THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

960-The Mills Brothers-Paper Doll.

1943-It has never charted in the UK. There was no UK chart until 1952.

Best Bit-At 1.04. If you want to keep your paper doll satisfied, learn Origami.

The Mills Brothers (see also best songs 535) were four of nine siblings from the same family, that were born in Piqua, Ohio, United States. They were a ‘Jazz,’ and ‘Pop’ quartet that consisted of Donald (1915-1999) lead tenor vocals, Herbert (1912-1989) tenor vocals, Harry (1913-1982) baritone vocals, and John Jr. (1910-1936) guitar, double bass, and vocals. The brothers were influenced by their father John Hutchinson Mills, (1882-1967) who was a barber with his own shop, and was also a member of a ‘barbershop quartet.’

The Mills Brothers began singing in the local church choir, before entering amateur talent contests as the ‘Four Kings of Harmony,’ and then after auditioning for the radio station ‘WLW’ in Cincinnati, Ohio, they got their first major big break when coming to the attention of ‘Duke Ellington,’ (1899-1974) (see also best songs 1039) who on his recommendation got them signed to ‘Okeh Records.’ During a career that spanned 54 years, from 1928-1982, The Mills Brothers made over 2,000 recordings, and sold over 50 million records worldwide. For the discography of The Mills Brothers in more detail, see best songs 535.

After the death of Donald who was the last surviving brother, his son John became the next family member to tour under the name ‘The Mills Brothers,’ with Elmer Hopper, who had previously sung lead with the ‘Platters.’ They were at times joined by John’s eldest brother, Don Mills, Jr. and then following Hopper’s death in 2019, John started performing with Randy Taylor as a featured vocalist, and at the time of writing they continue to perform as ‘The Mills Brothers.’

‘Paper Doll’ is one of the oldest songs in this countdown, having been written in 1915. The songs author was Johnny S. Black, who was born on September 30th, 1891, in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, he died after receiving a blow to the head in a car park altercation on June 9th, 1936, at the age of 44. Black’s other great musical success was the song ‘Dardanella,’ which was a ‘Fox Trot’ that he co-composed with Felix Bernard (1897-1944) in 1919. ‘Dardanella’ went on to sell in excess of five million copies when recorded by the American bandleader Ben Selvin (1898-1980) in 1920, but unfortunately for Black he had sold his interest in the song for just $25. ‘Dardanella’ went on to earn over $12 million, and several years later after litigation Black received somewhere between $12,000 to $20,000.

Although ‘Paper Doll’ had been written by Black in 1915, it wasn’t actually published until 1930, as in 1922 Black had sold the song to the music publishers Edward B. Marks for $25, Marks then put ‘Paper Doll’ on the market, but it failed to gain any interest. Johnny S. Black didn’t live long enough to see his greatest success ‘Paper Doll,’ as he died seven years before The Mills Brothers recorded it. The song’s success sparked a royalties battle between his ex two wives, his widow, and the teenage daughter of his late father’s housekeeper. It was following a lengthy courtroom battle that his first wife convinced the court that her song ‘My Doll,’ was the genesis of ‘Paper Doll.’

Johnny S. Black had apparently been inspired to write ‘Paper Doll’ after being jilted by a girlfriend. Black was a keen boxer, and it is said that his girlfriend had run off with another boxer who known to him. The Mills Brothers had originally released ‘Paper Doll’ as the ‘B’ side to their 1942 single ‘I’ll Be Around,’ but eventually it was ‘Paper Doll’ that became the song people wanted to listen to, with a ‘Billboard’ review in May 1942 calling the song ‘more pleasing.’ ‘Paper Doll’ spent 12 weeks at Number 1 in America on the Billboard chart between 1943-1944, the song is one of fewer than 40 all time singles to have sold in excess of 10 million physical copies worldwide. It is rumoured that it took less than 15 minutes for The Mills Brothers to record the song.

‘I’m gonna buy a paper doll that I can call my own, a doll that other fellows cannot steal. And then the flirty, flirty guys with their flirty, flirty eyes will have to flirt with dollies that are real.’