! Fred.” ^SB

“Cheek to Cheek” garnered an Academy Award nomination for best song. Peggy Lee, Tony Bennett, and Doris Day recorded the song as well. ^MM It also became a jazz standard being recorded by notables such as Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong.

Resources:

^MM Max Morath (2002). The NPR Curious Listener’s Guide to Popular Standards. New York, NY; Penguin Putnam Inc. Page 154.
^SB Songbook blog
^TM Time magazine (10/24/2011). “All Time 100 Songs”
^CPM Joel Whitburn (1999). A Century of Pop Music. Record Research, Inc.: Menomonee Falls, WI. Page 52.