Bing Crosby WW2 secret weapon

“Stars and Stripes” , London, Wednesday, September 6, 1944, page 4

WAR-KRAFT MUSIC HALL

BING CROONS, NAZIS SWOON – AT LEAST PWB HOPES SO

By Robert Musel 
United Press Staff Writer

While Hitler fooled around with buzz-bombs and pickaback planes the U. S. unleashed a real secret weapon at Germany – Der Bingle. Der Bingle is what the Germans call it. Back home it’s Bing Crosby.

Der Bingle was launched at the Wehrmacht from the studio of the American Broadcasting System in Europe. It was beautiful to see and hear, and experts of the Psychological Warfare Bureau said its effect would be beautiful too.

Der Bingle astounded front-line observers by using reasonably good German. Since he doesn’t speak German, Der Bingle was asked how come. “I don’t do it with mirrors”, he said, “I do it with phonetics”. 

Bing, consulting his phonetic chart, began “Hello German soldiers. Here speaks Bing Crosby. I’ve just arrived from America – the country where nobody is afraid of the Gestapo, where everybody has the right to say and write what he thinks”. Der Bingle, rippling through Teutonic gutterals with complete ease, told the Germans about the constitutional right of pursuit of happiness, adding “I hope sincerely that our rights and freedoms soon will be observed again in your country. That’s what we Americans are fighting for”.

Letting this sink in, Der Bingle signaled Cpl. Jack Russin, pianist of Major Glenn Miller’s band, and said “But I didn’t come here to preach. I came here to sing a few songs”. Bing then sang “Going My Way” from the film of the same name in which he starred, except that the lyrics were cleverly twisted so that the sense of the song was “come with me” – meaning out of Hitlerland and back to the free world.

After that, because many Europeans, such as forced laborers in Germany, understand some French, Bing did “The Last Time I Saw Paris”. His phonetic French was not bad either, but possibly because of the overwhelming effect of using the language for the first time, Crosby seemed to sound a little bit like Charles Boyer. 

A typist passing by asked what was going on.

“Bing Crosby is singing to the Nazis” she was told. 

“What kind of punishment is that?” she asked.

The Very Thought of You-1934

Remember Bing Crosby

"Swingin' On A Star"

"White Christmas"

Memories of Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and the Beatles

Bing and Frank

A small town girl from South Tyneside, England who hit the big time working with the stars died two years ago, just four days before her 75th birthday, after a five-year battle with cancer.

Mrs. Wilson, worked as a television casting director, rubbing shoulders with many of the greats, including The Beatles, Shirley Bassey,  Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra.

Her obituary contained these references to Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby and the Beatles;

FRANK SINATRA: "Myrna was the woman who persuaded Frank Sinatra to make his British television debut. Clinching the deal after nearly six months of negotiations, she was rewarded with an invitation to afternoon tea in the singer's suite at the Savoy Hotel in London. Wearing an expensive new pair of white leather gloves, Mrs Wilson told a national newspaper at the time: "Why I did that, I don't know, but it was worth it just to look into those amazing blue eyes.  "When he shook my hand, my knees turned to jelly."

BING CROSBY: "She then moved to Thames Television, working on shows including Bing Crosby specials, who she described at the time as "gorgeous and unassuming", putting her at ease after turning up to the studios with his toupee stuffed inside his jacket pocket."

THE BEATLES: "One of her biggest projects was securing The Beatles in 1968 for Blackpool Night Out. Before the show, Ringo Starr and John Lennon borrowed her Hillman Minx convertible, which she always kept in pristine condition. It was sheepishly returned with the interior completely shredded, a lasting reminder of the hysterical fans."

                                  From the film "High Society"

100 Top Popular Songs of the 1940s

Here is BMI's list of the most played songs (radio, sales and jukebox) from the 1940's;

Note that two Christmas songs, that enjoyed annual exposure, were the most played. The top big band recordings were from Duke Ellington, Artie Shaw and Glenn Miller. The two iconic songs of World War Two, Sentimental Journey and I'll Be Seeing You are in the 11th and 12th positions.

