"I Wished on the Moon" is a song composed by

Ralph Rainger Ralph Rainger ( Reichenthal; October 7, 1901 – October 23, 1942) was an American composer of popular music principally for films. Biography Born Ralph Reichenthal in New York City, United States, Rainger initially embarked on a legal career, ...

, with lyrics by

Dorothy Parker Dorothy Parker (née Rothschild; August 22, 1893 – June 7, 1967) was an American poet, writer, critic, and satirist based in New York; she was known for her wit, wisecracks, and eye for 20th-century urban foibles. From a conflicted and unhap ...

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...

sang the song in ''

The Big Broadcast of 1936 ''The Big Broadcast of 1936'' is a 1935 American comedy film directed by Norman Taurog, and is the second in the series of ''Big Broadcast'' movies. The musical comedy starred Jack Oakie, Bing Crosby, George Burns, Gracie Allen, Ethel Merman, Nic ...

''. Crosby recorded the song on August 14, 1935 with

The Dorsey Brothers The Dorsey Brothers were an American studio dance band, led by Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey. They started recording in 1928 for OKeh Records. History The Dorsey Brothers recorded songs for the dime store labels (Banner, Cameo, Domino, Jewel, Oriole, ...

Orchestra and it reached the charts of the day peaking at No. 2 during a seven-week stay. At the end of the long recording session, Crosby decided to sing only a single chorus of the song in the middle of an orchestral version instead of the full ballad treatment used in the film. This led to a long argument between the singer and producer

Jack Kapp Jack Kapp (born Jacob Kaplitzky; June 15, 1901 – March 25, 1949) was a record company executive with Brunswick Records who founded the American Decca Records in 1934 along with British Decca founder Edward Lewis and later American Decca head M ...

. Eventually Crosby prevailed.
Crosby recorded the song again in 1954 for his album '' Bing: A Musical Autobiography''.

Little Jack Little Jack Little (born John Leonard; May 30, 1899 – April 9, 1956), (Another source gives his birth date as May 28, 1902.)DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McF ...

recorded the song for Columbia (catalog 3068) on June 28, 1935, and also enjoyed chart success with the song in 1935 reaching the No. 13 spot.

Ruth Etting Ruth Etting (November 23, 1896 – September 24, 1978) was an American singer and actress of the 1920s and 1930s, who had over 60 hit recordings and worked in stage, radio, and film. Known as "America's sweetheart of song", her signature tunes ...

also recorded the song for Columbia (3070) on July 1, 1935.

Notable recordings

Teddy Wilson Theodore Shaw Wilson (November 24, 1912 – July 31, 1986) was an American jazz pianist. Described by critic Scott Yanow as "the definitive swing pianist", Wilson had a sophisticated, elegant style. His work was featured on the records of ma ...

featuring

Billie Holiday Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday had an innovative influence on jazz music and pop si ...

on Brunswick, catalog 7501, recorded on July 2, 1935. *

Ray Noble Raymond Stanley Noble (17 December 1903 – 2 April 1978) was an English jazz and big band musician, who was a bandleader, composer and arranger, as well as a radio host, television and film comedian and actor; he also performed in the United ...

and His Orchestra featuring

Al Bowlly Albert Allick Bowlly (7 January 1898 – 17 April 1941) was a Mozambican-born South African–British vocalist and jazz guitarist, who was popular during the 1930s in Britain. He recorded more than 1,000 songs. His most popular songs include ...

recorded on July 20, 1935. ( Al Bowlly Discography). *

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 ar ...

- '' And I Thought About You'' (1955) *

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...

and

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, Loui ...

recorded March 24, 1954 on

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label * Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label * Decca Studios, a recording facility in W ...

, a 1955 release, catalog No. 29137, also recorded again in 1961 for the album ''

Ella Swings Gently with Nelson ''Ella Swings Gently with Nelson'' is a 1962 studio album by the American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, with an orchestra arranged and conducted by Nelson Riddle. This album is one of a pair, the other being '' Ella Swings Brightly with Nelson'', ...

''. *

- ''

Songs for Distingué Lovers ''Songs for Distingué Lovers'' is an album by jazz singer Billie Holiday, released in 1958 on Verve Records. It was originally available in both mono (catalogue number MGV 8257) and stereo (catalog number MGVS 6021). It was recorded at Capitol S ...

'' (1957) *

Billy Eckstine William Clarence Eckstine (July 8, 1914 – March 8, 1993) was an American jazz and pop singer and a bandleader during the swing and bebop eras. He was noted for his rich, almost operatic bass-baritone voice. In 2019, Eckstine was posthumously ...

- ''

Billy Eckstine's Imagination ''Imagination'' is a 1958 album recorded by Billy Eckstine. It was released under the EmArcy label. Track listing # "It Was So Beautiful" (Arthur Freed, Harry Barris) # " I Got a Right to Sing the Blues" (Harold Arlen, Ted Koehler) # "Love ...

