Charles Tobias
Encyclopedia
Biography
Born in New York City, Tobias grew up in Worcester, MassachusettsWorcester, Massachusetts
Worcester is a city and the county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, as of the 2010 Census the city's population is 181,045, making it the second largest city in New England after Boston....
with brothers Harry Tobias
Harry Tobias
Harry Tobias was an American lyricist. Like his younger brother Charles, he is an inductee of the Songwriters Hall of Fame....
and Henry Tobias, also songwriters.
He started his musical career in vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
. In 1923, he founded his own music publishing firm and worked on Tin Pan Alley
Tin Pan Alley
Tin Pan Alley is the name given to the collection of New York City music publishers and songwriters who dominated the popular music of the United States in the late 19th century and early 20th century...
. Tobias referred to himself as "the boy who writes the songs you sing."
His credits include "Merrily We Roll Along," "Rose O'Day," "Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days Of Summer," "Comes Love," and "Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree (With Anyone Else but Me)
Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree (With Anyone Else but Me)
"Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree " is a popular song that was made famous by Glenn Miller and by the Andrews Sisters during World War II. Its lyrics are the words of two young lovers who pledge their fidelity while one of them is away serving in the war.Originally titled "Anywhere the Bluebird...
." With frequent collaborators Al Sherman
Al Sherman
Al Sherman was an American Tin Pan Alley songwriter from the first half of the twentieth century. Sherman is a link in a long chain of musical Sherman family members.-Early life:...
and Howard Johnson
Howard Johnson (lyricist)
Howard Johnson was a song lyricist. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970.Songwriter , author and lyricist, Johnson was born in Waterbury, Connecticut, and died in New York, New York. He was educated in high school and in private music study...
he wrote, Dew-Dew-Dewey Day
Dew-Dew-Dewey Day
" Dew-Dew-Dewey Day" was a popular song dating from 1927. It was recorded by Clyde Doerr and this Orchestra. The song is a Fox Trot which contains a vocal refrain, hence the unconventional length of the record . It was written by Tin Pan Alley tunesmiths, Al Sherman, Howard Johnson and Charles...
.
In the 1930s Tobias and several of his fellow hit makers formed a revue called "Songwriters on Parade
Songwriters On Parade
Songwriters on Parade was a musical Vaudeville revue which featured hit songwriters of the day. It was considered one of the last Vaudevillian forays of this type...
", performing across the Eastern seaboard on the Loew's and Keith
Keith
Keith may refer to:People*Keith *Keith * Baron Keith, line of Scottish barons in the late 18th century* Clan Keith, Scottish clan associated with lands in northeastern and northwestern Scotland...
circuits.
He co-wrote the 1933 to 1936 Merrie Melodies
Merrie Melodies
Merrie Melodies is the name of a series of animated cartoons distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures between 1931 and 1969.Originally produced by Harman-Ising Pictures, Merrie Melodies were produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions from 1933 to 1944. Schlesinger sold his studio to Warner Bros. in 1944,...
theme song "I Think You're Ducky" with Gerald Marks
Gerald Marks
Gerald Marks , was an American composer best known for the song "All of Me" which he co-wrote with Seymour Simons and has been recorded about 2,000 times...
and Sidney Clare
Sidney Clare
Sidney Clare was an American comedian, dancer and composer. His best known songs include "On the Good Ship Lollipop" , "You’re My Thrill" , and "Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone" .In 1929, Clare wrote his...
. And, he later co-wrote the 1936-1964 Merrie Melodies
Merrie Melodies
Merrie Melodies is the name of a series of animated cartoons distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures between 1931 and 1969.Originally produced by Harman-Ising Pictures, Merrie Melodies were produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions from 1933 to 1944. Schlesinger sold his studio to Warner Bros. in 1944,...
theme song "Merrily We Roll Along
Merrily We Roll Along (song)
"Merrily We Roll Along" is a song loosely based on the 1847 song "Goodnight, Ladies" by E. P. Christy. Written by Charlie Tobias, Murray Mencher, and Eddie Cantor in 1935, and used in the Warner Bros cartoon Billboard Frolics that same year, it is best known as the theme of Warner Bros.' Merrie...
" with Murray Mencher and Eddie Cantor
Eddie Cantor
Eddie Cantor was an American "illustrated song" performer, comedian, dancer, singer, actor and songwriter...
.
Immediately after Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
, he and Cliff Friend
Cliff Friend
Cliff Friend was an accomplished songwriter and pianist. A member of Tin Pan Alley, Friend co-wrote several hits including "Lovesick Blues," "My Blackbirds Are Bluebirds Now" and "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down," also known as the theme song to the Looney Tunes cartoon series.-Early life:Friend was...
wrote and recorded "We Did It Before And We Can Do It Again" on December 16, 1941. The song reminded the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
.
From 1929 to the 1960, he contributed songs to a number of musicals, such as "Manhattan Melodrama" and "The Daughter Of Rosie O'Grady".
Tobias was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame
Songwriters Hall of Fame
The Songwriters Hall of Fame is an arm of the National Academy of Popular Music. It was founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer and music publishers Abe Olman and Howie Richmond. The goal is to create a museum but as of April, 2008, the means do not yet exist and so instead it is an online...
in 1970. He died in Manhasset, Long Island, on July 7, 1970.