Home | Songs By Year | Songs from 1939
If I Didn't Care
Buy If I Didn't Care now from AmazonFirst, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the song. And once you've experienced the song, tell everyone what you thought about it.
Wikipedia article
"'If I Didn't Care'" is a song written by Jack Lawrence that was sung and recorded by the Ink Spots featuring Bill Kenny in 1939. This song was originally copyrighted in 1934 by publishers Ager, Yellen and Bornstein and credited to Joe Young, Jean Schwartz and Milton Ager. The original tune included a two verse introduction and the chorus contains different lyrics from the more popular Jack Lawrence version.
Background
The Ink Spots recording became the 10th best selling single of all time with over 19 million copies sold making it one of the fewer than forty all-time singles to have sold 10 million (or more) physical copies worldwide. According to Lawrence, he mailed the song before showing it to some of his friends. His friends' reaction to the song was almost unanimously negative, but he remained positive on it and later it became one of his biggest successes.
It was added to the Grammy Hall of Fame and was number 271 on the "Songs of the Century" list. In 2018, the Ink Spots' recording of the song was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or artistically significant." The song was also used in the 1994 film The Shawshank Redemption.
History
Many other recordings of the song have been made:
* In the 1950s, both the Hilltoppers (No. 17 in 1954) and Connie Francis (No. 22 in 1959) charted with the song.
* Another notable cover came from the Platters (No. 30, 1961).
* In 1970, the soul group The Moments (later known as Ray, Goodman & Brown) had a hit with the tune that reached No. 44 on the 'Billboard' Hot 100, as well as No. 7 on the Best Selling Soul Singles chart.
* In May 1974, a version recorded by David Cassidy peaked at number 9 in the UK Singles Chart.
* Ska-pop band Madness covered the track on their 1999 album 'Wonderful'.
References
Category:1939 songs
Category:The Ink Spots songs
Category:Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients
Category:Songs with lyrics by Jack Lawrence
Category:United States National Recording Registry recordings
Category:Madness (band) songs
Buy If I Didn't Care now from Amazon
<-- Return to songs from 1939