1. White Christmas - Bing Crosby
2. The Christmas Song - Nat "King" Cole
3. God Bless The Child - Billie Holiday
4. Take The "A" Train - Duke Ellington
5. Stardust - Artie Shaw
6. Swinging On A Star - Bing Crosby
7. You Always Hurt The One You Love - Mills Brothers
8. Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy - Andrews Sisters
9. Chattanooga Choo Choo - Glenn Miller (Tex Beneke & the Modernaires)
10. Paper Doll - Mills Brothers

11. Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer - Gene Autry
12. Sentimental Journey - Les Brown (Doris Day)
13. I'll Be Seeing You - Bing Crosby / Tommy Dorsey (Frank Sinatra)
14. I'll Never Smile Again - Tommy Dorsey (Frank Sinatra)
15. Riders In The Sky (A Cowboy Legend) - Vaughn Monroe / Peggy Lee
16. Auld Lang Syne - Guy Lombardo
17. That's My Desire - Frankie Laine / Sammy Kaye
18. Don't Fence Me In - Bing Crosby & the Andrews Sisters / Roy Rogers / Gene Autry
19. Jingle, Jangle, Jingle - Kay Kyser / Gene Autry
20. Tuxedo Junction - Glenn Miller

21. Nature Boy - Nat "King" Cole / Frank Sinatra / Sarah Vaughan
22. Brazil - Xavier Cugat / Jimmy Dorsey (Bob Eberly & Helen O'Connell)
23. Green Eyes - Jimmy Dorsey (Bob Eberly & Helen O'Connell)
24. Frenesi - Artie Shaw
25. Till The End Of Time - Perry Como / Les Brown / Dick Haymes
26. Lover Man (Oh Where Can You Be) - Billie Holiday / Sarah Vaughan
27. Moonlight Cocktail - Glenn Miller
28. Stormy Weather - Lena Horne
29. This Land Is Your Land - Woody Guthrie
30. You Are My Sunshine - Jimmie Davis

31. That Lucky Old Sun - Frankie Laine / Vaughn Monroe
32. (I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons - Nat "King" Cole / Eddy Howard / Dinah Shore
33. (I've Got A Gal In) Kalamazoo - Glenn Miller (Marion Hutton & the Modernaires)
34. Don't Sit Under The Apple Tree - Glenn Miller / Andrews Sisters
35. Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive - Johnny Mercer / Bing Crosby & the Andrews Sisters
36. Maria Elena - Jimmy Dorsey / Wayne King
37. A String Of Pearls - Glenn Miller
38. The Gypsy - Ink Spots / Dinah Shore / Sammy Kaye (Mary Marlow)
39. Manana (Is Soon Enough For Me) - Peggy Lee
40. Near You - Francis Craig / Andrews Sisters / Larry Green / Alvino Rey

41. Amapola - Jimmy Dorsey (Bob Eberly & Helen O'Connell)
42. Peg O' My Heart - Harmonicats / Buddy Clark / Three Suns
43. Pennsylvania 6-5000 - Glenn Miller
44. Pistol Packin' Mama - Al Dexter / Bing Crosby & the Andrews Sisters
45. You'll Never Know - Dick Haymes / Frank Sinatra
46. To Each His Own - Eddy Howard / Ink Spots / Freddy Martin / Modernaires
47. I Don't Want To Set The World On Fire - Ink Spots / Hoarce Heidt / Tommy Tucker
48. Cool Water - Sons Of The Pioneers
49. As Time Goes By - Dooley Wilson
50. Opus No. 1 - Tommy Dorsey
51. Rum And Coca-Cola - Andrews Sisters

52. The Breeze And I - Jimmy Dorsey (Bob Eberly)
53. We Three (My Echo, My Shadow, And Me) - Ink Spots / Tommy Dorsey (Frank Sinatra)
54. I've Heard That Song Before - Harry James (Helen Forrest)
55. Baby It's Cold Outside - Johnny Mercer & Margaret Whiting / Dinah Shore & Buddy Clark
56. Tangerine - Jimmy Dorsey (Bob Eberly & Helen O'Connell)
57. Buttons And Bows - Dinah Shore / Dinning Sisters
58. Besame Mucho - Jimmy Dorsey (Bob Eberly & Kitty Kallen)
59. 'Round Midnight - Thelonius Monk
60. I'll Get By (As Long As I Have You) - Harry James (Dick Haymes) / Ink Spots

