50 years ago: “Tip Toe Through the Tulips” hit #1

Tip Toe Through the Tulips Nick Lucas

Writer(s): Joe Burke (music), Al Dubin (words) (see lyrics here) First Charted: September 28, 1929 Peak: 110 US, 18 GA, 112 SM (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 (sheet music) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 0.31 video, 0.54 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Nick Lucas and Winnie Lightner starred in the 1929 movie musical Gold Diggers of Broadway, which featured five songs written by Joe Burke and Al Dubin and performed by Lucas. One was “Tip Toe Through the Tulips.” He was outside of a house singing to a girl inside, asking “for her pardon if he kisses her in the moonlit garden.” TY2 Lucas reprised the song later in the show as a dance routine with girls dressed as tulips. SM Lucas was formerly a banjo player with the Russo-Rio Rito band. Nicknamed “The Singing Troubador,” he became “a national favorite in the late 20s” PM because of his “easygoing vocal and guitar style.” PM He charted 26 songs from 1925 to 1931, reaching the top 10 nineteen times. His only chart-topper, however, was his recorded version of “Tulips” in 1929. PM That same year, Jean Goldkette (#5), Johnny Marvin (#11), and Roy Fox (#18) all released charting versions. PM In 1930, the song was used in “Sinkin’ in the Bathtub,” the first Looney Tunes cartoon short. WK The song also showed up in the movies Confidential Agent (1945), Painting the Clouds with Sunshine (1951), The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976), and Insidious (2010). It is also mentioned in the 1997 book Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. One of the more unusual versions surfaced in 1968. Singer and ukulele player Tiny Tim performed the song on the sketch comedy show Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In WK in a “high-pitched falsetto rendition.” SF It was released as a single and became a #17 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Nick Lucas DJ David Jasen (2002). A Century of American Popular Music: 2000 Best-Loved and Remembered Songs (1899-1999). Routledge: Taylor & Francis, Inc. Page 197. SM Sharon Mawer Charts (1900-1968) SF Songfacts TY2 Don Tyler (2007). Hit Songs, 1900-1955. McFarland & Company, Inc.: Jefferson, North Carolina. Page 167. PM Joel Whitburn (1986). Pop Memories 1890-1954. Record Research, Inc: Menomonee Falls, WI. Pages 283 and 597. WK Wikipedia First posted 3/16/2023.

On This Day (1927): Ben Bernie hit #1 with “Ain’t She Sweet”

Ain’t She Sweet Ben Bernie & His Roosevelt Orchestra with vocals by Scrappy Lambert and Billy Hillpot

Writer(s): Milton Ager (music), Jack Yellen (words) (see lyrics here) Recorded: January 28, 1927 First Charted: April 30, 1927 Peak: 14 US, 2 GA, 2 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 0.46 video, 0.16 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: “Ain’t She Sweet” and “Happy Days Are Here Again,” both written by Milton Ager and Jack Yellen, became symbols of the Roaring Twenties, WK a time when “stubbornly determined American resilience and optimism in the face of hard times.” SS Ironically, though, Ben Selvin’s Orchestra introduced the latter song on October 24, 1929 – the day the stock market crashed when “a frenzy of cascading rumor and panic led to nearly 13 million shares of stock trading hands in one day, with thousands of accounts being wiped out, sweeping aside the prosperity of previous years in one devastating 24-hour period.” SS Lou Gold and His Orchestra recorded the song first on January 17, 1927, SH but the most successful recording was made 11 days later SH by Ben Bernie and His Roosevelt Orchestra. PM The former vaudeville performer previously had #1 hits with “Sweet Georgia Brown” in 1925 and “Sleepy Time Gal” in 1926. PM He wouldn’t reach the pinnacle again, but had 28 more chart hits for a total of 44 in all. PM According to SecondHandSongs.com, at least 16 versions of “Ain’t She Sweet” were recorded in 1927, including versions by Harry Richman, Nat Shilkret, and Paul Whiteman. WK Gene Austin and Johnny Marvin also had chart versions of it that year, reaching #4 and #14 respectively. PM The song resurfaced in 1949 when Mr. Goon Bones & Mr. Ford took it to #14. PM It was also recorded by Pearl Bailey, Bunny Berigan, Eddie Cantor, Nat “King” Cole, Tommy Dorsey, Erroll Garner, Harry James, Sammy Kaye, Guy Lombardo, Frank Sinatra, Big Joe Turner, Gene Vincent, and Lawrence Welk. WK The Beatles recorded it in June 1961 during their first professional recording session. WK Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Ben Bernie DMDB encyclopedia entry for Milton Ager SH SecondHandSongs.com SS Steve Sullivan (2013). Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings (Volumes I & II). Scarecrow Press: Lanham, Maryland. Page 364. PM Joel Whitburn (1986). Pop Memories 1890-1954. Record Research, Inc: Menomonee Falls, WI. Page 468. WK Wikipedia First posted 4/17/2021; last updated 9/6/2023.

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.