"Music! Music! Music! (Put Another Nickel In)" is a

popular Popularity or social status is the quality of being well liked, admired or well known to a particular group. Popular may also refer to: In sociology * Popular culture * Popular fiction * Popular music * Popular science * Populace, the total ...

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 repetitio ...

written by Stephen Weiss and

Bernie Baum Bernie Baum (October 13, 1929 – August 28, 1993) was a songwriter who worked extensively with Elvis Presley. He grew up in New York City and later worked with Harvey Zimmerman (better known as Bill Giant) and Florence Kaye. The majority of t ...

and published in 1950.

Background

The first recording of the song was by Etienne Paree with Eddie "Piano" Miller, released by

Rainbow Records Rainbow Records was a record label based in the United States of America in 1920 which featured recordings of Christian gospel music, hymns, and spirituals. Rainbow Records were made by the Rodeheaver Record Company of Chicago, Illinois, which i ...

in 1949 in the United States, titled "Put Another Nickel In - Music, Music, Music (The Nickelodeon Song)". The biggest-selling version of the song was recorded by

Teresa Brewer Teresa Brewer (born Theresa Veronica Breuer; May 7, 1931 – October 17, 2007) was an American singer whose style incorporated pop, country, jazz, R&B, musicals, and novelty songs. She was one of the most prolific and popular female singers of th ...

with the Dixieland All Stars on 20 December 1949, and released on December 26 by

London Records London Recordings (or London Records and London Music Stream) is a British record label that marketed records in the United States, Canada, and Latin America for Decca Records from 1947 to 1980 before becoming semi-independent. The London nam ...

as catalog number 604. New York morning radio host

Gene Rayburn Gene Rayburn (born Eugene Peter Jeljenic; December 22, 1917 – November 29, 1999) was an American radio and television personality. He is best known as the host of various editions of the American television game show '' Match Game'' for over t ...

lobbied for Teresa Brewer to record it, he and Dee Finch played it regularly on WNEW, and it became a number 1 hit and a million-seller in 1950. It became Brewer's signature song and earned her the nickname "Miss Music". It was released as the B side to "

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

" but eclipsed "Copenhagen" as a hit. It was also recorded by many artists on various labels and other hit versions in 1950 were by

Carmen Cavallaro Carmen Cavallaro (May 6, 1913 – October 12, 1989) was an American pianist. He established himself as one of the most accomplished and admired light music pianists of his generation. Music career Carmen Cavallaro was born in New York City, Un ...

(reached No. 5),

Freddy Martin Frederick Alfred Martin (December 9, 1906 – September 30, 1983) was an American bandleader and tenor saxophonist. Early life Freddy Martin was born in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Raised largely in an orphanage and by various relatives, ...

(No. 5),

Ames Brothers The Ames Brothers were a singing quartet, consisting of four siblings from Malden, Massachusetts, who were particularly famous in the 1950s for their traditional pop music hits. Biography The Urick brothers were born in Malden, Massachusetts ...

(No. 14),

Hugo Winterhalter Hugo Winterhalter (August 15, 1909 – September 17, 1973) was an American easy listening arranger and composer, best known for his arrangements and recordings for RCA Victor. Biography Hugo Ferdinand Winterhalter was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsy ...

(No. 17) and

Mickey Katz Meyer Myron "Mickey" Katz (June 15, 1909 – April 30, 1985) was an American musician and comedian. He was the father of actor Joel Grey and paternal grandfather of actress Jennifer Grey. Early life Meyer Myron Katz was born on Sawtell Court in ...

(No. 18). Some radio stations refused to play the record because of the thought that the lyric "I'd do anything for you/Anything you'd want me to" might be construed as indecent.

Other notable versions

A version recorded by British singer

Petula Clark Petula Sally Olwen Clark, CBE (born 15 November 1932) is an English singer, actress, and composer. She has one of the longest serving careers of a British singer, spanning more than seven decades. Clark's professional career began during the ...

was popular in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

the same year.

