Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

By Hugh Martin & Ralph Blane
1944

One of the most popular and performed Christmas songs of all time, this beauty was written for Judy Garland to sing in the musical film Meet Me in St. Louis. The lyrics at the time were quite morose, but a 1957 version by Frank Sinatra modified the lyrics a bit, and these lyrics have been the more commonly heard ones to this day. A sad Christmas song, it was also composed during World War II, and so echoed the sentiments of many families who would be without certain members serving overseas during the holiday season. A touching, warm, and very real and human modern carol.

Lyrics:

(Original)

Have yourself a merry little Christmas,
Let your heart be light,
Next year all our troubles will be
out of sight,
So have yourself, a merry little Christmas time.

Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Make the yule-tide gay
Next year all our troubles will be
miles away,
Have yourself a merry little Christmas Day.

Once again as in olden days
Happy golden days of yore
Faithful friends who were near to us
Will be dear to us once more
Someday soon, we all will be together
If the Fates allow
Until then, we'll have to muddle through somehow
So have yourself a merry little Christmas now.

(Modern)

Have yourself a merry little christmas,
Let your heart be light
From now on, our troubles will be out of sight

Have yourself a merry little christmas,
Make the yule-tide gay,
From now on, our troubles will be miles away

[Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas lyrics on http://www.elyricsworld.com]

Here were are as in olden days,
Happy golden days of yore.
Faithful friends who are dear to us
Gather near to us once more.

Through the years we all will be together
If the fates allow
Hang a shining star upon the highest bough.
And have yourself a merry little Christmas now.

Recorded By:

Jackie Gleason
Connie Francis
Ella Fitzgerald
The Carpenters
The Muppets

A very, very Merry Christmas from Standard of the Day...

I Could Have Danced All Night

By Alan Jay Lerner & Frederick Loewe
1956

One of the signature songs from Lerner & Loewe's great musical, My Fair Lady. It was introduced on stage by Julie Andrews as Eliza Doolittle, singing rapturously of her growing love for Prof. Higgins. It was reprised in the film version, with star Audrey Hepburn dubbed with the voice of vocalist Marni Nixon. A beautiful sampling of the type of material being put out during the golden age of the Hollywood musical.

Lyrics:

I could have danced all night!
I could have danced all night!
And still have begged for more.

I could have spread my wings,
And done a thousand things
I've never done before.

I'll never know what made it so exciting,
Why all at once my heart took flight.

I only know when he
Began to dance with me,
I could have danced, danced danced all night!

Recorded By:

Sylvia Syms
Dinah Shore
Frank Sinatra
Rosemary Clooney
Petula Clark

Stardust

By Hoagy Carmichael & Mitchell Parish
1927

In honor of my grandfather, who passed away on December 4, I give you the single most popular standard of all time, and one of his very favorite songs. Composed on an old upright piano at the Keuka Hotel on Keuka Lake in New York, this unusual melody was based by Carmichael on the idiosyncratic stylings of trumpeter Bix Beiderbecke. Carmichael himself was the first to record it, together with the Dorsey brothers. Parish joined Carmichael to come up with the lyrics two years later, making it "a love song about a love song," as Hoagy would characterize it. It was Isham Jones who turned it into a ballad in 1930, and from there it became one of the most recorded songs of all time. In fact, during the big band era, it was the most recorded pop songs, period--more than 1,500 versions are believed to exist.

With its gorgeous verse and a complex refrain, Stardust is the ultimate American standard, and I happily dedicate it to the memory of Anthony Salica.

Lyrics:

And now the purple dusk of twilight time steals across the meadows of my heart.
High up in the sky, the little stars climb, always reminding me that we're apart.
You wander down the lane and far away, leaving a smile that will not die.
Love is now the stardust of yesterday; the music of the years gone by...

Sometime I wonder why I spend the lonely night
Dreaming of a song.
The melody haunts my reverie,
And I am once again with you,
When our love was new, and each kiss an inspiration.
But that was long ago, and now my consolation
Is in the stardust of a song.

Beside a garden wall where stars are bright,
You are in my arms.
The nightingale tells his fairytale,
Of paradise where roses bloom.
Though I dream in vain,
In my heart you will remain,
My stardust memory...the melody of love's refrain.

