Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive or Accentuate the Positive is a song written by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer. It was recorded by Bing Crosby with John Scott Trotter and his orchestra and is heard on Diamond City Radio in Fallout 4.
Although Bing Crosby's most famous rendition was a duet with the Andrews Sisters in 1944, it is not the one used.
The song in-game is 1 minute and 8 seconds, particularly short for a commercial recording. It comes from a 1945 radio broadcast of the Kraft Music Hall.
Background
The song premiered on December 18, 1944 in the film Here Come the Waves starring Bing Crosby, Betty Hutton, and Sonny Tufts. The story centers on a WAVES recruitment center. The song is performed in blackface during a variety show as a duet between Crosby and Tufts.
The composer, Johnny Mercer, had recorded his version of the song in October 4[1] while the Andrews Sisters and Bing Crosby recorded theirs on December 8.[2]
To promote the film, Bing Crosby sang "Accentuate the Positive" on several episodes of his radio show for NBC, the Kraft Music Hall.[3]
This particular version of the song aired on February 1, 1945. As the film was entering its seventh week in theaters, Bing Crosby sang an entire medley from the movie: "There's a Fellow Waiting in Poughkeepsie", "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive", and "Let's Take the Long Way Home".
The complete setlist for the broadcast is as follows:[4]
Date: Thursday, February 1, 1945
Location: NBC Studios, Los Angeles
Personnel: Bing Crosby, Eugenie Baird (special guest), The Charioteers, John Scott Trotter (orchestra conductor), Ken Carpenter (announcer)
Songs:
"Evelina" (Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg; from the 1944 musical Bloomer Girl)
- Bing Crosby and chorus
"Abraham" (Irving Berlin; from the 1942 film Holiday Inn)
- Bing Crosby and The Charioteers
"Tabby the Cat" (Harold Dickinson and Howard Gibeling; from the 1945 film Eadie Was a Lady
- The Charioteers
"I'm Making Believe" (James Monaco and Mack Gordon; from the 1944 film Sweet and Low-Down)
- Bing Crosby
"I Didn't Know About You" (Duke Ellington and Bob Russell)
- Eugenie Baird
"Swinging on a Star" parody, Stay-in-School themed (Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Burke; from the 1944 film Going My Way)
- Bing Crosby and Ken Carpenter
"Straighten Up and Fly Right" (Nat King Cole and Iving Mills)
- The Charioteers
"Don't You Know I Care" (Duke Ellington and Mack David)
- Bing Crosby
Here Come The Waves medley
"There's a Fellow Waiting in Poughkeepsie"
- Bing Crosby
"Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive"
- Bing Crosby
"Let's Take the Long Way Home"
- Bing Crosby and chorus
Lyrics
You've got to accent-uate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mister In-Between
You've got to spread joy up to the maximum
Bring gloom down to the minimum
Have faith or pandemonium
Liable to walk upon the scene
To illustrate my last remark:
Jonah in the whale, Noah in the ark
What did they do
Just when everything looked so dark?
Man, they said we better accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative,
Don't mess with Mister In-Between
No, don't mess with Mister In-Between!
Oh yeah!
I'm fine.
Video
Here Come the Waves medley clip from the broadcast. "Accentuate the Positive" starts at around 4:25.
Behind the scenes
- The entire February 1, 1945 broadcast is available to listen in its entirely on various OTR (Old Time Radio) sites.[5]
- The performances was recorded on John Scott Trotter's personal acetates.[6] However, the transfer is of poor quality with many pops, crackles, and prominent skipping. By contrast, the version provided for the game is in much better condition.
- It is unclear where the copy originated. The end credits indicate the song was licensed by HLC Properties, Ltd. which has frequently collaborated with Bing Crosby Enterprises to release new Crosby recordings. In 2013, they announced the discovery of tape archives in the so-called "Bing's Basement".[7] They were rebroadcast on internet radio. It is unknown whether the radio programs will be released for public sale.
- The Perry Como version of "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive" is the theme to the 1999 film Blast from the Past, which depicts a family living in a fallout shelter.
References
- ↑ Capitol Records Discography
- ↑ Decca Records Discography
- ↑ A Bing Crosby Discography - Part 2b: Radio - Kraft Music Hall. 5 December 1935 to 9 May 1946
- ↑ Morgereth, Timothy A. (1987). Bing Crosby: a discography, radio program list and filmography. Jefferson, North Carolina, United States: McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 322. ISBN 0899502105.
- ↑ Kraft Music Hall (1933 to 1949) at Times Past Old Time Radio
- ↑ Morgereth, Timothy A. (1987). Bing Crosby: a discography, radio program list and filmography. Jefferson, North Carolina, United States: McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 213. ISBN 0899502105.
- ↑ Bing Crosby Enterprises and HLC Properties, Ltd. Announce New SiriusXM Satellite Radio Series And Two New CD Releases