Your Hit Parade

Opening theme #1: Be Happy, Go Lucky also known as Be Happy - Go Luckies and Lucky Strike Jingle No. 2 - Composed by Raymond Scott (a pseudonym of Harry Warnow), employee for hire of The American Tobacco Company.

Opening theme #2: Lucky Day from the musical revue George White's Scandals of 1926 also known as This is Your Lucky Day - Music composed by Ray Henderson, lyrics written by Buddy G. DeSylva, Stephen W. Ballantine, and Lew Brown.

Closing Theme 3: So Long For A While - Adapted by Raymond Scott (a pseudonym of Harry Warnow), from a melody originally written by Irving Chansky, with lyrics by Irving Chansky.

Thanks to Earlene Kay F. for these lyrics.

Original Air Dates: 1950 - 1958 (NBC), 1958 - 1959 (CBS), 1974 (CBS)

  

VOICE-OVER:

"Your Hit Parade survey checks the best sellers on sheet music and phonograph records - the songs most heard on the air and most played on the automatic coin machines – an accurate, authentic tabulation of America's taste in popular music.”

Be Happy, Go Lucky:

Be happy, go Lucky,
Be Happy, go Lucky Strike
Be happy, go Lucky,
Go Lucky Strike Today!

 

So Long For A While:

     So long for a while,
     That's all the songs for a while,
     So long to your hit parade,
     And the songs that you picked to be played,
     So long!

   

 Thanks to Bill D. for his help.

1950 - 1958 with Raymond Scott and his Orchestra

1958 - 1959 with Harry Sosnik and his Orchestra

1974 with Milton DeLugg and his Orchestra

Your Hit Parade originated as Your Lucky Strike Hit Parade on radio sponsored by Lucky Strike cigarettes.

 In 1958, the TV series switched networks and replaced the older singers and staff with younger people to perform the rock 'n' roll songs that were coming into vogue. It wasn't a good move and the series was cancelled the next year.

 A short-lived revival was attempted in 1974.