"The Music Goes 'Round and Around" (1936)

On the subject of Betty Boop, let's hear another one of the songs that Betty's cartoon mouthpiece, Mae Questel, cut for Decca Records!

This time it's not a Shirley Temple movie song, but the current (1936) song sensation "The Music Goes 'Round and Around!"

Here's Mae with wacky extra verses and all:

That's a blast as expected, but the intriguing thing is that the backing is by Red Norvo's band!

Love that xylophone!

"Betty Boop" (1932)

We just heard the theme song of Popeye the Sailor, so let's back up a couple of years to 1932 where we run into another star from the Max Fleischer cartoon studio - Betty Boop!

Popeye's screen debut in 1933 was actually in a cartoon entitled "Popeye the Sailor" from the Betty Boop series. Kind of like a backdoor pilot!

Betty's theme gets a snappy treatment from Phil Spitalny (in the days before he lead his all-girl orchestra) on this cut from a Hit of the Week record:

Lots of fun with the Eton Boys on the vocals!

Kind of a follow-up to the earlier HotW record of another Betty (Co-Ed) from the Spitalny boys!

I had mentioned Hit of the Week records before, how you got two songs on one side of a Durium disc for 15¢ in an attempt to stimulate records sales during those dark days of the Depression.

I would never want to shortchange anyone, so let's hear the other cut from that record, "Lullaby of the Leaves" again from Mr. Spitalny, this time with vocalist Ben Alley:

I know 15¢ was a lot of money in 1932, but I think I would've been satisfied, especially if Arthur Murray really supervised the tempo!

"I'm Popeye the Sailor Man" (1934)

Since we’re talking about Popeye in 1934, let’s hear this commercial recording of his theme song from his Paramount cartoons by his voice at the time, Billy Costello:

 

That’s a lot of fun!

“Did You Ever See a Dream Walking” (1933) - Part 4!

No review of the 1933 song “Did You Ever See a Dream Walking” from Paramount’s “Sitting Pretty” is complete without a shoutout to the brilliant Popeye cartoon “A Dream Walking” from 1934! 

The song is featured prominently as Popeye and Bluto fight over who’s going to rescue the sleepwalking Olive Oyl as she wanders into the construction site of skyscraper.

This is only the 14th entry in the Popeye series, but the Fleischer studio is already hitting on all cylinders with these cartoons! 

A real gem!

“Did You Ever See a Dream Walking” (1933) - Part 3!

While we’re listening to the song “Have You Ever Seen a Dream Walking” from Paramount’s “Sitting Pretty” from 1933, let’s hear this terrific version by Paramount star Bing Crosby on Brunswick Records:

 

Tough to beat Bing!

“Did You Ever See a Dream Walking” (1933) - Part 2!

Also performing in Paramount’s 1933 picture “Sitting Pretty” was the popular radio act the Pickens Sisters! 

Although they didn’t sing “Did You Ever See a Dream Walking” in the movie, they did record the song for Victor Records:

 

Great version! There are a couple of interesting things about the label: The movie is shown as “Sittin’ Pretty” and a question mark is added to the song title, which is better grammar than the sheet music employs! Plus a helpful note that the girls are from Georgia!

 

“Did You Ever See a Dream Walking” (1933)

Back in 1933, we come across the wonderful Mack Gordon/Harry Revel song “Did You Ever See a Dream Walking” from the Paramount picture “Sitting Pretty” starring Jack Oakie, Jack Haley and Ginger Rogers. 

It’s a fun movie with the two Jacks playing songwriters trying to break into movies. 

I’m very partial to 1930s movies that have a show biz background and this one has some good-natured swipes at the movie biz!

Also featured is Thelma Todd as a temperamental actress. Thelma is probably best-remembered as having died under mysterious circumstances in 1935, but she’s a delightful presence in quite a few 1930s movies! 

“Did You Ever See a Dream Walking” was sung by Art Jarrett and Ginger as part of an enormous production number à la Busby Berkley. 

Neither Art nor Ginger recorded it commercially, but a bunch of artists did! 

Here’s a snappy budget label version by Gene Kardos and his Orchestra with a vocal from the prolific Chick Bullock:

 

Such a nice mid-1930s flavor!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

In keeping with the situation, we need some turkey!

