"Pretend" is a popular song, written in 1952 by Dan Belloc,

Lew Douglas Lew Douglas (August 25, 1912 – November 11, 1997) was an American composer, arranger, and conductor. Background Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Douglas was in the Army during the second world war and became an arranger and conductor for som ...

, Cliff Parman and Frank Levere. The best-known recording, by Nat King Cole, was released by

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

as catalog number 2346. 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 advertise ...

'' 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 in May 1953, just behind

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 ...

'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 was released by Mercury Records as catalog number 70045. It reached the ''

'' Best Seller chart on February 7, 1953 at No. 16, its only week on the chart. The recording by Eileen Barton was released by Coral Records 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 ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' 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, reaching No. 89 on the ''Billboard'' chart in 1957, and by Carl Mann (issued as catalog number 3546 by Philips International), reaching No. 57 on ''Billboard'' and No. 56 on ''Cash Box'' in 1959.

Alvin Stardust Bernard William Jewry (27 September 1942 – 23 October 2014), known professionally as Shane Fenton and later as Alvin Stardust, was an English rock singer and stage actor. Performing first as Shane Fenton in the 1960s, Jewry had a moderately s ...

's cover version was a popular hit in the United Kingdom 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

* Nat King Cole (1953) * Eileen Barton (1953) * Ralph Marterie (1953) * Henri Rene & His Orchestra feat Franz Dietschmann (zither solo) (1953) * Tab Smith (1957) * Carl Mann (1959) *

Keely Smith Dorothy Jacqueline Keely (March 9, 1928The reference work ''The Encyclopedia of Native Music: More Than a Century of Recordings from Wax Cylinder to the Internet'' gives Smith's date of birth as March 9, 1932. – December 16, 2017), profession ...

(1959) on the album ''Be My Love'' * Tielman Brothers (1960) on the album ''Tielman On Stage'' * Brenda Lee (1960) * Gerry & The Pacemakers included it on the album ''How Do You Like It?'' (1963) and performed it live with The Everly Brothers in 1965 on '' Shindig!''. *

Johnny Preston John Preston Courville, known professionally as Johnny Preston (August 18, 1939 – March 4, 2011), was an American rock and roll singer, best known for his international number one hit in 1960, "Running Bear". Life and career Born in Port Arth ...

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., '' The Nat King Cole Songbook'', (1965) *

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...

(1965) *

(1981) * Don Williams (1995) *

Barbra Lica Barbra Lica is a Canadian jazz singer and songwriter based in Toronto. She was named one of Canada's top upcoming female jazz artists and was the first runner-up in the 2013 Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Competition. Lica received her first Ju ...

(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