Martin Page wrote:I remember hearing this song many times on the radio back in the 1950s.
Martin.
Absolutely. It was a staple on radio and TV. I can even remember the singer Marion Ryan once changing the lyric from "
Miles and miles and miles of heart" to "
Yards and yards and yards of heart" on the TV music quiz show "Spot The Tune" (contestants had to spot the deliberate lyrical mistake).
It is only comparatively recently that I have known where the song even came from. Probably in part due to the setting, "Damn Yankees" never had the impact in the UK of a "My Fair Lady", "South Pacific" or "Guys And Dolls".
Most standards are from Broadway shows. Another one whose origin I only recently discovered was
I've Got A Lot Of Living To Do (from "Bye Bye Birdy"). That little song that American Beatle fans used to sing (
We Love you Beatles, Oh yes we do...) was from the same show, where the lyric was
We love you Conrad...JN