Dancing In the Dark

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Dancing In the Dark (m. Arthur Schwartz, w. Howard Dietz)

Wikipedia:

Dancing In the Dark…was first introduced by John Barker in the 1931 revue The Band Wagon. The 1941 recording by Artie Shaw and His Orchestra 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 given a ‘sensual and dramatic’^[1] orchestration by Conrad Salinger for a ballet performance by Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse.

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(above) Waring’s Pennsylvanians photographed in front of Les Ambassadeurs in Paris, 1928

Fred Waring’s Pennsylvanians — recorded on 18 May 1931; issued as the B-side of the Victor single 22708, “High and Low (I’ve Been Looking For You)” (Schwartz, Dietz). The chorus is initially sung by a male vocal group, and then the B-section or bridge is sung by a female group, the “Three Waring Girls”, followed by an instrumental break (the third A section). The two groups share the vocals in an abbreviated final section.

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Jacques Renard and his Orchestra, vocal: Frank Munn — Brunswick label 78 rpm single 6136, b/w “High and Low (I’ve Been Looking For You)”, both sides recorded on 3 June 1931

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Bing Crosby — recorded on 19 August 1931 and issued in 1931 on Brunswick 6169, c/w “Stardust” — Bing Crosby (voc), Victor Young (dir), Joe Venuti (vln)

Audio file, MP3 (2.3 MB), from the Internet Archive (archive.org):

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(below) B-side of Brunswick 80056, a “Collectors Series” reissue of the two sides of Brunswick 6169

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Victor Salon Orchestra, conducted by Nathaniel Shilkret — recorded on 15 October 1931; issued as the B-side of the Victor 78 rpm single “Stardust”, 22848.

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Ben Selvin and his Orchestra — 1931

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Ambrose and his Orchestra at the May Fair Hotel, London, vocal: Sam Browne — recorded on 11 January 1932

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Nelson Eddy — date unknown

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Larry Clinton and his Orchestra, with vocal by Bea Wain, and dancing by Gower and Jeanne — in the 1940 short film The Dipsy Doodler

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Artie Shaw and his Orchestra — recorded on 23 January 1941; issued on Victor (US) 27335, b/w “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes” (recorded by Artie Shaw and his Gramercy Five), and evidently reissued as the A-side of Victor 27548

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Tommy Dorsey and his Orchestra — date unknown

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Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse — dance number in the 1953 MGM musical comedy film The Band Wagon

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Ray Anthony and his Orchestra — B-side of Capitol Records ‎45 rpm single “Dragnet” (F2562); issued in 1953

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Sarah Vaughan — from the 1957 LP “Great Songs from Hit Shows”

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Gordon MacRae — from the 1957 LP “Motion Picture Soundstage”

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