Every songwriter's first and foremost dream is to write a "hit" song. However, even the most successful and recognized songwriters were unable to tell whether one of their new songs would be a "hit." In the halcyon"Hit Parade" days, songwriters might have had a strong hunch that a song was going to make it, but no certainty. But then, there were the occasions that a song -totally unexpectedly - would make it big...as a HIT!

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The songwriting team of Rodgers & Hart created many songs for movies and stage but one of their greatest   hits was their only one which came from neither.

What makes this tale even stranger is that the tune of the song had lyrics set to it for two different movies.   The first movie, HOLLYWOOD PARTY , never got past the initial planning stage.    In it, Jean Harlow (as a chorus girl) was supposed to sing a song entitled THE PRAYER   (as a supplication to The Lord to make her a star.)   With the scrubbing of the film, the song never received any public exposure. But in 1933, it was given a new title and lyrics and used in a gangster movie called MANHATTAN MELODRAMA ,*   which starred Clark Gable.   This time, the song's title became THE BAD IN EVERY MAN.   Although the movie was a hit and widely viewed (including by myself as a kid) the song made no favorable public impression.

This did not set well with Larry Hart, and he bemoaned that fact to the publisher, who suggested that he try to  give the tune "more commercial" lyrics for common folks like himself, and include words such as "moon" and "June".   Hart was offended and retorted sarcastically, "Commercial? I suppose you mean something like Blue Moon!"   - to which the publisher exclaimed "That's it!"

Thus, BLUE MOON, the song, came to be!!

I can tell you as a piano player, (who has played BLUE MOON   a million times,) that I don't particularly care for it because of its hackneyed chord changes.   (They are, as represented by Roman Numerals:   I   vi   ii   V.)   If that means nothing to you - and you are old enough - the bass notes of those chords make up the tune of the ditty: "We want Cantor!"   (repeat a few dozen times for Eddie Cantor's benefit!)

It's truly amazing how many of the great hits have stories connected with them; both funny and sad.

*   The movie MANHATTAN MELODRAMA was the last  that   Public Enemy #1,   John Dillinger ever viewed.   And the song, THE BAD IN EVERY MAN, was the last song he ever heard.    Upon emerging from Chicago's Biograph Theater, John Dillinger was mowed down by J. Edgar Hoover's machine gun-wielding F.B.I. agents. They had been tipped off to his whereabouts by "the lady in red""

Authors Bio:
I have spent a long and interesting life involved in music, as a performer (piano,) educator (at every level from elementary to graduate school,) solo pianist, bandleader, composer/songwriter; entertainer, storyteller and humorist.

In my final position as a teacher, I taught functional keyboard harmony at Onondaga Community College at Syracuse, N.Y. I earned a B.S. in music education at the Crane Department of music at SUNY Potsdam and a M.S. in music education at Ithaca College.

I also had the honor of serving as president of the New York School Music Association. After retiring from music education I have performed extensively, presenting musical programs which featured stories about the great standards, coupled with performance. These performances were facilitated by my having a repertoire of over 3,000 songs, coupled with extensive knowledge of their origins, which included many humorous stories.

In the last decade, I have worked with a songwriting partner, Maria DeAngelis, a vocalist who provided lyrics and performances of our tunes. We succeeded in having many of our songs used both in movies and network television as background music.

As a bandleader, I was involved in playing with my group for over 1,500 wedding receptions. Because of this extensive experience, I was motivated to write a book WEDDING RECEPTION SECRETS, which provided much valuable and "inside" information (from the viewpoint of a bandleader) for couples who were planning their wedding. Along the way, I composed music for a syndicated children's TV series.
I was the first of four children, born to my Mom and Dad in Saranac Lake, N.Y. Both of my parents, although untrained, had wonderful musical ears. I and my siblings inherited their musical sensitivities.

One can see from the foregoing that I had ample opportunities to enjoy music from several vantage points. I am 83 years old and happy to say that I continue to be very active. I attribute much of my good health to my interest in information in the area of healthy living and care. For the past fifteen years, I have undergone EDTA chelation therapy. I believe my longevity is related to that.

In addition to the foregoing, I must add my deep concern with today's course of events in the world. I've always been interested in politics and what factors are responsible for what is happening in the world.

I sense, with deep sadness, a degradation of manners, morals and public awareness. My gut feeling is that television has been misused, and become a device that Aldous Huxley would have given a prominent role in his BRAVE NEW WORLD.

I have many favorite quotations, but the one that is most profound, in my opinion, is one by Albert Einstein: "WITH THE SPLITTING OF THE ATOM, EVERYTHING HAS CHANGED EXCEPT OUR WAY OF THINKING." *

* In the summer of 1944, I was boatboy at a private consortium of six summer homes on Lower Saranac Lake (The Knollwood.) The occupant of Cottage 6 was Albert Einstein.
I saw him several times over the course of that summer. To me (in retrospect) that was an awesome experience!

Phil Klein