Thomas Joseph McCarthy (September 27, 1885 – December 18, 1943) was an American

lyricist A lyricist is a songwriter who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment. Royalties A lyricist's incom ...

whose most famous songs include " You Made Me Love You", and "

I'm Always Chasing Rainbows "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows" is a popular music, popular Vaudeville song. The music is credited to Harry Carroll, but the melody is adapted from ''Fantaisie-Impromptu'' by Frédéric Chopin. The lyrics were written by Joseph McCarthy (lyricist), ...

", from the now-forgotten ''Oh, Look!'' (1918), starring the

Dolly Sisters Rosie Dolly (October 24, 1892 – February 1, 1970) and Jenny Dolly (October 24, 1892 – June 1, 1941), known professionally as The Dolly Sisters, were Hungarian-American identical twin dancers, singers and actresses, popular in vaudeville an ...

, based upon the haunting melody from the middle section of Chopin's ''

Fantaisie-Impromptu Frédéric Chopin's ''Fantaisie-Impromptu'' ( pl, Fantazja-Impromptu) in C minor, Op. posth. 66, WN 46 is a solo piano composition. It was composed in 1834 and published posthumously in 1855 despite Chopin's instruction that none ...

''. Born in

Somerville, Massachusetts Somerville ( ) is a city located directly to the northwest of Boston, and north of Cambridge, in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a total population of 81,045 people. With an area ...

, United States, McCarthy was a frequent collaborator of composers

Harry Tierney Harry Austin Tierney (May 21, 1890 – March 22, 1965) was an American composer of musical theatre, best known for long-running hits such as ''Irene'' (1919), Broadway's longest-running show of the era (620 performances), ''Kid Boots'' (1923) and'' ...

and

Fred Fisher Fred Fisher (born Alfred Breitenbach, September 30, 1875 – January 14, 1942) was a German-born American songwriter and Tin Pan Alley music publisher. Biography Fisher was born in Cologne, Germany. His parents were Max and Theodora Breitenb ...

. He was the director of

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...

from 1921 to 1929.

Broadway and film credits

Music score

*1918 ''Oh, Look!'' Kenrick, John
"Who's Who in Musicals: Additional Bios XIV – McCarthy, Joseph"
Musicals101.com, 2004, accessed July 23, 2017 *1919 ''

Ziegfeld Follies The ''Ziegfeld Follies'' was a series of elaborate theatrical revue productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 to 1931, with renewals in 1934 and 1936. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as ''The Ziegfeld Follies of the Ai ...

of 1919'' *1919 ''

Irene Irene is a name derived from εἰρήνη (eirēnē), the Greek for "peace". Irene, and related names, may refer to: * Irene (given name) Places * Irene, Gauteng, South Africa * Irene, South Dakota, United States * Irene, Texas, United State ...

'' (stage musical) *1920 ''Ziegfeld Follies of 1920'' *1921 ''The Broadway Whirl'' *1922 ''Up She Goes'' *1922 ''Glory'' *1923 ''Ziegfeld Follies of 1923'' *1923 ''

Kid Boots ''Kid Boots'' is a musical with a book by William Anthony McGuire and Otto Harbach, music by Harry Tierney, and lyrics by Joseph McCarthy. The show was staged by Edward Royce. Produced by Florenz Ziegfeld, the Broadway production, opened on ...

'' *1924 ''Ziegfeld Follies of 1924'' *1926 ''

'' (film) *1927 '' Rio Rita'' (stage musical) *1928 ''Cross My Heart'' *1929 '' Rio Rita'' *1930 ''

New Movietone Follies of 1930 ''New Movietone Follies of 1930'' is a 1930 American Pre-Code musical film released by Fox Film Corporation, directed by Benjamin Stoloff. The film stars El Brendel and Marjorie White who also costarred in Fox's ''Just Imagine'' in 1930. The f ...

'' *1931 ''Ziegfeld Follies of 1931'' *1942 '' Rio Rita'' (remake)

Songwriter

*1914 "There's a Little Spark of Love Still Burning" (with

) *1917 "They Go Wild Simply Wild Over Me" (with Fred Fisher) *1918 "

" (from the musical ''Oh Look!'') *1919 " Alice Blue Gown" (waltz from ''

'') (with

) *1930 "So This Is London" *1930 "Under Suspicion" *1930 "Up the River" *1945 "Incendiary Blonde"

References

External links

*
Joseph McCarthy on IBDB
*
Joseph McCarthy recordings
at the

Discography of American Historical Recordings The Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR) is a database of master recordings made by American record companies during the 78rpm era. The DAHR provides some of these original recordings, free of charge, via audio streaming, along with ...

. 1885 births 1943 deaths People from Somerville, Massachusetts Musicians from Massachusetts Songwriters from Massachusetts {{US-composer-19thC-stub