A com-POSE-r BY ANY OTHER NAME…. (Part 1 of 2)
Tomorrow, Feb. 15, is the birthday of one of America’s greatest composers of popular songs, Hyman Arluck. Hyman WHO, you ask? Never heard of him? If you’re a fan of America’s Golden Age of Popular Music, this song of his is probably one of your favorites:
….not to mention this one:
You say you thought those songs were composed by HAROLD ARLEN?
From what I hear, no doubt they was….
because…because…because…because…
of the wonderful whiz he was.
But before a wonderful whiz he was, he was Hyman Arluck, so born on Feb. 15, 1905. If you were fooled, you should be grateful because, as Arlen (nee Arluck) notes in another of his songs, it’s….
Speaking of which, I thought it might be fun (for me, anyway) to fool around with a selection of birth names of other great Golden Age songwriters (each of them listed with one of their most popular songs), followed by a list of their noms de plume in scrambled order. Unless you Arluck-y, you’ll probably be unable to correctly pair more than 70% of the names (but at least half are guessable even if you don’t know them):
a. Israel Baline (HOW DEEP IS THE OCEAN?)
b. Benjamin Anzelwitz (SWEET GEORGIA BROWN)
c. C. K. Dober (BARNEY GOOGLE)
d. Vladimir Dukelsky (APRIL IN PARIS)
e. Charles N. Daniels (CHLOE)
f. Albert Gumm (TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALLGAME)
g. Johnny Kluczko (RACING WITH THE MOON)
h. Edward Chester Babcock (LOVE AND MARRIAGE)
i. Andrea Razafkeriefo (MEMORIES OF YOU)
j. William Samuel Rosenberg (I’VE GOT A FEELING I’M FALLING)
1. Albert Von Tilzer
2. Irving Berlin
3. Ben Bernie
4. Con Conrad
5. Vernon Duke
6. Neil Moret
7. Billy Rose
8. Andy Razaf
9. Jimmy Van Heusen
10. Johnny Watson
In Part 2, I’ll post the answers plus clips of a few of the above songs. Meanwhile, if you’d like to hear one of the songs in particular, comments are open — please make a request. I’ve got a feeling I’m filling it.
arekhill1, 
The Observation Post 
Superduque777 12:08 am on February 14, 2018 Permalink |
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mistermuse 8:59 am on February 14, 2018 Permalink |
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scifihammy 7:09 am on February 14, 2018 Permalink |
Thank you for the Over the Rainbow clip. I never tire of hearing Judy Garland sing it. 🙂
I’m rubbish at guessing the real names!
But I’d like to hear April in Paris Thank you 🙂
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Don Frankel 8:57 am on February 14, 2018 Permalink |
I knew Israel Baline was Irving Berlin as a relative of one of my relatives was his accountant. Sometimes I got some really great seats at the Music Box Theater. Then I knew who Edward Chester Babcock was as he worked with and was a close friend of Sinatra. I could guess who Billy Rose was as the names are pretty similar but then I had a lot of fun looking up the other ones.
I’ve always thought that Somewhere Over The Rainbow is one of the finest examples of blending words and music you can ever find.
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mistermuse 9:55 am on February 14, 2018 Permalink |
Glad you enjoyed it, Don. Unbeknownst to me, your comment came in while I was in the middle of replying to scifihammy’s comment, so my Billy Rose example had already been guessed by you. I guess great minds really do think alike (at least, I prefer that explanation over coincidence, How About You?).
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mistermuse 9:21 am on February 14, 2018 Permalink |
Thanks, scifihammy — I’ll be glad to play “April In Paris”….maybe even before April in Paris (like in my next post). 🙂
As for guessing at matching the songwriters’ names, what I meant by “half are guessable even if you don’t know them” is best shown by this example: the real name of the writer of I’VE GOT A FEELING I’M FALLING, William Rosenberg, can be deduced from its similarity to his professional name, Billy Rose. Thus, j. is 7. There are several other instances whereby a match can be made by comparing the first and/or last names in the first list with those in the second list.
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moorezart 9:52 pm on February 14, 2018 Permalink |
Reblogged this on From 1 Blogger 2 Another.
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mistermuse 1:07 am on February 15, 2018 Permalink |
Many thanks, moorezart. I wonder if a reblog by any other name would smell as sweet? A thorny question indeed. 😦
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moorezart 7:07 pm on February 15, 2018 Permalink
You gave me the best chuckle to set off on my day. Thank you Mr. Eloquent.
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Don Frankel 7:53 am on February 15, 2018 Permalink |
That’s a great song by Morris Hyman Kushner but I had to go look that up. When I did I found out that he also wrote the musicals ‘On a Clear Day’ and ‘Finian’s Rainbow’ in addition to a lot of other great songs. I also found out he discovered Francis Gumm.
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mistermuse 12:57 pm on February 15, 2018 Permalink |
HOW ABOUT YOU? was indeed composed by Morris Hyman Kushner (aka Burton Lane), with lyrics by Ralph Freed (aka Ralph Freed). I wonder if Francis Gumm (aka Judy Garland) was related to Albert Gumm, composer of TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALLGAME? I’ll have to check that out.
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arekhill1 1:21 pm on February 24, 2018 Permalink |
Let’s make this about me. I’ve never changed my birth name. One of my many shitty career moves, probably.
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mistermuse 10:24 pm on February 24, 2018 Permalink |
Maybe it’s not too late, Ricardo — which, by the way, suggests a name you could change to and gain instant fame: Ricardo Montalban Jr. After all, the original Ricardo Montalban had good luck with it until he died, but that could happen to anyone.
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