ORIGINAL RELEASE ARTWORK
 

1955

 

CHERRY PINK AND APPLE BLOSSOM WHITE

= Composer : Louiguy =

(Cereza Rosa)

(Cerisier rose et pommier blanc)

(Gummy Mambo)

PEREZ PRADO

 

BIRTH OF A SONG

 

Louis Guiglielmi Louiguy (born in Barcelona) emigrated to France when he was still very young.  Despite his classical music studies, his interest eventually went to popular songs.   Next to this particular song, the other composition he wrote that also became very famous, is "La Vie en Rose" (forever linked to the legendary Edith Piaf).  Louiguy composed "Cereza Rosa" in 1950 and soon after its release both French and English lyrics were added.  (Jacques Larue and Mack David (brother of Hal David).  The French version was recorded by André Claveau and Yvette Giraud but only had limited success.  An English version by Georgia Gibbs, recorded in 1951, didn't do so well in the charts either. But when Perez Prado and His Orchestra recorded their version for the movie "Underwater" (starring Jane Russell) in 1955 - featurung trumpeter Billy Regis, whose trumpet sound would slide down and up before the melody would resume - it became a major hit worldwide.  Arranged slower than his usual mambo's (it was a cha cha cha) it, besides Regis fabulous trumpet solo, also utilized that period's state of the art recording technology.  Regis' horn playing is captivating with lingering, undulating punctuated notes. A vocal version recorded by Alan Dale after the release of the film, became the most popular vocal rendition in the USA.

 

IN THE HIT PARADE

In the UK, two versions of the song went to # 1 in 1955. The first was the Perez Prado version which reached # 1 for two weeks.  Less than a month later, a version by British trumpeter Eddie Calvert reached #1 for four weeks.

In the US, the Prado version reached the # 1 position of the Billboard charts.  It stayed on that first position for several weeks.

 

DID YOU KNOW

* The song has been covered by at least 70 different artists (vocalists and instrumentalists alike)

*  The song was a tremendous success in many other European countries, and also in Japan

* Perez Prado played a small part (as himself) in the film (directed by John Sturges), accompanying a dancing Jane Russell with his Orchestra

* The story goes that after trumpet player Regis began to draw applause for his solos during personal appearances, Prado would stand directly in front of him, pretending to play the trumpet.

 

FACTS AND FIGURES

* "Cherry Pink and Apple blossom white" belongs to the 10 most played "exotica" standards

* In total, Prado's version was in the charts for 26 weeks

 

A PERSONAL VIDEO SELECTION

 

   ORIGINAL

 

JIMMY DORSEY ORCHESTRA

VOCALS BY PAT O CONNOR AND SANDY EVANS

 

     PAT BOONE

 

  

 

HELMUT ZACHARIAS   

 

   

 

VOCAL VERSION (JAPANESE)

UNUSUAL ARRANGEMENT  JBARRY   

 

ELGART'S VERSION

  

ACCORDEON    

 

 

     

 

THE MOVIE "UNDERWATER" (FULL LENGTH FEATURE FILM)

PIANO    

 

 

QUOTES

 About The Song

 " It was a superb recording technically for the time, with jukebox bass that could rattle the windows "

 

About Perez Prado's music

" In the nineties, it became chic to use Prado instrumentals in ads, on TV and as incidental music; perhaps this is the ultimate tribute to the music of Perez Prado "

 

( Donald Clarke )

 

 IF YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE

MORE ABOUT PEREZ PRADO

EVEN MORE ABOUT PEREZ PRADO

MORE ABOUT THE COMPOSER (LOUIGUY)

MORE ABOUT THE FILM "UNDERWATER"

MORE ABOUT THE CHA CHA CHA

MORE ABOUT MAMBO MUSIC

 

 

 

 

 

 



 





    

      

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PART 2

 1953

 

THE SONG FROM MOULIN ROUGE

 

MANTOVANI AND HIS ORCHESTRA

 

 

BIRTH OF A SONG

"The Song from Moulin Rouge" (also known as "Where Is Your Heart") is a popular song that first appeared in the 1952 film "Moulin Rouge".  The music was written by Georges Auric.  The "Song from Moulin Rouge", with its quintessential French waltz style, became his most famous piece of music, even an international hit.

The 1953 film could have been called "Lautrec," as it is essentially a biopic of Toulouse-Lautrec. It is perhaps fitting that Auric composed the score for this film, as there are many points of similarity between the composer and the artist, who died less than two years after Auric's birth. Both could be charming, impudent, sardonic, and emotionally detached. Both were more at ease and less bored by the worlds of cabaret and music hall than more elevated social strata. 

IN THE HIT PARADE

The version recorded by Mantovani was a huge hit in the UK and in the US.  It first reached the Billboard chart on May 16th 1953 and stayed there during 5 weeks, peaking at number 13.  In the United Kingdom however, Mantovani's rendition reached number one in the UK Singles charts.   The song also reached #1 on the Cash Box chart, which combined all versions, in 1953.  
DID YOU KNOW

* In Moulin Rouge, the theme song was sung by Muriel Smith dubbing for Zsa Zsa Gabor who lip-synched to Smith's singing.

* Victor Skaarup wrote the Danish lyrics.  The Danish title is "Sangen fra Moulin Rouge".  Raquel Rastenni recorded the song in Copenhagen in 1953, together with the Hans Peder Ase Orchestra.

* Originally the song was titled "April Again" and most critics agree that it was the most sentimental song in the movie.

 
FACTS AND FIGURES
*  The versions recorded by Mantovani and Percy Faith sold over a million copies worldwide.

