1957 Various Artists – Fascination

1957 Various Artists – Fascination

Jane Morgan and the Troubadors, Dinah Shore, Dick Jacobs

Fermo Dante Marchetti wrote a piano solo named Valse Tzigane in 1904 and Maurice de Féraudy contributed lyrics in 1905. The result was a waltz that became popular in Europe. Dick Manning wrote English lyrics for the song, which became known as Fascination.

Several films used the song on their soundtracks, including The House on 56th Street (1933), The Diary of a Chambermaid (1946), Gigi (1949), and The Grand Maneuver (1955).

The most important use of the song came in the film Love In The Afternoon in 1957. A group of musicians followed a playboy in the film and played the song when he was romancing various women.

They released the film in June and it became popular enough that several artists recorded and released single versions of Fascination.

The first release to reach the charts came from Jane Morgan. Her single first hit the Hot 100 on August 25 and reached #12 on the Best Sellers In Stores chart the week of October 7.

Dick Jacobs and his Chorus and Orchestra reached the chart September 9 and peaked at #17. A group of musicians sang the lyrics rather than a soloist.

A full instrumental version of the song came from David Carroll. While there were voices in that version, the recording limited them to “oohs” and “aahs” rather than lyrics. That version stalled at #56.

Dinah Shore became the last artist to chart with the song. She reached #15 on the Hot 100 with her record. She followed that with one more single that peaked at #24 and never reached the Hot 100 again.