Gershwin–Somebody Loves me, Whiteman

The George White Scandals of 1924 opened on Broadway on June 30, 1924, and the show had one great song, George Gershwin’s “Somebody Loves Me.” According to Howard Pollack, Gershwin’s biographer, two lyricists are listed for the song, Buddy DeSyla and Ballard MacDonald. However, George recalled that MacDonald was the principal lyricist. “Ballard was a typical colorful popular song writer of the first rank,” he recalled. “He said, ‘George, let’s write a song that will be simple and yet strong enough to catch on and be a big hit.’ ”

We are going to start our musical exploration with Paul Whiteman’s recording on July 11, 1924, just about two weeks after the show opened on Broadway. It rose to top of the charts that year.