1950s, Novelty

The Hokey Pokey

May 6, 2024

First recorded (in the United States) by The Sun Valley Trio (1948, released 1950).
Popular versions by Cliffie Stone & His Hometown Jamboree Gang (1951), Ray Anthony & His Orchestra (B-side 1953).

From the wiki: “‘The Hokey Pokey’, also known as ‘The Hokey Cokey’ in the United Kingdom, is a campfire song and participation dance with a distinctive accompanying tune and lyric structure. It is well-known in English-speaking countries. It originates in a British folk dance, with variants attested as early as 1826. The song and accompanying dance peaked in popularity as a music hall song and novelty dance in the mid-1940s in the UK.

“Larry LaPrise, Charles Macak, and Tafit Baker of the musical group the Ram Trio, better known as the Sun Valley Trio, recorded the song in 1948 and it was released in 1950. They have generally been credited with creating this novelty dance as entertainment for the ski crowd at the Sun Valley, Idaho resort.

Theme from “Peter Gunn”

January 2, 2023

Written and first performed by Henry Mancini (1958).
Hit versions by Ray Anthony & His Orchestra (US #8/R&B #12 1959), Duane Eddy (US #27/UK #6 1959), Deodato (US #84/R&B #96/DANCE #20 1976), Art of Noise (US #50/CAN #14/UK #8/DANCE #2 1986).

From the wiki: “‘Peter Gunn’ was composed by Henry Mancini for the television show of the same name. The song was also released on the original soundtrack album, The Music from Peter Gunn, released in 1959. Mancini won an Emmy Award and two Grammys for Album of the Year and Best Arrangement

“Dragnet” TV Theme Song

June 6, 2022

Based on “The Killers Main Theme” by Miklos Rozsa (1946).
Hit versions (as “Dragnet”) by Ray Anthony & His Orchestra (US #3/UK #7 1953), Ted Heath Orchestra (UK #9 1953), Johnny Moore’s Three Blazers (as “Dragnet Blues” R&B #8 1953), The Art of Noise (UK #60/NZ #25/SWZ #29 1997).
Also recorded (as “St. George and the Dragonet”) by Stan Freberg (US #1 1953).

From the wiki: “Miklós Rózsa was a Hungarian-American composer known for his dramatic film scores.

“His career in Hollywood gained him tremendous fame: Rózsa received 17 Oscar nominations and won the award three times for his music for the films Spellbound (1945), A Double Life (1947) and Ben-Hur (1959). But the only musical motif he wrote that is easily recognizable to the general public was not part of an award-winning composition. In fact, the motif is often not associated with Rózsa at all, since the more popular version is credited to another composer.

“The famous four-note motif was originally composed by Rózsa for the 1946 American film noir, The Killers. In 1951, the same motif appeared in the ‘Main Title’ theme music for the radio and television drama, Dragnet, composed by Walter Schumann. The music became the subject of a copyright lawsuit when Abeles & Bernstein, lawyers representing Robbins Music Corporation, the publishers of Rózsa’s score for The Killers, filed for copyright infringement on Rózsa’s behalf in January 1954.

Harbor Lights

July 8, 2015

First recorded by Frances Langford (US #6 1937).
Other hit versions by Swing and Sway with Sammy Kaye (US #1 1950), Guy Lombardo & His Royal Canadians (US #2 1950), Ray Anthony & His Orchestra (US #4 1950), Bing Crosby (US #8 1950), Dinah Washington (R&B #10 1951), The Platters (US #8/R&B #15/UK #11 1960).

From the wiki: “‘Harbor Lights’ was written by Hugh Williams (pseudonym for Will Grosz) with lyrics by Jimmy Kennedy, and first recorded by Frances Langford (with Sam Koki & His Islanders) in 1937.

“The most-popular version – historically – was recorded in 1950 by Swing & Sway with Sammy Kaye, lasting 25 weeks on the Billboard chart and peaking at #1. Other charting covers in 1950 were recorded by The Guy Lombardo Orchestra, Ray Anthony & His Orchestra, and Bing Crosby. Dinah Washington charted R&B Top 10 in 1951,

“The Platters returned ‘Harbor Lights’ to the US Top 40 a decade later in 1960, peaking in the Top 10 at #8 while also charting overseas on the UK Singles chart.”

Harlem Nocturne

July 5, 2015

First recorded by Ray Anthony & His Orchestra (1939).
Hit versions by Herbie Fields (1953), The Viscounts (US #52 1959 |US #39 1966).
Also recorded by Johnny Otis (1945), Mel Torme (1963), Duke Ellington (c. 1970?).

From the wiki: “‘Harlem Nocturne’ was written by Earle Hagen and Dick Rogers in 1939. The song was adopted by bandleader Randy Brooks the next year as his theme song, but was first recorded in 1939 by Ray Anthony & His Orchestra. Hagen was a trombonist in Ray Noble’s band at the time. He had been inspired by Duke Ellington’s saxophone player Johnny Hodges and wrote ‘Harlem Nocturne’ for Noble’s sax man Jack Dumont, originally titling it ‘Duke’s Soup’. The name change was suggested by the publisher.

Tagged: Ray Anthony & His Orchestra