the1920sand30s | Fred Astaire - Cheek To Cheek (1935) @the1920sand30s | Uploaded July 2021 | Updated October 2024, 4 hours ago.
Performed by: Fred Astaire with Leo Reisman & His Orchestra
Full Song Title: Cheek To Cheek
Recorded in: 1935
Here is one of my all time favorites of Fred Astaire.
A lot of adjectives come to mind when one mentions Fred Astaire: debonair, poised, elegant, captivating. And nouns too, especially grace, sophistication and talent. Fred Astaire is regarded by many as the greatest popular music dancer of all time. Astaire is usually remembered for his pairings with Ginger Rogers, who starred in several films with him, including Swing Time (1936).
Light on his feet, Fred Astaire revolutionized the movie musical with his elegant and seemingly effortless dance style. He may have made dancing look easy, but he was a well-known perfectionist, and his work was the product of endless hours of practice.
Astaire started performing as a child, partnering up with his older sister Adele. The two toured the vaudeville circuit before making it to Broadway in 1917. Among their many productions the brother-sister team starred in the 1927 George and Ira Gershwin musical Funny Face. For all his early success, though, career in the movies eluded Astaire. He had done a screen test, but he failed to attract any interest. A studio executive wrote at the time, "Can't sing. Can't act. Slightly balding. Can dance a little."
In 1932, Astaire suffered a career setback. His sister Adele retired from the act to marry a British aristocrat. He floundered a bit professionally without his usual partner, but then decided to go to Hollywood to try once more to break into film.
Finally, Astaire landed a small role in 1933's Dancing Lady with Joan Crawford. The role opened the door to new opportunities, and Astaire signed a contract with RKO Radio Pictures. He was matched up with another Broadway talent, Ginger Rogers, for Flying Down to Rio, also in 1933. Cast as supporting players, their dance number stole the movie. Astaire and Rogers appeared in several more films together, including The Gay Divorcee (1934) and Top Hat (1935). The duo became film's most beloved dance team. Their routines featured a hybrid of styles—borrowing elements from tap, ballroom and even ballet. Katharine Hepburn once described what each of them brought their successful partnership: "Fred gave Ginger class, and Ginger gave Fred sex."
Off-screen, Astaire was known for his relentless pursuit of perfection. He thought nothing of rehearsing a scene for days, and Rogers eventually tired of the grueling schedule. The pair went their separate ways after 1939's The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle. Years later, they reunited once more for 1949's The Barkleys of Broadway.
After the split with Rogers in 1939, Astaire performed with such leading ladies as Rita Hayworth, Cyd Charisse, Judy Garland, Leslie Caron and Audrey Hepburn. Some of his most famous musicals from his later career include Easter Parade with Garland and Funny Face with Hepburn.
As his movie roles tapered off, Astaire worked more in television. He often appeared as himself for special tribute shows. Astaire had a growing interest in dramatic parts, working on such series as Dr. Kildare. He also worked with another legendary dancer, Gene Kelly, on the documentary That's Entertainment, which explored the golden era of the movie musical.
Around this time, Astaire received his only Academy Award nomination for his supporting role in the 1974 disaster film The Towering Inferno. He also won an Emmy Award for his work on the television special A Family Upside Down in 1978. More accolades soon followed. Astaire received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Film Institute in 1981.
A few years later, Astaire was hospitalized for pneumonia. He died on June 22, 1987, in Los Angeles, California. With his passing, Hollywood had lost one of its greatest talents. Former actor and president Ronald Reagan, upon learning the news, called Astaire "an American legend" and "the ultimate dancer." Rogers said Astaire "was the best partner anyone could ever have."
I hope you enjoy this as much as I have.
Best wishes,
Stu
______________________
Please Note: I do not claim copyright or ownership of the song played in this video. All copyrighted content remains property of their respective owners.
Performed by: Fred Astaire with Leo Reisman & His Orchestra
Full Song Title: Cheek To Cheek
Recorded in: 1935
Here is one of my all time favorites of Fred Astaire.
A lot of adjectives come to mind when one mentions Fred Astaire: debonair, poised, elegant, captivating. And nouns too, especially grace, sophistication and talent. Fred Astaire is regarded by many as the greatest popular music dancer of all time. Astaire is usually remembered for his pairings with Ginger Rogers, who starred in several films with him, including Swing Time (1936).
Light on his feet, Fred Astaire revolutionized the movie musical with his elegant and seemingly effortless dance style. He may have made dancing look easy, but he was a well-known perfectionist, and his work was the product of endless hours of practice.
Astaire started performing as a child, partnering up with his older sister Adele. The two toured the vaudeville circuit before making it to Broadway in 1917. Among their many productions the brother-sister team starred in the 1927 George and Ira Gershwin musical Funny Face. For all his early success, though, career in the movies eluded Astaire. He had done a screen test, but he failed to attract any interest. A studio executive wrote at the time, "Can't sing. Can't act. Slightly balding. Can dance a little."
