Song 113 - The way you look tonight by Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields.

1936 best original song was performed by.... Yes,  you guessed it, Fred Astaire in the film Swing Time, which was directed by George Stevens and Astaire's leading lady was Ginger Rogers. I am sensing a theme this week.  Written by Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields, this song provided Astaire with his biggest hit single and has been a hit for many artists who have released this song including Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra.

Swing Time is often regarded as Astaire and Rogers' most acclaimed film for their performance in the movie. Together with their collaborator Hermes Pan, the four dance routines of the movie are regarded as masterpieces with Never Gonna Dance singled out as their most profound achievement in film dance.

It is said that when Dorothy Fields first heard the melody to her lyrics she wept buckets at the emotions he had created with his composing. I know when you listen to, you can hear the love in the lyrics and it doesn't even have to be conversation between lovers, anyone you are close too, there are moments in your life that you remember going through together and that is what makes this song a classic because it has an universal message on all levels. Due to this I am not going to put my own feelings or memories on the song into this blog, I am simply going to let you enjoy:

To hear Fred Astaire's timeless classic
The way you look tonight

Oscar for Best Song: 1936
Song title: The way you look tonight
Written by Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields

Song 112 - Lullaby of Broadway by Harry Warren and Al Dubin

Pipping Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers' Cheek to Cheek to the award, Lullaby of Broadway was the second song to win Best Original Song at the 1935 Academy Awards. Taken from the film, Gold Diggers of 1935, this number salutes the nightlife of Broadway and the partying that went on till dawn.  Written by Harry Warren and Al Dubin, the song is probably the most famous item to come out of the Gold Diggers series of film written in the late 1920s and 30s.

The magic of this song and probably one of the main reason it has survived longer than the films in popularity is the image the lyrics and music gives of Broadway, and for anyone who has an artist bone in their body, Broadway is somewhere they want to experience. I know when I visited it a couple of years ago, I was starry eyes and it wasn't with famous people, it was the building and the iconic world of Broadway being a real place; rather than the mystical place I had heard of in the movies. 

Lullaby of Broadway is a dream sequence within the film, directed by Busby Berkely. The dream tells the story of a Broadway baby who plays all night and sleeps all days. The number starts with a head shot of Wini Shaw against a black background and as the camera moves back and up, Shaw's head becomes the Big Apple. As everyone else is going to work in the morning, she is returning home and when she awakes again at night, the audiences watches Shaw and her beau (Dick Powell) from club to club, with elaborate tap numbers playing out there seems to be little to stop this star until accidentally she is pushed off a balcony to her death. The song ends with a return to Shaw's head, as she sings the end of the song. It is cited that this was the favourite number of Busby Berkeley. 

Although I can't find a clip of the original, here's Gene Nelson and Doris Day singing Lullaby of Broadway  

Lullaby of Broadway

Oscar for Best Song: 1935

Written by Harry Warren and Al Dubin

Film: Gold Diggers of 1935

Originally sung by Wini Shaw in the film 

Song 111 - The Continental - Con Conrad and Herb Magidson

We've reached February and whilst the latest storm is hitting the UK, Jules's jukebox is turning its attention to the Oscars and for the next month will feature a selection of winners of the Best Original Song Category. I know that this year's Oscars have already created much debate over diversity in the choice of nomination, but this blog will stay away from politics and concentrate on the wonderful songs that have won Oscars over the years. For those who are following the Jukebox creation, you will already know that I have added a few Oscar winning songs to the Jukebox already as the relationship between score and screen is an important one for me in the journey of appreciating music.

To kick off the Oscar appreciation month of music; I am going to go back to the very beginning, which sounds like a line from Do-re-me, but I promise you it isn't. The first Oscar for best original song was given to The Continental, in 1934 taken from the film The Gay Divorcee. Written by Con Conrad and Herb Magidson, the song was introduced and sung by the lovely Ginger Rogers, Erik Rhodes and Lillian Miles; and also featured as a 20 minutes dance section between Ginger and Fred Astaire near the end of the film.

The film itself was up for best picture in the same year and is based on a 1932 musical called Gay Divorce by Dwight Taylor. Rogers plays Mini Glossop who is seeking a divorce from her husband who she hasn't seen in a number of years.  It was the 10th picture that Fred Astaire and Ginger Roger had performed in together.

To hear the timeless Ginger Roger
The Continental, sung by Ginger Roger

To watch the best dancers ever
Fred Astaire and Ginger Roger dance The Continental

Oscar for Best Song: 1934
Song title: The Continental
Written by Con Conrad and Herb Magidson