Benny Goodman—”Let’s Dance” (1939)
The Benny Goodman Orchestra’s signature tune “Let’s Dance” was probably the best know theme song of the 1930s. It was composed by pianist Josef Bonime (1891-1959), born in Vilna, Poland, and violinist Gregory Stone (1900-1991) born in Odessa, Russia. This arrangement by New Yorker George Bassman takes off from a swatch of “Invitation to the Dance” (Aufforderung zum Tanz), a 1819 piano piece written by the German romantic composer Carl Maria Von Weber (1786-1826).
Benny Goodman and his Orchestra recorded it for Columbia in New York on October 24, 1939: Jimmy Maxwell, Ziggy Elman and Johnny Martel-trumpets; Red Ballard, Vernon Brown and Ted Vesely-trombones; Benny Goodman-clarinet; Toots Mondello and Buff Estes-alto saxes; Bus Bassey and Jerry Jerome-tenor saxes; Fletcher Henderson-piano; Arnold Covey-guitar; Artie Bernstein-double bass; and Nick Fatool-drums.
One of the most famous theme songs first got on the air by a narrow margin. As Goodman says in his book, The Kingdom of Swing, “Toward the end of September 1934, the word got around that the National Biscuit Company was planning to put on a big program at NBC . . . The setup called for a rumba band, a sweet orchestra and a hot band. We had some idea we were being considered for the spot as the hot band.”
Representatives of the sponsor, Uneeda Bakers, came to hear Goodman at the Music Hall. The band played all its best arrangements. “I for one, really played as if my life depended on it, for, in a way, it did,” said Goodman. After the sponsor had listened to more than 125 orchestras the decision was made which three bands got the jobs: Kel Murray -- for the slower tempo numbers; Xavier Cugat -- contributing tangos and rumbas; and Benny Goodman -- providing the hot and lively rhythms. But, Goodman added, “I later discovered that the sponsors had brought a group of employees up from their office, and asked them to vote for the band they liked best. We made it by one vote.”
For three solid hours each Saturday night extended over a nationwide NBC net, the longest sponsored program that had ever been broadcast, ran on 53 stations from December 1, 1934 to May 1935 and more than a dozen musical arrangers worked every week to provide approximately 60 different scores for the three bands. Each of the three bands opened its segment with “Let's Dance.”
As Philip W. Payne wrote about Goodman’s 1939 version of “Let’s Dance” in the liner notes for a swing era album: “The urgent beat, the fine alto solo, the jabbing brass in the last chorus and above all the lilting, lifting clarinet made this the theme song of an era.”
