"Charmaine" is a popular

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetiti ...

written by Ernö Rapée and Lew Pollack. The song was written in 1926 and published in

1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith becomes the first Director-General. * January 7 * ...

. However, Desmond Carrington on his

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content ...

programme marked the song's writing as being in 1913.

Background

The song was originally in

waltz The waltz ( ), meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom and folk dance, normally in triple ( time), performed primarily in closed position. History There are many references to a sliding or gliding dance that would evolve into the w ...

time, but later versions were in common time."Charmaine" is one of many popular songs whose lyrics use a "

Bluebird of happiness The symbol of a bluebird as the harbinger of happiness is found in many cultures and may date back thousands of years. Origins of idiom Chinese mythology One of the oldest examples of a blue bird in myth (found on oracle bone inscriptions of ...

" as a symbol of cheer: "I wonder, when bluebirds are mating, will you come back again?" The song was originally composed for the 1926 silent movie '' What Price Glory?'' Shel Talmy produced the Bachelors version with Big Jim Sullivan on lead guitar and Jimmy Page on guitar.

Recordings

*The best-selling version, recorded by

Guy Lombardo Gaetano Alberto "Guy" Lombardo (June 19, 1902 – November 5, 1977) was an Italian-Canadian-American bandleader, violinist, and hydroplane racer. Lombardo formed the Royal Canadians in 1924 with his brothers Carmen, Lebert and Victor, and oth ...

& his Orchestra, spent seven weeks at the #1 position in 1927. It was featured in the movie '' Two Girls and a Sailor''. A version was also recorded by the

Harry James Harry Haag James (March 15, 1916 – July 5, 1983) was an American musician who is best known as a trumpet-playing band leader who led a big band from 1939 to 1946. He broke up his band for a short period in 1947 but shortly after he reorganized ...

orchestra in 1944. *The

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the Uni ...

instrumental arrangement by Ronald Binge, performed by the Mantovani orchestra with Max Jaffa as its leader and soloist, was Mantovani's first hit in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. Binge's " cascading strings" arrangement, using closely overlapping string parts that create an echo effect, became a trademark sound for future Mantovani arrangements. The recording was released by London Records as catalog number 1020. It first reached the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' chart on November 9, 1951, where it remained for 19 weeks, peaking at #10. *Another recording, by

Gordon Jenkins Gordon Hill Jenkins (May 12, 1910 – May 1, 1984) was an American arranger, composer, and pianist who was influential in popular music in the 1940s and 1950s. Jenkins worked with The Andrews Sisters, Johnny Cash, The Weavers, Frank Sinatra, L ...

' orchestra, with a vocal by Bob Carroll, also charted in 1951. This recording was released by

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by 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. ...

as catalog number 27859. It first reached the

Billboard magazine ''Billboard'' (stylized as ''billboard'') is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style related to the music ...

charts on December 7, 1951 and lasted 1 week on the chart, at #26. *It was also recorded in a French version by

Lucienne Delyle Lucienne Delyle (16 April 1917 – 10 April 1962) was a French singer. After the very famous song ''Mon amant de Saint-Jean'' (my lover from Saint-Jean), in 1942, Lucienne Delyle became one of the most popular French female singers of the ...

in 1952. * The Bachelors' version reached #6 in the British charts in 1963. *A 1952 arrangement of "Charmaine" by Billy May and His Orchestra reached # 17 on the Billboard charts. The single was May's biggest hit under his own name.

Recorded versions

* Jimmy Arnold * The Bachelors (recorded October 10, 1962) * Tex Beneke * Max Bygraves *

Frankie Carle Frankie Carle (born Francis Nunzio Carlone, March 25, 1903 – March 7, 2001) was an American pianist and bandleader. As a very popular bandleader in the 1940s and 1950s, Carle was nicknamed "The Wizard of the Keyboard". " Sunrise Serenade" was ...

& His Girlfriends ( 1944) * Vic Damone (

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wo ...

) * Billy Daniels *

Tommy Dorsey Thomas Francis Dorsey Jr. (November 19, 1905 – November 26, 1956) was an American jazz trombonist, composer, conductor and bandleader of the big band era. He was known as the "Sentimental Gentleman of Swing" because of his smooth-toned trombo ...

