"Beyond the Blue Horizon" is a

1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be ...

song composed by

Leo Robin Leo Robin (April 6, 1900 – December 29, 1984) was an American composer, lyricist and songwriter. He is probably best known for collaborating with Ralph Rainger on the 1938 Oscar-winning song "Thanks for the Memory," sung by Bob Hope and Shirl ...

, Richard A. Whiting, and

W. Franke Harling W. Franke Harling (January 18, 1887 – November 22, 1958) was a composer of film scores, operas, and popular music. Life and career Born William Franke Harling in London, he was educated at the Grace Choir Church School in New York City. After w ...

, and was first performed by

Jeanette MacDonald Jeanette Anna MacDonald (June 18, 1903 – January 14, 1965) was an American singer and Actor, actress best remembered for her musical films of the 1930s with Maurice Chevalier (''The Love Parade'', ''Love Me Tonight'', ''The Merry Widow (1934 ...

in the 1930 film ''Monte Carlo''. It was released that November as a single on a 78 rpm disc along with the song "Always, in All Ways" on Victor Records. Four takes were recorded on August 4 at the Hollywood Recording Studio, conducted by

LeRoy Shield Leroy Bernard Shield (October 2, 1893 – January 9, 1962) was an American film score and radio composer. He is best known for the themes and incidental music he wrote for the classic Hal Roach comedy short films of the 1930s, including the ''Our ...

, with MacDonald and the vocal group The Rounders; the second take was chosen for release. The song reached #9 in the United States and became MacDonald's

signature song A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a Handwriting, handwritten (and often Stylization, stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and ...

, selling over 12,000 copies; it was re-released in 1944. MacDonald commonly performed it in concerts and on tours would also perform it in the movie '' Follow the Boys'' in 1944, and frequently performed it on tours. She also re-recorded the song for the albums ''Favorites'' and '' Favorites in Hi-Fi'' (1959).

Cover versions

* George Olsen and His Orchestra released a version in 1930. The song reached #5 in the United States. * Phil Spitalny and His Orchestra released a version in 1930. The song reached #18 in the United States. *

Vincent Lopez Vincent Lopez (December 30, 1895 – September 20, 1975) was an American bandleader, actor, and pianist. Early life and career Vincent Lopez was born of Portuguese immigrant parents in Brooklyn, New York City, United States, Distinguished Am ...

released a version in 1932. * Artie Shaw and His Symphonic Swing Orchestra recorded an instrumental version on 3 September 1941 *

Clifford Jordan Clifford Laconia Jordan (September 2, 1931 – March 27, 1993) was an American jazz tenor saxophone player. While in Chicago, he performed with Max Roach, Sonny Stitt, and some rhythm and blues groups. He moved to New York City in 1957, after ...

released a version on his 1957 album '' Cliff Jordan''. *

Jack Pleis, His Piano, Chorus and Orchestra Jack K. Pleis (May 11, 1917 – December 5, 1990) was an American jazz pianist, arranger, conductor, composer and producer. He recorded on London and Decca Records in the 1950s, and Columbia Records in the 1960s. During the course of his career, ...

released a version in 1957 on his album ''

Strings and Things ''Strings and Things'' is a 1957 album by Jack Pleis (credited as Jack Pleis, His Piano, Chorus and Orchestra). The title song and two other songs were composed by Pleis. Background Jack Pleis (1917–1990) was an American jazz pianist, arranger ...

''. *

Jane Morgan Jane Morgan (born Florence Catherine Currier; May 3, 1924) is an American former singer of traditional pop. Morgan initially found success in France and the UK before achieving recognition in the US, receiving six gold records. She was a frequen ...

- from her album ''Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue'' (1958). *

Frankie Laine Frankie Laine (born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio; March 30, 1913 – February 6, 2007) was an American Singing, singer, songwriter, and actor whose career spanned nearly 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to hi ...

- included in his album ''Call of the Wild'' (1962). *

Johnny Mathis John Royce Mathis (born September 30, 1935) is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standard music, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum s ...

released a version on his 1964 album ''

The Wonderful World of Make Believe ''The Wonderful World of Make Believe'' is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released by Mercury Records on July 10, 1964, and described by Greg Adams of Allmusic, who wrote, "The theme is fantasy, from imaginary locations ( ...

''. *

Michael Nesmith Robert Michael Nesmith or Mike Nesmith, (December 30, 1942 – December 10, 2021) was an American musician, songwriter, and actor. He was best known as a member of the pop rock band the Monkees and co-star of the TV series ''The Monkees'' (1966� ...

released a version on his 1970 album '' Magnetic South'' and featured on his 1993 album ''

Complete First National Band Recordings ''Complete First National Band Recordings'' (or simply ''Complete'') is a compilation album by Michael Nesmith, released in 1993. It contains the three albums Nesmith recorded with the First National Band in 1970 and 1971 on a two-CD set. ''Magne ...

''. *In

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

Lou Christie Luigi Alfredo Giovanni Sacco (born February 19, 1943), known professionally as Lou Christie, is an American pop and soft rock singer-songwriter known for several hits in the 1960s, including his 1966 US chart-topper "Lightnin' Strikes" and 1969 ...

released a version. The song reached #80 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and #12 on the

adult contemporary chart The Adult Contemporary chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary radio stations in the United States. The chart is compiled based on airplay data submitted to ''Billboard'' by sta ...

. It also reached #57 in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. *

Miharu Koshi is a Japanese singer and musician. Her career started in the late 1970s performing Japanese Contemporary classical music, new music. By the mid-1980s she was performing music with electronic instruments, with many albums produced by Haruomi Hos ...

released a version on her

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

album ''Echo De Miharu''.

In popular culture

*A version of this was the lead-in theme song for the old radio talk show Tex and Jinx (1948-1952). *The boxing venue

The Blue Horizon The Blue Horizon is a historic 1,346-seat former boxing venue in Philadelphia. ''The Ring'' magazine voted it the number-one boxing venue in the world, and ''Sports Illustrated'' noted it as the last great boxing venue in the country. The Blue ...

was renamed in 1961 after the song by Jimmy Toppi Sr. *The song featured in ''

The Godfather Part III ''The Godfather Part III'' is a 1990 American crime film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola from the screenplay co-written with Mario Puzo. The film stars Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, Talia Shire, Andy García, Eli Wallach, Joe Mantegna, ...

''. *The song is listed on the

Great American Songbook The Great American Songbook is the loosely defined canon of significant early-20th-century American jazz standards, popular songs, and show tunes. Definition According to the Great American Songbook Foundation: The "Great American Songbook" is ...

as one of the best songs written from the 1920s through the 1950s. * Alexander Courage stated he received inspiration from "Beyond the Blue Horizon" when writing " Theme from ''Star Trek''".Alexander Courage on writing the ''Star Trek'' theme song
Retrieved January 3, 2015 *The song is heard in a 1978 TV commercial for the United States Virgin Islands Tourism Bureau. *The song as recorded by

was featured in the 1988 film ''

Rain Man ''Rain Man'' is a 1988 American road movie, road Drama (film and television), drama film directed by Barry Levinson and written by Barry Morrow and Ronald Bass. It tells the story of abrasive, selfish young wikt:wheeler-dealer, wheeler-dealer C ...

'', and the 1991 film ''

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

''.

Book source

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beyond the Blue Horizon (song) 1930 songs 1974 singles Johnny Mathis songs Lou Christie songs Brunswick Records singles Songs with music by Richard A. Whiting Songs with music by W. Franke Harling Songs with lyrics by Leo Robin Jeanette MacDonald songs