The other half ---

A classic from 70 years ago. Not the first recording (Johnny Ray, of "Cry" fame, did it first, excluding the Broadway performance), but by far the most famous and most popular version. This was a top 10 hit for Archie Bleyer in mid-1954. This song is likely more well known than the musical it was written for.

Another fun one from Archie Bleyer, from early 1955. This was originally recorded by The Ames Brothers in October of 1954 and was a huge hit for them.

I remember when it was a big hit for the Ames Brothers.   The name Archie Bleyer, sounds familiar, but . . .  the artists who covered the top pop hits in those days,  are not remembered  like the originals.   There were lots of novelty songs back then, but none of them have stood the test of time.   Maybe "Hernando's Hideaway", because it's from a hit Broadway musical?

Archie Bleyer sounded familiar to me also. Seems like he had a weekly stint with someone --- but who?  can't remember.  So off to a search engine. Came up with this to shed some light.
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-03-22-mn-72-story.html

Looks like Archie Bleyer was a very busy and talented musician.  I couldn't bring up the L.A. Times story about him being fired by Arthur Godfrey, but I'm not surprised.    Godfrey was well known for suddenly firing someone.  Julius LaRosa comes to mind, but there were lots of others besides him. 

I found lots of songs by Julius LaRosa, but all of them were grainy with poor sound quality, because they were recorded live, directly off of old TV shows.  This is the best one, and just happens to be one of my favorites - "That Old Feeling".  Notice toward the end how he fumbles, trying to light a match to smoke a cigarette.    

A fun hillbilly-style send-up of an otherwise serious song by Red Ingle and "Cinderella G. Stump" (Jo Stafford) from 1947. Ironically this version is probably the best known rendition.

In 1961 a group from New York did a doo-wop version of a 1940 song called "Imagination". 18 years later, a British rock and roll revival group barely hit the top 40 with their cover of the 1961 arrangement. The 70s were weird

This is how I remember it.

From 1967. A fun arrangement of the classic Gershwin tune "I Got Rhythm". This was a big hit, peaking at #3 and spending 5 weeks in the top 10 in the US.

"Imagination"  is a beautiful love song, and is considered to be a standard.  Supposedly it was one of Frank Sinatra's favorites, and he included it on most of his albums over the years.    I don't like spoof-parodies on standards.  All compositions  by George and Ira Gershwin are also considered to be standards, including  "I've Got Rhythm".   

                DITTO