"Cheek to Cheek" is a song written by Irving Berlin in 1934–35,^[3] specifically for the star of his new musical, Fred Astaire. The movie was Top Hat, co-starring Ginger Rogers.^[4] In the movie, Astaire sings the song to Rogers as they dance. The song was nominated for the Best Song Oscar for 1936, which it lost to "Lullaby of Broadway".^[5] The song spent five weeks at #1 on Your Hit Parade and was named the #1 song of 1935.^[4] Astaire's 1935 recording with the Leo Reisman Orchestra was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2000.^[6] In 2004, Astaire's version finished at No. 15 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs survey of top tunes in American cinema.

Release

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On June 26, 1935, Fred and Leo Reisman, along with his Orchestra, got to work at ARC (parent company of Brunswick Records at the time) Studios in New York City. They recorded two Irving Berlin compositions, "Cheek To Cheek" and "No Strings (I'm Fancy Free)". The next day, with Johnny Greene's Orchestra, "Isn't This a Lovely Day?" and "Top Hat, White Tie and Tails" were completed. Both singles were released in August, and then at the end of the month, "Top Hat" premiered. The timing must have been perfect, because "Cheek to Cheek" headed straight to #1, where it stayed for eleven weeks, and finished the #1 hit of 1935. Fred topped his career high of ten weeks for "Night And Day".

Recorded versions

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According to the database of secondhandsongs.com, "Cheek to Cheek" has been recorded by 438 different artists as of July 2021.^[7]

Release	Performer	Vocalist	Recording date	Album	Label	Source
1935	Guy Lombardo	Guy Lombardo
1935	The Boswell Sisters	The Boswell Sisters
1956	Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong	Ella & Louis	August 16, 1956	Ella and Louis	Verve
1957	Lou Donaldson feat. Horace Silver Quartet	instrumental	June 20, 1952	Quartet/Quintet/Sextet	Blue Note	^[8]
1957	Marcy Lutes (arr. Gil Evans)	Marcy Lutes	1956 or 1957	Debut	Decca	^[9]
1958	Peggy Lee	Peggy Lee	January 3, 1958	Jump for Joy	Capitol
1958	Doris Day	Doris Day	February 24, 1958	Hooray for Hollywood	Columbia	^[10]
1958	Ella Fitzgerald	Ella Fitzgerald	March 1958	Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Irving Berlin Song Book	Verve
1958	Billie Holiday	Billie Holiday	August 1956	All or Nothing at All	Verve
1959	Frank Sinatra	Frank Sinatra	December 1958	Come Dance with Me!	Capitol
1976	Alex Harvey	Alex Harvey	Christmas 1975	The Penthouse Tapes	Vertigo
1982	Taco	Taco	1981	After Eight	RCA Victor
2014	Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga	Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga	June 2013	Cheek to Cheek	Columbia

References

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^ Library of Congress. Copyright Office. (1935). Catalog of Copyright Entries 1935 Musical Compositions New Series Vol 30 Pt 3. United States Copyright Office. U.S. Govt. Print. Off.

^ "BRUNSWICK 78rpm numerical listing discography: 7300 - 7500". www.78discography.com. Retrieved 2022-03-20.

^ Irving Berlin Collection description from the Library of Congress's online Performing Arts Encyclopedia; retrieved 2012-03-07.

^ ^a ^b "Cheek to Cheek" by Fred Astaire, 1935 Archived 2014-10-12 at the Wayback Machine; from the University of Virginia's American Studies website, subsection "Manufacturing Memory Archived 2014-10-14 at the Wayback Machine: 1935-1939"; retrieved 2012-03-07.

^ The 8th Academy Awards (1936) Nominees and Winners, from the website of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Science (www.oscar.org); retrieved 2012-03-07.

^ Grammy Hall of Fame page Archived 2011-02-19 at the Wayback Machine from www.grammy.org; retrieved 2012-04-07.

^ "Cover versions of Cheek to Cheek by Fred Astaire with Leo Reisman and His Orchestra | SecondHandSongs". secondhandsongs.com. Retrieved 2021-08-05.

^ Cheek to Cheek by Lou Donaldson, secondhandsongs.com.

^ "'Debut', Marcy Lutes: Overview", Allmusic.

^ "www.discogs.com". discogs.com. Retrieved June 4, 2024.