61. Cruising Down The River - Blue Barron / Russ Morgan / Jack Smith (Clark Sisters)
62. (There'll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs Of Dover - Kay Kyser / Glenn Miller / Kate Smith
63. Anniversary Song - Al Jolson / Dinah Shore / Guy Lombardo / Tex Beneke
64. A Night In Tunisia - Dizzy Gillespie
65. I Can Dream, Can't I - Andrews Sisters
66. In The Blue Of The Evening - Tommy Dorsey (Frank Sinatra)
67. Prisoner Of Love - Perry Como / Billy Eckstine / Ink Spots
68. Sleepy Lagoon - Harry James
69. Blues In The Night - Woody Herman / Jimmie Lunceford / Dinah Shore
70. A Tree In The Meadow - Margaret Whiting

71. Don't Get Around Much Anymore - Ink Spots / Duke Ellington / Glen Gray
72. Daddy - Sammy Kaye
73. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! - Vaughn Monroe
74. Oh! What It Seemed To Be - Frankie Carle / Frank Sinatra / Helen Forrest & Dick Haymes
75. Imagination - Glenn Miller / Tommy Dorsey / Ella Fitzgerald
76. There! I've Said It Again - Vaughn Monroe / Jimmy Dorsey (Teddy Walters)
77. Comin' In On A Wing And A Prayer - Song Spinners / Willie Kelly
78. Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette) - Tex Williams
79. The Old Lamp-Lighter - Sammy Kaye / Kay Kyser
80. When You Wish Upon A Star - Cliff Edwards / Glenn Miller / Guy Lombardo

81. Open The Door, Richard - Count Basie / Three Flames / Dusty Fletcher
82. Is You Is Or Is You Ain't (Ma' Baby) - Louis Jordan / Bing Crosby & the Andrews Sisters
83. Shoo-Shoo Baby - Andrews Sisters / Ella Mae Morse
84. Linda - Ray Noble (Buddy Clark) / Charlie Spivak
85. Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall - Ella Fitzgerald & the Ink Spots
86. Jukebox Saturday Night - Glenn Miller (Marion Hutton, Tex Beneke & the Modernaires)
87. Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy - Red Foley
88. Some Enchanted Evening - Perry Como / Bing Crosby / Jo Stafford / Frank Sinatra
89. Rag Mop - Ames Brothers / Johnnie Lee Wills
90. On The Atchison, Topeka And Santa Fe - Johnny Mercer / Bing Crosby

91. Praise The Lord And Pass The Ammunition! - Kay Kyser / Merry Macs
92. I'll Walk Alone - Dinah Shore / Martha Tilton / Mary Martin
93. Ballerina - Vaughn Monroe / Buddy Clark / Bing Crosby
94. I'm looking Over A Four-Leaf Clover - Art Mooney / Russ Morgan / Alvino Rey
95. Jersey Bounce - Benny Goodman / Jimmy Dorsey
96. Mule Train - Frankie Laine / Tennessee Ernie Ford / Bing Crosby / Vaughn Monroe
97. G.I. Jive - Louis Jordan / Johnny Mercer
98. You Call Everybody Darlin' - Al Trace / Andrews Sisters / Anne Vincent
99. Maybe - Ink Spots
100. Der Fuehrer's Face - Spike Jones (Carl Grayson & Willie Spicer)

New Bing Crosby CD's due January 25th

On January 25th 2011, Collectors’ Choice Music releases the latest CDs in the acclaimed Bing Crosby Archive series:Bing & Rosie: The Crosby - Clooney Radio Sessions (2-CD Set), Bing Sings the Sinatra Songbook, Bing Crosby: A Southern Memoir (Deluxe Edition). All three titles also make their debut on iTunes.

Also on January 25, HLC Properties, Ltd, in association with Beach Road Music, LLC releases the first two exclusively digital Bing Crosby Archive albums through iTunes: With All My Heart and Shall We Dance?

