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Isn't It Romantic
"Isn't It Romantic?" is a popular song and part of the Great American Songbook. The music was composed by Richard Rodgers, with lyrics by Lorenz Hart. It has a 32-bar chorus in A–B–A–C form. Alec Wilder, in his book ''American Popular Song: The Great Innovators 1900–1950,'' calls it "a perfect song." It was introduced by Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald in the Paramount film ''Love Me Tonight'' (1932). It has since been recorded numerous times, with and without vocals, by many jazz and popular artists. The song has also since been featured in a number of other movies. In ''Love Me Tonight'', the song is used in a sequence in which it is first sung by Maurice Chevalier, a tailor, and then taken up by others (his customer, a cabby, a composer, a troop of soldiers, a band of gypsies) and is finally heard and sung by a princess, played by Jeanette MacDonald. The lyrics in the film are not the same as those in the published version. In 2004 this version finished ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Famous Music
Famous Music Corporation was the worldwide music publishing division of Paramount Pictures, a division of Paramount Global since 1994. Its copyright holdings span several decades and includes music from such Academy Award-winning motion pictures as ''The Godfather'' and ''Forrest Gump''. Founding It was founded in 1928 by Paramount’s predecessor, the Famous-Lasky Corporation, to publish music from its "talking pictures." Some of the classic songs in the Famous Music catalog that originated in motion pictures include "Thanks for the Memory" (The Big Broadcast of 1936), " Silver Bells", "Mona Lisa)" (from '' Captain Carey, U.S.A.''), "Moon River" (from '' Breakfast at Tiffany's''), " Where Do I Begin?" (the theme from '' Love Story''), " Speak Softly, Love" (the theme from ''The Godfather''), "Up Where We Belong", "Footloose" (from '' Footloose (film) "Take My Breath Away" (from ''Top Gun)'; and "My Heart Will Go On" (from Titanic (1997 film)''. Famous Music additionally owned ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Decca Records
Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American Decca's president. In 1937, anticipating Nazi Germany, Nazi aggression leading to World War II, Lewis sold American Decca and the link between the U.K. and U.S. Decca labels was broken for several decades. The British label was renowned for its development of recording methods, while the American company developed the concept of cast albums in the musical genre. Both wings are now part of the Universal Music Group. The U.S. Decca label was the foundation company that evolved into UMG (Universal Music Group). Label name The name dates back to a portable phonograph, gramophone called the "Decca Dulcephone" patented in 1914 by musical instrument makers Barnett Samuel and Sons. The name "Decca" was coined by Wilfred S. Samuel by merging the w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tal Farlow
Talmage Holt Farlow (June 7, 1921 – July 25, 1998) was an American jazz guitarist. He was nicknamed "Octopus" because of how his large, quick hands spread over the fretboard. As Steve Rochinski notes, "Of all the guitarists to emerge in the first generation after Charlie Christian, Tal Farlow, more than any other, has been able to move beyond the rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic vocabulary associated with the early electric guitar master. Tal's incredible speed, long, weaving lines, rhythmic excitement, highly developed harmonic sense, and enormous reach (both physical and musical) have enabled him to create a style that clearly stands apart from the rest." Where guitarists of his day combined rhythmic chords with linear melodies, Farlow placed single notes together in clusters, varying between harmonically enriched tones. As music critic Stuart Nicholson put it, "In terms of guitar prowess, it was the equivalent of Roger Bannister breaking the four-minute mile."Stuart Nichol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
It's A Blue World (Mel Tormé Album)
''It's a Blue World'' is an album by Mel Tormé that was released by Bethlehem Records. Reception The ''Billboard'' review in 1955 wrote that the material was mostly standards and that Tormé "renders them in a mellow, jazz-wize manner, and sales should be good among the hipsters". AllMusic stated: "Tormé invested the songs with warmth and confidence. Recorded and released around the time he turned 30, ''It's a Blue World'' marked a turning point in Mel Tormé's recording career." In his 2023 book ''Let's Do It - The Birth of Pop Music: A History'', Bob Stanley noted the similarities between ''Blue World'' and Frank Sinatra's ''In the Wee Small Hours'', released earlier the same year. He went on to praise the record for its "twilight feel, dusk at the end of a warm summer's day". Track listing # "I Got It Bad (and That Ain't Good)" (Duke Ellington, Paul Francis Webster) – 3:23 # "Till the Clouds Roll By" (Jerome Kern, P. G. Wodehouse) – 2:54 # "Isn't It Romantic?" (Lorenz ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mel Tormé
Melvin Howard Tormé (September 13, 1925 – June 5, 1999), nicknamed "The Velvet Fog", was an American musician, singer, composer, arranger, drummer, actor, and author. He composed the music for "The Christmas Song" ("Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire") and co-wrote the lyrics with Bob Wells. Early life Melvin Howard Tormé was born in Chicago, Illinois, to William David Torme, a Jewish immigrant from Poland, and Betty Torme (née Sopkin), a New York City native. He graduated from Hyde Park High School. A child prodigy, he first performed professionally at age four with the Coon-Sanders Orchestra, singing "You're Driving Me Crazy" at Chicago's Blackhawk restaurant. He played drums in the drum-and-bugle corps at Shakespeare Elementary School. From 1933 to 1941, he acted in the radio programs ''The Romance of Helen Trent'' and ''Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy''. He wrote his first song at 13. Three years later his first published song, "Lament to Love", became a hit for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chet Baker
Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker Jr. (December 23, 1929 – May 13, 1988) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist. He is known for major innovations in cool jazz that led him to be nicknamed the "Prince of Cool". Baker earned much attention and critical praise through the 1950s, particularly for albums featuring his vocals: ''Chet Baker Sings'' (1954) and '' It Could Happen to You'' (1958). Jazz historian Dave Gelly described the promise of Baker's early career as "James Dean, Sinatra, and Bix, rolled into one". His well-publicized drug habit also drove his notoriety and fame. Baker was in and out of jail frequently before enjoying a career resurgence in the late 1970s and 1980s. Biography Early years Baker was born and raised in a musical household in Yale, Oklahoma on 23 December 1929. His father, Chesney Baker Sr., was a professional guitarist, and his mother, Vera Moser, was a pianist who worked in a perfume factory. His maternal grandmother was Norwegian. Baker said that o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mercury Records
Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it is operated through Republic Records; in the United Kingdom and Japan (as Mercury Tokyo in the latter country), it is distributed by EMI Records. Since the separation of Island Records, Motown, Mercury Records, and Def Jam Recordings combining the Island Def Jam Music Group, Mercury Records has been placed under Island Records, although its back catalogue is still owned by the Island Def Jam Music Group (now Island Records). Background Mercury Records was started in Chicago in 1945 and over several decades, saw great success. The success of Mercury has been attributed to the use of alternative marketing techniques to promote records. The conventional method of record promotion used by major labels such as RCA Victor, Decca Records, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Patti Page
Clara Ann Fowler (November 8, 1927 – January 1, 2013), known professionally as Patti Page, was an American singer and actress. Primarily known for pop and country music, she was the top-charting female vocalist and best-selling female artist of the 1950s, selling over 100 million records during a six-decade-long career. She was often introduced as "the Singin' Rage, Miss Patti Page". New York WBBR, WNEW disc-jockey William B. Williams (DJ), William B. Williams introduced her as "A Page in my life called Patti". Page signed with Mercury Records in 1947, and became their first successful female artist, starting with 1948's "Confess (song), Confess". In 1950, she had her first million-selling single "With My Eyes Wide Open, I'm Dreaming", and eventually had 14 additional million-selling singles between 1950 and 1965. Page's signature song, "Tennessee Waltz", was one of the biggest-selling singles of the 20th century, and is recognized today as one of the official songs of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vic Damone
Vic Damone (born Vito Rocco Farinola; June 12, 1928 – February 11, 2018) was an American traditional pop and big band singer and actor. He was best known for his performances of songs such as the number one hit " You're Breaking My Heart", and other hits like "On the Street Where You Live" (from ''My Fair Lady'') and "I Have But One Heart". Life and work Early life Damone was born Vito Rocco Farinola in Brooklyn, New York, to Rocco and Mamie (Damone) Farinola, Italian emigrants from Bari, Italy. His father was an electrician and his mother taught piano. His cousin was the actress and singer Doretta Morrow. Inspired by his favorite singer, Frank Sinatra, Damone began taking voice lessons. He sang in the choir at St. Finbar's Church in Bath Beach, Brooklyn, for Sunday Mass under organist Anthony Amorello. When his father was injured at work, Damone had to drop out of Lafayette High School. He worked as an usher and elevator operator at the Paramount Theater in Manhattan. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pearl Carr & Teddy Johnson
Pearl Lavinia Carr (2 November 1921 – 16 February 2020) and Edward Victor "Teddy" Johnson (4 September 1919 – 6 June 2018) were English husband-and-wife entertainers who gained their highest profile during the 1950s and early 1960s. Early days Carr was born in Exmouth, Devon, Exmouth, Devon, and Johnson was born in Surbiton, Surrey. They were both successful solo singers before their marriage in 1955. Carr's mother, who had worked on the variety stage, taught her to sing and dance. She worked in a Charles B. Cochran, C.B. Cochran show and later joined the Three in Harmony singing group, which appeared in the revue ''Best Bib And Tucker'' starring Tommy Trinder at the London Palladium in November, 1942. During 1944, she toured with Philip Green (composer), Phil Green and his Basin Street Orchestra and then she became a singer with various RAF Bands led by Leslie Douglas in 1945. Moving on to 1948 and 1949, she sang with Cyril Stapleton and his Orchestra as they toured the vari ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dick James
Dick James (born Leon Isaac Vapnick; 12 December 1920 – 1 February 1986) was a British music publisher and singer. He and Brian Epstein established the Beatles' publisher Northern Songs. Later, with his son Stephen, James founded the DJM record label and recording studios, which signed Elton John and Bernie Taupin. Early life James was born on 12 December 1920 in the East End of London, to Polish Jewish immigrants. His father was a kosher butcher. He sang with North London dance bands in his early teens, and was a regular vocalist at the Cricklewood Palais by the age of seventeen. James joined the Henry Hall band, and made first radio broadcast in 1940, but joined the Army in 1942. After World War II he continued to sing with leading bands, including Geraldo's. Later still, James was also a part-time member of The Stargazers, a popular early 1950s vocal group. In the 1950s he often appeared in the top ten ''Melody Maker'' vocal charts alongside the likes of Dickie Valenti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cyril Stapleton
Cyril Stapleton (31 December 1914 – 25 February 1974) was an English violinist and jazz bandleader. Biography Born Horace Cyril Stapleton in Mapperley, Nottingham, England, Stapleton began playing violin at the age of seven, and played on local radio at the age of 12. He performed on the BBC Radio often in his teenage years at their Birmingham studios, and played in film orchestras accompanying silent films.Cyril Stapletonat AllMusic He attended Trinity College of Music in London, and played in a dance band there led by Henry Hall. This ensemble also played on the BBC and made several recordings for EMI. After losing his position in the band, he went back to Nottingham and formed his own. In the 1930s, Stapleton toured South Africa with the Jack Payne Orchestra. Later in the decade, Stapleton and his band relocated to London; they won their own spot performing on the BBC in 1939. World War II interrupted Stapleton's musical career, as he joined the Royal Air Force late in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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