The Best Song Podcast

Episode 9: A Voice Like Music (1941)

Hollywood had reason to be worried in 1941, not the least of which was the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese that December. Commercial television made its debut in July, giving the public a reason to stay home for entertainment instead of going to a theater. But, the output in Hollywood still gave us some top movies, including Citizen Kane. That movie didn't have an original song in it, and the nine films that featured nominated songs didn't become instant classics. Take a listen to the nominees from 1941 with host Jeff Commings, and decide for yourself if the controversy that surrounded the winning song was warranted.

Episode 8: Fate Steps In (1940)

World War II was raging in Europe in 1940, but Americans were largely going about business as usual while Hitler was conquering the continent. Hollywood was not yet affected by the war, and the Academy Award-nominated songs in 1940 brought us more classic tunes sung by Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby. They are joined on this list of nine nominated songs by an animated cricket who helped raise the stakes in animated movies.

Episode 7: I’ll Hold You In My Heart (1939)

The year 1939 has been regarded as one of the most important years in film history, and you need to look no further than the Best Picture nominees from that year to prove that. Though one of the nominees for Best Song stands out tall among the others, the four songs that were nominated maintain the high quality that came from such a rich year in the movies. Host Jeff Commings talks about the weird circumstances that led to the creation of some of the songs, and how they helped raise the pedigree of their movies.

Episode 6: Everything I Do Is Depending on You (1938)

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences made a big change to the rules for submitting songs for award consideration in 1938, allowing studios to submit one song for an automatic nomination. That resulted in 10 song nominees in 1938, and host Jeff Commings will bring you the histories behind all of them, including two songwriters who competed against themselves.

Episode 5: The Way You Sing Off-Key (1937)

Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers continued to light up the silver screen in 1937, and it was the Gershwin brothers -- Ira and George -- who were responsible for the nominated song that accompanied their song-and-dance routine. Not to be outdone, Bing Crosby makes a play for a hit song with a lullaby, written by an old friend who had no plans to work in Hollywood.

Episode 4: A Package of Sunshine and Flowers (1936)

The number of nominees for the Academy Award for Best Original Song increased from three to six in 1936, and host Jeff Commings presents all of them in this episode. We'll hear a song from Cole Porter, who brought his popular talents from Broadway to Hollywood for a musical starring Jimmy Stewart, and another hit from Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields, who finally met after creating their nominated song in 1935.

Episode 3: Delightful to Know and Heaven to Kiss (1935)

The second year of the Oscar for Best Song introduces us to the soon-to-be legendary songwriter Irving Berlin, who crafted one of Fred Astaire's signature songs that led to one of the most iconic film dance scenes from Astaire and Ginger Rogers. We'll hear the three nominated songs from 1935, when movie songs were starting to become more acceptable in Hollywood and with the public.

Episode 2: It’s Not a Foxtrot or a Polka (1934)

This episode of The Best Song Podcast officially begins the journey through the 90 years of the Academy Award for Best Original Song, detailing the three nominees in the inaugural year of the award. In 1934, the songs not only showed the impact of songs in the movies, but introduced us to three soon-to-be legendary performers: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, and Bing Crosby.