The latest additions to the critically acclaimed Bing Crosby Archive series showcase Bing with his frequent duet partner and dear friend Rosemary Clooney, as heard on recordings made for radio broadcasts in the 1950s; Bing’s interpretations of songs associated with the most famous of the crooners who came after him, Frank Sinatra; and the first American release in any format of Crosby’s 1975 album, A Southern Memoir. The two new digital compilations of unreleased Crosby recordings feature the legendary crooner singing classic songs of love and romance by some of the foremost contributors to the Great American Songbook, including Cole Porter, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Johnny Mercer, Bacharach & David, Irving Berlin, Dorothy Fields and Duke Ellington.

PRODUCT DESCRIPTIONS:

BING CROSBY & ROSEMARY CLOONEY- Bing & Rosie: The Crosby-Clooney Radio Sessions

This two-CD set presents 59 unreleased tracks taken from the original master tapes of their 1952 -1961 radio sessions (The Bing Crosby Show for General Electric, The Ford Road Show andthe Crosby - Clooney Show), complete with some charming studio chatter and fidelity that rivals their commercial recordings. Includes duets on The Merry-Go-Run-Around; Takes Two to Tango; Chicago Style (two versions); Open Up Your Heart (with Bob Hope); South Rampart Street Parade; Something to Remember You By (three versions); You’re Just in Love (two versions); It’s Only a Paper Moon; Easter Parade (two versions); People Will Say We’re in Love (two versions); Only Forever; a medley featuring These Foolish Things Remind Me of You/We Just Couldn’t Say Goodbye/You’d Be So Nice to Come Home To (complete with flub and pickup take and versions of all three songs by themselves); That’s Amore; The Little Brown Jug; Sweet Genevieve; Shine on Harvest Moon (two versions); Buckle Down Winsocki; Indian Summer; Man (Uh-Huh) and Woman (Uh-Huh); and Lily of Laguna, all with accompaniment from The John Scott Trotter Orchestra.

For a different sound, Bing and Rosie are also accompanied by Buddy Cole and His Trio on a couple of Ford jingles; Will You Still Be Mine; another version of We Just Couldn’t Say Goodbye; I May Be Wrong; Would You Like to Take a Walk; They Can’t Take That Away from Me; another version of You’d Be So Nice to Come Home To; Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off; Ain’t We Got Fun; Isn’t This a Lovely Day; Let’s Put Out the Lights and Go to Sleep; They Say It’s Wonderful; Let’s Take a Walk Around the Block; Don’t Worry (About Tomorrow); Hey, Look Me Over; Anything You Can Do; What Takes My Fancy; Summertime; True Love; It’s Been a Long, Long Time/Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries/Gimme a Little Kiss; Moon over Miami/Meet Me Tonight in Dreamland/There’s a Long, Long Trail; Goodnight My Someone; September Song/As Time Goes By/Till We Meet Again; Any Town Is Paris When You’re Young/Paris in the Spring/April in Paris/The Last Time I Saw Paris; Singin’ in the Rain; a rare promo record for Eastern Products; and the only two solo tracks on the set: Rosie’s You’re in Kentucky Sure as You’re Born and Bing’s This Ole House. Martin McQuade’s notes tell the tale of this legendary team.

BING CROSBY - Bing Sings the Sinatra Songbook

This 18-track CD collection of showcases Bing singing songs that Sinatra made famous, the majority of them previously unreleased! Among the rarities, the Crosby-Sinatra duet on the medley of Among My Souvenirs/September Song/As Time Goes By; Young at Heart; April in Paris; Imagination; Witchcraft; Where or When; All the Way; You Go to My Head; It Happened in Monterey; and a 2010 remix of Summer Wind, plus High Hopes, an alternate take from the Thoroughly Modern Bing album session; the CD debut of South of the Border from the Songs I Love album; The Lady Is a Tramp; Too Marvelous for Words; I Get a Kick Out of You; Chicago; The Tender Trap, and Love and Marriage. Liner notes by Michael Feinstein. The exclusive iTunes digital release includes a bonus video performance of Young at Heart from 1954.