Recorded By:

Louis Armstrong
Nat King Cole
Artie Shaw
John Coltrane
Ella Fitzgerald

Remembering WNEW... and My Grandfather

About a month ago, I got to thinking a lot about WNEW-AM, the legendary New York radio station that in many ways spawned my love for the great American standards. This month marked 19 years that the station has been off the air, since being unceremoniously replaced by Bloomberg Radio right around the time I started college. I was largely exposed to it because of my grandfather, Tony Salica, who had listened to it pretty much every day of his life from when it first went on the air in 1934. And so I got to planning a tribute to WNEW for Standard of the Day.

Less than two weeks ago, my grandfather passed away. Thus, what I had originally envisioned as an ode to a great radio station now becomes an ode to the man who shared it with me.

He was a man who rubbed shoulders with Frank Sinatra and Muhammad Ali. Who received toys from Babe Ruth as a kid. Who saw Billie Holiday in concert at the Apollo Theater. And speaking of Sinatra, my grandfather idolized the man, and his music will always remind me of him because of that. In fact, WNEW was known for years as the "station of Sinatra", which is a big part of why my grandfather loved it so much.

My grandfather's love of Sinatra was legendary within my family. He worshiped him with a level of adoration that's impossible to overstate--an admiration that bordered on filial love. And beyond Sinatra, he had a passion for his kind of music--the big bands of the '40s and the vocal pop that dominated "grown-up music" from the post-war era right up to the British Invasion. To say his love of that music rubbed off on me would be quite an understatement--it permeated my childhood, becoming a soothing background soundtrack to my life. I moved away from it as a teenager, gravitating toward alternative and classic rock, but came back to my roots as a mature adult.



My grandfather was a man who loved his family more than anything in the world. There was nothing that brought him greater delight than watching my sister and I grow up, and later his great-grandchildren Layla and Jack, who quite literally meant the world to him. For me, he was like a second father. He taught me how to be a man, and making him proud is one of the greatest accomplishments of my life. Today, I cherish the sounds that he passed on to me, and happily pass them on to my own children.

The main conduit my grandfather had for his kind of music was, of course, WNEW. From 1934, it was the New York City radio station, listened to on a daily basis by him and the rest of the Depression/World War II generation. It remained the dominant station in the city for a good 30 years, until the youth culture of the 1960s changed the course of popular music, forcing WNEW to become a "nostalgia" station, catering more and more to a niche listenership of aging New Yorkers.

My grandparents happened to be among those aging New Yorkers, and not a day went by that they didn't listen to WNEW in their car, or on the little transistor radio my grandfather carried around with him everywhere. As kids, my sister and I would ride around with them on regular weekend excursions, meaning we were exposed to the sounds of WNEW all the time.

I look back fondly on those trips now, as a formative part of my life. We'd usually head over the Verrazano Bridge to Staten Island, visiting our Aunt Stella, the Staten Island Mall, Richmondtown Restoration (which we called "The Birds and the Bees"), or a combination of the three. And as we did so, WNEW would be heard in the background, the thrilling voices of Ella Fitzgerald, Dinah Washington, Dean Martin, Judy Garland, Nat King Cole, Mel Torme and so many others accompanying us as my grandfather got inevitably lost driving around those idyllic suburban Staten Island backroads.



There was the Make-Believe Ballroom, hosted by William B. Williams. Also, my grandfather's personal favorite show, hosted by the great Jonathan Schwartz. My grandfather loved listening to him talk, even if he didn't always understand what the hell he was talking about. And who could forget that classic station jingle... "Double-You..En-Ee-Double-You...Eleven-Three-Oh in New Yooork..."

But most of all there was Sinatra. His warm, cello-like voice filling that Persian blue 1976 Buick Century like a cool, refreshing breeze. My grandfather would revel in the Sinatra A-Z, a days-long celebration playing every single recording the man ever made. He had this uncanny ability to name a Sinatra song within the first couple notes of the arrangement, and he always knew every word.

Like Sinatra, I think we all just thought he would live forever. That’s why Sunday night, December 4 was still a shock, even though we knew he was very sick with ALS. He had been unconscious for a few hours when my mom called me to come down and see him. And ten minutes after I got there, he passed gently and quietly in his sleep. I can’t help but think he was waiting for me. As he lay there peacefully, I put my cellphone on his pillow and played Sinatra's "Put Your Dreams Away" on YouTube. I know he would've considered that the perfect sendoff, even if he never quite understood why I carried that stupid thing around with me all the time.

