Word Association Wednesday: A Sweet Thing

For this week’s Word Association Wednesday spin‑off from “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing),” my wheels were turning around the word thing. I wanted something from roughly the same moment in time, and Ray Noble’s Love Is the Sweetest Thing popped right into my head.

The Sweetness Begins

Ray is in the white suit and Al is the far left.

Ray recorded the song in England in September 1932 for HMV with vocalist Al Bowlly:

That record came out in 1933 and became a big hit on both sides of the pond, cementing Ray’s reputation as a composer and bandleader.

Fun side note: HMV was especially good at pushing Noble’s catalog internationally - released here on Victor - one of those early examples of a label realizing they had a transatlantic star on their hands and packaging him accordingly.

Bowlly Adds the Verse

The wonderful Al Bowlly also recorded his own version without Ray Noble for British Decca:

Nice to hear the verse!

A Cinematic Sprinkle

The song also made its way into the 1932 British film Say It With Music, where bandleader/vocalist Jack Payne performed it — and he recorded it for the Imperial label as well:

Dig that awesome custom record label.

This Side of the Pond

Skinnay Ennis is at the drums.

To close, let’s sneak in an American version. Here’s Hal Kemp’s 1933 Brunswick recording with Skinnay Ennis on the vocal:

I love those Kemp/Ennis sides from the 1930s.

It’s also fun hearing this song bookended by two very different 1930s vocal personalities: Al Bowlly, all velvet warmth and romantic glow, and Skinnay Ennis, the king of the feather‑light, half‑smiling whisper. If Bowlly is a rich dessert, Skinnay is a meringue.

Ninety‑plus years later, you still can’t argue: Love Is the Sweetest Thing.