BING CROSBY - A Southern Memoir (Deluxe Edition)

This 1975 album of songs inspired by the South, making both its CD and American debuts, is among the rarest items in the Crosby canon, as it was only released in Britain. Bonus tracks add alternate versions of On the Alamo; Alabamy Bound; Stars Fell on Alabama; Swanee; andSleepy Time Down South, and the unedited version of Georgia on My Mind to the versions that appear on the original album, which also include Where the Morning Glories Grow; Carolina in the Morning; Way Down Yonder in New Orleans; Cryin’ for the Carolines; She Is the Sunshine of Virginia; and Sailing Down the Chesapeake Bay. Appearing for the first time ever is “Bing’s South Texas Quail Hunting Medley,” a private recording from the album sessions on which he substitutes some special lyrics for Galway Bay/Mack the Knife/The Surrey with the Fringe on Top/The Pleasure of Your Company that lampoon, in that ever-so-gentle Crosby way, friends like Phil Harris! Liner notes by Arne Fogel.

BING CROSBY – With All My Heart

Just in time for Valentine’s Day comes this digital collection of 15 rare, unreleased love songs from the original session master tapes for Bing Crosby’s 1950s radio shows. (The Bing Crosby Show for Chesterfield, The Bing Crosby Show for General Electric, The Bing Crosby Show, The Ford Road Show and The Crosby – Clooney Show) There’s also a track recorded for an early Crosby television special. Includes Magic Moments, Secret Love, I Let A Song Go Out of My Heart, Chances Are, Catch A Falling Star, Night and Day, Hello Young Lovers, With All My Heart, Born To Be With You, Some Enchanted Evening, How High The Moon, Misty, I Love Paris, And the Angels Sing and P.S. I Love You. This unique digital package, available exclusively through iTunes, also includes a bonus 1954 video performance of I Love Paris.

BING CROSBY – Shall We Dance?

his digital release collects 15 songsof dance and romance – 14 of them previously unreleased - taken from the original session master tapes for Bing’s 1950s radio shows (The Bing Crosby Show for General Electric and The Ford Road Show), a rare track from the 1968 album, The Songs I Love and a track from a 1962 television special. Includes Begin The Beguine, Puttin’ On the Ritz, Don’t Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes, I Can’t Give You Anything But Love, It’s Not For Me to Say, Dark Moon, Changing Partners, Do Nothing Till You Hear From Me, Zing Went the Strings of My Heart, Way Down Yonder in New Orleans, Keep it Gay, The Gypsy in My Soul, Granada, Lady of Spain and (the strange but incredibly swingin’) Doin’ the Bing. The exclusive iTunes digital album also features a 1962 bonus video performance of Doin’ the Bing.

About Bing Crosby:

Bing Crosby (1903 – 1977) remains the most recorded performer in history. He made over 2000 commercial recordings including White Christmas, the best selling record of all time. The Guinness Book of World Records reports worldwide sales for Crosby’s recording of the song at over 100 million copies. White Christmas has entered the American pop charts twenty separate times.

To date, Bing Crosby has sold close to one billion records, tapes, compact discs and digital downloads around the world. He may be the best selling recording artist of all time. Only The Beatles, Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson can rival his sales figures. He scored 41 number one records – more than The Beatles (24) and Elvis Presley (18). His recordings reached the charts 396 times - more than Frank Sinatra (209) and Elvis Presley (149) combined.

To order visit THE MEMORY LANE SHOP

The story of "White Christmas"

Irving Berlin had the melody for what eventually became "White Christmas" lying around for a couple of years before he began writing songs for Paramount's film, "Holiday Inn".  Berlin told an interviewer in 1954, "I took it off the shelf and polished the lyrics a little, and went to Bing Crosby's dressing room at Paramount to get his okay on all
the songs for the picture."  Crosby nodded approvingly at several songs but, according to Berlin, "...when I did 'White Christmas' he came to life and said, 'Irving, you won't have to worry about that
one"'.

Bing's instinct was correct.  By the time "Holiday Inn" was released in August 1942, a country at war had become captivated by the simple message of peace in Irving Berlin's song and Bing Crosby's voice.
Filming of "Holiday Inn" began in November 1941 and Bing first performed the song on his "Kraft Music Hall" radio program on December 25, 1941 - just eighteen days after the Japanese attack on Pearl
Harbor.  He recorded the song for Decca in May 1942, and that master eventually became worn out from overuse, causing Decca to have Bing cut a nearly identical version in 1947.

On March 4, 1943, Irving Berlin collected the Academy Award for best original song.  By the time of the Academy Awards, "White Christmas" had already enjoyed an eleven week stay at the number one spot in the
charts in the fall of 1942.  It was too big a hit not to win the Oscar.

