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"What Is This Thing Called Love?" is a 1929 popular song written by Cole Porter, for the musical Wake Up and Dream. It was first performed by Elsie Carlisle in March 1929. The song has become a popular jazz standard and one of Porter's most often played compositions. www.jnormanstewart.com

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"Dancing in the Dark" is a popular American song, with music by Arthur Schwartz and lyrics by Howard Dietz, that was first introduced by John Barker with Tilly Losch dancing in the 1931 revue The Band Wagon. The song was first recorded by Bing Crosby on August 19, 1931 with Studio Orchestra directed by Victor Young,[1] staying on the pop charts for six weeks, peaking at #3,[2] and helping to make it a lasting standard. The 1941 recording by Artie Shaw and His Orchestra[3] earned Shaw one of his eight gold records at the height of the Big Band era of the 1930s and 1940s. It was subsequently featured in the classic 1953 MGM musical The Band Wagon and has since come to be considered part of the Great American Songbook. In the film it is orchestrally performed to a ballet dance by Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse set in Central Park. The song is given a 'sensual and dramatic'[4] orchestration by Conrad Salinger, with the dance choreographed by Michael Kidd and performed by Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse. (Wikipedia) www.jnormanstewart.com

"They Can't Take That Away from Me" is a 1937 popular song with music by George Gershwin and lyrics by Ira Gershwin. It was introduced by Fred Astaire in the 1937 film Shall We Dance and gained huge success. www.jnormanstewart.com

"The Man I Love" is a popular standard with music by George Gershwin and lyrics by his brother Ira. Part of the 1924 score for the Gershwin musical comedy Lady, Be Good, the song was deleted from that show and put into the Gershwins' 1927 government satire Strike Up the Band, which closed out-of-town. It was considered for, then rejected from, the 1928 Ziegfeld hit Rosalie. (Wikipedia) The best recorded version was from Ella Fitzgerald. www.jstewart.com

"These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You)" is a standard with lyrics by Eric Maschwitz, writing under the pseudonym Holt Marvell,[1] and music by Jack Strachey, both Englishmen. Harry Link, an American, sometimes appears as a co-writer; his input was probably limited to an alternative "middle eight" (bridge) which many performers prefer.[2] It is one of a group of "Mayfair songs", like "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square".[3] Maschwitz wrote the song under his pen name, Holt Marvell, at the behest of Joan Carr for a late-evening revue broadcast by the BBC.[4] The copyright was lodged in 1936.[5] According to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, British cabaret singer Jean Ross,[6][7] with whom Maschwitz had a youthful liaison, was the muse for the song. (Wikipedia) www.jnormanstewart.com

FRIDAY'S SONG - 12/25/2020 (Christmas Day).....This is one of my Christmas favorites - "White Christmas" is an Irving Berlin song reminiscing about an old-fashioned Christmas setting, released in 1942. The version sung by Bing Crosby is the world's best-selling single with estimated sales in excess of 50 million copies worldwide. When the figures for other versions of the song are added to Crosby's, sales of the song exceed 100 million. (Wikipedia)

"The Christmas Song" (commonly subtitled "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire" or, as it was originally subtitled, "Merry Christmas to You") is a classic Christmas song written in 1945[note 1] by Robert Wells and Mel Tormé.

FRIDAY'S SONG - 12/11/2020 - "Speak Low" (1943) is a popular song composed by Kurt Weill, with lyrics by Ogden Nash. It was introduced by Mary Martin and Kenny Baker in the Broadway musical One Touch of Venus (1943). The 1944 hit single was by Guy Lombardo and his orchestra, with vocal by Billy Leach. Actress Ava Gardner (dubbed by Eileen Wilson) and Dick Haymes sang the song in the feature film version of One Touch of Venus (1948).[citation needed] The tune is a jazz standard that has been widely recorded, both by vocal artists from Billie Holiday and Tony Bennett to The Miracles and Dee Dee Bridgewater, and such instrumentalists as James Moody,[1] Chet Baker, Gerry Mulligan, Bill Evans, Sonny Clark with Donald Byrd and John Coltrane, Roy Hargrove, Woody Shaw, Bobby Shew, Eumir Deodato and Brian Bromberg. Pianist Walter Bishop Jr. in 1961 recorded an album, Speak Low, featuring the song. Ella Fitzgerald and Joe Pass recorded this in 1983 (on CD Speak Love). Al Caiola's 1961 version reached #105 on Cashbox magazine's "Looking Ahead" survey. Kurt Weill himself also recorded the song. The opening line "Speak low when you speak, love" is a play of words on a line in William Shakespeare's comedy Much Ado About Nothing (1600), in which Don Pedro says "Speak low if you speak love." "Speak Low" is featured in the 2014 German film Phoenix. (Wikipedia)

"I Should Care" is a popular song with music by Axel Stordahl and Paul Weston and lyrics by Sammy Cahn, published in 1944. It first appeared in the MGM film Thrill of a Romance. The original recording by Ralph Flanagan and His Orchestra, with vocalists: Harry Prime and The Singing Winds was made at Manhattan Center, New York City, on July 18, 1952. It was released by RCA Victor Records as catalog number 20-4885 (in USA) and by EMI on the His Master's Voice labels as catalog number … (Wikipedia) www.jnormanstewart.com

"It Could Happen to You" is a popular standard with music by Jimmy Van Heusen and lyrics by Johnny Burke. The song was written in 1943 and was introduced by Dorothy Lamour in the Paramount musical comedy film And the Angels Sing (1944).[1] A recording by Jo Stafford made on December 13, 1943, was released by Capitol Records as catalog number 158.[2] It reached the Billboard Best Seller chart on September 21, 1944, at number 10, its only week on the chart.[3] Bing Crosby's recording for Decca Records, made on December 29, 1943,[4] had two weeks in the Billboard charts in September 1944, with a peak position of number 18.[5] The Dexter Gordon composition "Fried Bananas" is based on the changes of "It Could Happen to You". (Wikipedia) www.jstewart.com

"FRIDAY'S SONG" - 10/30/2020 - "Little Girl Blue" is a popular song with music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Lorenz Hart, published in 1935.[1] The song was introduced by Gloria Grafton in the Broadway musical Jumbo.[2] Recordings by: Louis Armstrong, Rosemary Clooney (1990), Doris Day (1952), Judy Garland (1957) Kieth Jarrett, Diana Ross (1973), Frank Sinatra (1954), Sarah Vaughan (1958) (Wikipedia) www.jnormanstewart.com

Piano music by J. Norman Stewart - You're Gonna Hear from Me" is a song written by André Previn and Dory Previn written for the 1965 movie Inside Daisy Clover and performed, among others, by Andy Williams, Frank Sinatra and Linda Scott. The song reached #13 on the adult contemporary chart in 1966. (Wikipedia) www.jnormanstewart.com