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.

50 years ago: “Blue Skies” charts for the first of 9 times

Blue Skies Ben Selvin

Writer(s): Irving Berlin (see lyrics here) First Charted: April 9, 1927 Peak: 12 US, 12 GA, 2 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 (sheet music) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 0.81 video, -- streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Belle Baker first sang “Blue Skies” in the 1926 musical Betsy. JA While the rest of the musical was scored by Rodgers and Hart, this song by Irving Berlin was added – depending on the account, at the request of either Baker JA or the producer, Florenz Ziegfeld. TY The number was so successful, it received 24 encores. RCG The song was well received on the charts as well, with six versions charting in 1927 alone. Ben Selvin had the #1 hit, but Vaughn Deleath (#15), Vincent Lopez (#9), Johnny Marvin & Ed Smalle (#9), George Olsen (#2), Harry Richman (#13) also found success with the song. It topped sheet music sales for a year. MM Frances Langford regularly sang it for World War II troops as a way to celebrate the good feelings soldiers had upon returning home. RCG Count Basie (#8, 1946), Benny Goodman (#9, 1946), and Johnny Long (#22, 1941) would find successs with the song in later years. Tommy Dorsey, Ella Fitzgerald, Michael Jackson, Glenn Miller, Willie Nelson, and Frank Sinatra have also recorded it. MM It also became a staple in movies, notably sung by Al Jolson in the first sound film, 1927’s The Jazz Singer, TY by Ethel Merman and Alice Faye in the 1938 film Alexander’s Ragtime Band, and Bing Crosby in 1946’s Blue Skies as well as 1954’s White Christmas. JA Berlin captured the nature of love with the suggestion that it “can turn gray skies to blue.” TY He also made clever use of the word blue by beginning each of the three main sections with references to blue – blue skies, bluebirds, and blue days. TY The song’s structure “shifts from a bluesy chorus to an upbeat verse making it a mainstay of jazz artists.” RCG 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 25. MM Max Morath (2002). The NPR Curious Listener’s Guide to Popular Standards. New York, NY; Penguin Putnam Inc. Page 152. RCG RimChiGuy.com The Old Songs (1900-1929) TY Don Tyler (1985). Hit Parade 1920-1955. New York, NY: Quill. Page 38. Related Links: First posted 4/9/2016; last updated 7/25/2022.

50 years ago: Irving Berlin’s “Always” charts for the first of 9 times

Always George Olsen with Fran Frey, Bob Rice, & Edward Joyce

Writer(s): Irving Berlin (see lyrics here) First Charted: April 1, 1926 Peak: 13 US, 13 GA, 110 SM (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 (sheet music) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 0.02 video, -- streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Writer Irving Berlin gave the rights to this song to his new wife, Ellis MacKay as a wedding gift, TY1 which led to substantial royalies. WK Not that she needed the money – she was from a wealthy family, which meant her romance with Berlin was splashed all over tabloid headings. DJ Her father, Clarence MacKay, disinherited her and had nothing to do with her for years, but they eventually reconciled. TY1 The legendary Groucho Marx claimed this song was intended for the Marx brothers’ movie The Cocoanuts WK However, the song was either cut or was never actually meant for the movie. WK Instead, “Always” got its introduction on vaudeville, thanks to Gladys Clark and Henry Bergman. It was an immediate hit, leading to multiple commercial recordings. George Olsen was the first to hit the charts with it, taking it to #1, as did Vincent Lopez. Henry Burr (#3), Nick Lucas (#4), and Lewis James (#12) also charted with it in 1926. It resurfaced in 1942 as the theme music for the movie The Pride of the Yankees WK and again in 1944 when Deanna Durbin sang it in the film Christmas Holiday. DJ In 1945, the song showed up in Blithe Spirit, a movie based on a Noel Coward play. WK This gave the song a new chart life as Gordon Jenkins (#16), Paul Lavalle (#29), Sammy Kaye (#10), and Guy Lombardo (#10) all hit the charts with it in 1944-45. The song has been covered by a diverse array of artists, including country versions by Patsy Cline and Kenny Rogers, MM as well as recordings from Tony Bennett, Leonard Cohen, Phil Collins, Billy Corgan (from Smashing Pumpkins), Ella Fitzgerald, Benny Goodman, Billie Holiday, the Ink Spots, Paul McCartney, and the Supremes. WK Resources: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for George Olsen DJ David Jasen (2002). A Century of American Popular Music: 2000 Best-Loved and Remembered Songs (1899-1999). Routledge: Taylor & Francis, Inc. Page 9. MM Max Morath (2002). The NPR Curious Listener’s Guide to Popular Standards. New York, NY; Penguin Putnam Inc. Page 150. TY1 Don Tyler (1985). Hit Parade 1920-1955. Quill: New York, NY. Page 31. WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 4/24/2016; last updated 2/26/2023.