Writing about "White Christmas" in "the Chicago Times" during the first holiday season of its existence, Carl Sandburg summed up the song's appeal.  "When we sing that, we don't hate anybody.  And there
are things we love that we're going to have sometime if the breaks are not too bad against us.  Way down under this latest hit of his, Irving Berlin catches us where we love peace."

Bing's Decca version of the song eventually became the best selling recording of all time, topping out at over 100 million sales and hitting the charts twenty separate times.  The success of "White Christmas" firmly established that Christmas songs were commercially viable.

Remember crooner Russ Columbo ?

                             RUSS COLUMBO

We remember singer Russ Columbo who helped set the standard for popular ballad crooners. 

In his personal appearances, Columbo was trim, debonair, and favored a spotless white suit of the sort George Raft wore in movies of the period. Despite the all-prevailing importance and popularity of Bing Crosby as a singer in the early '30s, it is impossible to imagine the advent of later Italian crooners such as Perry Como and Frank Sinatra without the influence of Russ Columbo. 

Likewise Columbo's repertoire, some of which he had a hand in creating, was adopted wholeheartedly by other romantic balladeers, including Nat King Cole, Herb Jeffries, and with most enthusiasm, Billy Eckstine. While Columbo was too early to be a true jazz singer, jazz singing itself would not be what it is if Columbo had never been on the scene.

Russ Columbo was born in New Jersey, and spent some of his formative years in Philadelphia before the family relocated to California when he was eight.

Columbo was a violin prodigy from the age of five, and the move to California was made in part to accommodate his lessons. He made his professional debut as a violinist at the Imperial Theater in San Francisco at the age of nine, and by the age of 17 he was making a living playing in small groups on Hollywood movie sets, providing tempo for silent movie shoots. Columbo also played violin in several Los Angeles-based bands before joining the Gus Arnheim Orchestra in 1928.

As talkies went into production, and Columbo quickly found work dubbing the singing voices of non-singing movie stars such as Gary Cooper and Lewis Stone. He also dubbed Betty Compson's violin in the film Street Girl (1929) and made his onscreen singing debut in a bit part in the film Dynamite (1929), directed by Cecil B. DeMille. At this time Columbo began to contribute occasional vocal choruses on Gus Arnheim records, such as "Peach of a Pair," and took the place of Bing Crosby as the band's featured vocalist when Crosby went to New York in 1930.

Columbo continued in synchronization work, as a bit player and even composed some music for movies into 1931, but it proved difficult to suppress his ambition to entertain as a frontline performer. Discouragingly, the depths of depression seemed hardly the time to get a new career off the ground.

In early 1931, composer and agent Con Conrad saw Russ Colombo perform at a Los Angeles nightclub, and was so impressed that he decided to take the aspiring singer under his wing. While traveling to New York by train, Columbo and Conrad wrote the song "You Call It Madness (But I Call It Love)" that would become Columbo's first hit and radio theme. Russ Columbo signed up for a stint with NBC Radio on a coast-to-coast broadcast, and soon was being touted as "the Romeo of Radio." His popularity was immediate, and before the end of 1931 Columbo was playing to sold-out houses in New York theaters. 

Columbo began to record for RCA Victor in September 1931. For about a year, radio fans witnessed "the battle of the baritones"; Conrad was building up Columbo's reputation by keeping the pressure on Bing Crosby, booking Columbo's engagements against Crosby's, even recording Crosby's songs with Columbo before Crosby could get in to record them at ARC. Then towards the end of 1932, the publicity machine stopped cold -- Conrad and Columbo had a falling out, and one by one Columbo's Victor recording contract, personal appearances and radio program were all cancelled.

Working as his own manager, Russ Columbo made the best of what was left of his reputation in a tough time. He mounted a modest tour of the U.S. with a band featuring such jazz greats as Gene Krupa and Benny Goodman. It wasn't hard to put together, as Columbo's was one of the few shows on the road in 1933. This kept him in the public eye, although it proved profitable mostly for the sidemen.

