Tony Martin - The Night Was Made for Love

I don't know whether that's a lover or a vampire on the cover, but the music is romantic, so I have to assume the former.

We do know that the singer is Tony Martin, who was popular from the 1930s through at least the 1950s and made many records. He has appeared here several times before, and is always welcome.

Tony Martin

We also know that these songs come from 1947-50, although the cover of this 1956 LP does not hint that they are not new recordings. The cover also tells us that Henri René is in charge of the orchestra, but that is true for only five of the songs. An equal number were conducted by Earle Hagen, and one by Woolf Phillips.

The title song, "Night and Day," "Deep Night," and "Goodnight Sweetheart" come from a 1948 album of 78s, whose cover is below. The rest are taken from singles.

A giant head appears in the night sky ...

Let me add that seven of the songs on the 12-inch LP also appeared on a 1953 10-inch album with a different cover and title, the better to bamboozle the record buyer. That cover is below.

The 10-inch LP cover

On to the songs on the 12-inch version ...

"The Night Was Made for Love" is a Kern-Harbach song from the 1931 show The Cat and the Fiddle. Even though it leads off the collection, it is not Martin's best performance. He is in generally excellent voice otherwise.

Tony had a hit with "Valencia" in 1950. It's a song with a curious history. Written in 1924 by Jose Padilla for a zarzuela, it became the title of a 1926 silent film and then a big success for Paul Whiteman and vocalist Franklyn Baur that same year.

"Marta (Rambling Rose of the Wildwood)" is another resurrection, this one from 1931, as recorded then by Manolo Castro and His Havana Yacht Club Orchestra. The music is by Moisés Simons; L. Wolfe Gilbert provided the English lyrics.

Tony had appeared in the Marx Brothers' 1941 film The Big Store, where he was allotted one of his signature songs - the "Tenement Symphony," which he introduced with Chico and Harpo. He did not record the number then, but that oversight was remedied in 1947 in a version recorded in London and first issued on HMV.

I must admit I love this piece, although (and perhaps because) it was very much of its time. Hal Borne wrote the music, Ray Golden and Sid Kuller the lyrics. (Sample: "The songs of the ghetto inspired the allegretto!")

HMV EP

"There's No Tomorrow" is based on "O sole mio." That song had music by Eduardo di Capua, but here the piece is attributed to Al Hoffman, Leo Corday and Leon Carr. Their version was done for Martin's film Two Tickets to Broadway. Tony's commercial recording was a hit in 1949. Another version of the tune - "It's Now or Never" - was a huge Elvis success in 1960.

The French song "Comme ci, comme ça" was recorded by several American artists in 1948. Bruno Coquatrix and Pierre Dudan had written it as "Clopin clopant."

"La Vie en rose" was of course the signature song for Édith Piaf, who made it popular in 1946. She wrote the lyrics, Louiguy the music. A version with English lyrics hit the American charts in 1950. Martin's recording was perhaps the most popular.

Tony also did well with another French song, "Domino," the following year. Louis Ferrari wrote the music, the French lyrics were by Jacques Plante, and the English version was by Don Raye. "Domino" was introduced by André Claveau.

"Deep Night" was a hit for Rudy Vallée in 1929. He wrote the words, Charles Henderson the music. Tommy Dorsey and Jack Leonard had a popular version in 1940.

Comma? No comma? 

"Goodnight, Sweetheart" was perhaps the biggest hit for bandleader-songwriter-actor Ray Noble, whose first version had a vocal by the great Al Bowlly. (Neither Ray nor Al are credited as performers on the HMV label above.) Ray later remade the song for Columbia with a lesser light, Snooky Lanson. Tony Martin's version was its competition in 1948.

So, should it be "Goodnight" or "Good Night" in the title? The labels of Noble's first and second versions use the compound word, but his publisher split 'em up on the sheet music.

OK, how about the comma between "Goodnight" and "Sweetheart"? The punctuation appeared on Noble's first record, but not the second. The sheet music eschews it. (Gesundheit.) To me, the comma belongs, but I am sure others would leave it out.

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