"Cheek to Cheek" is a song written by

Irving Berlin Irving Berlin (born Israel Beilin; yi, ישראל ביילין; May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was a Russian-American composer, songwriter and lyricist. His music forms a large part of the Great American Songbook. Born in Imperial Russ ...

in 1934–35, specifically for the star of his new musical,

Fred Astaire Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz; May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987) was an American dancer, choreographer, actor, and singer. He is often called the greatest dancer in Hollywood film history. Astaire's career in stage, film, and tele ...

. The movie was ''

Top Hat A top hat (also called a high hat, a cylinder hat, or, informally, a topper) is a tall, flat-crowned hat for men traditionally associated with formal wear in Western dress codes, meaning white tie, morning dress, or frock coat. Traditionally m ...

'', co-starring

Ginger Rogers Ginger Rogers (born Virginia Katherine McMath; July 16, 1911 – April 25, 1995) was an American actress, dancer and singer during the Golden Age of Hollywood. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her starring role in ''Kitty Foyle'' ...

."Cheek to Cheek" by Fred Astaire, 1935
; from the University of Virginia's American Studies website, subsection

: 1935-1939"; retrieved 2012-03-07. In the movie, Astaire sings the song to Rogers as they dance. The song was nominated for the Best Song Oscar for 1936, which it lost to " Lullaby of Broadway". The song spent five weeks at #1 on

Your Hit Parade ''Your Hit Parade'' was an American radio and television music program that was broadcast from 1935 to 1953 on radio, and seen from 1950 to 1959 on television. It was sponsored by American Tobacco's Lucky Strike cigarettes. During its 24-year ru ...

and was named the #1 song of 1935. Astaire's 1935 recording with the Leo Reisman Orchestra was inducted into the

Grammy Hall of Fame The Grammy Hall of Fame is a hall of fame to honor musical recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance. Inductees are selected annually by a special member committee of eminent and knowledgeable professionals from all branches of ...

in 2000. In 2004, Astaire's version finished at No. 15 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs survey of top tunes in American cinema.

Release

On June 26, 1935,

Fred Fred may refer to: People * Fred (name), including a list of people and characters with the name Mononym * Fred (cartoonist) (1931–2013), pen name of Fred Othon Aristidès, French * Fred (footballer, born 1949) (1949–2022), Frederico Ro ...

and Leo Reisman, along with his Orchestra, got to work at ARC (parent company of

Brunswick Records Brunswick Records is an American record label founded in 1916. History From 1916 Records under the Brunswick label were first produced by the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company, a company based in Dubuque, Iowa which had been manufacturing prod ...

at the time) Studios in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

. They recorded two

compositions, "Cheek To Cheek" and "

No Strings (I'm Fancy Free) "No Strings (I'm Fancy Free)" is a popular song written by Irving Berlin for the 1935 film ''Top Hat'', where it was introduced by Fred Astaire. In the film, the character played by Astaire is advised to get married and Astaire responds by saying ...

". The next day, with Johnny Greene's Orchestra, " Isn't This a Lovely Day?" and "Top Hat, White Tie and Tails" were completed. Both singles were released in August, and then at the end of the month, "Top Hat" premiered. The timing must have been perfect, because "Cheek to Cheek" headed straight to #1, where it stayed for eleven weeks, and finished the #1 hit of 1935. Fred topped his career high of ten weeks for " Night And Day".

Recorded versions

According to the database of secondhandsongs.com, "Cheek to Cheek" has been recorded by 438 different artists as of July 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cheek To Cheek 1935 songs 1935 singles Al Jolson songs Billie Holiday songs Bing Crosby songs Doris Day songs Ella Fitzgerald songs Eva Cassidy songs Frank Sinatra songs Fred Astaire songs Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients Lady Gaga songs Louis Armstrong songs Peggy Lee songs Rod Stewart songs Sammy Davis Jr. songs Songs about dancing Songs written for films Songs written by Irving Berlin Tony Bennett songs