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 a version for his Chesterfield radio show on 5 April 1950 which has since been released on CD. Joe Loss and his Orchestra recorded a version in London on 6 March 1950. It was released by

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

on the

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 ...

label as catalogue numbers BD 6065, IM 1476 and HE 2793. Light classical music composer

Leroy Anderson Leroy Anderson ( ) (June 29, 1908 – May 18, 1975) was an American composer of short, light concert pieces, many of which were introduced by the Boston Pops Orchestra under the direction of Arthur Fiedler. John Williams described him as ...

based his piece "Classical Jukebox" on the song.

Peggy Lee Norma Deloris Egstrom (May 26, 1920 – January 21, 2002), known professionally as Peggy Lee, was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer, and actress, over a career spanning seven decades. From her beginning as a vocalis ...

included the song on her 1958 album '' Jump for Joy''. An instrumental version was recorded by

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 ...

in 1959 and released as a single in 1960; it was the band's final release for

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 ...

and was only a minor hit. In 1961,

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

recorded an instrumental version for his album ''

The Genius After Hours ''The Genius After Hours'' is an album by American musician Ray Charles, released in 1961. The songs featured on the album were taken from the same three studio sessions that created his 1957 album '' The Great Ray Charles'', which featured the ...

''. The R&B group

the Sensations The Sensations were an American doo-wop group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The group formed in 1954 under the name the Cavaliers, soon after changing to the Sensations. The group scored two hits on the US R&B chart in 1956 with ...

released a rendition in 1961. The song was covered by

the Happenings The Happenings are a pop music group that originated in the 1960s. Members of the original group, created in the spring of 1961 and initially called "The Four Graduates" because all had just graduated from high school in Paterson, New Jersey, w ...

in the late 1960s.

Melanie Melanie is a feminine given name derived from the Greek μελανία (melania), "blackness" and that from μέλας (melas), meaning "dark".Photograph A photograph (also known as a photo, image, or picture) is an image created by light falling on a photosensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic image sensor, such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are now create ...

''.

Guy Mitchell Guy Mitchell (born Albert George Cernik; February 22, 1927 – July 1, 1999) was an American pop singer and actor, successful in his homeland, the UK, and Australia. He sold 44 million records, including six million-selling singles. In the fal ...

released a version that can be found on several of his greatest hits albums.

Other versions by Teresa Brewer

Teresa Brewer recorded several renditions of the song during her career. In addition to the London version, the

Coral Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and sec ...

label made a recording for their catalog, which had a larger orchestral arrangement, faster tempo, and stronger beat. When she moved to the

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters i ...

label in 1962, Brewer made a new recording in Nashville. In 1973, she recorded a rendition with a strong rock and roll beat on the Amsterdam label. When Brewer was with the

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

label in 1974–75, she recorded yet another new version. Finally, in 1976 she recorded a disco version for her husband

Bob Thiele Bob, BOB, or B.O.B. may refer to: Places *Mount Bob, New York, United States *Bob Island, Palmer Archipelago, Antarctica People, fictional characters, and named animals *Bob (given name), a list of people and fictional characters *Bob (surname) ...

's Signature imprint. Only the original London release was a national chart hit, although the 1973 version was a regional hit in some markets, including Milwaukee (it charted on Top 40 station

WOKY WOKY (920 AM, "The Big 920") is a commercial radio station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It is owned and operated by iHeartMedia and broadcasts a sports format affiliated with Fox Sports Radio. Its studios and offices, which became the ...

's survey). In 1977, she performed the song on ''

The Muppet Show ''The Muppet Show'' is a sketch comedy television series created by Jim Henson and featuring the Muppets. The series originated as two pilot episodes produced by Henson for ABC in 1974 and 1975. While neither episode was moved forward as a ser ...

''.

Media

The tune was used in the most famous version of Nestlé

Maggi Maggi ( or ) is an international brand of seasonings, instant soups, and noodles that originated in Switzerland in the late 19th century. The Maggi company was acquired by Nestlé in 1947. History Early history Julius Maggi (1846–1912) ...

advertisement, especially in India. The "Come closer" bridge is from Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2. An instrumental version was also used as the theme song for the network

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

from 1979 to 1981 that played during the Mime interstitials.

References

*Standard Catalog Of American Records 1950–1975, editor Tim Neely

External links