'' (1958) *

June Christy June Christy (born Shirley Luster; November 20, 1925June 21, 1990) was an American singer, known for her work in the cool jazz genre and for her silky smooth vocals. Her success as a singer began with The Stan Kenton Orchestra. She pursued a sol ...

- ''

The Song Is June! ''The Song Is June!'' is a 1958 album by June Christy recorded with Pete Rugolo's Orchestra. It was reissued in 1997 as a double CD with ''Off-Beat''. Track listing # " Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most" (Tommy Wolf, Fran Landesman) – 4:1 ...

'' (1958) *

Gogi Grant Myrtle Audrey Arinsberg (September 20, 1924 – March 10, 2016), known professionally as Gogi Grant, was an American pop singer. She is best known for her No. 1 hit in 1956, "The Wayward Wind". Life and career Grant was born Myrtle Audrey Arin ...

- ''Granted It's Gogi'' (1960) *

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 Op ...

- '' Swingin' On the Moon'' (1960) *

Art Pepper Arthur Edward Pepper Jr. (September 1, 1925 – June 15, 1982) was an American alto saxophonist and very occasional tenor saxophonist and clarinetist. Active in West Coast jazz, Pepper came to prominence in Stan Kenton's big band. He was known ...

- ''

Intensity Intensity may refer to: In colloquial use *Strength (disambiguation) *Amplitude * Level (disambiguation) * Magnitude (disambiguation) In physical sciences Physics *Intensity (physics), power per unit area (W/m2) *Field strength of electric, ma ...

'' (1960) *

Johnnie Ray John Alvin Ray (January 10, 1927 – February 24, 1990) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Highly popular for most of the 1950s, Ray has been cited by critics as a major precursor to what became rock and roll, for his jazz and blu ...

- for his Liberty LP ''Johnnie Ray'' (1962) *

Roland Kirk Roland (; frk, *Hrōþiland; lat-med, Hruodlandus or ''Rotholandus''; it, Orlando or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Franks, Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known ...

- ''

Here Comes the Whistleman ''Here Comes the Whistleman'' is a live album by jazz multi-instrumentalist Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Roland Kirk recorded in March 1965 at Atlantic Studios in New York, and released in February 1967. It was his first release on the Atlantic Records, A ...

'' (1965) *

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...

and

Nelson Riddle Nelson Smock Riddle Jr. (June 1, 1921 – October 6, 1985) was an American arranger, composer, bandleader and orchestrator whose career stretched from the late 1940s to the mid-1980s. He worked with many world-famous vocalists at Capitol Records ...

- ''

Moonlight Sinatra ''Moonlight Sinatra'' is a studio album by Frank Sinatra, released in March 1966. All of the tracks on the album are centered on the Moon, and were arranged and conducted by Nelson Riddle and his orchestra. The title of the album is a referen ...

'' (1966) *

Rosemary Clooney Rosemary Clooney (May 23, 1928 – June 29, 2002) was an American singer and actress. She came to prominence in the early 1950s with the song "Come On-a My House", which was followed by other pop numbers such as " Botch-a-Me", " Mambo Italiano", ...

- ''

Rosie Sings Bing ''Rosie Sings Bing'' is a 1978 studio album by the American jazz singer Rosemary Clooney, recorded in tribute to Bing Crosby, who had died the previous year. The album was the second Clooney made for Concord Records. Clooney and Crosby recorded ...

'' (1978) *

Tony Bennett Anthony Dominick Benedetto (born August 3, 1926), known professionally as Tony Bennett, is an American retired singer of traditional pop standards, big band, show tunes, and jazz. Bennett is also a painter, having created works under his birth ...

- ''

Perfectly Frank ''Perfectly Frank'' is an album by Tony Bennett, released in 1992 and recorded as a tribute to Frank Sinatra. Part of Bennett's late-in-life comeback to commercial success, it achieved gold record status in the United States and won the Grammy ...

'' (1992), '' Tony Bennett on Holiday'' (1997) *

Teddi King Teddi King (September 18, 1929 – November 18, 1977) was an American jazz and pop vocalist. Born Theodora King in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, she won a singing competition hosted by Dinah Shore at Boston's Tributary Theatre, later beg ...

- ''In the Beginning, 1949-1954'' (2000 compilation) *

Diana Krall Diana Jean Krall (born November 16, 1964) is a Canadian jazz pianist and singer known for her contralto vocals. She has sold more than 15 million albums worldwide, including over six million in the US. On December 11, 2009, '' Billboard'' maga ...

- ''

This Dream of You ''This Dream of You'' is the fifteenth studio album by Canadian singer Diana Krall, released on September 25, 2020, by Verve Records. The album spawned two singles released in August 2020. Background The album is named after Krall's rendition of ...

'' (2020)

References

{{authority control 1935 songs Bing Crosby songs Frank Sinatra songs Songs with music by Ralph Rainger Songs with lyrics by Dorothy Parker Al Bowlly songs Songs about the Moon