I Wished on the Moon

"I Wished on the Moon"
Song by Teddy Wilson featuring Billie Holiday[1]
ReleasedAugust 1935[1]
RecordedJuly 2, 1935[1]
GenreJazz
LabelBrunswick Records[1]
Songwriter(s)Ralph Rainger, Dorothy Parker[1]
Composer(s)Ralph Rainger
Lyricist(s)Dorothy Parker

"I Wished on the Moon" is a song composed by Ralph Rainger, with lyrics by Dorothy Parker. Bing Crosby sang the song in The Big Broadcast of 1936.

Crosby recorded the song on August 14, 1935[2] with The Dorsey Brothers Orchestra and it reached the charts of the day peaking at No. 2 during a seven-week stay.[3] At the end of the long recording session, Crosby decided to sing only a single chorus of the song in the middle of an orchestral version instead of the full ballad treatment used in the film. This led to a long argument between the singer and producer Jack Kapp. Eventually Crosby prevailed.[4]
Crosby recorded the song again in 1954 for his album Bing: A Musical Autobiography.

Little Jack Little recorded the song for Columbia (catalog 3068) on June 28, 1935,[5] and also enjoyed chart success with the song in 1935 reaching the No. 13 spot.[6] Ruth Etting also recorded the song for Columbia (3070) on July 1, 1935.

  1. ^ a b c d e "I Wished on the Moon by Teddy Wilson and His Orchestra - Vocal Chorus Billie Holiday". SecondHandSongs. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
  2. ^ "A Bing Crosby Discography". BING magazine. International Club Crosby. Retrieved April 16, 2017.
  3. ^ Whitburn, Joel (1986). Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954. Wisconsin, USA: Record Research Inc. p. 105. ISBN 0-89820-083-0.
  4. ^ Giddins, Gary (2001). Bing Crosby - A Pocketful of Dreams - The Early Years 1903-1940. New York: Little, Brown & Co. pp. 387-390. ISBN 0-316-88188-0.
  5. ^ "THE ONLINE DISCOGRAPHICAL PROJECT". 78discography.com. Retrieved June 26, 2017.
  6. ^ Whitburn, Joel (1986). Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954. Wisconsin, USA: Record Research Inc. p. 275. ISBN 0-89820-083-0.