Who performed Jerome Kern 's "A Fine Romance" better?

Virginia O'Brien sings "A Fine Romance" in the Jerome Kern 1946 biopic 'Till the Clouds Roll By' https://t.co/SpPthtwNCb pic.twitter.com/597z8VdN2h

— 🎼AdagioForStrings🎻 (@adagioforstring) November 20, 2018

In case the above link breaks

Guy Hovis on The Lawrence Welk Show sings Jerome Kern 's "A Fine Romance" https://t.co/783EkfeJyS pic.twitter.com/oybXaVHbJQ

— 🎼AdagioForStrings🎻 (@adagioforstring) November 20, 2018

In case the above link breaks:

Ginger 's character sings Kern 's "A Fine Romance" in the 1936 film "Swing TIme" to Astaire's character - unaware that Fred's character is aloof b/c he has a fiancé back homehttps://t.co/5zmQSIi2jg pic.twitter.com/SAl6Ti9J68

— 🎼AdagioForStrings🎻 (@adagioforstring) November 20, 2018

In case above link breaks:

Astaire 's sidekick pal, Victor Moore , then spills the beans about Fred's fiancé to Ginger - which causes Ginger to now become aloof to Fred's advanceshttps://t.co/wV6fQJbI9f pic.twitter.com/NM6iF7DGTw

— 🎼AdagioForStrings🎻 (@adagioforstring) November 20, 2018

In case the above link breaks:

Georges Metaxa - whose character has unrequited love for Ginger in this love triangle / quadrangle - leads a band that also plays "A Fine Romance" pic.twitter.com/ZWDB73Wxdc

— 🎼AdagioForStrings🎻 (@adagioforstring) November 20, 2018

And in case you wanted to know what George Metaxa sounded like when he sang - here he is singing Rivera & Woods "Green Eyes" 1931 https://t.co/VLbZg85v9u

— 🎼AdagioForStrings🎻 (@adagioforstring) November 20, 2018

An updated poll:

Gogi Grant & Robert Merrill Jerome Kern & Dorothy Fields "A Fine Romance" on 1963 "Voices of Firestone"

🙅‍♀️🤗🙅‍♂️😘 pic.twitter.com/QFDb4EWia4

— 🎼AdagioForStrings🎻 (@adagioforstring) January 9, 2019

Judy Garland, Steve Allen, Mel Tormé American Songbook Medley

"The Judy Garland Show" included a wittily arranged and executed trio with three performers, each singing a separate medley of tunes, artfully interwoven and braided together @3:45:




A highly motivated youtuber by the moniker TheManThatGetsAway already reversed engineered the song titles for each singer's medley. The closed captioning keyboard exploded in places, so I transcribed the tidbits of lyrics from each song as bet as I could make out:

Ain't Misbehavin' (Judy) /
 With lyrics by Andy Razaf and score by Thomas "Fats" Waller and Harry Brooks

"No one to talk with
All by myself
No one to walk with
But I'm happy on the shelf
Ain't misbehavin'
I'm savin' my love for you"

Sung by Sarah Vaughan:






Makin' Whoopee  (Mel)/
Gus Kahn

"Another bride, another June
Another sunny honeymoon
Another season, another reason
For makin' whoopee"

Sung by Ella Fitzgerald






The Glory Of Love (Steve) / 
Billy Hill


"You've got to laugh a little, cry a little
Before the clouds roll by a little
That's the story of, that's the glory of love"

Sung by Dean Martin:




Way Back Home (Judy) /

Al Lewis and Tom Waring

"The trees are the sappiest
The days are the nappiest
The dogs are the yappiest
The kids are the scrappiest
The jokes the snappiest
The folks the happiest
Way back home"


Sung by Bob Crosby:







Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams (Mel) /
Harry Barris

"Your castles may tumble
That's fate after all
Life's really funny that way
No use to grumble
Just smile as they fall
Weren't you King for a day"


Sung by Bing Crosby:



You Took Advantage Of Me (Steve) /
Lorenz Hart

"I'm so hot and bothered that I don't know

My elbow from my ear.

I suffer something awful each time you go

And much worse when you're near."

Sung by Rosemary Clooney:



Mean To Me (Judy) /
Ahlert, Fred E./ Turk, Roy

"It must be great fun to be mean to me

You shouldn't, for can't you see

What you mean to me"

Sung by Billie Holiday:



The Girl Friend (Steve, Mel) / 
Rodgers and Hart

"Isn't she cute?

Isn't she sweet?

An eyeful you'd die full

Of pleasure to meet.

In my funny fashion

I'm cursed with a passion

For the girl friend!"

Sung by George Olsen:



Tip Toe Through The Tulips (Judy) /
Joe Burke

"Tiptoe through the window

By the window, that is where I'll be

Come tiptoe through the tulips with me"

Tiny Tim w/his ukulele ruined this song for ever and all time:




 Truckin' (Mel) /
Rube Bloom; Ted Koehler

No, Mel Torme did NOT sing the psychedelic Grateful Dead version:







"We had to get something new

A dance'll do up here in Harlem.

So someone started truckin'"

Sung by Ivie Anderson:




Gypsy In My Soul (Steve) /
Clay Boland and Moe Jaffe

"I've  got  to  give  vent  to  my  emotions

Cause I'm  only  content having  my  way"

Sung by Doris Day:




Nice Work If You Can Get It (Judy) / 
George Gershwin


"Just imagine someone

Waiting at the cottage door

Where two hearts become one

Who could ask for anything more?"

Sung by Frank Sinatra and Peggy Lee



The Glory Of Love (Steve) /
Billy Hill

"That's the story of, that’s the glory of,

That's the story of, that’s the glory of,

That's the story of,

That's the glory of love"

My Heart Stood Still (Judy) / 
Rodgers and Hart

"I took one look at you

that's all I meant to do 

and then my heart stood still! "

Sung by the Mamas and the Papas:





Let's Do It (Let's Fall In Love) (Judy, Steve, Mel)/
Cole Porter

"Some Argentines without means do it

People say in Boston even beans do it

Let's do it, let's fall in love"

Sung by Louis Armstrong:




And in case the above Judy Garland Show video link breaks, here's a cludgy recording:

I Hate Fake Trumpet Playing in Movies

Fred Astaire portrayed a trumpet player in the 1940 film Second Chorus.  I have an irrational hatred of actors who do a carp job of fake playing an instrument as Astaire and his sidekick, Batman's Penguin, did:

 More horrible fake trumpet playing:

Conversely, Artie Shaw and his orchestra probably fake played their instruments to playback on stage, but did a better job pulling off synching their actions to the music since they at least knew real fingering:

The entire film:


To contrast, others find Astaire as one of the few redeeming aspects of this film:

Charley2 says: "The movie has a few redeeming qualities. Namely Astaire and one great song" http://lunch.com/t/6c46 'Second Chorus' Review
— Lunch.com (@LunchFeed) February 24, 2011

However, I'm not the only person who finds bad fake trumpet playing annoying, from the PBS show "Theater Talk" episode discussing new Broadway play about the trumpet player Louis Armstrong "Satchmo at Waldorf":

The playwright, Terry Teachout, states:

"I never wanted an actor to pretend to be playing the trumpet. That never looks right."

and the entire "Theater Talk" episode: