Fly Me to the Moon

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Template:Short description Script error: No such module "other uses". Template:Use mdy dates Script error: No such module "Infobox".Template:Template otherScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".Template:Main other "Fly Me to the Moon", originally titled "In Other Words", is a song written in 1954 by Bart Howard. The first recording of the song was made in 1954 by Kaye Ballard. Frank Sinatra's 1964 version was closely associated with the Apollo missions to the Moon.

In 1999, the Songwriters Hall of Fame honored "Fly Me to the Moon" by inducting it as a "Towering Song".[1]

Background and composition

In 1954, when "Fly Me to the Moon" was first presented to the public, Bart Howard had been pursuing a career in music for over 20 years.[2] He played piano to accompany cabaret singers, but also wrote songs with Cole Porter, his idol, in mind.[3] In the book Intimate Nights: The Golden Age of New York Cabaret James Gavin noted that Howard wrote the song "in response to his publisher's plea for a simpler song: why did he have to write such grandiloquent lyrics? 'In Other Words' talked about the verbosity of poets who 'use many words to say a simple thing'; 'hold my hand,' 'Kiss me.'"[4] In response, Howard wrote a cabaret ballad.[5] A publisher tried to make him change some words from "fly me to the Moon" to "take me to the Moon," but Howard refused.[6] Many years later Howard commented that "... it took me 20 years to find out how to write a song in 20 minutes."[6]

He used his position as a piano accompanist and presenter at the Blue Angel cabaret venue to promote the song,[4] and it was soon introduced in cabaret performances by Felicia Sanders.[3]

The song was composed in Template:Music time signature but was changed to Template:Music by Quincy Jones in his arrangement for Frank Sinatra.[7][8]

Early recordings

File:Kaye Ballard publicity photo taken by Maurice Seymour NY in late 1950s for MCA.jpg
Kaye Ballard circa late 1950s

Kaye Ballard made the song's first[9] commercial recording, released by Decca in April 1954.[10] A brief review published on May 8, 1954, in Billboard said that "In Other Words" was "...a love song sung with feeling by Miss Ballard."[11] This recording was released as the flipside of "Lazy Afternoon", which Kaye Ballard was currently performing as star of the stage show The Golden Apple.[12]

Over the next few years, jazz and cabaret singers released cover versions of "In Other Words" on EP or LP record albums, including Chris Connor,[13] Johnny Mathis,[14] Portia Nelson,[15] and Nancy Wilson.[16] Eydie Gormé sang the song on her 1958 album Eydie In Love (under the title "In Other Words"),[17] which reached No. 20 in the Cashbox Album Charts.[18]

Subsequent recordings and uses

In 1960, Peggy Lee released the song on the album Pretty Eyes,[19] then made it more popular when she performed it in front of a large television audience on The Ed Sullivan Show.[3] As the song's popularity increased, it became better known as "Fly Me to the Moon",[20] and in 1963 Peggy Lee convinced Bart Howard to make the name change official.[6] Connie Francis released two non-English versions of the song in 1963: in Italian as "Script error: No such module "Lang"."[21] and in Spanish as "Script error: No such module "Lang".".[22]

File:Joe Harnell Fly Me To The Moon Kapp KS3318 Front Cover 1 April 2014 5942 800.JPG
Fly Me to the Moon Bossa Nova 1963 album by Joe Harnell

In 1962, Joe Harnell arranged and recorded an instrumental version in a bossa nova style. It was released as a single in late 1962.[23][24] Harnell's version spent 13 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, reaching No. 14 on February 23, 1963,[25] while reaching No. 4 on BillboardTemplate:'s Middle-Road Singles chart.[26][27] It reached No. 30 in Canada.[28] Harnell's version was ranked No. 89 on BillboardTemplate:'s end of year ranking "Top Records of 1963".[29] Harnell's recording won him a Grammy Award at the 5th Annual Grammy Awards for Best Performance by an Orchestra – for Dancing.[30][31] His version was included on his album Fly Me to the Moon and the Bossa Nova Pops[32] released in early 1963, which reached No. 3 stereo album on the Billboard Top LP's chart.[33]

In 1963, Julie London included a cover of the song for her album The End of the World,[34] Paul Anka released a version of "Fly Me To The Moon", appearing in his album Our Man Around the World[35] and Brenda Lee covered it for her All Alone Am I album.[36]

Frank Sinatra included the song on his 1964 album It Might as Well Be Swing, accompanied by Count Basie.[37] The music for this album was arranged by Quincy Jones,[37][38] who had worked with Count Basie a year earlier on the album This Time by Basie, which also included a version of "Fly Me to the Moon".[39] Will Friedwald commented that "Jones boosted the tempo and put it into an even four/four" for Basie's version, but "when Sinatra decided to address it with the Basie/Jones combination they recharged it into a straight swinger... [which]...all but explodes with energy".[5] Bart Howard estimated that by the time Frank Sinatra covered the song in 1964, more than 100 other versions had been recorded.[5]

Bobby Womack recorded a version that was released in 1968 on Minit Records, from his album Fly Me to the Moon. His rendition reached No. 52 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 16 on the R&B chart.[40] Occasionally on the CBS series WKRP in Cincinnati, an instrumental sampling of "Fly Me To The Moon" was used as a doorbell melody during scenes taking place in the apartment of character Jennifer Marlowe.[41]

Bengali-Pakistani pop singer Alamgir recorded the Urdu version of this song titled Kya Tum Mere Ho (are you mine). The song was released in 1981 for his album Alamgir Sings for Himself.