The great conductor André Kostelanetz serves us up some with this 1938 recording of "Turkey in the Straw" on Brunswick Records:

Have a great day!

"Page Miss Glory" (1935) - Part 2!

“Page Miss Glory” was not only the title of a Warner Brothers feature from 1935, it was also the title of a Warner Brothers cartoon from 1936 in the Merrie Melodies series (although “Page” is in tiny letters)!

The cartoon is an early effort from legendary director Tex Avery and features some cool stylized art deco, or moderne art, as it were, designs!

Pretty fun!

"Page Miss Glory" (1935)

Back to 1935, we have this striking sheet music for tile song from the Warner Brothers film “Page Miss Glory” featuring Marion Davies! 

Based on the sheet music, you’d barely know that Dick Powell was in the film, but he was and he sang the title song. 

Here’s Hal Kemp’s band with vocalist Skinnay Ennis with their version for Brunswick Records:

 

Typically charming mid-1930s charm from the Kemp/Ennis combo!

"Robins and Roses" (1936)

It’s Knapp Time! 

We heard Orville Knapp and his Orchestra with “Accent on Youth” a few days ago, which puts me in the mood for more! 

So, here’s Orville Knapp with “Robins and Roses,” his biggest hit, featuring Leighton Noble on the vocal for Brunswick Records:

 

Singer Leighton Noble led the band for a bit after Orville’s untimely death but was replaced by veteran bandleader George Olsen. 

I know Leighton best for his role as the romantic lead in the Abbott & Costello movie “It Ain’t Hay” from 1943!

"Accent on Youth" (1935) Part 2!

For another version of the title song from the 1935 Paramount picture “Accent on Youth,” we move about as far away from the band of Orville Knapp as possible: to the band of Duke Ellington! 

Here’s Duke’s instrumental take on Brunswick Records:

 

Sounds good!

 

"Accent on Youth" (1935)

We go back to 1935 for the relatively obscure Paramount release “Accent on Youth” starring Sylvia Sidney and Herbert Marshall! 

Here’s the title song as recorded on Decca Records by Orville Knapp and his Orchestra with Norman Ruvell:

 

I’m fascinated by Orville Knapp’s band and this record in particular. I think it’s because it seems so overly stylized in a sweet band way that it’s awesome! 

Orville was sadly killed in an airplane accident in 1936. I wonder if he would have adapted his band to a more modern sound if he had lived.

"Dust" (1938) - Part 2!

Of course, we need to hear Roy Rogers himself singing "Dust," the big song from his 1938 debut starring movie "Under Western Stars" from Republic Pictures!

So, here he is on Vocalion Records (part of the Brunswick label family) with his own snazzy label:

He showed he was the goods right from the start!

Roy got the chance to make the movie due to superstar singing cowboy Gene Autry's salary beef with Republic (note Gene's usual sidekick Smiley Burnette getting prominent billing on the lobby card at the top). 

Gene settled with Republic and continued to make movies for them, but the studio gave Roy his own series as well (with sidekick Gabby Hayes), so Western fans wound up the winners!

Fun fact: Roy used his birth name of Leonard Slye when he was a member of The Sons of the Pioneers, but when he signed with Republic Pictures, they changed his name to Dick Weston. But when they cast in him in the lead in "Under Western Stars," they re-named him Roy Rogers!

So, ever so briefly, the future cowboy superstar was known as Dick Weston!

"Dust" (1938)

Before the holiday, we ran into Smith Ballew as a singing cowboy, so let's visit the King of the Cowboys, Roy Rogers!

From Roy's first starring feature for Republic Pictures, "Under Western Stars," comes Johnny Marvin's Oscar-nominated song "Dust" from 1938!

As the sheet music helpfully points out, the song was recorded by Horace Heidt and his Brigadiers. Here they are with vocalist Larry Cotton on Brunswick Records:

Snazzy label there!

I'm not a huge Heidt fan on the whole, but this one catches the right vibe!

"On the Sunny Side of the Rockies" (1937) - Part 3!

Here's one more version of "On the Sunny Side of the Rockies" from the Smith Ballew movie "Roll Along, Cowboy" from 20th Century Fox!

It's an instrumental by longtime British bandleader Joe Loss:

Very nice, but remember - it's strict dance tempo!

"On the Sunny Side of the Rockies" (1937) - Part 2!