Through it all, the music was still intertwined with my grandfather, in death as in life. When the funeral parlor asked me to select some songs to use for a DVD montage of my grandfather's old photographs, let's just say I had no trouble at all. I wish he could watch that DVD with me, just like I wish he could've seen his great-granddaughter sing "Pennies from Heaven" at his service--verse and all. I suppose, however, that he's still been watching us after all, as is evidenced by the pennies we've been finding everywhere for the past couple of weeks.

My grandfather left me with a great many things, but most pertinent to this website, and to what I'm writing about today, he left me with a rich, deep love for the greatest American music ever made. It was the only type of music he ever took seriously, and although I try to be a bit more broad-minded in my own tastes, I will confess to a healthy dose of the musical snobbery he proudly engendered in me.

I can remember his profound sense of loss when WNEW-AM went off the air on December 11, 1992, after many years of dwindling ratings (ironically, the very years during which I was discovering the station.) Much of the staff and management immediately started up their own independent station, 1560 WQEW, but it only lasted for six years, going under mere months after Sinatra's own death--a telling sign of the times if ever there was one. It was the end of an era, and these days the sounds of the great American songbook are no longer heard on New York City airwaves.



My grandfather lived long enough to see his music get shifted into the "Easy Listening" bin and moved aside to make way for the amateur screeches and flimsy compositions of angry young boys in their parents' garages. He watched it fade, just as I watched him fade over the past few years. And now, my grandfather, like WNEW, is gone. But also like WNEW, it is only his physical presence that is truly gone, as the memories of both are kept alive in my heart, in my memories, and in Standard of the Day.

Because without Tony Salica and WNEW, this website would not exist. I never got the chance to show it to him, but I'm sure he would've loved my own little "Make-Believe Ballroom"...

Where Are You?

By Jimmy McHugh & Harold Adamson
1936

A delightfully moving composition from the McHugh/Adamson team that also gave us such songs as "I Couldn't Sleep a Wink Last Night" and "A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening". A favorite of the early Depression years, it was introduced by Gertrude Niesen (pictured) in 1937, and shortly followed by a slew of other artists. Its lilting melody and plaintive lyrics are typical of the era, and the song was admired so much by Frank Sinatra that in 1957 it became the only standard song to ever title one of his albums.

Lyrics:

Where are you
Where have you gone without me
I thought you cared about me
Where are you

Where's my heart
Where is the dream we started
I can't believe we're parted
Where are you

When we said good-bye love
What had we to gain
When I gave you my love
Was it all in vain

All life through
Must I go on pretending
Where is my happy ending
Where are you

Recorded By:

Aretha Franklin
Johnny Mathis
Jack Teagarden
Sonny Rollins
Dinah Washington

Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart

By James F. Hanley
1934

From the Broadway revue Thumbs Up! comes this irresistible tune originally introduced by Hal Le Roy and Eunice Healey. The most famous recording would have to be the one made by Judy Garland, who made it one of her signature songs. Interestingly enough, Frank Sinatra recorded it for his 1960 album Ring-a-Ding-Ding!, but the recording was cut because the tempo didn't match the rest of the tracks. It was finally released on a deluxe CD box set decades later.

Lyrics:

Never could carry a tune, never knew where to start
You came along when everything was wrong and put a song in my heart

Dear when you smiled at me, I heard a melody
It haunted me from the start
Something inside of me started a symphony
Zing! Went the strings of my heart

'Twas like a breath of spring, I heard a robin sing
About a nest set apart
All nature seemed to be in perfect harmony
Zing! Went the strings of my heart

Your eyes made skies seem blue again
What else could I do again
But keep repeating through and through
"I love you, love you"

I still recall the thrill, guess I always will
I hope 'twill never depart
Dear, with your lips to mine, a rhapsody devine
Zing! Went the strings of my heart

Recorded By:

The Trammps
The Coasters
Billy Eckstine
Chet Baker
June Christy

Some Enchanted Evening

By Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein II
1949

One of the most recognized of all Rodgers & Hammerstein compositions, it was introduced in the classic musical South Pacific by Italian operatic bass Ezio Pinza, who became a mainstream American favorite because of it. Hammerstein's lyric expresses a carpe diem attitude through a series of action verbs, and Rodgers melody is gorgeous as usual. A touch on the schmaltzy side, but then again, that's Rodgers & Hammerstein, after all.

