Pop Music

All sorts of songs with an interesting history became hits during this doo wop and rock n roll era. One such song was “It’s All in the Game.”

In 1958 Tommy Edwards’ “It’s All in the Game” went #1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and U.S. R&B Charts. The tune was written in 1911 and called “Melody in A Major” by Charles Dawes, who later became Vice President under Calvin Coolidge. Dawes also received a Nobel Prize for the Dawes Plan for reparations after World War I. That makes Dawes the only U.S. VP and only Nobel Prize winner to have a #1 hit. In 1951, Carl Sigman, a New York Brill Building songwriter, penned lyrics to it.

Edwards recorded a version of the song with lush strings in the background in 1951. This versions made it to #18 on the charts. It was also recorded by Dinah Shore, Carmen Cavallero, and Sammy Kaye. Edwards’  re-recorded the song with a doo wop arrangement in 1958 to help his career, which was not going so well at that point. That version went to #1 and was on the charts for 22 weeks. It went to #3 on the U.K. Chart. The song became one of the biggest hits of the 1950s.

Covers of the song have remained popular, and artists with versions include (among others), Cliff Richard, the Four Tops, Merle Haggard, and Van Morrison.

Here are the lyrics to “It’s All in the Game” by Tommy Edwards:

“Many a tear has to fall
But it’s all in the game
All in the wonderful game
That we know as love
You have words with him
And your future’s looking dim
But these things
Your hearts can rise above

Once in a while he won’t call
But it’s all in the game
Soon he’ll be there at your side
With a sweet bouquet
And he’ll kiss your lips
And caress your waiting fingertips
And your hearts will fly away

Soon he’ll be there at your side
With a sweet bouquet
Then he’ll kiss your lips
And caress your waiting fingertips
And your hearts will fly away”

For More Golden Oldies Music                

The Daily Doo Wop Rec Room has daily featured doo wop, rock and roll, R&B, or rockabilly songs that were hits during the first era of rock and roll (that is, from about 1952 until the British invasion in 1964). After a song is featured, it then goes into the juke box. You are welcome to listen to any of the 40+ selections there. Every weekend, there is a Golden Oldies Juke Box Saturday Night, and the juke box is full of song requests from the 1950s and 1960s.

Please click here for the Daily Doo Wop YouTube channel, to which you can subscribe. Thank you for stopping by The Daily Doo Wop. Hope you enjoyed “It’s All in the Game” by Tommy Edwards.