Midnight, the Stars and You

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page originally published on Friday, 13 May 2011; latest edit: 15 October 2021

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Midnight, the Stars and You (Jimmy Campbell, Reg Connelly, Harry Woods)

Ray Noble and his Orchestra, vocal by Al Bowlly — recorded in London on 16 February 1934^[1][2]

Issued in 1934 on:

• HMV B.6461, b/w “This Little Piggie Went to Market” (UK)
• Victor 24700, b/w “An Hour Ago This Minute” (US)
• HMV EA-1338 (AU)
• Electrola EG-3023 (DE)

Many versions of this recording available in video libraries and elsewhere online evidently have echo or reverb added. Some video and audio file providers have admitted such modification of the original recording. For example:

• YouTube provider MrRJDB1969 attaches the following note in the description below an altered version of the Ray Noble-Al Bowlly recording: “I added in a touch of echo or reverb to give the song a more, “you-are-in-a-ballroom-in-the-1930’s” ..effect.”
• The provider of audio file clips (samples) of pieces of music and songs featured in the soundtrack of the 1980 film “The Shining,” included on a page titled Shining Music at drummerman.net, says of the “Midnight, the Stars and You” file: “I added reverb to this clip to simulate the echo within the ballroom.”

The audio files in the following two videos, absent such echo or reverb adulteration, may therefore seem slightly unfamiliar, and considerably less “haunting and ethereal.”

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The 1934 recording by Ray Noble and his Orchestra, with vocal by Al Bowlly, is undoubtedly best known today for its use in the 1980 horror film, The Shining, based upon the 1977 Stephen King novel of the same name. One felt compelled to mention this unhappy fact, and now that’s enough about horror films.

The song does not appear to have been particularly popular at the time of its introduction. I’ve thus far discovered only two other contemporary recordings:

• Roy Fox and his Orchestra, with vocalist Denny Dennis,  recorded on 9 March 1934, and
  
• Hal Kemp and his Orchestra, with vocalist Bob Allen, probably recorded in 1934

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Roy Fox and His Band (At the Café de Paris, London), with vocalist Denny Dennis — recorded on 9 March 1934 and issued that year on the 78 rpm shellac 10″ single (UK) Decca F. 3926‎*, b/w “No More Heartaches, No More Tears”

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Hal Kemp and his Orchestra, vocalist Bob Allen — 1934(?) — I’ve been unable to identify either the label or the recording date. According to the Wikipedia Hal Kemp page, “During the 1930s, Kemp recorded for Brunswick, Vocalion and RCA Victor Records.”

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Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks — 2008(?) performance at the Club Cache at Sofia’s Ristorante, in the lower level of the Hotel Edison, 221 West 46th Street, NYC

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Wayne Hancock recorded a country version for his 2009 album Viper of Melody

• Wayne Hancock – acoustic guitar and vocals
• Anthony Locke – pedal steel guitar
• Huckleberry Johnson – upright bass
• Izak Zaidman – electric guitar

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Al Grantham — uploaded to YouTube on 28 October 2010

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Vakhtang Khositashvili — solo acoustic guitar, fingerpicking style

uploaded on 23 January 2012

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Michael Law’s Piccadilly Dance Orchestra — published on 22 May 2012

personnel includes:

• Michael Law: leader, vocal
• Andrew Gathercole: trumpet
• Martin Litton: piano
• Andy Tweed: tenor sax

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Sunnyland Jazz Band —  recorded at Bonnie Jean’s Restaurant in Southhold, New York, by Michael Steinman for JAZZ LIVES (http://www.jazzlives.wordpress.com); published 22 October 2012

• Bob Barta – banjo, vocal
• John Klumpp – trumpet, vocal
• John Lovett – tuba

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Brandyn Shaw and his Rhythm Makers — Phoenix Artist Club, London on Saturday, 30 November 2013 — “Celebrating The Al Bowlly Blue Plaque”

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Vakhtang Khositashvili — solo acoustic guitar, fingerpicking style

published on 6 September 2014

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Matt Tolentino and the Singapore Slingers — live at the Kessler Theater, Dallas, TX — date unknown; published on 14 September 2014

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The Blue Rhythm Kings, vocal: Graham Majin — Louis Armstrong Pub, Dover, on 1 March 2015

saxophone, vocal: Graham Majin
trumpet: Malcolm Walton
reeds: Pete Curtis
piano: Colin Martin
drums: Geoff Collins
brass bass: Gerry Birch
guitar: John Myhill

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Frederick Caper — published on YouTube, 26 April 2018 — From the description: “New performance, sound and video production by Frederick Caper”

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* RateYourMusic.com identifies the single as (UK) Decca F. 3926, while Discogs.com identifies it as (UK) Decca F 3926.