Lyrics:

Some enchanted evening
You may see a stranger,
you may see a stranger
Across a crowded room
And somehow you know,
You know even then
That somewhere you'll see her
Again and again.

Some enchanted evening
Someone may be laughin',
You may hear her laughin'
Across a crowded room
And night after night,
As strange as it seems
The sound of her laughter
Will sing in your dreams.

Who can explain it?
Who can tell you why?
Fools give you reasons,
Wise men never try.

Some enchanted evening
When you find your true love,
When you feel her call you
Across a crowded room,
Then fly to her side,
And make her your own
Or all through your life you
May dream all alone.

Once you have found her,
Never let her go.
Once you have found her,
Never let her go!

Recorded By:

Perry Como
Frank Sinatra
Jo Stafford
Bing Crosby
Al Jolson

I'm Yours

By Johnny Green & E.Y. "Yip" Harburg
1930

For the 400th post here at Standard of the Day, I give you this warm and innocent ballad, written by one-time Ethel Merman accompanist, bandleader and pianist Johnny Green (pictured), who dedicated it to his wife Bonnie. His lyricist was long-time Harold Arlen collaborator E.Y. Harburg. Green is best known for "Body and Soul", which along with this song was one of his first two compositions, written at age 22 after deciding to disobey his father, drop out of military school and pursue music. It was introduced by the great Ruth Etting.

Lyrics:

Ask the sky above
And ask the earth below
Why I'm so in love
And why I love you so
Couldn't tell you though I tried do
Just why I'm yours.

When you went away
You left a glowing spark
Trying to be gay as
Whistling in the dark
I am only what you make me
Come take me
I'm yours

How can I happy
I would be to beg or borrow
For sorrow
With you
Even though I knew
Tomorrow
You'd say we were through.

If we drift apart
Then I'll be lost and alone
Though you use my heart
Just for a steppin' stone
How can I help dreaming of you
I love you
I'm yours

Recorded By:

Ruth Etting
Billie Holiday
Bert Lown Orchestra
Artie Shaw Orchestra
Dean Martin

What Is This Thing Called Love?

By Cole Porter
1929

A mournful dirge by the great Porter for the musical Wake Up and Dream, in which it was introduced in London by Elsie Carlisle (pictured). Porter was known for his bouncy, light-hearted highs and desolate lows. This would be an example of the latter, and its soulful, introspective nature made it a natural for the jazz artists who discovered it in the 1930s and beyond. In fact, several jazz compositions, including "Fifth House" by John Coltrane and "Barry's Bop" by Fats Navarro, are based on the chord structure of this song.

Lyrics:

I was a humdrum person,
Leading a life apart.
When love flew in through my window wide,
And quickened my humdrum heart.

Love flew in through my window,
I was so happy then.
But after love had stayed a little while,
Love flew out again.

What is this thing called love?
This funny thing called love?
Just who can solve its mystery?
Why should it make a fool of me?

I saw you there one wonderful day.
You took my heart, and threw it away.
That's why I ask the Lord in heaven above,
What is this thing called love?

Recorded By:

Frank Sinatra
Billie Holiday
Ella Fitzgerald
Bill Evans
Coleman Hawkins

Georgia on My Mind

By Hoagy Carmichael & Stuart Gorrell
1930

One of the pillars of the Great American Songbook, penned by one of its most underrated tunesmiths. Writing primarily for Tin Pan Alley and not the stage, Carmichael was often looked down upon in comparison to other songwriters, but this and "Stardust" are not only his unquestioned masterpieces, they are two of the finest pieces of popular music ever created. Hoagy himself introduced the song on record, accompanied by legendary cornet player Bix Beiderbecke in what would be Bix's final recording session. Today, it is most associated with the Ray Charles rendition, recorded some 30 years later.

* This post is dedicated to Standard of the Day supporter Judy Segor.

Lyrics:

Georgia, Georgia,
The whole day through.
Just an old sweet song
Keeps Georgia on my mind.