Back in New York, Columbo appeared in a Vitaphone short, entitled That Goes Double, in which he poked fun at his image as a Romantic "crooner." The short was well enough received that Columbo was invited back to Hollywood, signing a contract with Twentieth Century Pictures (later 20th Century Fox). Columbo was to make three feature films, Broadway Through a Keyhole, Moulin Rouge, and Wake Up and Dream (the last made by Universal). On August 31, 1934, Columbo was at the ARC studio in Los Angeles, making his first records in over a year -- they would prove his last. 

On September 2, 1934 Russ Columbo was visiting a friend, the Hollywood portrait photographer Lansing Brown, who was toying absentmindedly with an antique pistol he kept as a desk ornament. It fired accidentally, and the ball lodged in Columbo's brain. Surgery was attempted, but Russ Columbo died that evening at age 26." More to follow about Russ Columbo's strange death....was it murder?


 Thanks to the ALL MUSIC GUIDE.

 Here is Russ Columbo's recording of "All Of Me."

The story behind Bing Crosby's Oscar winning hit 'Swinging On A Star'

Here is the story of how the song Swinging On A Star was created:
In 1945, the Oscar winning Best Song  was Swinging on a Star. It was written for the Bing Crosby starring film Going My Way by Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Burke. It was recorded in 1944 by Crosby. Legendary crooner Andy Williams and his brothers backed up Bing.
The song writer, Jimmy Van Heusen, was at Crosby’s house one evening for dinner and to discuss a song for the movie Going My Way. During the meal, one of the children began complaining about how he didn’t want to go to school the next day. The singer turned to his son and said to him, “If you don’t go to school, you might grow up to be a mule. Do you wanna do that?” Van Heusen thought that this clever rebuke would make a good song for the movie. He pictured Bing, playing a priest, talking to a group of children acting much the same way that his own child acted that night. When he took his idea to his partner, Johnny Burke, Johnny was quick to approve, and they wrote the song.

On the surface it may be the most ridiculous song ever written, but it is also one with an important message: of going to school, and getting an education or else who knows what will happen to you.

Here are the lyrics;

Would you like to swing on a star
Carry moonbeams home in a jar
And be better off than you are
Or would you rather be a mule?

A mule is an animal with long funny ears
Kicks up at anything he hears
His back is brawny but his brain is weak
He's just plain stupid with a stubborn streak
And by the way, if you hate to go to school

You may grow up to be a mule
Oh would you like to swing on a star
Carry moonbeams home in a jar
And be better off than you are
Would you rather be a pig?

A pig is an animal with dirt on his face
His shoes are a terrible disgrace
He has no manners when he eats his food
He's fat and lazy and extremely rude

But if you don't care a feather or a fig
You may grow up to be a pig

Oh would you like to swing on a star
Carry moonbeams home in a jar
And be better off than you are
Would you rather be a fish?
A fish won't do anything, but swim in a brook
He can't write his name or read a book
To fool the people is his only thought
And though he's slippery, he still gets caught

But then if that sort of life is what you wish
You may grow up to be a fish
A new kind of jumped-up slippery fish

And all the monkeys aren't in the zoo
Every day you meet quite a few
So you see it's all up to you
You can be better than you are
You could be swingin' on a star

Here is Bing Crosby... Swinging On A Star;

The Top Songs of 1944-Bing Crosby's 'Swinging On A Star' number one

Here are the Top Ten Songs of 1944;

1) Bing Crosby, "Swinging on a Star"
2) Andrews Sisters, "Shoo-Shoo Baby"
3) Bing Crosby & Andrews Sisters, "Don't Fence Me In"
4) Jimmy Dorsey, "Besame Mucho"
5) Harry James, "I'll Get By"
6) Merry Macs, "Mairzy Doats"
7) Bing Crosby, "San Fernando Valley"
8) Bing Crosby, "I Love You"
9) Mills Brothers, "You Always Hurt the One You Love"
10) Dinah Shore, "I'll Walk Alone"

Bing Crosby starred in the movie "Going My Way" (Swinging On A Star-Oscar winning song by Jimmy Van Heusen). Only two big band tunes, from Jimmy Dorsey and Harry James, made the top ten list. "I'll Get By" has since become one of the best love songs of the century.Here is Bing in a clip from "Going My Way" singing "Swinging On A Star."
Read about the creation of the song by Jimmy Van Heusen.