"I Only Have Eyes for You" is a popular

Popular music

Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...

 song by composer Harry Warren

Harry Warren

Harry Warren was an American composer and lyricist. Warren was the first major American songwriter to write primarily for film. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song eleven times and won three Oscars for composing "Lullaby of Broadway", "You'll Never Know" and "On the Atchison,...

 and lyricist Al Dubin

Al Dubin

Alexander "Al" Dubin was an American lyricist. He became known through his collaborations with the composer Harry Warren.-Life and works:...

, written in 1934

1934 in music

-Events:*March 12 - the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Wilhelm Furtwängler given the world premiere of Paul Hindemith's symphony Mathis der Maler in Berlin.*May 28 - The Glyndebourne festival is inaugurated....

 for the film Dames

Dames

Dames is a 1934 Warner Bros. musical comedy film directed by Ray Enright with dance numbers created by Busby Berkeley. The film stars Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell, Joan Blondell, Guy Kibbee, ZaSu Pitts, and Hugh Herbert...

where it was introduced by Dick Powell

Dick Powell

Richard Ewing "Dick" Powell was an American singer, actor, producer, director and studio boss.Despite the same last name he was not related to William Powell, Eleanor Powell or Jane Powell.-Biography:...

 and Ruby Keeler

Ruby Keeler

Ruby Keeler, born Ethel Hilda Keeler, was an actress, singer, and dancer most famous for her on-screen coupling with Dick Powell in a string of successful early musicals at Warner Brothers, particularly 42nd Street . From 1928 to 1940, she was married to singer Al Jolson...

.

According to Billboard

Billboard (magazine)

Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

magazine, the song was a #2 hit for Ben Selvin

Ben Selvin

Benjamin B. Selvin , son of Russian-immigrant Jewish parents, was a musician, bandleader, record producer and innovator in recorded music. He was known as The Dean of Recorded Music....

 in 1934. The orchestras of Peter Duchin and Anson Weeks also figured in the song's 1934 popularity. This song was recorded in 1950 by Peggy Lee

Peggy Lee

Peggy Lee was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer, and actress in a career spanning six decades. From her beginning as a vocalist on local radio to singing with Benny Goodman's big band, she forged a sophisticated persona, evolving into a multi-faceted artist and...

, and most notably by The Flamingos

The Flamingos

The Flamingos were a doo wop group from the United States, most popular in the mid to late 1950s and best known for their 1959 cover version of "I Only Have Eyes for You".-Early quintet:...

 in 1959, becoming one of their most popular hits. Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...

magazine ranked the Flamingos' version #157 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. This version peaked at #11 on the Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

 chart. The song is a jazz standard

Jazz standard

Jazz standards are musical compositions which are an important part of the musical repertoire of jazz musicians, in that they are widely known, performed, and recorded by jazz musicians, and widely known by listeners. There is no definitive list of jazz standards, and the list of songs deemed to be...

, and has been covered by thousands of musicians.

A remake of the song by Art Garfunkel

Art Garfunkel

Arthur Ira "Art" Garfunkel is an American singer-songwriter, poet, and actor, best known as being a member of the folk duo Simon & Garfunkel...

 was a number one song on the UK Singles Chart

UK Singles Chart

The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

 in October 1975 for two weeks. The song was his first hit as a solo artist in the UK

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. In the US, the song reached #18 on the U.S.

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the adult contemporary chart

Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks

The Adult Contemporary chart is a weekly chart published in Billboard magazine that lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary and "lite-pop" radio stations in the United States...

. Garfunkel performed the song on the second episode of Saturday Night Live

Saturday Night Live

Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...

.

In popular culture

The Flamingos' version was included on the soundtracks for the 1973 film American Graffiti

American Graffiti

American Graffiti is a 1973 coming of age film co-written/directed by George Lucas starring Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Paul Le Mat, Charles Martin Smith, Cindy Williams, Candy Clark, Mackenzie Phillips and Harrison Ford...

and the 1983 films The Right Stuff

The Right Stuff

The Right Stuff is a 1983 American film adapted from Tom Wolfe's 1979 book The Right Stuff about the test pilots who were involved in high-speed aeronautical research at Edwards Air Force Base as well as those selected to be astronauts for Project Mercury, the United States' first attempt at manned...

and Heart Like a Wheel

Heart Like a Wheel

Heart Like a Wheel is Linda Ronstadt's fifth solo album release and the last-ever of her studio projects for Capitol Records, released in late 1974. It is universally considered to be Ronstadt's all-time high watermark masterpiece recording and a pioneering blueprint of Country Rock...