& Orchestra * Gracie Fields *

The Four Freshmen The Four Freshmen is an American male vocal quartet that blends open-harmonic jazz arrangements with the big band vocal group sounds of The Modernaires, The Pied Pipers, and The Mel-Tones, founded in the barbershop tradition. The singers acc ...

The Four Knights The Four Knights were an American vocal group from Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. Their 1954 hit, "I Get So Lonely When I Dream About You (Oh Baby Mine)", sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc. Career The group wa ...

* The Four Preps *

Erroll Garner Erroll Louis Garner (June 15, 1921 – January 2, 1977) was an American jazz pianist and composer known for his swing playing and ballads. His instrumental ballad " Misty", his best-known composition, has become a jazz standard. It was first rec ...

Bill Haley & His Comets Bill Haley & His Comets were an American rock and roll band founded in 1947 that continued until Haley's death in 1981. The band was also known as Bill Haley and the Comets and Bill Haley's Comets. From late 1954 to late 1956, the group record ...

( 1958) * The Harmonicats (instrumental) (

) * The Ink Spots *

& His Orchestra ( 1944) *

Lewis James Lewis Lyman James (July 27, 1892 – February 19, 1959) was a vocalist and among the most active of recording artists in the United States from 1917 through much of the 1930s. He was a member of The Shannon Four, The Revelers, and The Criterion ...

(

) *

& His Orchestra (vocal: Bob Carroll) (

) * Sammy Kaye * Lester Lanin & Orchestra * James Last * Layton & Johnstone *

Michel Legrand Michel Jean Legrand (; 24 February 1932 – 26 January 2019) was a French musical composer, arranger, conductor, and jazz pianist. Legrand was a prolific composer, having written over 200 film and television scores, in addition to many so ...

* Julia Lee * Josef Locke *

& His Royal Canadians (vocal: Carmen Lombardo) (recorded June 13, 1927) * Jimmie Lunceford & Orchestra * Mantovani & His Orchestra (

) (recorded again in stereo in 1958; the stereo version is the most played version) * Billy May & His Orchestra (instrumental) ( 1952) *Moms & Dads * Vaughn Monroe & His Orchestra (recorded October 27, 1951) * Ed Bogas (

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

; from the soundtrack to the film ''

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest may refer to: * ''One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'' (novel), a 1962 novel by Ken Kesey * ''One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'' (play), a 1963 stage adaptation of the novel starring Kirk Douglas * ''One Flew Over the ...

'') * Lou Rawls (

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

) * Jim Reeves ( 1958) * Dorothy Ashby covered the song in 1958 on '' Hip Harp'' *

Victor Silvester Victor Marlborough Silvester OBE (25 February 190014 August 1978) was an English dancer, writer, musician and bandleader from the British dance band era. He was a significant figure in the development of ballroom dance during the first half ...

; his version was used as the title music for Dinner for One * Frank Sinatra (recorded January 15, 1962) * Ethel Smith * Cyril Stapleton & Orchestra * Hank Thompson *

Arthur Tracy Arthur Tracy (25 June 1899 – 5 October 1997) was an American vocalist and actor, billed as The Street Singer. His performances in theatre, films and radio, along with his recordings, brought him international fame in the 1930s. Late evening r ...

Paul Weston Paul Weston (born Paul Wetstein; March 12, 1912 – September 20, 1996) was an American pianist, arranger, composer, and conductor who worked in music and television from the 1930s to the 1970s, pioneering mood music and becoming known as "the ...

& His Orchestra (vocal:

Norman Luboff Choir Norman Luboff (May 14, 1917 – September 22, 1987) was an American music arranger, music publisher, and choir director. Early years Norman Luboff was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1917. He studied piano as a child and participated in his high s ...

) (recorded November 4, 1951) *

Jackie Gleason John Herbert Gleason (February 26, 1916June 24, 1987) was an American actor, comedian, writer, composer, and conductor known affectionately as "The Great One." Developing a style and characters from growing up in Brooklyn, New York, he was know ...

& His Orchestra (1955) * Gunnar Wiklund with Marcus Österdahl's orchestra. Swedish lyrics by Karl-Ewert also entitled "Charmaine". Recorded in Stockholm in 1967 and released on the single

His Master's Voice His Master's Voice (HMV) was the name of a major British record label created in 1901 by The Gramophone Co. Ltd. The phrase was coined in the late 1890s from the title of a painting by English artist Francis Barraud, which depicted a Jack Russ ...