In 1932, Astaire suffered a career setback. His sister Adele retired from the act to marry a British aristocrat. He floundered a bit professionally without his usual partner, but then decided to go to Hollywood to try once more to break into film.
Finally, Astaire landed a small role in 1933's Dancing Lady with Joan Crawford. The role opened the door to new opportunities, and Astaire signed a contract with RKO Radio Pictures. He was matched up with another Broadway talent, Ginger Rogers, for Flying Down to Rio, also in 1933. Cast as supporting players, their dance number stole the movie. Astaire and Rogers appeared in several more films together, including The Gay Divorcee (1934) and Top Hat (1935). The duo became film's most beloved dance team. Their routines featured a hybrid of styles—borrowing elements from tap, ballroom and even ballet. Katharine Hepburn once described what each of them brought their successful partnership: "Fred gave Ginger class, and Ginger gave Fred sex."
Off-screen, Astaire was known for his relentless pursuit of perfection. He thought nothing of rehearsing a scene for days, and Rogers eventually tired of the grueling schedule. The pair went their separate ways after 1939's The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle. Years later, they reunited once more for 1949's The Barkleys of Broadway.
After the split with Rogers in 1939, Astaire performed with such leading ladies as Rita Hayworth, Cyd Charisse, Judy Garland, Leslie Caron and Audrey Hepburn. Some of his most famous musicals from his later career include Easter Parade with Garland and Funny Face with Hepburn.
As his movie roles tapered off, Astaire worked more in television. He often appeared as himself for special tribute shows. Astaire had a growing interest in dramatic parts, working on such series as Dr. Kildare. He also worked with another legendary dancer, Gene Kelly, on the documentary That's Entertainment, which explored the golden era of the movie musical.
Around this time, Astaire received his only Academy Award nomination for his supporting role in the 1974 disaster film The Towering Inferno. He also won an Emmy Award for his work on the television special A Family Upside Down in 1978. More accolades soon followed. Astaire received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Film Institute in 1981.
A few years later, Astaire was hospitalized for pneumonia. He died on June 22, 1987, in Los Angeles, California. With his passing, Hollywood had lost one of its greatest talents. Former actor and president Ronald Reagan, upon learning the news, called Astaire "an American legend" and "the ultimate dancer." Rogers said Astaire "was the best partner anyone could ever have."
I hope you enjoy this as much as I have.
Best wishes,
Stu
______________________
Please Note: I do not claim copyright or ownership of the song played in this video. All copyrighted content remains property of their respective owners.
![Pyotr Leshchenko - Wsje tschto bylo [Everything that Was] (1937)](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/MIYD2hD-xMM/hqdefault.jpg "Pyotr Leshchenko - Wsje tschto bylo [Everything that Was] (1937)
Performed by:
Full Song Title: Wsje tschto bylo [Everything that Was]
Recorded in: 1937
Pyotr Leshchenko (Russian: Пётр Лещенко; 2 June 1898 – 16 July 1954), a singer in the Russian Empire and later the Soviet Union, is universally considered the King of Russian Tango and specifically known for his rendition of Serdtse—a tango, sung unusually not in Spanish but in Russian. He was born as a citizen of the Russian Empire in Isayevo village of the Kherson Governorate (now part of Odessa Oblast, Ukraine) into a poor and illiterate peasant family. During the First World War, his mother and stepfather moved to Kishinev (Bessarabia Governorate), which was later united with Romania (todays Moldova). He was proficient in numerous languages: Russian, Ukrainian, Romanian, German, and others.
In the Soviet Union his work was banned both because he was believed to be a White émigré (which he was not legally) and because the style (tango and foxtrot) was deemed counter-revolutionary. Nevertheless, secretly he was very popular: people would even listen to Radio Tehran to hear his music, 78 records were smuggled into the country from the Baltics, and specialists would bootleg his music onto ribs (used X-ray plates). When during the Second World War and the subsequent occupation of Odessa by the Romanian army, Leshchenko was finally able to perform in the country he still considered his own, people would queue for hours on end to buy a ticket to one of his Odessa concerts. It was at Odessa that Pyotr met his second wife, Vera Georgievna Belousova, for whom he would later, back in Romania, divorce Zinaida.
In 1951, a week after receiving an official letter granting them permission to settle in the Soviet Union, Vera and Pyotr were arrested by the Romanian police. Vera was extradited to the Soviet Union (where she was condemned to forced labour for amongst other things, marrying a foreigner) and Pyotr was sent to a Romanian prison near Bucharest. Both outlived Joseph Stalin, but Pyotr died in a prison hospital in Târgu Ocna on 16 July 1954, without Vera at his side (she had already been released but did not know her husband was still alive). Some friends present when he died claimed his last words were Friends, I am happy, for I will return to my fatherland! I am going away, but I leave you my heart. Vera died on December 18, 2009, age 86.
