They Say It's Wonderful

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"They Say It's Wonderful" is a popular song written by Irving Berlin for the musical Annie Get Your Gun (1946), where it was introduced by Ethel Merman and Ray Middleton. [1] A film version in 1950 again featured the song when it was performed by Howard Keel and Betty Hutton.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethel Merman</span> American actress, singer (1908–1984)

Ethel Merman was an American actress and singer. Known for her distinctive, powerful voice, and her leading roles in musical theater, she has been called "the undisputed First Lady of the musical comedy stage." She performed on Broadway in Anything Goes, Annie Get Your Gun, Gypsy, and Hello, Dolly!

<i>Annie Get Your Gun</i> (musical) 1946 musical by Irving Berlin

Annie Get Your Gun is a musical with lyrics and music by Irving Berlin and a book by Dorothy Fields and her brother Herbert Fields. The story is a fictionalized version of the life of Annie Oakley (1860–1926), a sharpshooter who starred in Buffalo Bill's Wild West, and her romance with sharpshooter Frank E. Butler (1847–1926).

A cast recording is a recording of a stage musical that is intended to document the songs as they were performed in the show and experienced by the audience. An original cast recording or OCR, as the name implies, features the voices of the show's original cast. A cast recording featuring the first cast to perform a musical in a particular venue is known, for example, as an "original Broadway cast recording" (OBCR) or an "original London cast recording" (OLCR).

"There's No Business Like Show Business" is an Irving Berlin song, written for the 1946 musical Annie Get Your Gun and orchestrated by Ted Royal. The song, a slightly tongue-in-cheek salute to the glamour and excitement of a life in show business, is sung in the musical by members of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show in an attempt to persuade Annie Oakley to join the production. It is reprised three times in the musical.

"Anything You Can Do (I Can Do Better)" is a show tune composed by Irving Berlin for the 1946 Broadway musical Annie Get Your Gun. The song is a duet, with one male singer and one female singer attempting to outdo each other in increasingly complex tasks.

"You're Just in Love" is a popular song by Irving Berlin. It was published in 1950 and was first performed by Ethel Merman and Russell Nype in Call Me Madam, a musical comedy that made its debut at the Imperial Theatre in New York City on October 12 that year. The show ran for 644 performances. Ethel Merman also later starred in the 1953 film version, with Donald O'Connor.

"Doin' What Comes Natur'lly" is a song from the 1946 musical Annie Get Your Gun, written by Irving Berlin. The song was introduced by Ethel Merman in the original production of the musical. Other singers to have recorded the song include Betty Hutton, Judy Garland, Bernadette Peters, Suzi Quatro, The DeMarco Sisters, and Dinah Shore.

"The Girl That I Marry" is a song from the 1946 musical Annie Get Your Gun, written by Irving Berlin.

"I Got the Sun in the Mornin' " is a song from the 1946 musical Annie Get Your Gun, written by Irving Berlin and originally performed by Ethel Merman. Hit recordings in 1946 were by Les Brown and by Artie Shaw.

"I Got Lost in His Arms" is a song from the 1946 musical Annie Get Your Gun, written by Irving Berlin. It was performed by Ethel Merman in the original production of the musical.

"Moonshine Lullaby" is a song from the 1946 musical Annie Get Your Gun, by Irving Berlin. It was first performed by Ethel Merman. Other singers to have recorded the song include Bernadette Peters in 1999, Doris Day, and Mary Martin in 1957. The song itself is considered a lullaby, but the lyrics are about a still where moonshine is brewed illegally.

"You Can't Get a Man with a Gun" is a song from the 1946 musical Annie Get Your Gun, written by Irving Berlin. It was originally performed by Ethel Merman.

"It's Easy to Remember " is a popular song written by Richard Rodgers with lyrics by Lorenz Hart.

<i>Anything Goes</i> (1936 film) 1936 American musical film

Anything Goes is a 1936 American musical film directed by Lewis Milestone and starring Bing Crosby, Ethel Merman, Charles Ruggles and Ida Lupino. It is based on the 1934 stage musical Anything Goes by Guy Bolton and P. G. Wodehouse, which included songs by Cole Porter.

<i>Annie Get Your Gun</i> (film) 1950 film by Busby Berkeley, George Sidney, Charles Walters

Annie Get Your Gun is a 1950 American musical Technicolor comedy film loosely based on the life of sharpshooter Annie Oakley. The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer release, with music and lyrics by Irving Berlin and a screenplay by Sidney Sheldon based on the 1946 stage musical of the same name, was directed by George Sidney. Despite several production and casting problems, the film won the Academy Award for Best Scoring of a Musical Picture and received three other nominations. Star Betty Hutton was recognized with a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress.

"How Deep Is the Ocean?" is a popular song written by Irving Berlin in 1932. The song was developed from an earlier Berlin song "To My Mammy" which was sung by Al Jolson in his film Mammy (1930). In the earlier song, the lyrics include the questions "How deep is the ocean? / How high is the sky?" and this was the genesis of "How Deep Is the Ocean?".

"The Best Thing for You (Would Be Me)" is a popular song written by Irving Berlin and published in 1950. It was featured in the 1950 Broadway musical play, Call Me Madam, in which it was introduced by Ethel Merman in a scene with Paul Lukas. The 1953 film version also featured the song when it was sung by Ethel Merman and George Sanders.

"(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".

I See Your Face Before Me is a popular song composed by Arthur Schwartz, with lyrics by Howard Dietz. It was introduced by Evelyn Laye and Adele Dixon in the 1937 Broadway musical Between the Devil. Two recordings of the song made the charts shortly after the show's debut: Guy Lombardo & His Royal Canadians reached number 12, and Glen Gray & The Casa Loma Orchestra made it to number 13.

<i>Bing Crosby Sings the Song Hits from Broadway Shows</i> 1948 compilation album by Bing Crosby, Trudy Erwin

Bing Crosby Sings the Song Hits from Broadway Shows is a Decca Records compilation 78rpm album of phonograph records by Bing Crosby featuring some of the hits from Broadway musicals.

References

  1. Mordden, Ethan (27 August 1999). Beautiful Mornin' : The Broadway Musical in the 1940s: The Broadway Musical in the 1940s . Oxford University Press, USA. p.  115. ISBN   978-0-19-535176-7.
  2. 1 2 Gilliland, John (c. 1975). "Pop Chronicles 1940s Program #13". UNT Digital Library.
  3. The Ethel Merman Disco Album, Track 8 - "They Say It's Wonderful". Original 1979 recording reissued on CD in 2002 by Fynsworth Alley, LLC and Universal Music Enterprises, a division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
  4. Whitburn, Joel (1991). Pop Memories 1890-1954: The History of American Popular Music . Record Research, Inc. p.  375. ISBN   0898200830.
  5. "A Bing Crosby Discography". BING magazine. International Club Crosby. Retrieved September 21, 2016.
  6. "www.allmusic.com". allmusic.com. Retrieved April 16, 2024.
  7. "www.allmusic.com". allmusic.com. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  8. "All The Songs In 'The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel' Season 3". Bustle. 6 December 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2020.