Moments to Remember
{{Infobox song
| name = Moments to Remember
| cover =
| alt =
| caption =
| type = single
| artist = The Four Lads
| album =
| B-side = Dream On, My Love, Dream On
| released = July 18, 1955
| recorded = June 21, 1955
| studio =
| genre = Traditional pop
| length = 3:10
| label = Columbia
| composer = Robert Allen, Al Stillman
| producer = Ray Ellis
| prev_title = Too Much! Baby, Baby
| prev_year = 1955
| next_title = I Heard the Angels Singing
| next_year = 1955
}}
"Moments to Remember" is a 1955 popular song about nostalgia{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3y4d-kAcP80C&q=last+night+when+we+were+young+song+nostalgic&pg=PA102 | title=Continuities in Popular Culture: The Present in the Past & the Past in the Present and Future| isbn=9780879725938| last1=Browne| first1=Ray Broadus| last2=Ambrosetti| first2=Ronald J.| year=1993}} recorded by Canadian quartet The Four Lads.{{cite web|url=http://www.mlive.com/entertainment/bay-city/index.ssf/2010/04/theres_an_album_for_everything.html|title=There's an album for everything under the sun|date=10 April 2010|author=Younkman, Tim|publisher=Michigan Live LLC|work=The Bay City Times}}{{cite web|url=http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Artists/F/Four_Lads/2010/04/29/13766456-qmi.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120709052746/http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Artists/F/Four_Lads/2010/04/29/13766456-qmi.html|url-status=usurped|archive-date=July 9, 2012|title=Four Lads singer Codarini dies|author=QMI Agency|work=jam.canoe.ca}} The song was originally written by Robert Allen and Al Stillman for Perry Como but was turned down by Como's management.{{cite news|url=http://www.desertentertainer.com/articles/2013/03/20/entertainment/desert_stars/doc514a0e53b83d4290616520.txt|title=Frank Busseri and The Four Lads Moments to remember|last=Mitchell|first=Marilyn|date=March 20, 2013|work=Palm Desert Entertainer|accessdate=21 November 2013}}
The Four Lads recording
The Four Lads recorded it in June 1955 for Columbia Records as the B side to the single "Dream On, My Love." Bernie Toorish of the Four Lads credited the enthusiastic endorsement of Cleveland radio DJ Bill Randle for increasing radio airtime play and popularizing the recording.{{cite book|last=Adams|first=Deanna R.|title=Rock 'n' Roll and the Cleveland Connection|year=2002|publisher=Kent State University Press|isbn=0873386914|page=14}} It eventually reached number 2 on Billboard magazine's Top 100 hit list (an early version of the Hot 100), sold 4 million copies and became the group's first gold record.
Besides the voices of the male quartet, the song also contains two uncredited female parts. According to the Four Lads' Frank Busseri, the introductory verse, ("January through December/We'll have moments to remember"), as well as the repeat of the Bridge section in harmony, ("When summer turns to winter",) were sung by Lois Winters of the Ray Charles Singers and the poetic spoken words in mid-song: ("A drive-in movie/Where we'd go/And somehow never watched the show/") were recited by Pat Kirby who at that time was a singer on Steve Allen's television show Tonight!.{{cite web|url=http://www.jerseygirlssing.com/Ronnie%20Allen%20Show%20--%20Frank%20Busseri.mp3|title=Frank Busseri|last=Allen|first=Ronnie|work=Ronnie Allen Podcast|publisher=Jersey Girls Sing|pages=25:16–30:45|accessdate=21 November 2013}}
Other noted versions
- Bing Crosby recorded the song on November 23, 1955, with Buddy Cole and His Orchestra.{{cite web|title=A Bing Crosby Discography|url=http://www.bingmagazine.co.uk/bingmagazine/crosby1bDecca.html|website=BING magazine|publisher=International Club Crosby|accessdate=October 2, 2017}}
- Louis Armstrong - a single release (1955).{{cite web|title=45cat.com|url=http://www.45cat.com/record/929694|website=45cat.com|accessdate=October 2, 2017}}
- Ronnie Hilton with orchestra conducted by Frank Cordell recorded "Moments to Remember" in London on December 13, 1955, and released it on His Master's Voice POP-154 (78 rpm record) and 7M 358 (single).
- The American vocal group Deep River Boys Featuring Harry Douglas with Pete Brown's orchestra recorded it in Oslo on August 30, 1956. It was released on the 78 rpm record His Master's Voice AL 6037.
- The song was recorded by both the Statler Brothers and the Vogues in 1969, inciting a minor cover remake battle against the Buddah Records version by the Smoke Ring.
- The Norman Luboff Choir - on the album Moments to Remember (1960) Columbia CL-1423/CS-8220
- The musical Forever Plaid includes their cover of the song.
Popular culture
- The song was featured as part of the theme music of XM Satellite Radio's "Moments to Remember", a weekly two-hour program written, produced, and hosted by Bob Moke on the '50s channel. The program aired from July 2006 through February 2009, and focused on standard pop music of the early to mid-Fifties.{{cite news|url=https://www.nydailynews.com/2008/07/18/jo-stafford-brings-to-mind-a-forgotten-generation-of-singers/|title=Jo Stafford brings to mind a forgotten generation of singers|first=David|last=Hinckley|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=18 July 2008|accessdate=2 February 2024}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{The Four Lads}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moments To Remember}}
Category:Songs about nostalgia
Category:Songs with music by Robert Allen (composer)
Category:Songs with lyrics by Al Stillman
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