It Had To Be You
23rd January 2015
Mark Steyn, in addition to being on of the most entertaining political commentators around, knows more about popular American music than I would have believed humanly possible. Today he takes a fascinating look at ‘Sinatra Song of the Century #5’ and the people who made it great.
Who wrote “It Had To Be You”? Cole Porter? The Gershwins? No, it was Isham Jones and Gus Kahn. Who? Don’t laugh: By some rankings, Gus Kahn is second only to Irving Berlin in the number of hit songs he wrote, including our very first two Songs of the Week, “San Francisco” (Number One) and “Dream A Little Dream Of Me” (Number Two). Frank sang a lot of Gus Kahn lyrics. Kahn has two tracks on the defining Sinatra LP of the Fifties, Songs For Swingin’ Lovers – “Makin’ Whoopee” and “Swingin’ Down The Lane”, which is the nearest thing to a title song.