Cheek to Cheek

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For other uses, see Cheek to Cheek (disambiguation).
"Cheek To Cheek"
Cheek to Cheek.jpg
Astaire and Ginger Rogers dancing in Top Hat, 1935
Song by Fred Astaire with Leo Reisman's Orchestra
B-side"No Strings (I'm Fancy Free)"
PublishedJuly 2, 1935 Berlin Irving Music Corp
ReleasedAugust 1935
RecordedJune 26, 1935
StudioARC Studios, New York City
GenreJazz, Pop Vocal
LabelBrunswick 7486
Songwriter(s)Irving Berlin
Fred Astaire with Leo Reisman's Orchestra singles chronology
"Night And Day / Stormy Weather Victor 1932 re-releases"
(1934) 		"Cheek To Cheek"
(1935) 		"Isn't This A Lovely Day"
(1935)

"Cheek to Cheek" is a song written by Irving Berlin in 1934-35,[1] specifically for the star of his new musical, Fred Astaire. The movie was Top Hat, co-starring Ginger Rogers.[2] 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".[3] The song spent five weeks at #1 on Your Hit Parade and was named the #1 song of 1935.[2] Astaire's 1935 recording with the Leo Reisman Orchestra was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2000.[4] In 2004, Astaire's version finished at No. 15 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs survey of top tunes in American cinema.

Release[]

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[]

According to the database of secondhandsongs.com, "Cheek To Cheek" has been recorded by 438 different artists as of July 2021.[5]

Popular culture[]

  • A sequence from Top Hat with Fred Astaire singing the song while dancing is shown on an outdoor moviescreen in the Oscar-winning 1996 film The English Patient.
  • "Heaven on the 7th Floor," a 1977 hit song by Paul Nicholas, quotes the opening line of "Cheek to Cheek" in its backing vocals.
  • It was also heard in the 1999 film The Green Mile
  • The song was heard in the 2017 animated film The Boss Baby.
  • A rendition was also heard at the work Christmas party in the 2020 film Godmothered.
  • The song was used as a parody called Seven Goldfish for Sesame Street.
  • An instrumental version is used as background music in a dance scene at a party at Mrs Pumfrey’s house in season 1, episode 2 of “All Creatures Great and Small[disambiguation needed]”.
  • The song was used as a parody in an episode of Arthur (TV Series) for its 6th Season.

References[]

  1. ^ Irving Berlin Collection description from the Library of Congress's online Performing Arts Encyclopedia; retrieved 2012-03-07.
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ Grammy Hall of Fame page from www.grammy.org; retrieved 2012-04-07.
  5. ^ "Cover versions of Cheek to Cheek by Fred Astaire with Leo Reisman and His Orchestra | SecondHandSongs". secondhandsongs.com. Retrieved 2021-08-05.
  6. ^ Whitburn, Joel (1986). Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954. Wisconsin, USA: Record Research Inc. p. 484. ISBN 0-89820-083-0.
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