THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

808-Glenn Miller-Moonlight Serenade.

1939-It couldn’t chart initially, because there was no chart until 1952.When re-issued in 1954 it peaked at Number 12, and again when re-issued in 1976, it reached Number 13.

Best Bit-At 1.40. In America, on Billboard, between 1939-1943, Glenn Miller achieved 69 top 10 hits, more than Elvis Presley, with 38, and the Beatles, with 33.

Glenn Miller (see also best songs 321) was born Alton Glenn Miller on March 4th, 1904, in Clarinda, Iowa, United States. On December 15th, 1944, Miller was due to fly from the town of Bedford, in England, to Paris, in order to make arrangements to move his entire band there to entertain the U.S. troops, in the near future.His aircraft disappeared in bad weather over the English Channel, the actual cause of the crash has never been confirmed, but it was probably because the planes carburettor froze in the cold weather.His disappearance was not made public until December 24th, 1944, Miller was 40 year old.

Glenn Miller wrote the melody for ‘Moonlight Serenade’ as far back as 1935, the lyricist Eddie Heyman, added words, and the song was originally titled ‘As I Lay Me Down To Weep.’ Miller never recorded the song with those lyrics, but in 1938 used the instrumental for his radio broadcasts, on the NBC network. In 1939 the publisher ‘Robbins Music’ bought the melody, and commissioned Mitchell Parish (1900-1993) to write a new set of lyrics. At the time Miller was recording another song called ‘Sunrise Serenade,’ and it was suggested by someone at Robbins Music that Parish write something to compliment that song, as it was due for release as the ‘B’ side, so the title Moonlight Serenade was chosen.Moonlight Serenade was far more popular with the general public, and has become known as Miller’s ‘signature song.’