"Tailspin" (1935)

Unrelated to the movie “Tail Spin” is this snappy instrumental of the same title (give or take a space between tail and spin!) recorded by the Dorsey Brothers for Decca Records in 1935, three years before the movie:

 

Those cats could play!

“Are you in the Mood for Mischief?" (1938)

Now from 1938, we have another piece of sheet music that features an extreme close up of the female star – Alice Faye in “Tail Spin” from 20th Century Fox! 

The movie itself is a little corny, but Alice and Constance Bennett look great in their aviatrix outfits!

The song, “Are you in the Mood for Mischief?” is another that Alice introduced (singing it to serial/B-movie stalwart Kane Richmond!) but did not record. I understand that Fox didn’t like their movie stars making records, thinking they would be competing with their movies, but I think records made good publicity for the movies. See Bing Crosby for example! 

But we do get to hear from Bea Wain again, this time in her most famous role, vocalist with Larry Clinton and his Orchestra:

 

Larry Clinton gets my vote for most underrated bandleader of the era!

"All I Do is Dream of You" (1934) - Part 2!

For another version of “All I Do is Dream of You” from the 1936 MGM film “Sadie McKee,” we turn to Gene Austin!

Gene appeared in the movie, although he doesn’t sing “All I Do is Dream of You” (Gene Raymond sings it a few times). He did record it, however, for Victor Records:

Gene Austin was very popular in the late 1920s and this record has more of a 1920s sound to me. Charming today, it must have seem pretty dated in 1934!

"All I Do is Dream of You" (1934)

Let's jump back to 1934 for the song “All I Do is Dream of You” from MGM’s “Sadie McKee” starring Joan Crawford.

I’ve seen this piece of sheet music quite a bit over the years, so I figure it must have been a good seller. I would attribute that to the song itself, which would be a fun number to play on the piano at home, and to the popularity of Miss Crawford!

Gene Raymond sings “All I Do is Dream of You” a few times in the movie, so anyone who sees the movie is well aware of the song, another from Arthur Freed and Nacio Herb Brown!

Let’s listen to this snappy version on Brunswick from Freddy Martin and his Orchestra featuring Vocalist Elmer Feldkamp:

I really like Elmer’s singing a lot. He unfortunately passed away prematurely in 1938, but he did cut a number of records that we can still enjoy today!

"Peckin'" (1937)

Next up is “Peckin’” which is also from “New Faces of 1937” but from a different music publisher from “Our Penthouse on Third Avenue,” so it has a different sheet music design!

Harry James and his old boss Ben Pollack get songwriting credit. The song has lyrics, but I think it works better as an instrumental.

So, with that in mind, Ozzie Nelson and the boys are back with this Bluebird record:

I like the sound of Ozzie's band with Charlie Bubeck's baritone sax keeping things bouncing along!

"Our Penthouse on Third Avenue" (1937) - Part 2!

Harriet Hilliard did record “Our Penthouse on Third Avenue" from "New Faces of 1937" but as the band vocalist with husband Ozzie Nelson’s group. Here’s their version on Bluebird:

 

I’m digging those buff Bluebirds!

 

"Our Penthouse on Third Avenue" (1937)

Another hodgepodge musical from 1937 is RKO’s “New Faces of 1937” (the title including the actual release year for a change!), which featured a handful of popular radio stars. 

RKO seems to have done the best job of bringing radio stars to the screen and letting them more or less play themselves. 

The plot in these movies is usually just enough to hang the specialty numbers on, but “New Faces of 1937” has the story of a crooked producer overselling shares in shows he thinks will flop, very much anticipating the way more famous “The Producers” from Mel Brooks thirty years later! 

The headliner here is Joe Penner, who was extremely popular back in the day, but is barely just a name to most modern audiences. I get a kick out of him, though! 

The sheet music features a nice portrait of Harriet Hilliard, who of course is best-remembered as Harriet Nelson, wife of Ozzie and mother of David and Ricky. 

For the song, here’s "Our Penthouse on Third Avenue" on the budget Melotone label as recorded by Gene Kardos and his Orchestra with a vocal by a young Bea Wain, shortly before she achieved star status with Larry Clinton‘s band:

 

What a wonderful vocalist Bea Wain was! We need to hear more from her!

 

"I Can't Get Started" (1936)

I mentioned last time kind of in passing how great Bunny Berigan was!

But it occurred to me that not everyone may not be aware of his greatness. But they should be!

So , let's listen to his brilliant 1937 recording of his theme song "I Can't Get Started" from a 12-inch Victor 78:

I think that could be the best record ever made!

“Have You Ever Been in Heaven” (1937)

Just to keep things confusing, there was another 1937 quasi-all-star movie with “Merry-Go-Round” in the title, this one is “Manhattan Merry-Go-Round,” but this one was from Republic Pictures. 

The eclectic cast includes Gene Autry, who was under contract to Republic at the time, but also slugger Joe DiMaggio! An interesting footnote is that Joe met his first wife, Dorothy Arnold, on the set! 

The song “Have You Ever Been in Heaven” gets a very snappy treatment from trumpet star Bunny Berigan and his band with vocalist Gail Reese on Victor:

 

Two things I hear about Bunny’s band a lot are that although he’s brilliant, his band wasn’t so great and that it’s too bad he had to record so many pop songs that Victor foisted upon him. I say he had a great band and that I love hearing songs like this!