"Remember Pearl Harbor" is an American patriotic march written by Don Reid and

Sammy Kaye Sammy Kaye (born Samuel Zarnocay Jr.; March 13, 1910 – June 2, 1987) was an American bandleader and songwriter, whose tag line, "Swing and Sway with Sammy Kaye", became one of the most famous of the Big Band Era. The expression springs fr ...

in the week immediately following the December 7, 1941 attack on the military facilities on the Hawaiian island on

Oahu Oahu (, , sometimes written Oahu) is the third-largest and most populated island of the Hawaiian Islands and of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital, Honolulu, is on Oahu's southeast coast. The island of Oahu and the uninhabited Northwe ...

by naval forces of the Japanese navy. Sammy Kaye released a recording of the song on

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic ...

in 1942. The 78 recording reached no. 3 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' pop singles chart. The song appeared in the 1987

Woody Allen Heywood Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American filmmaker, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades. Allen has received many List of awards and nominations received by Woody Allen, accolade ...

film ''

Radio Days ''Radio Days'' is a 1987 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Woody Allen. It is a nostalgic look at the golden age of radio during the late 1930s and 1940s, focusing on a working-class family living in Rockaway Beach, New York. ...

'' and the 1963 film ''

The Victors "The Victors" is the fight song of the University of Michigan. Michigan student Louis Elbel wrote the song in 1898 after the football team's victory over the University of Chicago, which clinched an undefeated season and the Western Conferen ...

''.

Background

Ten days after news of the attacks on Pearl Harbor, Kaye's "Swing and Sway band" recorded the song in New York City, using Kaye's "Glee Club" for vocal harmonies. The tune was inspired and based on his undergraduate college’s own tune “Alma Mater, Ohio”. Although the group performed four takes, the first take was the chosen track for mastering, producer Leonard Joy supervising the recording and Kaye directing. ''

'' magazine announced the song's release on the

label in its January 17, 1942 issue. Two weeks after release, the song was #7 nationally in record sales and #10 in sheet music sales. The

Victor Records The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American recording company and phonograph manufacturer, incorporated in 1901. Victor was an independent enterprise until 1929 when it was purchased by the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) and became ...

78 single peaked at #3 on the ''Billboard'' singles chart that year with a chart run of eight weeks.Song artist 58 Sammy Kaye. tsort.info.
/ref> At years' end the song remained on several top 100 lists. By January 1943, Sammy Kaye had donated $4000 from the song's royalties to Navy Relief funds. Bandleader

Eddy Howard Edward Evan Duncan Howard (September 12, 1914 – May 23, 1963) was an American vocalist and bandleader who was popular during the 1940s and 1950s. Early years Eddy Howard was born in Woodland, California, and after attending San Jose State Coll ...

released a recording of the song on

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

that same year.

Charlie Spivak Charlie Spivak (c. February 17, 1904 – March 1, 1982) was an American trumpeter and bandleader, best known for his big band in the 1940s. Early life According to his immigration record, Sender Spivakovsky was born around 1904 in the village ...

with Garry Stevens on vocals, Duke Daly, The Fireside Singers, and Dick Robertson also recorded the song

Legacy

In December 2017, President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

, honoring veterans of the Pearl Harbor attack in a ceremony at the White House, asked members in the room, "'Remember Pearl Harbor.' Have you heard that before a couple of times, 'Remember Pearl Harbor?'" One of the veterans, Michael "Mickey" Ganitch, boldly burst out in song, remembering lyrics 75 years old: "Let's remember Pearl Harbor as we go to meet the foe. Let's remember Pearl Harbor, as we did the Alamo. We will always remember how they died for liberty. Let's remember Pearl Harbor, and go on to victory."

External links

1942 78 release on Victor Records by Sammy Kaye. discogs.com.Original recording on YouTube

References

{{Sammy Kaye 1941 songs 1942 singles American patriotic songs Attack on Pearl Harbor Songs of World War II