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

song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...

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 ...

and published in 1950.

Background

The first recording of the song was by Etienne Paree with

Eddie "Piano" Miller Edward Maurice Lisbona (16 July 1905 – 30 November 1989) was an English songwriter, who under the name of Eddie "Piano" Miller, was also a popular piano player and bandleader of the 1950s and 1960s. Lisbona was born in Manchester, England. ...

, 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 tw ...

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 ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

" 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, Uni ...

(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 an American singing quartet, consisting of four siblings from Malden, Massachusetts, who were particularly famous in the 1950s for their traditional pop hits. Biography The Urick brothers were born in Malden, Massachus ...

(No. 14),

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

(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 i ...

(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 Sally "Petula" Clark (born 15 November 1932) is a British singer, actress, and songwriter. She started her professional career as a child actor, child performer and has had the longest career of any British entertainer, spanning more than 85 y ...

was popular in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

the same year. *

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

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 (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

on the

His Master's Voice His Master's Voice is an entertainment trademark featuring a dog named Nipper, curiously peering into the horn of a wind-up gramophone. Painted by Francis Barraud in 1898, the image has since become a global symbol used across consumer elect ...

label as catalogue numbers BD 6065, IM 1476 and HE 2793. *

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, and actress whose career spanned seven decades. From her beginning as a vocalist on local r ...

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 formed in 1947 and continuing 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 after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...

and was only a minor hit. *In 1961,

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

recorded an instrumental version for his album '' The Genius After Hours''. *The R&B group

the Sensations The Sensations were an American doo-wop group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 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 the Atco Reco ...

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, we ...

in the late 1960s. *

Melanie Melanie is a feminine given name derived from the Greek language, Greek μελανία (melania), "blackness" and that from μέλας (melas), meaning "dark".Photograph A photograph (also known as a photo, or more generically referred to as an ''image'' or ''picture'') is an image created by light falling on a photosensitivity, photosensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic image sensor. Th ...

''. *

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. His best-kno ...

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

Influence

*Light classical music composer

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

based his piece "Classical Jukebox" on the song.

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 colonial marine invertebrates within the subphylum Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important Coral ...

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. (), simply branded Philips, is a Dutch multinational health technology company that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, its world headquarters have been situated in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarter ...

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. It reached #84 in Canada. When Brewer was with the

RCA RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded in 1919 as the Radio Corporation of America. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westinghou ...

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

Bob Thiele Robert "Bob" Thiele (July 27, 1922 – January 30, 1996) was an American record producer who worked on numerous classic jazz albums and record labels. Early life and career Bob Thiele was born in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York, United Sta ...

'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 kHz, "Fox Sports 920") is a commercial AM radio station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. It is one of two sports radio stations owned by iHeart in Milwaukee. WRNW focuses on Wisconsin-based sports shows, while WO ...

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

The Muppet Show ''The Muppet Show'' is a variety sketch comedy television series created by Jim Henson and starring the Muppets. It is presented as a variety show, featuring recurring sketches and musical numbers interspersed with ongoing plot-lines with ru ...

''.

Media

The tune was used in the most famous version of Nestlé

Maggi Maggi (, ) is an international brand of seasonings, instant soups, and noodles that originated in Switzerland in the late 19th century. In 1947, the Maggi brand was acquired by the Switzerland, Swiss giant Nestlé. History Early history ...

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 (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

from 1979 to 1981 that played during the Mime interstitials.

References

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

External links

List of versions at Teresa Brewer Center
{{authority control 1949 songs Teresa Brewer songs Petula Clark songs Bill Haley songs Guy Mitchell songs Number-one singles in the United States Songs written by Bernie Baum London Records singles Songs about music Popular songs based on classical music