"Just One of Those Things" is a popular song written by Cole Porter for the 1935 musical Jubilee.

Porter had written the score for Jubilee while on an extended sea cruise in the early part of 1935: however, in September 1935 while he was visiting a friend's farm in Ohio with Jubilee's librettist Moss Hart, the latter mentioned that the play's second act required an additional song, and Porter had "Just One of Those Things" completed by the following morning (he had previously used the title for a song intended for but not featured in the 1930 musical The New Yorkers—apart from the title the two songs are distinct).[1] Porter's original lyric lacked an adjective for the line "a trip to the moon on gossamer wings": "gossamer" would be suggested by his friend, Ed Tauch.[2]

A recording by Richard Himber reached the charts of the day in 1935 and Peggy Lee's stylized arrangement of the song was a No. 14 hit in the Billboard charts in 1952.[3]

Other recordings

The song has become a standard of the American Songbook, with many other recordings having been made of it. Among artists who have recorded it are Ella Fitzgerald, Anita O'Day, Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday,[4] Sarah Vaughan, Bing Crosby (recorded January 21, 1945),[5] Doris Day, Lena Horne, Maxine Sullivan, Frank Sinatra, Johnny Hartman, Mel Torme, Louis Prima, Diana Krall, John Barrowman, Bryan Ferry, Lionel Hampton, Claude Bolling, Charlie Parker, Gil Evans, Dave Brubeck, Freddie Hubbard, Oscar Peterson, Lee Morgan, Sidney Bechet, Nellie McKay, Erin McKeown, Joan Morris, Judy Garland, Patricia Barber, Johnny Dorelli, Jamie Cullum, Dionne Warwick, The Pogues with Kirsty MacColl and the Cherry Poppin' Daddies. Nat King Cole recorded it as the title track of his 1957 album Just One Of Those Things. Maurice Chevalier included it in a Cole Porter medley on his farewell album, released on his 80th birthday.[6] Shirley Bassey recorded the song in 1963 for her EP In Other Words....[7] Tony Bennett recorded a version of the song for his 2021 collaborative album with Lady Gaga, Love for Sale.[8]

Film appearances

In 1958, Polly Bergen and guests Dick Van Dyke and Carol Haney performed "Just One of Those Things" on her short-lived NBC variety show, The Polly Bergen Show.[14] Also on television, Diana Dors plays a nightclub singer who sings the song in the 1963 "Run for Doom" episode of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour.

In 1983, it was used on NBC News Overnight's final broadcast on December 3, during the montage of the show's staff.

In 2019, actress Helena Bonham Carter performed a rendition of the song in the third-season premiere of The Crown, while her character, Princess Margaret, is at a dinner party.

Mariah Carey sings a few lines of the chorus, when describing a past love affair in the audiobook of her autobiography, “The Meaning Of Mariah Carey”.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Schwartz, Charles (1992). Cole Porter - a biography (2nd paperback printing ed.). New York: Da Capo Press Inc. pp. 144, 307. ISBN 978-0-306-80097-9.
  2. ↑ McBrien, William (2000). Cole Porter (1st Vintage Books ed.). New York: Vintage Books. p. 183. ISBN 0-679-72792-2.
  3. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (1986). Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954. Wisconsin, USA: Record Research Inc. p. 535. ISBN 0-89820-083-0.
  4. ↑ "Billie Holiday Discography". jazzdisco.org.
  5. ↑ "A Bing Crosby Discography". BING magazine. International Club Crosby. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
  6. ↑ "Maurice Chevalier – Maurice Chevalier At 80 (Vinyl)". Discogs.com. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
  7. ↑ "Shirley Bassey - In Other Words (Fly Me To The Moon)". 45cat.com. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
  8. ↑ Wilman, Chris (August 3, 2021). "Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga Reveal 'Love for Sale,' Cole Porter Tribute Album Said to Be Bennett's Last". Variety. Archived from the original on August 3, 2021. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
  9. ↑ Maurice Terenzio, Scott MacGillivray, Ted Okuda (1991). The Soundies Distributing Corporation of America. McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 150. ISBN 0-89950-578-3. Retrieved January 19, 2023 – via archive.org.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  10. ↑ "The Jazz Singer (1952)". IMDb.com. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
  11. ↑ "Young at Heart (1954)". IMDb.com. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
  12. ↑ Colin Larkin (2000). The encyclopedia of popular music. Oxford Univ. ISBN 978-0-19-531373-4.
  13. ↑ "Sleuth (1972)". IMDb.com. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
  14. ↑ "The Polly Bergen Show". Classic Television Archives. Retrieved January 9, 2011.
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