EG 8698 on November 20, 1967. *

Burnie Peacock Bernard L. "Burnie" Peacock (or Bernie, or Burney) (June 2, 1921 - December 6, 1997) was an American jazz saxophonist. Peacock learned to play clarinet in his youth before starting on alto saxophone as a teenager. By 1938 he had quit school in Te ...

and his orchestra (King Records, 1951)

Use in popular culture

*The song appears in the background in the 1950 film '' Sunset Boulevard'' during Norma Desmond's house party. It also appears in the background in the 1978 film '' Just a Gigolo'' during a dance at the brothel run by the Baroness von Semering (

Marlene Dietrich Marie Magdalene "Marlene" DietrichBorn as Maria Magdalena, not Marie Magdalene, according to Dietrich's biography by her daughter, Maria Riva ; however Dietrich's biography by Charlotte Chandler cites "Marie Magdalene" as her birth name . (, ; ...

). *The Mantovani score of Charmaine was also used in Tony Hancock's Hancock's Half Hour in the episode "The First Night Party" in 1953 played whilst introducing the guests to a palatial home Sidney James discovered. It also appeared in the Series Six episode “The Childhood Sweetheart” as Hancock approaches his childhood girlfriend for the first time since school. *The version of "Charmaine" by the Mantovani Orchestra (the 1958 stereo recording) is used quite often in

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term ori ...

to provide comedic effect whenever a romantic situation is created. In ''

Monty Python's Flying Circus ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' (also known as simply ''Monty Python'') is a British surreal sketch comedy series created by and starring Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam, who became know ...

,'' as example, the tune has been used at least twice: in the Seduced Milkmen sketch from the first season; and in the third season, scored to scenes where soccer players who celebrate a goal start to kiss and embrace each other in a

homosexual Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to pe ...

way. *A version by Victor Silvester And His Ballroom Orchestra is played during the opening and closing titles of the 1963

NDR NDR may refer to: Computing * Non delivery report, a return email message to a sender indicating failed message delivery * Network Data Representation, an implementation of the OSI model presentation layer Science and technology * Negative differ ...

production of the sketch Der 90. Geburtstag (Dinner For One) with Freddy Frinton and

May Warden May Warden (9 May 1891 – 5 October 1978) was an English actress and comedian. Career Although she acted in other films and TV shows, in Germany and Scandinavia she is best known for her role as Miss Sophie in the 1963 comedy sketch ''Dinner f ...

, which has long since become a staple of German popular culture, being rerun there on TV every

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since the 1970s. *The song is also used in the 1967 film ''

Thoroughly Modern Millie ''Thoroughly Modern Millie'' is a 1967 American musical- romantic comedy film directed by George Roy Hill and starring Julie Andrews. The screenplay, by Richard Morris based on the 1956 British musical ''Chrysanthemum'', follows a naïve you ...

'' at the Long Island fancy dress party when the eccentric widow Muzzy Van Hossmere Carol Channing is introducing all of her "instructors" who also happen to be former lovers. The song is a recurring theme in the movie when referring to Millie Dillmount's Julie Andrews love life or lack thereof. *The song is featured in the horror film '' The Abominable Dr. Phibes'' (1971), during a murder scene. *In the film ''

'' (1975) the tune is constantly played as background music in the mental institution. The same 1951/1958 arrangement by Mantovani is used for "institutional" effect in Frank Darabont's 1999 film '' The Green Mile'', in which it is heard as background music in the retirement home. *It can be heard during an early scene of 2011 film '' This Must Be The Place'' as the character played by Sean Penn is seen strolling through a supermarket. *It was also used as background music in the "waiting room" of the Alton Towers scare maze ''The Sanctuary''. *It was referenced in the film '' Race For Your Life, Charlie Brown'' (1977) when Peppermint Patty plays a record, remarking to Charlie Brown, "I don't suppose you even know what a waltz is, do you?" *It was used in Part 10 of '' Twin Peaks: The Return'' (2017). *It appears on the sound track of the movie '' The Rum Diary'' (2011).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Charmaine (Song) Songs with music by Ernö Rapée Songs written by Lew Pollack 1927 songs The Bachelors songs Bill Haley songs Song recordings produced by Shel Talmy Decca Records singles London Records singles Guy Lombardo songs