"Powder Your Face with Sunshine" is a popular

song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...

written by Carmen Lombardo and Stanley Rochinski, and published in

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

. Rochinski wrote the lyrics for "Powder Your Face with Sunshine" while hospitalized due to spinal injuries incurred during World War II. Subsequently, he brought the lyrics to Lombardo who set it to music. The two biggest hit versions of the song were recorded by Evelyn Knight and by the Sammy Kaye Orchestra.

Original recordings

The recording by Evelyn Knight was recorded on November 16, 1948, and released by

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...

as catalog number 24530. It first reached the ''Billboard'' Best Seller chart on December 17, 1948, and lasted 17 weeks on the chart, peaking at number one. The recording by Sammy Kaye was recorded in December 1948, and released by RCA Victor Records as catalog number 20-3321 (78 rpm) and 47-2901 (45 rpm). It first reached the ''Billboard'' Best Seller chart on January 28, 1949, and lasted eight weeks on the chart, peaking at number 14.

Cover versions

Other recordings made about the same time: *

Dean Martin Dean Martin (born Dino Paul Crocetti; June 7, 1917 – December 25, 1995) was an American singer, actor, and comedian. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Cool", he is regarded as one of the most popular entertainers of ...

(on December 17, 1948, released by

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

as catalog number 15351) *

Doris Day Doris Day (born Doris Mary Kappelhoff; April 3, 1922 – May 13, 2019) was an American actress and singer. She began her career as a big band singer in 1937, achieving commercial success in 1945 with two No. 1 recordings, "Sentimental Journey ...

and Buddy Clark, with George Siravo's orchestra (on December 20, 1948, released by

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

as catalog number 38394) * Blue Barron and his orchestra (on December 21, 1948, released by

MGM Records MGM Records was a record label founded by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio in 1946 for the purpose of releasing soundtrack recordings (later LP albums) of their musical films. It transitioned into a pop music label that continued into the ...

as catalog number 10346). *

Donald Peers Donald Rhys Hubert Peers (10 July 1908 – 9 August 1973) was a Welsh people, Welsh singer of traditional pop. His best remembered rendition and signature song was "In a Shady Nook by a Babbling Brook". Biography Early life Donald Peers was b ...

, with Peter Yorke's orchestra (on March 26, 1949, released by

EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

on the

His Master's Voice His Master's Voice is an entertainment trademark featuring a dog named Nipper, curiously peering into the horn of a wind-up gramophone. Painted by Francis Barraud in 1898, the image has since become a global symbol used across consumer elect ...

label as catalog number B 9764). *

Joe Loss Joshua Alexander "Joe" Loss (22 June 1909 – 6 June 1990) was a British dance band leader and musician who founded his own eponymous orchestra. Life Loss was born in Spitalfields, London, the youngest of four children. His parents, Israel an ...

and His Orchestra (in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

on April 1, 1949, released by

on the

label as catalog numbers BD 6043 and HE 2703).

Subsequent covers

* Steve Rochinski, for his album ''A Bird In The Hand'' (1999)

References

1948 songs Dean Martin songs Evelyn Knight songs Songs written by Carmen Lombardo {{pop-standard-stub