 

A PERSONAL VIDEO SELECTION

 

  ORIGINAL

 

  

WITH LYRICS - ARTIST / ANDY WILLIAMS

   

RAY CONNIFF'S VERSION

 

QUOTES RELATED TO THE MUSIC
" Thanks to both director and composer, the music is never intrusive and appears only where it needs to be. Indeed, compared to the typical Hollywood film score, one is rather amazed with how relatively little music there is in Moulin Rouge "
(From IMDB Review)

" Nevertheless, nobody can deny that melodies like Charmaine, Over the rainbow, Summertime in Venice, Limelight, Three coins in the fountain, Intermezzo or Moulin Rouge theme have achieved in hands of Mantovani the highest peak. "

( From an Amazon album review )
 

IF YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE
MORE ABOUT THE COMPOSER - G. AURIC
MORE ABOUT MANTOVANI
MORE ABOUT THE 1952 MOVIE

ONE OF THE FIRST RELEASES ON THE DECCA LABEL







ANUNZIO MANTOVANI

 

 





ILLUSTRIOUS INSTRUMENTALS

 

 

1950 - THE THIRD MAN THEME

 

ALSO KNOWN AS :  THE HARRY LIME THEME

COMPOSED AND ORIGINALLY PERFORMED BY :

ANTON KARAS

FOR : THE MOVIE "THE THIRD MAN" ( 1949 )

 

 

BIRTH OF A SONG

Karas was working as a zither player when director Carol Reed, during location scouting for the film, heard him playing in a beer garden.  Reed wanted music that wasn't a waltz but would be appropriate to the city of Vienna, in which the film was set, so he asked Karas if he would write and record the film's score.  Karas agreed, and he wrote the theme based on a melody in a practice book. The zither had not previously been widely used in English or American music, but the theme became popular with audiences of the film soon after its premiere.

IN THE HIT PARADE

Following its release in the US in 1950, "The Third Man theme" spent 11 weeks at number one on Billboards "US Bestsellers in Stores" chart, from April 29 to July 8th.

DID YOU KNOW

* The full soundtrack album was ready for release when The Third Man came out, but there was not a lot of interest in it. Instead, labels focused on the catchy main theme and released it as a single.
* The fact that Anton Karas took his melody from a practice book may hold the secret to the popularity of this song.  
* "The Third Man Theme" is informally known in Japan as the "Yebisu Beer Theme," which is still used in Yebisu beer commercials to this day. For this reason, it is also used at Yebisu Station on the JR Yamamote line to inform passengers of incoming trains.
* This was the first number one hit in the USA for an Austrian artist.
* Anton Karas had never learned to read music. 
* Shortly before the The Third Man's release, Carol Reed's masterpiece was viewed by Sir Arthur Jarratt, the Chairman of the distributing company, British Lion. Jarratt sent a telegram to the director, congratulating him on what looked likely to be a successful film. There was, he said, only one problem: "Please take off the banjo."

FACTS AND FIGURES 

* According to Faber and Faber, the different versions of the theme have collectively sold an estimated 40,000,000 copies.
* The original music recording (released at the same time as the film) sold 500,000 copies in one month

* Approximate number of artists who recorded a cover version of the song = 120.
* The zither has a total of 40 strings

 

A PERSONAL VIDEO SELECTION

 

Here we guide you to some remarkable and amazing videos related to this song.

 

 

 

YEBISU BEER ADVERTISEMENT - MUSIC :

" THE THIRD MAN "

 

 

 

ZITHER VERSION -

WITH PICTURES FROM THE ORIGINAL MOVIE

 

                        

 

MANDOLIN VERSION - THE LUGANO MANDOLIN ORCHESTRA

 

 

  

GREAT GUITAR VERSION BY SUNGHA JUNG

 

                     

  

BIG BAND CHA CHA VERSION

XAVIER CUGAT AND HIS ORCHESTRA 

 

 

ONE OF THE FIRST COVERS

GUY LOMBARDO AND HIS ORCHESTRA

 

                      

  

VERSION WITH LYRICS

THE FONTAINE SISTERS  

   

 

 

  HERB ALPERT AND THE TIJUANA BRASS

FROM THE ALBUM "GOING PLACES" ( 1965 )

 

 

                       

 

THE BEATLES HAVING SOME OFF THE RECORD FUN

WITH "THE THIRD MAN THEME"   

 

 

 

 

GEOFF LOVE AND HIS ORCHESTRA PLAY

THE HARRY LIME THEME

 

 

QUOTES RELATING TO THE MUSIC

" What sort of music it is, whether jaunty or sad, fierce or provoking, it would be hard to reckon; but under its enthrallment, the camera comes into play ... The unseen zither-player ... is made to employ his instrument much as the Homeric bard did his lyre. "
( William Whytebait )

 

" Anton Karas will have you in a dither with his zither "
 ( From the original movie trailer )

" We should be able to make a fortune out of this music "
( David O. Selznick -  co financer of the film )

" The zither is used in different stresses against the mood and against the action and it sharpens both to an extraordinary degree "
( Richard Winnington - movie critic at the time)

 " The music hits one's consciousness like a cloudburst of needles ".
( Manny Farber - famous American critic )


IF YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE
 
 
 

MORE ABOUT THE ZITHER INSTRUMENT

ABOUT THE FILM - THE THIRD MAN

SONG LYRICS OF THE THIRD MAN

MORE ABOUT ANTON KARAS

 

   

ANTON KARAS - COMPOSER OF "THE THIRD MAN THEME"

 

 



MOVIE POSTER (GERMANY AND AUSTRIA)