By 1995, the song had been recorded more than 300 times.[12] According to a poll conducted by Japanese music magazine CD&DL Data in 2016 about the most representative songs associated with the Moon, the cover versions by Claire Littley and Yoko Takahashi ranked 7th by 6,203 respondents.[42] The Claire cover version won the Planning Award of Heisei Anisong Grand Prize among the anime theme songs from 1989 to 1999, following its appearance in the end credits of Neon Genesis Evangelion.[43]

A remixed cover of the song was recorded for 2009's Bayonetta, sung by Helena Noguerra.

Richard Simmons's last words were a loose paraphrase of the song's lyrics.[44]

During the 67th Annual Grammy Awards on February 2, 2025, Cynthia Erivo and Herbie Hancock performed a cover of the song as a tribute to Quincy Jones.

NASA association

File:Quincy Jones, John Glenn, and Neil Armstrong during NASA's 50th anniversary gala.jpg
Quincy Jones presents platinum copies of Frank Sinatra's album to Senator John Glenn and Apollo 11 Commander Neil Armstrong

Frank Sinatra's 1964 recording of "Fly Me to the Moon" became closely associated with NASA's Apollo space program. A copy of the song was played on a Sony TC-50 portable cassette player on the Apollo 10 mission which orbited the Moon,[45] and also on Apollo 11 before the first landing on the Moon.[46][47] The song's association with Apollo 11 was reprised many years later when Diana Krall sang it at the mission's 40th anniversary commemoration ceremony,[48] and also for mission commander Neil Armstrong's memorial service in 2012.[49]

Certifications

Frank Sinatra's version

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References

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External links

Template:Brenda Lee Template:Frank Sinatra Template:Perry ComoTemplate:Bobby WomackScript error: No such module "Navbox".Template:Antônio Carlos Jobim Template:Judy Garland songs Template:Westlife songs Template:Cynthia Erivo Template:Authority control

  1. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  2. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  3. ↑ a b c Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  4. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1". Quote from Intimate Nights: The Golden Age of New York Cabaret, New York: Back Stage Books 2006. Retrieved December 16, 2024.
  5. ↑ a b c Will Friedwald, Sinatra! The Song Is You: A Singer's Art, Scribner, New York, 1995, page 411
  6. ↑ a b c Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  7. ↑ Interview with Quincy Jones. Appeared in the cover of Frank Sinatra & Count Basie 1964 album "It Might As Well Be". Transcript
  8. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  9. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  10. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  11. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  12. ↑ a b Liz Smith, Liner Notes for the CD Portia Nelson, Let Me Love You: Portia Nelson Sings the Songs of Bart Howard, DRG 91442, 1995
  13. ↑ Template:Trim/chris-mw0000175050 Chris. Chris Connor at AllMusic. Retrieved 2021-01-28.
  14. ↑ Template:Trim/in-other-words-mw0001902499 In Other Words. Johnny Mathis at AllMusic. Retrieved 2021-01-28.
  15. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  16. ↑ Template:Trim/like-in-love-something-wonderful-mw0000461255 Like in Love/Something Wonderful. Nancy Wilson at AllMusic. Retrieved 2021-01-28.
  17. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  18. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  19. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  20. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  21. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  22. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  23. ↑ "Reviews of New Singles", Billboard, November 10, 1962. p. 52. Retrieved February 17, 2018.
  24. ↑ Thompson, Dave (2016). Standard Catalog of American RecordsTemplate:Dead link, F+W Media, Inc. p. 567. Retrieved February 17, 2018.
  25. ↑ Hot 100 - Joe Harnell and His Orchestra Fly Me to the Moon - Bossa Nova Chart History Template:Webarchive, Billboard.com. Retrieved February 17, 2018.
  26. ↑ "Middle-Road Singles", Billboard, February 23, 1963. p. 42. Retrieved February 17, 2018.
  27. ↑ Adult Contemporary - Joe Harnell and His Orchestra Fly Me to the Moon - Bossa Nova Chart History Template:Webarchive, Billboard.com. Retrieved February 17, 2018.
  28. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  29. ↑ "Top Records of 1963", Billboard, Section II, December 28, 1963. p. 30. Retrieved February 17, 2018.
  30. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  31. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  32. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  33. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  34. ↑ The End of the World at AllMusic
  35. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  36. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  37. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  38. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  39. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  40. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  41. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  42. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  43. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  44. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  45. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  46. ↑ Music on the Moon: Meet Mickey Kapp, Master of Apollo 11's Astro-Mixtapes
  47. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  48. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  49. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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