Fred and Ginger's Commercial Recordings for 'Top Hat'

I thought I might follow up my recent post of the Carefree commercial recordings with the singles from Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers' most famous film, 1935's Top Hat. 

As with Carefree, Fred and Ginger's records were done for two different companies, Brunswick (Fred) and Decca (Ginger). And as before, Astaire recorded more songs than Rogers - five to four.

Fred was, of course, a far more accomplished singer than Ginger, who could barely carry a tune. I will say that she seems more at ease here than she did three years later, at the Carefree sessions. Even so, her discs can be considered more souvenirs than masterworks of recording.

But who wouldn't want to have a chance to sing these glorious Irving Berlin tunes, written for the film. Both Astaire and Rogers have a go at the famous "Cheek to Cheek" and "The Piccolino," a novelty number that despite being set in Italy has a Latin beat. Ginger liberally rewrites the melodic line of "Cheek to Cheek."

There also are separate recordings of "No Strings," which in the film marks the nadir of the two's relationship. Both also do "Isn't This a Lovely Day," which accompanies their reconciliation. It's one of Berlin's best songs and Astaire's best vocals - also a good effort by Rogers.

The only song recorded by Fred but not by Ginger was, logically, "Top Hat," another iconic Astaire number. Both this number and "No Strings" include the sound of his remarkably rhythmic dancing.

For "Isn't This a Lovely Day" and "Top Hat" Fred is accompanied by Johnny Green, who in his mid-20s was already a well-known songwriter and a popular bandleader who backed Astaire both on records and the radio.

"Isn't This a Lovely Day?"

Astaire's other songs were conducted by Leo Reisman, who made a great many records in the 1920s and 30s. (FYI - the flip side of Astaire's "The Piccolino" is a Reisman instrumental, not from the film and not included here.)

Rogers' backings were by Decca bandleader Victor Young, who would soon relocate to Hollywood and find greater fame in the movies.

According to the Discography of American Historical Recordings, the Rogers 78s were issued only in England. I had to work from lossy originals for her recordings of "Isn't This a Lovely Day" and "No Strings." All other items were cleaned up from lossless originals found on Internet Archive. The sound is in general quite good.

The download includes many posters, lobby cards and stills from the film. 

The great Top Hat ensemble - Edward Everett Horton, Helen Broderick, Eric Blore, Ginger and Fred, Erik Rhodes

Bing in Hawaii (and Iceland)

This is a tale of four locales - Hawaii, Hollywood, England and Iceland. They all pertain to the Bing Crosby picture-label 78 shown at right.

As you can see at right, the Hawaii location is the setting of The Groaner's 1937 flick Waikiki Wedding, produced of course in Hollywood. Leo Robin and Ralph Rainger wrote the tune "Blue Hawaii" for the film. Bing sang it with the wonderful Shirley Ross on the screen. For shellac purposes, he did a solo with Lani McIntire and His Hawaiians. McIntire was a steel guitar whiz who earned his island cred as a member of the legendary Sol Ho'opi'i Trio. "Blue Hawaii," although popular at the time, didn't really make a lasting impression on the public until murmured by Elvis Presley in the 1961 film of the same name.

Waikiki Wedding's big hit, which won an Academy Award, was "Sweet Leilani," a Harry Owens tune that Bing insisted on using in the film over the producer's objections. Owens led the band at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Honolulu, where Crosby first heard the number. On the commercial record, Bing cedes the first two vocal choruses to unnamed vocalists, presumably from the McIntyre ensemble.

Lobby card: Martha Raye and Shirley Ross flank Bing

Bing waxed two other songs from the score, both Robin-Rainger efforts. Victor Young provided the backing on "Sweet Is the Word for You"; Jimmy Dorsey handled "In a Little Hula Heaven." Young, Dorsey and McIntire were all on the payroll at Decca, where Crosby was the chief money-maker.

This post is designed to show off the nifty picture labels that Decca affiliate Brunswick slapped on the lacquer for sale in England and probably other markets. I found my copy in a interesting shop in Iceland, of all places. Brunswick issued two such 78s for Waikiki Wedding, and two additional discs for Bing's songs from Double or Nothing, also from 1937. I only have the "Blue Hawaii"/"Sweet Is the Word for You" coupling, alas. I'm not sure if Decca in the US employed a similar picture-label scheme, but I've never seen an example, if so.

My 78, visually mint, was almost unplayable. So I pulled out one of Decca's "Bing in Hollywood" reissue LPs from the 1960s and transferred the four Waikiki Wedding songs from that source. All are in the download.

Now that this blog has made a dramatic return to life, I'll see if I can locate a 78 or two by Crosby's co-star, Shirley Ross. Watch this space, just not too intently.