The Composer was the former musical secretary to America’s most famous songwriter, Irving Berlin. The other was a former Berlin employee himself, having worked as a staff pianist, song plugger, and vocal coach. Together, away from the auspices of Mr. Berlin and his organization, the two men got together in 1936 and wrote a song that they hoped Bing Crosby would like. It was a charmingly philosophical piece, using the concept of “rain” as a metaphor for “life’s troubles”, and then creating a novel and affirmative “twist” that embodied the song’s positive point-of-view.  Bing liked the song so much that he not only used it in his next picture, he made it the title song of the film, thus beginning a tuneful professional relationship with lyricist Johnny Burke that would last for the following seventeen years. Arne Fogel sings the Arthur Johnston – Johnny Burke classic “Pennies From Heaven”.

The Composer was the former musical secretary to America’s most famous songwriter, Irving Berlin. The other was a former Berlin employee himself, having worked as a staff pianist, song plugger, and vocal coach. Together, away from the auspices of Mr. Berlin and his organization, the two men got together in 1936 and wrote a song that they hoped Bing Crosby would like. It was a charmingly philosophical piece, using the concept of “rain” as a metaphor for “life’s troubles”, and then creating a novel and affirmative “twist” that embodied the song’s positive point-of-view.  Bing liked the song so much that he not only used it in his next picture, he made it the title song of the film, thus beginning a tuneful professional relationship with lyricist Johnny Burke that would last for the following seventeen years. Arne Fogel sings the Arthur Johnston – Johnny Burke classic “Pennies From Heaven”.