Traditional pop is Western pop music that generally pre-dates the advent of rock and roll in the mid-1950s. The most popular and enduring songs from this era of music are known as pop standards or American standards. The works of these songwriters and composers are usually considered part of the canon known as the "Great American Songbook". More generally, the term "standard" can be applied to any popular song that has become very widely known within mainstream culture and recorded by many artists.
With a Song in My Heart is a 1952 American biographical musical drama film that tells the story of actress and singer Jane Froman, who was crippled by an airplane crash on February 22, 1943, when the Boeing 314 Pan American Clipper flying boat she was on suffered a crash landing in the Tagus River near Lisbon, Portugal. She entertained the troops in World War II despite having to walk with crutches. The film stars Susan Hayward, Rory Calhoun, David Wayne, Thelma Ritter, Robert Wagner, Helen Westcott, and Una Merkel. Froman herself supplied Hayward's singing voice.
Frankie Laine was an American singer and songwriter whose career spanned nearly 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to his final performance of "That's My Desire" in 2005. Often billed as "America's Number One Song Stylist", his other nicknames include "Mr. Rhythm", "Old Leather Lungs", and "Mr. Steel Tonsils". His hits included "That's My Desire", "That Lucky Old Sun", "Mule Train", "Jezebel", "High Noon", "I Believe", "Hey Joe!", "The Kid's Last Fight", "Cool Water", "Rawhide", and "You Gave Me a Mountain".
Miyoshi Umeki was a Japanese American singer and actress. Umeki was nominated for the Tony Award and Golden Globe Award and was the first East Asia-born woman to win an Academy Award for acting.
"I Believe" is a popular song written by Ervin Drake, Irvin Abraham, Jack Mendelsohn and Al Stillman in 1953. The most popular version was recorded by Italian-American singer Frankie Laine, and spent eighteen weeks at No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart.
Ervin Drake was an American songwriter whose works include such American Songbook standards as "I Believe" and "It Was a Very Good Year". He wrote in a variety of styles and his work has been recorded by musicians around the world. In 1983, he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
"I'll Get By (As Long as I Have You)" is a popular song with music by Fred E. Ahlert and lyrics by Roy Turk that was published in 1928. Versions by Nick Lucas, Aileen Stanley and, most successfully, Ruth Etting, all charted in America in 1929.
"The Gypsy in My Soul" is a popular song written for the 50th anniversary of the University of Pennsylvania Mask and Wig show in 1937 by two Penn graduates, Clay Boland and Moe Jaffe. Boland wrote the music and Jaffe the lyrics. Although both men had long since graduated, it had become the practice at the time for professionals, rather than students, to compose songs for the show.
"I Had the Craziest Dream" is a popular song which was published in 1942. The music was written by Harry Warren, the lyrics by Mack Gordon.
"South of the Border Down Mexico Way" is a popular song describing a trip to Mexico, written by Jimmy Kennedy and Michael Carr. It was originally released in 1939, with many versions following, including one for the film of the same name sung by star Gene Autry.
"I'll Walk Alone" is a 1944 popular song with music by Jule Styne and lyrics by Sammy Cahn. The song was written for the 1944 musical film Follow the Boys, in which it was sung by Dinah Shore, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song but lost to “Swinging on a Star”. Shore recorded the song in March as a single, which became her first #1 hit on the Billboard charts.
"I've Heard That Song Before" is a 1942 American popular song about nostalgia with music by Jule Styne and lyrics by Sammy Cahn. It was introduced by Martha O'Driscoll in the 1942 film Youth on Parade. The song was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1942, but lost out to "White Christmas".
"September in the Rain" is a popular song about nostalgia by Harry Warren and Al Dubin, published in 1937. The song was introduced by James Melton in the film Melody for Two. It has become a standard, having been recorded by many artists since, and featured in a variety of movies, including the 1937 film of the same name.
"I've Got a Crush on You" is a song composed by George Gershwin, with lyrics by Ira Gershwin. It is unique among Gershwin compositions in that it was used for two different Broadway productions: Treasure Girl (1928), when it was introduced by Clifton Webb and Mary Hay, and Strike Up the Band (1930), when it was sung by Doris Carson and Gordon Smith. It was later included in the tribute musical Nice Work If You Can Get It (2012), in which it was sung by Jennifer Laura Thompson. When covered by Frank Sinatra he was a part of Columbia Records.
"A Cottage for Sale" is a popular song. The music was composed by Willard Robison, and the lyrics were written by Larry Conley. The song was first published in 1929, and over 100 performers have recorded versions of "A Cottage for Sale." The first versions of the song were released by The Revelers in January 1930 and Bernie Cummins with the New Yorker Orchestra in March 1930.
"(You'd Be So) Easy to Love" is a popular song written by Cole Porter for William Gaxton to sing in the 1934 Broadway show Anything Goes. However Gaxton was unhappy about its wide vocal range and it was cut from the musical. Porter re-wrote it for the 1936 film Born to Dance, where it was introduced by Eleanor Powell, James Stewart, and Frances Langford under its alternate title, "Easy to Love". The song was later added to the 1987 and 2011 revivals of Anything Goes under the complete title "You’d Be So Easy to Love".
"Paradise" is a 1931 song with music by Nacio Herb Brown and lyrics by Gordon Clifford. It was first sung by Pola Negri in RKO Pictures' 1932 film A Woman Commands, and has since been heard in many other films, including a memorable performance by Gloria Grahame, in the 1949 Nicholas Ray film A Woman's Secret.
One for the Boys is a studio album recorded by American entertainer Connie Francis in 1959. It remained unreleased until 14 April 2023 when it was available for streaming on iTunes.
"I Can't Believe That You're in Love with Me" is a 1926 popular song and jazz standard composed by Jimmy McHugh, with lyrics by Clarence Gaskill.
Tears and Laughter is a fourteenth studio album by Dinah Washington with Orchestra conducted by Quincy Jones, that was released on Mercury Records. The orchestral arrangements, partly with strings for the jazz standard repertoire, were provided by Jones, Hal Mooney, Al Cohn, Ernie Wilkins and Billy Byers. On the second half –the B-side– of the original LP release Washington is backed by the male doo-wop quintet The Dells, who toured with her as the opening act since 1960. They are also featured without Washington on "Jeepers Creepers", and "Am I Blue?" is a duet with one of them.