Georgia, Georgia,
The song of you
Come as sweet and clear
As moonlight through the pines.

Other arms reach out to me,
Others eyes smile tenderly.
Still in peaceful dreams I see
The road leads back to you.

Georgia, Georgia,
No peace I find.
Just an old sweet song,
Keeps Georgia on my mind.

Recorded By:

Ray Charles
Willie Nelson
Lou Rawls
Anita O'Day
Jerry Lee Lewis

It's Alright With Me

By Cole Porter
1953

One of the very most sophisticated compositions by the songbook's most sophisticated composer. This gem was written for Porter's 1953 musical Can-Can, in which it was introduced by Peter Cookson. Porter's melody line virtually embodies a combination of smoldering longing and wistful regret, as the lyric expresses the subject's acceptance of his attraction to the object of his desire, even though he admits that he is still in love with someone else. A complex and beautiful song.

Lyrics:

It's the wrong time and the wrong place
Though your face is charming, it's the wrong face
It's not her face, but such a charming face
And it's alright with me

It's the wrong song with the wrong style
Though your smile is lovely, it's the wrong smile
It's not her smile, but such a lovely smile
That it's alright with me

You can't know how happy I am we met
I'm strangely attracted to you
There's someone I'm trying so hard to forget
Don't you wanna forget someone too

It's the wrong game with the wrong chips
Though your lips are tempting, they're the wrong lips
They're not her lips, but they're such tempting lips
That it's all right with me

Recorded By:

Frank Sinatra
Ella Fitzgerald
Tom Waits
Mel Torme
Erroll Garner

Always True to You in My Fashion

By Cole Porter
1948

Perhaps one of the master's greatest and cleverest compositions, with a lyric that never ceases to elicit amusement and exude effortless charm. It was written for Porter's celebrated musical Kiss Me, Kate, in which it was introduced by Broadway standout Lisa Kirk. The combination of sophistication and underlying naughtiness is the epitome of Porter's body of work.

Lyrics (extended stage version):

Oh, Bill
Why can't you behave
Why can't you behave?
How in hell can you be jealous
When you know, baby, I'm your slave?
I'm just mad for you
And I'll always be
But naturally.....

If a custom-tailored vet
Asks me out for something wet
When the vet begins to pet, I cry "hooray!"
But I'm always true to you, darlin', in my fashion
Yes, I'm always true to you, darlin', in my way

I enjoy a tender pass
By the boss of Boston, Mass
Though his pass is middle-class and not Backa Bay
But I'm always true to you, darlin', in my fashion
Yes, I'm always true to you, darlin' in my way

There's a madman known as Mack
Who is planning to attack
If his mad attack means a Cadillac, okay!
But I'm always true to to you, darlin', in my fashion
Yes, I'm always true to you, darlin' in my way

I've been asked to have a meal
By a big tycoon in steel
If the meal includes a deal, accept I may
But I'm always true to you, darlin', in my fashion
Yes, I'm always true to you, Darlin' in my way

I could never curl my lip
To a dazzlin' diamond clip
Though the clip meant "Let 'er rip", I'd not say "Nay!"
But I'm always true to to you, darlin, in my fashion
Yes, I'm always true to you, darlin' in my way

There's an oil man known as "Tex"
Who is keen to give me checks
And his checks, I fear, mean that sex is here to stay!
But I'm always true to you, darlin', in my fashion
Yes, I'm always true to you, darlin' in my way

There's a wealthy Hindu priest
Who's a wolf, to say the least
When the priest goes too far East, I also stray
But I'm always true to to you, darlin', in my fashion
Yes, I'm always true to you, darlin'in my way

There's a lush from Portland, Ore
Who is rich but such a bore
When the bore falls on the floor, I let him lay
But I'm always true to to you, darlin', in my fashion
Yes, I'm always true to you, darlin',in my way

Mister Harris, plutocrat
Wants to give my cheek a pat
If the Harris pat means a Paris hat, Bébé, Oo-la-la!
Mais je suis toujours fidele, darlin', in my fashion
Oui, je suis toujours fidele, darlin', in my way

From Ohio, Mister Thorne
Calls me up from night 'til morn
Mister Thorne once corner'd corn and that ain't hay
But I'm always true to to you, darlin', in my fashion
Yes, I'm always true to you, darlin', in my way

