THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

343-The Marcels-Blue Moon.

1961-Number 1 single.

Best Bit-At 1.29. Co-writer of the song the legendary Richard Rodgers hated The Marcels ‘Doo-Wop’ arrangement so much that he took out advertisements in the music papers urging people not to buy it.

‘Blue Moon’ was written in 1934, with music by Richard Rodgers (1902-1979) (see also best songs 842 and 60) and lyrics by his long term writing partner Lorenz Hart (1895-1943.) In May 1933 Rodgers and Hart were contracted by Metro-Golden-Mayer to write songs for the musical film ‘Hollywood Party.’ ‘Blue Moon’ which at first was titled ‘Prayer (Oh Lord, Make Me a Movie Star’) was not selected for the film, but with re-written lyrics, and this time titled ‘It’s Just That Kind of Play,’ was offered to the 1934 film ‘Manhattan Melodrama,’ but was once again not used. It was Jack Robbins (1894-1959) who was head of the studio’s publishing company at MGM who saw commercial potential in the song, and persuaded Hart to re-write it again, but this time with romantic lyrics. ‘Blue Moon’ is one of the most covered songs in this countdown, with dozens of versions recorded by artists of many differing genres over the decades. It is also a favourite for use in several films, and television programmes.

The Marcels were formed in 1959 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, taking their name from a popular hair style of the day, the ‘marcel wave.’ They were a ‘Doo-Wop’ group who were known for recording popular old songs in the new ‘Rock ‘N Roll’ style. They remained active until 1962, before reforming in 1972 to tour and record, with changes in band membership they continued to perform until 1995. In the UK The Marcels are true ‘One Hit Wonders,’ with ‘Blue Moon’ reaching Number 1, but never achieving another top 40 single, ‘Blue Moon’ was also a Number 1 on Billboard in America. In total they recorded two studio Albums, and released 14 singles between 1961-1963.

The Marcels version of ‘Blue Moon’ was also the title track from their debut studio Album, and was suggested to them to record by the American composer Stu Phillips, who also co-produced the song. Phillips felt that the song needed a little something extra, and suggested that they add the famous introduction (‘Bomp-ba-bap-bomp,’ and ‘Dip-da-dip-da-dip.’) The introduction was an original recording by The Marcels which had appeared on one of their earlier recordings. Stu Phillips is best remembered for providing the incidental music for numerous films and television programmes including writing the themes for ‘Battlestar Galactica,’ and ‘Knight Rider.'(see also best songs 966 and 675)

So what is a Blue Moon? About every 2.7 years, there are four full moons in a season instead of three – the third moon, not the fourth, is dubbed the blue moon. The rarity of the occasion inspired the old saying “once in a blue moon.” What Lorenz Hart was suggesting in his lyrics was that finding true love was very rare, perhaps a once in a lifetime chance, in fact once in a blue moon.

‘And then there suddenly appeared before me the only one my arms will hold. I heard somebody whisper ‘please adore me,’ and when I looked the moon had turned to gold.’