.

It is also used as a recurring theme in a Warner Brothers 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,...

 cartoon of the same title, released 3 years after the original song, and directed by Tex Avery

Tex Avery

Frederick Bean "Fred/Tex" Avery was an American animator, cartoonist, voice actor and director, famous for producing animated cartoons during The Golden Age of Hollywood animation. He did his most significant work for the Warner Bros...

.

Covers

In addition to the above artists, these artists have also covered this song:

• Al Jolson
  Al Jolson
  Al Jolson was an American singer, comedian and actor. In his heyday, he was dubbed "The World's Greatest Entertainer"....
  
  , featured in the 1946 Columbia movie The Jolson Story.
• Frank Sinatra
  Frank Sinatra
  Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
  
   - It All Depends on You" / "I Only Have Eyes for You" (with The Ken Lane Singers) (1949)
• Frank Sinatra
  Frank Sinatra
  Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
  
   - Sinatra–Basie (1962)
• Doris Day
  Doris Day
  Doris Day is an American actress, singer and, since her retirement from show business, an animal rights activist. With an entertainment career that spanned through almost 50 years, Day started her career as a big band singer in 1939, but only began to be noticed after her first hit recording,...
  
  : "I Only Have Eyes for You" appears on the album Golden Girl: Columbia Recordings 1944-1966.
• Ella Fitzgerald
  Ella Fitzgerald
  Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...
  
   recorded this with Nelson Riddle
  Nelson Riddle
  Nelson Smock Riddle, Jr. was an American arranger, composer, bandleader and orchestrator whose career stretched from the late 1940s to the mid 1980s...
  
  's orchestra on her 1966 Grammy Award Winning Verve
  Verve Records
  Verve Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded by Norman Granz in 1956, absorbing the catalogues of his earlier labels, Clef Records and Norgran Records , and material which had been licensed to Mercury previously.-Jazz and folk origins:The Verve...
  
   release Ella Swings Brightly with Nelson
  Ella Swings Brightly with Nelson
  Ella Swings Brightly with Nelson is a 1962 studio album by the American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, with the Nelson Riddle Orchestra....
  
  .
• Hi-NRG producer/songwriter Bobby Orlando
  Bobby Orlando
  Robert Philip Orlando , also known as Bobby Orlando, is an American record producer, dance music artist, musician and songwriter.- Early life :...
  
   did a dance version with Bonnie Forman in 1984.
• Trumpet
  Trumpet
  The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
  
  er Lester Bowie
  Lester Bowie
  Lester Bowie was an American jazz trumpet player and composer. He was a member of the AACM, and cofounded the Art Ensemble of Chicago.-Biography:...
  
   recorded the tune with his Brass Fantasy band as the title track on their 1986 debut album I Only Have Eyes for You
  I Only Have Eyes for You (album)
  I Only Have Eyes for You is the third album by Lester Bowie recorded for ECM and the debut album of his "Brass Fantasy" group. It was released in 1985 and features performances by Bowie, Vincent Chancey, Craig Harris, Steve Turre, Malachi Thompson, Stanton Davis, Bob Stewart and Phillip...
  
  (1986).
• The Temptations
  The Temptations
  The Temptations is an American vocal group having achieved fame as one of the most successful acts to record for Motown Records. The group's repertoire has included, at various times during its five-decade career, R&B, doo-wop, funk, disco, soul, and adult contemporary music.Formed in Detroit,...
  
  , produced by Bill Conti, and featured in the 1987 film Happy New Year
  Happy New Year (1987 film)
  Happy New Year is a 1987 film directed by John G. Avildsen. The screenplay was written by Warren Lane, based on the French film La bonne année. The director of the French film, Claude Lelouch, has a cameo as a man on a train....
  
  .
• Marilyn Scott
  Marilyn Scott
  Marilyn Scott is an American jazz vocalist.Scott got her start performing locally at age 15. She went to college in San Francisco, singing in both jazz and pop ensembles there. She was noticed by Emilio Castillo, a member of Tower of Power, who hired her to do backing vocals for the group...
  