In 1981, his 90th birthday was marked by several articles in Soviet newspapers, and several radio shows were dedicated to him at the time.
I hope you enjoy this as much as I have.
Best wishes,
Stu
Please Note: I do not claim copyright or ownership of the song played in this video. All copyrighted content remains property of their respective owners.")
![Eric Helgar - Aus lauter Liebe [Out of pure love] (1937)](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/NkA94z0eiEs/hqdefault.jpg "Eric Helgar - Aus lauter Liebe [Out of pure love] (1937)
Performed by: Peter Kreuder mit seinen Solisten
Vocalist: Eric Helgar
Full Song Title: Aus lauter Liebe
Recorded in: June 28th, 1937, Berlin, Germany
A-side: https://youtu.be/FH0R4bpq2kg
Peter Paul Kreuder (born on August 18, 1905 – died on June 28, 1981) was a renowned German-Austrian pianist, composer, & conductor.
Kreuder was born in Aachen, the son of a Kammersänger. He began his piano studies at the Cologne Conservatory in 1910, where he gave his first concert just a year later, & at music academies in Munich, Berlin, & Hamburg. After World War I, he ventured into composing music for theatrical productions at the Hamburg Kammerspiele theater, at the Munich Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz, as well as for several Kabarett & revue productions.
In 1925, he was employed as Kapellmeister at the Deutsches Theater München, & conducted theater ensembles, first in Munich & then in Berlin, where he worked with Max Reinhardt. In 1930, he met with Friedrich Hollaender, whom he assisted in arranging the musical score of Josef von Sternbergs film The Blue Angel, starring Marlene Dietrich. During the 1930s & 40s, he became one of the most sought-after German musical film composers; his credits run to some 150 movies.
Kreuder joined the Nazi Party in 1932, however, he resigned his membership in 1934. His compositions added to the intended development of a German light music genre as contrasted to the US big band style, though they contained a large deal of jazz & swing elements. He emigrated to Sweden in 1939, but returned to Germany two years later after threats against his relatives were launched by the Nazi authorities.
After World War II, Kreuder adopted Austrian citizenship & conducted radio orchestras in Brazil & Argentina. In the second half of the 1950s, he was occasionally the pianist of Joséphine Baker. He died in Salzburg & is buried in Munich Ostfriedhof, grave number 55-19-2.
Eric Helgar (born February 8, 1910, in Regensburg - died June 14, 1992, in Munich) was a popular German singer, stage, film actor & composer of the 20th century.
Born during his fathers tour, Swiss opera singer Gustl Helgar, Eric Helgar came into the world in Regensburg in 1910. He grew up in Zurich. At the age of 17, he moved to Berlin to live with his grandmother. There, he met Herbert Grenzebach, a friend of his father & the artistic director of the Ultraphon record company. Optimistically, Grenzebach said to Eric Helgar, [...] if your father has such a magnificent voice, you should be able to sing as well!, & invited him for a trial recording. Grenzebachs assumption was correct, Helgar secured his first record contract.
Eric Helgar owed his film career primarily to his popularity as a young record & radio tenor. His initial recordings were made for the Ultraphon label in December 1930 in Berlin, & thereafter, from 1932 onwards, almost exclusively for the newly established record label of Telefunken. However, during the early years, until about 1935, Helgar also worked, sometimes anonymously, for numerous other Berlin record companies. Helgars interesting, diverse, & versatile repertoire was carried by a pleasant, clear, expressive, & easily recognizable voice. It ranged from simple hits to tangos & sophisticated operetta melodies - such as those by Ralph Benatzky (e.g., Telefunken A 1702, 1934); & included equally demanding chansons & cabaret recordings to big-band swing from the late 1930s to the early 1940s. He made his film debut in 1933 with Was Frauen träumen & a year later, he played the lead role in Der Springer von Pontresina The song Wir wollen Freunde sein fürs ganze Leben from this film became a popular hit. From the mid-1930s, Eric Helgar became one of the main vocal interpreters of Adalbert Lutters popular dance orchestra for Telefunken, including at least one propaganda piece for the National Socialists (e.g., 70 Millionen - ein Schlag 1937).
Helgar is occasionally credited as the composer of his own songs, such as the summer tango Wo Meereswogen rauschen (TO Lutter, Telefunken A 2513, 1938, see the list below). He continued to appear in films until the end of World War II, including Gauner im Frack (1937), Friedemann Bach (1941), & Romanze in Moll (1943). In addition, he lent his voice to less musically talented actors like Karl Schönböck in the film Der Blaufuchs (1938). In 1944, Helgar was listed in the Gottbegnadeten-Liste (God-gifted List) of the Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment & Propaganda.
Eric Helgar recorded well over 1000 records with many leading German dance orchestras, making him one of the most significant German-language vocal interpreters of the shellac record era.
I hope you enjoy this as much as I have.
Best wishes,
Stu
Please Note: I do not claim copyright or ownership of the song played in this video. All copyrighted content remains property of their respective owners.")
