"Pretend" 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 repetit ...

, written in 1952 by Dan Belloc, Lew Douglas, Cliff Parman and Frank Levere. The best-known recording, by

Nat King Cole Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's music career began after he dropped out of school at the age of 15, and continued f ...

, was released by Capitol Records as catalog number 2346. It first reached the '' Billboard'' Best Seller chart on January 31, 1953, and lasted 20 weeks on the chart, peaking at No. 3. It also reached No. 2 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in May 1953, just behind Frankie Laine's chart topping hit, " I Believe". Cole would later re-record the song for his 1961 album '' The Nat King Cole Story''. The recording by

Ralph Marterie Ralph Marterie (24 December 1914 – 10 October 1978) was an Italian big-band leader born in Acerra (near Naples), Italy. Life and career Marterie first played professionally at age 14 in Chicago. In the 1940s, he played trumpet for various b ...

was released by

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 i ...

as catalog number 70045. It reached the '' Billboard'' Best Seller chart on February 7, 1953 at No. 16, its only week on the chart. The recording by

Eileen Barton Eileen Barton (November 24, 1924 – June 27, 2006) was an American singer best known for her 1950 hit song, "If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've Baked a Cake." Early years Barton was born in Brooklyn, New York. Her birthdate is often given as 1 ...

was released by

Coral Records Coral Records was a subsidiary of Decca Records that was formed in 1949. Coral released music by Patsy Cline, Buddy Holly, the McGuire Sisters and Teresa Brewer. Coral issued jazz and swing music in the 1940s, but after Bob Thiele became head of ...

as catalog number 60927. It reached the ''Billboard'' Best Seller chart on March 7, 1953 at No. 18, its only week on the chart. On the '' Cash Box'' chart, where all versions of the song were combined, the song reached a peak of No. 5 in 1953. The song was subsequently recorded by

Tab Smith Talmadge "Tab" Smith (January 11, 1909 – August 17, 1971) was an American swing and rhythm and blues alto saxophonist. He is best remembered for the tracks "Because of You" and "Pretend". He worked with Count Basie, the Mills Rhythm Boys a ...

, reaching No. 89 on the ''Billboard'' chart in 1957, and by

Carl Mann Carl Richard Mann (August 22, 1942December 16, 2020) was an American rockabilly singer and pianist from West Tennessee. He was referred to as "The Last Son of Sun", as he was one of the final artists introduced by Sam Phillips of Sun Records. B ...

(issued as catalog number 3546 by

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 ...

International), reaching No. 57 on ''Billboard'' and No. 56 on ''Cash Box'' in 1959. Alvin Stardust's

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

was a popular

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

in 1981, when it reached No. 4 in the UK Singles Chart. This cover was largely based on Carl Mann's 1959 version of this song.

Recorded versions

(1953) *

Henri Rene Henri is an Estonian, Finnish, French, German and Luxembourgish form of the masculine given name Henry. People with this given name ; French noblemen :'' See the 'List of rulers named Henry' for Kings of France named Henri.'' * Henri I de Montm ...

& His Orchestra feat Franz Dietschmann (zither solo) (1953) *

(1957) *

(1959) * Keely Smith (1959) on the album ''Be My Love'' *

Tielman Brothers The Tielman Brothers was the first Dutch-Indonesian band to successfully venture into the international music scene in the 1950s. They were one of the pioneers of rock and roll in The Netherlands, and are credited with releasing the first Dutch ...

(1960) on the album ''Tielman On Stage'' *

Brenda Lee Brenda Mae Tarpley (born December 11, 1944), known professionally as Brenda Lee, is an American singer. Performing rockabilly, pop and country music, she had 47 US chart hits during the 1960s and is ranked fourth in that decade, surpassed onl ...

(1960) *

Gerry & The Pacemakers Gerry and the Pacemakers were a British beat group prominent in the 1960s Merseybeat scene. In common with the Beatles, they came from Liverpool, were managed by Brian Epstein, and were recorded by George Martin. Their early successes alongsid ...

included it on the album ''How Do You Like It?'' (1963) and performed it live with

The Everly Brothers The Everly Brothers were an American rock duo, known for steel-string acoustic guitar playing and close harmony singing. Consisting of Isaac Donald "Don" Everly (February 1, 1937 – August 21, 2021) and Phillip "Phil" Everly (January 19, 193 ...

in 1965 on ''

Shindig! ''Shindig!'' is an American musical variety series which aired on ABC from September 16, 1964 to January 8, 1966. The show was hosted by Jimmy O'Neill, a disc jockey in Los Angeles,Johnny Preston released a version of the song on his 1960 album, ''Running Bear''. * Buzz Clifford (1963)Buzz Clifford, "My Girl" single release
45cat.com, Retrieved January 20, 2016. *

Sammy Davis Jr. Samuel George Davis Jr. (December 8, 1925 – May 16, 1990) was an American singer, dancer, actor, comedian, film producer and television director. At age three, Davis began his career in vaudeville with his father Sammy Davis Sr. and the ...

, ''

The Nat King Cole Songbook ''The Nat King Cole Songbook'' is a 1965 studio album by Sammy Davis Jr., recorded in tribute to singer and pianist Nat King Cole, who had recently died. Track listing # " Rambling Rose" ( Joe Sherman, Noel Sherman) – 2:27 # "Unforgettable" ...

'', (1965) * Marvin Gaye (1965) * Alvin Stardust (1981) *

Don Williams Donald Ray Williams (May 27, 1939 – September 8, 2017) was an American country singer, songwriter, and 2010 inductee into the Country Music Hall of Fame. He began his solo career in 1971, singing popular ballads and amassing seventeen number ...

(1995) * Barbra Lica (2012)

References

1952 songs Songs written by Lew Douglas Nat King Cole songs Johnny Preston songs Buzz Clifford songs Alvin Stardust songs Number-one singles in Australia {{pop-standard-stub