1950 Music – Pop Standards and Artists

1950 Pop Standards and Artists

Bing and Gary Crosby
Play A Simple Melody
Irving Berlin wrote this song and used it in the Movie There’s No Business Like Show Business. The song is actually two songs: one is a simple old-fashioned melody, and the second is a more complex jazz song. At first, the songs are sung separately and then over top of one another. Gary Crosby is Bing’s son.

Doris Day
Bewitched Bothered and Bewildered
This song originates in the 1940 musical Pal Joey, with music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Lorenz Hart. The musical launched the career of legendary dancer Gene Kelly. Ten years later, in 1950, it hit the charts. Many artists, including Frank Sinatra, Celine Dion, and Cher, would go on to record the song.

The Mills Brothers
Daddy’s Little Girl
If there was a song that was used at almost every wedding in the 1950s, 60s, 70s, and 80s, this would be it. Not during the ceremony, however. The song would be used for the father-daughter dance at the reception, to the tears of all the women married or single. Boby Burke and Horace Gerlach wrote the song’s lyrics and music.

Nat King Cole
Mona Lisa
The Mona Lisa is probably the most famous of Da Vinci’s work. The painting resides at The Louvre Museum in Paris and many prints, postcards, and posters have been made of this classic work of art. There is much speculation as to who the model for the painting was, but no one knows for sure, and the enigmatic smile she wears has perplexed people since the painting was completed. The song compares a woman to the famous portrait. The song was composed by Ray Evans and Jay Livingston for the motion picture Captain Carey U.S.A. It took the Academy Award for best song in 1950.

Perry Como
A Bushel And A Peck
Guys and Dolls is a musical based on a story by Damon Runyon. It tells the tale of a young missionary girl who falls in love with a gambler in New York City. The musical premiered on Broadway in 1950 and ran for 1,200 performances. It also won the Tony Award that year. A Bushel And A Peck is sung by Miss Adelaide, a singer at a local club; the song was part of her act.

Gene Autry
Here Comes Peter Cottontail
Having topped the charts in 1949 with the song Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer, it is unsurprising that Gene Autry would come back the following year with a song about a popular rabbit for Easter. Steve Nelson and Jack Rollins wrote the song and would peak at #5 on the Billboard Charts. The song would later become the title for a 1971 Easter special which told the story of how a young Peter got the job as Easter Bunny.

Eileen Barton
If I Knew You Were Coming I’d Have Baked A Cake
Written by Al Hoffman, Bob Merrill and Clem Watts the song was published in 1950 and recorded in January of that year by Eileen Barton. The song became such a big hit that its record producer, National Records, could not handle the demand and turned to the larger record company, Mercury Records, to help with distribution. Many other artists, a few times as a duet would record the song. Bing Crosby and Bob Hope would record the song in this way as well as Ethel Merman and Ray Bulger.

Teresa Brewer
Music Music Music
This million-selling record was first recorded by London Records in 1949 by Teresa Brewer. Stephen Weiss and Bernie Baum wrote the song. Petula Clark recorded the song that same year, and that version was popular in Australia.
The song would be recorded again in the 1970s by Melanie, but she would rename it The Nickel Song.

Anton Karas
Third Man Theme
Anton Karas wrote this instrumental piece in 1949 for the film The Third Man. It topped the Billboard Charts for eleven weeks. Its popularity is partially attributed to the use of the zither, an instrument rarely used in music then.

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Top Artists and Songs of 1950