From Milwaukee, Mister Fritz
Often moves me to the Ritz
Mister Fritz is full of Schlitz and full of play
But I'm always true to to you, darlin', in my fashion
Yes, I'm always true to you, darlin', in my way

Mister Gable, I mean Clark
Wants me on his boat to park
If the Gable boat means a sable coat, anchors aweigh!
But I'm always true to to you, darlin', in my fashion
Yes, I'm always true to you, darlin', in my way

Recorded By:

Blossom Dearie
Ella Fitzgerald
Della Reese
Eartha Kitt
Peggy Lee & George Shearing

Unforgettable

By Irving Gordon
1951

Perhaps one of the most enduring of all standards, still commonly known today by people of all ages, mainly thanks to the recording by Nat King Cole. It was Cole who introduced the song in 1951, re-recorded it in stereo ten years later, and with whom it has always been identified. His version was famously edited in 1991 into a posthumous "duet" with his daughter Natalie, which won the Grammy for Best Recording. Sadly, that version also amended the fine Nelson Riddle arrangement to including a cheesy sax solo in place of Riddle's trademark shimmering strings.

Lyrics:

Unforgettable
That's what you are,
Unforgettable
Tho' near or far.

Like a song of love that clings to me,
How the thought of you does things to me.
Never before
Has someone been more...

Unforgettable
In every way,
And forever more
That's how you'll stay.

That's why, darling, it's incredible
That someone so unforgettable
Thinks that I am
Unforgettable, too.

Recorded By:

Dick Hyman
Dinah Washington
Sammy Davis Jr.
Marvin Gaye
Lou Rawls

Ain't We Got Fun?

By Richard A. Whiting, Raymond B. Egan & Gus Kahn
1920

A classic foxtrot composition that became one of the theme songs of the Roaring '20s, as well as the Depression Era. It was introduced on stage in the revue Satires of 1920, but achieved even greater stature on the vaudeville circuit and in recordings. In particular, it has been immortalized by the recording by the great Eddie Cantor, and was even mentioned in F. Scott's Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. An uplifting ode to carefree living, it both epitomized the Jazz Decade, and raised the spirits of those who fell on hard times afterward.

Lyrics:

Bill collectors gather 'round and rather
Haunt the cottage next door
Men the grocer and butcher sent
Men who call for the rent
But within a happy chappy
And his bride of only a year
Seem to be so cheerful, here's an earful
Of the chatter you hear

Ev'ry morning, ev'ry evening
Ain't we got fun?
Not much money, Oh, but honey
Ain't we got fun?
The rent's unpaid dear
We haven't a bus
But smiles were made dear
For people like us

In the winter in the Summer
Don't we have fun
Times are bum and getting bummer
Still we have fun
There's nothing surer
The rich get rich and the poor get children
In the meantime, in between time
Ain't we got fun?

Just to make their trouble nearly double
Something happened last night
To their chimney a gray bird came
Mister Stork is his name
And I'll bet two pins, a pair of twins
Just happened in with the bird
Still they're very gay and merry
Just at dawning I heard

Ev'ry morning, ev'ry evening
Don't we have fun
Twins and cares, dear, come in pairs, dear
Don't we have fun
We've only started
As mommer and pop
Are we downhearted
I'll say that we're not

Landlords mad and getting madder
Ain't we got fun?
Times are so bad and getting badder
Still we have fun
There's nothing surer
The rich get rich and the poor get laid off
In the meantime, in between time
Ain't we got fun?

When the man who sold 'em carpets told 'em
He would take them away
They said, "Wonderful, here's our chance
Take them up and we'll dance"
And when burglars came and robbed them
Taking all their silver, they say
Hubby yelled, "We're famous, for they'll name us
In the pepers today

Night or daytime, it's all playtime
Ain't we got fun?
Hot or cold days, any old days
Ain't we got fun
If Wifey wishes
To go to a play
Don't wash the dishes
Just throw them away

Streetcar seats are awful narrow
Ain't we got fun?
They won't smash up our Pierce Arrow
We ain't got none
They've cut my wages
But my income tax will be so much smaller
When I'm laid off, I'll be paid off
Ain't we got fun?

Recorded By:

Peggy Lee
Doris Day
Eddie Cantor
Rosemary Clooney
Bing Crosby