"You're Breaking My Heart" 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 ...

, which was first published in 1948. Though credited to Pat Genaro and Sunny Skylar, (with acknowledgements to the owners of the copyright in "Tis the Day") the song is an English version of the famous Italian song " Mattinata" written by

Ruggero Leoncavallo Ruggero (or Ruggiero) Leoncavallo ( , , ; 23 April 18579 August 1919) was an Italian opera composer and librettist. Although he produced numerous operas and other songs throughout his career it is his opera '' Pagliacci'' (1892) that remained h ...

at the beginning of the 20th century; that song had lapsed into the public domain in the United States by the time this English song was set to its tune.

Popular recordings

Popular versions on the charts in 1949 included recordings by: *The

Vic Damone Vic Damone (born Vito Rocco Farinola; June 12, 1928 – February 11, 2018) was an American traditional pop and big band singer and actor. He was best known for his performances of songs such as the number one hit "You're Breaking My Heart", and ...

recording 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 5271. The flip side was "Four Winds and Seven Seas." The recording first entered the ''Billboard'' chart on June 10, 1949, lasting 26 weeks and peaking at position No. 1. *

The Ink Spots The Ink Spots were an American pop vocal group who gained international fame in the 1930s and 1940s. Their unique musical style presaged the rhythm and blues and rock and roll musical genres, and the subgenre doo-wop. The Ink Spots were widely ac ...

' recording featuring Bill Kenny (June 27, 1949) was released by Decca Records as catalog number 24693. The recording first entered the ''Billboard'' chart on August 12, 1949, lasting 14 weeks and peaking at position No. 9. *The

Buddy Clark Buddy Clark (born Samuel Goldberg, July 26, 1912 – October 1, 1949) was an American popular singer of the Big Band era. He had some success in the 1930s, but his career truly blossomed in the late 1940s, after his return from service in Worl ...

recording was recorded on June 21, 1949, and released by Columbia Records as catalog number 38546. The recording first entered the ''Billboard'' chart on September 2, 1949, lasting 13 weeks and peaking at position No. 9. *The

Jan Garber Jan Garber (born Jacob Charles Garber, November 5, 1894 – October 5, 1977) was an American violinist and jazz bandleader. Biography Garber was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. He had his own band by the time he was 21. He became known as "The ...

recording was released by Capitol Records as catalog number 719 with "Now That I Need You" on the flip side. The recording first entered the ''Billboard'' chart on September 23, 1949, lasting two weeks and peaking at position No. 26.

Other recordings

*The song was also recorded by

Ralph Flanagan Ralph Elias Flenniken (April 7, 1914 – December 30, 1995), known professionally as Ralph Flanagan, was an American big band leader, pianist, composer, and arranger for the orchestras of Hal McIntyre, Sammy Kaye, Blue Barron, Charlie Barnet, a ...

and his orchestra, with vocalist

Harry Prime Harry Charles Prime (March 5, 1920 – June 15, 2017) was a Big Band vocalist who performed from the late 1940s through the mid-1950s.Rubin, DanielDaniel Rubin: At 90, big-band singer Harry Prime gets another encore Philly.com, Philadelphia, 17 ...

, on August 18, 1949, and released by the

Bluebird Records Bluebird Records is a record label best known for its low-cost releases, primarily of kids' music, blues and jazz in the 1930s and 1940s. It was founded in 1932 as a lower-priced RCA Victor subsidiary label of RCA Victor. Bluebird became known ...

subsidiary of

RCA Victor Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Ari ...

as catalog number 30-0001. * Keely Smith's remake made the British Top 20 in 1965.

Popular culture

* Eddie Fisher also notably sang this song on a number of early 1950s television programs, often presided over by Eddie Cantor, and during a number of live performances, but never actually recorded it. However, several of those versions can be heard on music video platforms.

References

Number-one singles in the United States 1948 songs Songs written by Sunny Skylar Vic Damone songs Bluebird Records singles {{pop-standard-stub