Now let's hear Smith Ballew himself sing "On the Sunny Side of the Rockies" from his 1937 Fox film "Roll Along, Cowboy" on Decca:

He could really sing!

"On the Sunny Side of the Rockies" (1937)

Let's continue along with Smith Ballew as he stars in the 1937 feature "Roll Along, Cowboy" for 20th Century Fox!

Smith sang "On the Sunny Side of the Rockies" in the picture and did record the song, but before we get to his record, we'll listen to a dance band version, as usual!

Here are the Southern Serenaders on Bluebird:

I get the impression that's a studio group only with a vocal by Jimmy Ray, who sometimes pops up as a leader on Bluebird!

Kind of dated for 1937, I would say, but fun!

"Will I Ever Know" (1936) - Part 2!

As mentioned yesterday, Frances Langford did get the chance to record "Will I Ever Know" from Paramount's "Palm Springs" from 1936!

So, here's her Decca record with backing from Victor Young:

So nice!

"Will I Ever Know" (1936)

I had mentioned earlier that Smith Ballew's good looks led the singer to a movie career, so here we have him co-starred with fellow singer Frances Langford in Paramount's "Palm Springs" from 1936!

Nice looking couple!

Frances sang the song "Will I Ever Know" in the movie and did record the song, but let's listen to Tommy Dorsey's Victor recording with vocalist Edythe Wright:

I really like Edythe Wright!

"I Love You So Much" (1930) - Part 2!

I mentioned that Smith Ballew was a prolific session singer, which is probably an understatement!

He was so prolific, in fact, that he sometimes recorded different versions of the same song for different labels under different names!

As a case in point, here's another version of "I Love You So Much" (from 1930's "The Cuckoos") recorded under his own name on the Okeh label:

Totally different from the California Ramblers version and it's nice to hear the verse!

In addition to being an excellent singer, Smith Ballew was also tall, dark and handsome, so it's no wonder he started making movies!

"I Love You So Much" (1930)

We left off in 1930, so let's stay for a moment to enjoy another Kalmar & Ruby song from a Wheeler & Woolsey movie!

The movie is "The Cuckoos," which was the boys' first starring feature for RKO after they had made a hit as supporting players in the previous year's "Rio Rita."

Also coming over from "Rio Rita" was Dorothy Lee, who continued to serve as Bert Wheeler's love interest in most of W & W's subsequent features.

Dorothy looks mighty cute on the sheet music for the song "I Love You So Much," which she and Bert sang in the movie.

Here's a pretty snappy version on Columbia Records by the California Ramblers:

The vocal is by the Campus Trio, which included prolific session vocalist Smith Ballew!

I think it's fun that both the sheet music and the record label point out that the movie in question is a talkie! That was big in 1930!

"To-Morrow is Another Day" (1937) - Part 2!

For another version of "To-Morrow is Another Day" from 1937's MGM feature "A Day at the Races," we welcome back Ted Fio Rito and his Orchestra and vocalist Muzzy Marcellino on Decca Records:

Much snappier tempo here!

Of note is that Ted Fio Rito had recorded another song with the same title for Victor Records in 1930:

That song is from the Warner Brothers film "Big Boy," but I won't share the sheet music as it features star Al Jolson in his typical makeup of the period.

I like the band arrangement, but Billy White's vocal sounds awfully dated, even for 1930. I think Muzzy Marcellino's arrival a few years later was an upgrade!

"To-Morrow is Another Day" (1937)

We return to the Marx Brothers with their second movie for MGM, "A Day at the Races" from 1937!

I agree with the prevailing opinion that it's not as good as their previous picture, "A Night at the Opera" although it has some very funny scenes. It drags more than "Opera" when the Brothers aren't onscreen and is just a bit too long.

In any event, Allan Jones is back as the pseudo-Zeppo character and one of the songs he sings is "To-Morrow is Another Day."

Here's a budget label version by Vincent Travers and his Orchestra:

I see a reference on YouTube that vocalist Buddy Blaisdell is actually Jimmy Blair, but I can't find any other confirmation. A comparison definitely indicates they do sound alike!

As for the song, it's interesting that the sheet music uses the now-archaic spelling of "To-Morrow" in the title!

And did Scarlett O'Hara hear the song somewhere?