"Tell Me Marianne"
Song
Published1947
GenrePop, tango
Songwriter(s)Edgardo Donato and Bob Musel

"Tell Me Marianne" is a 1947 English lyric adaptation of "A media luz". Originally a 1924 tango by Edgardo Donato which became a standard, the English lyrics and verse melody were written by Bob Musel.[1][2] It spent a week at number 1 on the British sheet music charts in June 1947.[3]

The melody was also adapted by Dorcas Cochran as "When I Look Into Your Eyes", a 1952 song recorded by Champ Butler.[4][5]

Background

For the original 1924 version of "A media luz" (translated as "In the Dimmed Light"), the Spanish lyrics were written by Carlos Lenzi; it is considered to be a representative popular tango of that decade.[6][7][8] "Tell Me Marianne" was published in 1947, with the sheet music cover describing it as "an adaptation of the world-famous melody 'A media luz'".[9]

Chart performance

"Tell Me Marianne" first entered the sheet music charts for the week ending 26 April 1947. It dropped out the following week, and re-entered on 10 May, before reaching number 1 for a week on 26 June. It spent a total of 17 weeks on the chart.[10] No recordings of the song entered the US Billboard Best Sellers in Stores chart.[11]

Recordings

When "Tell Me Marianne" first entered the charts in April 1947, two older recordings of "A media luz" were still available, by Victor Silvester and his Ballroom Orchestra (1941) and Stanley Black and his Orchestra (1946). When "Tell Me Marianne" reached the top of the sheet music charts in June, there were two versions of "Tell Me Marianne" available, both of which were issued that month. These were by vocalist Monte Rey, and Mantovani and his Orchestra (with vocals by Val Merrall). The following month saw versions released by Joe Loss and his Orchestra (vocals by Don Rivers), and Rita Williams. A non-vocal version by Loss was subsequently issued in 1950.[10] In the early 1950s, Mantovani recorded "A media luz" as an instrumental for An Album of Favourite Tangos. It was released as a single in America in 1953.[12]

A version of the song by Jean Sablon with Toots Camarata and his Orchestra was released in America in September 1948 by RCA Victor.[13][14]

References

  1. ↑ Hunter, Nigel (1999-09-25). "Publishing Vet Musel Dies". Billboard. p. 76.
  2. ↑ Bethell, Leslie (1998-08-13). A Cultural History of Latin America: Literature, Music and the Visual Arts in the 19th and 20th Centuries. Cambridge University Press. p. 365. ISBN 978-1-316-58389-0.
  3. ↑ Henson, Brian (1989). First hits, 1946-1959. Colin Morgan. London: Boxtree. ISBN 1-85283-268-1. OCLC 19389211.
  4. ↑ Champ Butler; Percy Faith and his Orchestra; D. Cochran; Donato (1952), When I Look into Your Eyes, Internet Archive, Columbia, retrieved 2023-04-05
  5. ↑ Catalog of Copyright Entries: Third series. Library of Congress Copyright Office. 1952. p. 257.
  6. ↑ Abeele, Bruno Vanden. "A media luz". Tanguito, Argentine Tango Academy. Retrieved 2023-04-04.
  7. ↑ "A media luz. Tango (1924)". Todo Tango. Retrieved 2023-04-04.
  8. ↑ Bergero, Adriana J. Intersecting Tango: Cultural Geographies of Buenos Aires, 1900-1930. University of Pittsburgh Pre. p. 380. ISBN 978-0-8229-7339-3.
  9. ↑ Musel, Bob (1947). Tell Me Marianne. London: Southern Music Publishing.
  10. 1 2 Henson, Brian (1989). First hits, 1946-1959. Colin Morgan. London: Boxtree. ISBN 1-85283-268-1. OCLC 19389211.
  11. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (1986). Joel Whitburn's Pop memories, 1890-1954 : the history of American popular music : compiled from America's popular music charts 1890-1954. The Archive of Contemporary Music. Menomonee Falls, Wis. : Record Research. ISBN 978-0-89820-083-6.
  12. ↑ MacKenzie, Colin (2005). Mantovani: A Lifetime in Music. Melrose Press. pp. 300, 306. ISBN 978-1-905226-19-1.
  13. ↑ "This week's RCA Victor release!" (PDF). Cashbox. September 25, 1948. p. 7. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
  14. ↑ Jean Sablon; Musel; Kaye; Donato; Toots Camarata and his Orchestra (1948), Tell Me, Marianne, Internet Archive, RCA Victor, retrieved 2023-04-05
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