Jerome Kern: Top 40 Songs

Jerome Kern Top 40 Songs

Musical theater composer Jerome Kern was born on 1/27/1885 in New York City, NY. He died 11/11/1945. He composed more than 700 songs used in more than 100 stage works. He collaborated with many of his era’s greatest lyricists, including Ira Gershwin, Oscar Hammerstein II, Otto Harbach, Yip Harburg, and Johnny Mercer. Created dozens of Broadway musicals and Hollywood films over a career lasting more than four decades. “The Way You Look Tonight,” “All the Things You Are,” “Ol’ Man River,” and “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” are featured in the DMDB book The Top 100 Songs of the Pre-Rock Era, 1890-1953. Links: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Jerome Kern DMDB profile page for Jerome Kern Dave’s Music Database: “Acts’ Profile Pages and Best-of Lists”

Awards:

Top 40 Songs Dave’s Music Database lists are determined by song’s appearances on best-of lists, appearances on compilations and live albums by the featured act, and songs’ chart success, sales, radio airplay, streaming, and awards. DMDB Top 1%: 1. The Way You Look Tonight (Fred Astaire with Johnny Greer’s Orchestra, 1936) #1 US, HP 2. All the Things You Are (Tommy Dorsey with Jack Leonard, 1939) #1 US, HP 3. Ol’ Man River (Paul Robeson with Paul Whiteman, 1927) 4. Smoke Gets in Your Eyes (Paul Whiteman with Bob Lawrence, 1933) #1 US 5. They Didn’t Believe Me (Harry MacDonough with Olive Kline, 1915) #1 US 6. Look for the Silver Lining (Marion Harris, 1921) #1 US 7. Who? (George Olsen, 1926) #1 US 8. Till the Clouds Roll By (Anna Wheaton with James Harrod, 1917) #1 US 9. A Fine Romance (A Sarcastic Love Song) (Fred Astaire with Johnny Greer’s Orchestra, 1936) #1 US, HP 10. Long Ago and Far Away (Dick Haymes & Helen Forrest with Carmarata’s Orchestra, 1944) #1 HP 11. Yesterdays (Leo Reisman with Frank Luther, 1933) DMDB Top 5%: 12. Lovely to Look At (Eddy Duchin with Lew Sherwood, 1935) #1 US, HP 13. I Won’t Dance (Eddy Duchin with Lew Sherwood, 1935) #1 US 14. Bill (Helen Morgan, 1928) 15. Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man (Ben Bernie with Vaughn Deleath, 1928) 16. Why Was I Born? (Libby Holman, 1930) 17. I’ve Told Ev’ry Little Star (Jack Denny with Paul Small, 1932) 18. Why Do I Love You? (Nat Shilkret, 1928) 19. The Last Time I Saw Paris (Kate Smith, 1940) 20. The Song Is You (Jack Denny with Paul Small, 1932) 21. Make Believe (Paul Whiteman with Bing Crosby, 1928) 22. She Didn’t Say “Yes” (Leo Reisman, 1932) 23. Sunny (George Olsen, 1926) 24. The Touch of Your Hand (Leo Reisman, 1926) 25. Babes in the Wood (Harry MacDonough with Lucy Isabelle Marsh as Anna Howard, 1917) DMDB Top 10%: 26. Dearly Beloved (Glenn Miller with Skip Nelson, 1942) 27. The Folks Who Live on the Hill (Guy Lombardo, 1937) 28. All Through the Day (Perry Como, 1946) #1 HP 29. You Couldn’t Be Cuter (Tommy Dorsey, 1938) 30. Pick Yourself Up (Fred Astaire with Johnny Greer’s Orchestra, 1936) 31. Wild Rose (1920) 32. Don’t Ever Leave Me (1929) 33. You Are Love (1927) DMDB Top 20%: 34. I’m Old-Fashioned (Fred Astaire with John Scott Trotter’s Orchestra, 1943) 35. Blue Danube Blues (Carl Fenton, 1922) 36. Never Gonna Dance (Fred Astaire with Johnny Greer’s Orchestra, 1936) 37. In Love in Vain (Dick Haymes with Helen Forest and Earle Hagen’s Orchestra, 1946) Beyond the DMDB Top 20%: 38. All in Fun (Jack Whiting with Frances Mercer, 1939) 39. Sure Thing (1944) 40. Nobody Else But Me (1945) Resources and Related Links: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Jerome Kern DMDB profile page for Jerome Kern Dave’s Music Database: “Acts’ Profile Pages and Best-of Lists” First posted 1/23/2024.

 

50 years ago: Fred Astaire hit #1 with “The Way You Look Tonight”

The Way You Look Tonight Fred Astaire with Johnny Greer’s Orchestra

Writer(s): Jerome Kern, Dorothy Fields (see lyrics here) First Charted: August 29, 1936 Peak: 16 US, 16 HP, 14 GA, 16 SM (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 2.28 video, -- streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: The 1936 Academy Award winner for Best Song was crooned by Fred Astaire to Ginger Rodgers in Swing Time while she shampooed her hair. In the movie, she emerges from the bathroom in a robe, so smitten by his declaration of love that she forgets about her lathered-up scalp. When he looks up from the piano after the last line, he’s startled to see her there. She flees in embarrassment, now aware of her sudsy look. The moment made for a cute, romantic moment which perfectly fit Dorothy Fields’ “gentle lyric [which] made the song as singable to a child as to a sweetheart.” MM Fields started crying when Jerome Kern first played her the melody. “I couldn’t stop,” she said. “It was so beautiful.” SB Astaire charted with the song in 1936 (#1), as did Guy Lombardo (#3) and Teddy Wilson with Billie Holiday (#3). Benny Goodman charted (#21) with it in 1942. It has also been recorded by Betty Buckley, John Coltrane, Neil Diamond, Billy Eckstine, the Lettermen, and Betty Carter with Ray Bryant on piano. MM It has enjoyed additional movie success, most notably in the 1997 Julia Roberts’ film My Best Friend’s Wedding. MM “Tonight” actually has no verse, which isn’t unusual for a Kern song, but at 44 bars, it is also a long song. SB The “long, open melody and characteristic key change” MM has made the song “a jazz and cabaret standard.” JA Resources: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Dorothy Fields DJ David Jasen (2002). A Century of American Popular Music: 2000 Best-Loved and Remembered Songs (1899-1999). Routledge: Taylor & Francis, Inc. Page 206. MM Max Morath (2002). The NPR Curious Listener’s Guide to Popular Standards. New York, NY; Penguin Putnam Inc. Page 154. SB Songbook1.wordpress.com Related Links: Last updated 3/19/2023.