Month 1: June in January 01/03/2012
It seems that nowadays we only want to hear songs of winter during the holidays. During the Christmas season we listen to all kinds of songs, like “Let it Snow” or “Baby its Cold Outside,” which have nothing more to do with the holiday season than cold weather. But it didn’t used to be this way. Many of the songs we reserve for Christmastime, (not to mention, most people cringe at the sound of them after December 25th,) were originally written to be played well into the New Year. “June in January” was a song that appeared on many Christmas releases for artists like Dean Martin and Jo Stafford, but would not be considered a holiday tune by today’s standards. This is partly why most people haven’t heard the song in about 40 years. The music was written by Ralph Rainger, accompanied by a Leo Robin lyric. The Rainger/Robin duo was prolific and produced around 50 hits at the time, many of which would become staples of the American Songbook, like “Easy Living,” “I Wished on the Moon” and “Thanks for the Memory”. Most of their songs were written for film, including the lattermost, which won an Oscar in 1938. Rainger died in a plane crash in 1942, after which Robin, (although he lived for another forty-some years,) found it difficult to write. The song was written in 1934 for the movie Here Is My Heart, starring Bing Crosby. Twenty-three years later it was used in the film The Joker Is Wild, a movie about the entertainer Joe E. Lewis, played by Frank Sinatra. Joe E. Lewis and Sinatra became friends after the movie was released and he would later remark to Frank, “You had more fun playing my life than I had living it.” Sinatra didn’t sing “June in January” in the film, however. A recording of Bing Crosby singing the song was made exclusively for the movie and was later edited into place. I hope you enjoy the coolness of January, however hard it may be, and the joys of a New Year. 2 Comments | About the Blog
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