"Charmaine" is a
popular song written by
Erno Rapee, with lyrics by
Lew Pollack. The song was written in
1926 and published in
1927. However,
Desmond Carrington on his
BBC Radio 2 programme marked the song's writing as being in
1913.
The song was originally in
waltz time, but later versions were in
common time.
The song was originally composed for the
silent movie What Price Glory?, and most notably, the best-selling version, recorded by
Guy Lombardo & his Orchestra, spent seven weeks at the #1 position in 1927. It was also featured in the movie
Two Girls And A Sailor. It was recorded by the
Harry James orchestra in
1944.
An instrumental version arranged by
Ronald Binge and performed by the
Mantovani orchestra was his first hit on the
United States charts in
1951. This recording was released by
London Records as
catalog number 1020. It first reached the
Billboard charts on November 9, 1951 and lasted 19 weeks on the chart, peaking at #10.
Another recording, by
Gordon Jenkins' orchestra, with a vocal by
Bob Carroll, also charted in 1951. This recording was released by
Decca Records as catalog number 27859. It first reached the
Billboard magazine charts on December 7, 1951 and lasted 1 week on the chart, at #26.
The Bachelors' version reached #5 in the British charts in...
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