Monday 6 August 2012

Sunday, Monday, or Always

"Sunday, Monday, or Always" is a 1943 popular song with music by Jimmy Van Heusen and lyrics by Johnny Burke.

The biggest hit version, recorded by Bing Crosby in 1943 and appearing in his film Dixie, was made during a musician's strike, and recorded with a vocal group background instead of an orchestra. This recording was released by Decca Records as catalog number 18561. It first reached the Billboard magazine Best Seller chart on August 19, 1943 and lasted 18 weeks on the chart, peaking at #1.

The song is featured in an Amos and Andy radio show with the same title in 1943. Andy Brown had apparently heard the tune and later thought he came up with it himself. Somebody who knew the songs true origin played a trick on Andy by helping him write lyrics that go “Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday.” Later the real writers put in a brief appearance in the show when the truth comes to light.

The song was also recorded by Frank Sinatra about the same time, with a similar vocal background because of the strike. This version was released by Columbia Records as catalog number 36679. It first reached the Billboard magazine Best Seller chart on September 9, 1943 and lasted 4 weeks on the chart, peaking at #9. A subsequent parody version by Sinatra, titled "Dick Haymes, Dick Todd and Como", was recorded October 23, 1944 for the V-Disc program.