100 years ago: Ted Lewis “All by Myself” hit #1

All by Myself Ted Lewis

Writer(s): Irving Berlin (see lyrics here) First Charted: August 15, 1921 Peak: 14 US, 12 GA, 15 SM (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 (sheet music) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, -- streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: This Irving Berlin tune “is a meditation on solitude and the misery of growing old alone.” TY2 It may have been autobiographical as Berlin lost his bride shortly after their honeymoon and never remarried. TY2 It was introduced in vaudeville by Charles King DJ and in The Music Box Revue of 1922, which was part of a series of musical theater revuews by Irving Berlin from 1921 to 1925. It was first recorded by Frank Crumit (#5, 1921), SM a “popular entertainer who appeared in several Broadway musicals of the decade and later hosted a popular radio show.” TY2 Ted Lewis’ jazz band recorded the chart-topping version. SM “The famous bandleader…was famous for his half-spoken, half-singing vocals” TY2 but this recording of “All by Myself” was all instrumental. SM In all, six versions of the song charted in 1921 – Aileen Stanley (#5), Benny Krueger (#6), Vaughn Deleath (#13), and Ben Selvin (#14). PM Krueger was the former saxophone player with the Original Dixieland Jazz Band. TY2 Deleath was “one of the most famous of the early radio performers” TY2 and “supposedly the first woman to sing on radio.” TY2 Others who recorded the song include Pat Boone, Connee Boswell, Nat “King” Cole, Bing Crosby (for the movie Blue Skies), DJ Bob Crosby, Bobby Darin, Ella Fitzgerald, Connie Francis, Marion Harris, Brenda Lee, Nancy Sinatra, and Kay Starr. WK Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Ted Lewis DJ David Jasen (2002). A Century of American Popular Music: 2000 Best-Loved and Remembered Songs (1899-1999). Routledge: Taylor & Francis, Inc. Page 7. SM Sharon Mawer Charts (1900-1968) TY2 Don Tyler (2007). Hit Songs, 1900-1955. McFarland & Company, Inc.: Jefferson, North Carolina. Pages 115-6. PM Joel Whitburn (1986). Pop Memories 1890-1954. Record Research, Inc: Menomonee Falls, WI. Page 469. WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 1/28/2023.

50 years ago: “Happy Days Are Here Again” goes to #1

Happy Days Are Here Again Ben Selvin

Writer(s): Milton Ager, Jack Yellen (see lyrics here) First Charted: March 1, 1930 Peak: 12 US, 11 GA, 3 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): -- US, -- UK, -- world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, -- streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: “Happy Days” was originally written for the movie Chasing Rainbows and sung by Charles King and Bessie Love. JA It accompanied a scene where World War I soldiers learn the war has ended. TY Unfortunately, the song was cut from the film. When movie producer Irving Thalberg heard the song played at Hollywood’s Roosevelt Hotel, he wanted to know why such a great song wasn’t in the movies. When he found out it had been cut from one of his own films, he immediately had it put back. Unfortunately, the movie was a failure. RCG However, the “bright and tuneful” RCG song which urged everyone to “sing a song of cheer again” found life beyond the film. The publishers took it to George Olsen, whose orchestra played it at the Pennsylvania Hotel Ballroom in Manhattan a few days after the October 1929 stock market crash. RCG Jack Yellen, the song’s lyricist, recalled the dining room being populated with “gloom-stricken diners.” Olsen directed his singers to “sing it for the corpses” and, according to Yellen, “after a couple of choruses, the corpses joined in…[and] before the night was over, the hotel lobby resounded with what had become the theme song of ruined stock speculators as they leaped from hotel windows.” SS The song became an unofficial anthem for the Great Depression. Franklin D. Roosevelt used it in his 1932 Presidential campaign and it was adopted by the Democratic party SB as their “unofficial theme song for years to come,” WK being used again in campaigns by Harry Truman and John F. Kennedy. RCG Three versions of the song charted in 1930. Ben Selvin and Benny Meroff each took it to the top; Leo Reisman’s orchestra, with a vocal from Lou Levin, hit #3. Judy Garland adopted the song as an allegory of her life. RCG The song has been featured on more than 70 commercially-released albums and in more than 80 films. WK Some of the notable recordings were by Mitch Miller and Barbra Streisand. WK Resources: JA David A. Jasen (2002). A Century of American Popular Music: 2000 Best-Loved and Remembered Songs (1899-1999). Routledge: Taylor & Francis, Inc. Page 69. RCG RimChiGuy.com The Old Songs (1900-1929) SB Songbook1.wordpress.com SS Steve Sullivan (2013). Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings (Volumes I & II). Scarecrow Press: Lanham, Maryland. Page 364. TY Don Tyler (1985). Hit Parade 1920-1955. New York, NY: Quill. Page 47. Related Links: First posted 3/8/2016; last updated 7/25/2022.