  , whose version was released in the soundtrack album for the 1988 film Twins.
• Elaine Paige
  Elaine Paige
  Elaine Paige OBE is an English singer and actress best known for her work in musical theatre. Raised in Barnet, North London, Paige attended the Aida Foster stage school, making her first professional appearance on stage in 1964, at the age of 16...
  
   recorded a version for her 1991 album Love Can Do That
  Love Can Do That (album)
  Love Can Do That is an album by Elaine Paige, released in 1991. It was Paige's first album released by RCA and marketed in Europe by BMG. Produced by Dennis Lambert and recorded at The Zoo in Encino, California. The album reached #36 in the UK album chart...
  
  .
• Toni Tennille
  Toni Tennille
  Cathryn Antoinette "Toni" Tennille is one-half of the 1970s Grammy Award-winning duo Captain & Tennille. Tennille has also done musical work independently of her husband Daryl Dragon. Tennille has a contralto vocal range.-Biography:...
  
  : On her album Never Let Me Go (1991).
• Grenadine covered this song on their debut album Goya (1992), with Jenny Toomey singing lead.
• An acappella version by The Complexions was mixed with The Flamingos version for the 1993 film A Bronx Tale
  A Bronx Tale
  A Bronx Tale is a 1993 American crime drama film set in The Bronx during the turbulent era of the 1960s. It was the directorial debut of Robert De Niro, and follows a young Italian-American teenager as his path in life is guided by two father figures, played by De Niro and Chazz Palminteri...
  
  .
• Gitane Demone
  Gitane Demone
  Gitane Demone is a singer and musician. She was a member of Christian Death in the 1980s, and is currently a solo artist.-Pompeii 99 and Christian Death:...
  
  : On albums Love for Sale (1993) and With Love and Dementia - Live in Cannes 1994
• Johnny Maestro & The Brooklyn Bridge
  Johnny Maestro & The Brooklyn Bridge
  Johnny Maestro and The Brooklyn Bridge is an American musical group, best known for their million selling rendition of Jimmy Webb's "The Worst That Could Happen" .-History:...
  
   On their 1994 CD "Acappella (album)
  Acappella (album)
  Returning to their roots, Johnny Maestro and The Brooklyn Bridge released Acappella, a collection of notable doo wop covers.-Track listing:#"Beside You"#"At My Front Door"#"Could This Be Magic"#"Life Is But A Dream"#"Having A Party"#"Sincerely"...
  
  "
• Kenny Rogers
  Kenny Rogers
  Kenneth Donald "Kenny" Rogers is an American singer-songwriter, photographer, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur...
  
  : On album Vote for Love
  Vote for Love
  Vote for Love is a 1996 album by country superstar Kenny Rogers released exclusively for sale on QVC.- Disc 1 :# Have I Told You Lately That I Love You [4:55]#*...
  
  (1996).
• Though not a cover, The Fugees
  The Fugees
  Fugees were a Haitian American hip hop group who rose to fame in the mid-1990s. Their repertoire included elements of Hip hop, soul and Caribbean music, particularly reggae. The members of the group were rapper/singer/producer Wyclef Jean, rapper/singer/producer Lauryn Hill, and rapper Pras Michel...
  
   sampled vocals from The Flamingos' version for their song "Zealots" off of their landmark 1996 album The Score
  The Score (album)
  The Score is the second and final studio album by the hip hop trio Fugees, released worldwide February 13, 1996 on Columbia Records. The album features a wide range of samples and instrumentation, with many aspects of alternative hip hop that would come to dominate the hip hop music scene in the...
  
  .
• Mercury Rev
  Mercury Rev
  Mercury Rev is an American alternative rock group, that formed in the late 1980s in Buffalo, New York. Original personnel were David Baker , Jonathan Donahue , Sean Mackowiak, a.k.a...
  
   released a cover version in 1998 as an extra track on the "Goddess on a Hiway
  Goddess on a Hiway
  "Goddess on a Hiway" is the first single from Mercury Rev's fourth studio album, Deserter's Songs. The single was first released on November 2, 1998, and then re-issued on August 16, 1999. Two music videos were produced for the song, one directed by Anton Corbijn, the other directed by James & Alex...
  
  " CD single.
• Mark Eitzel
  Mark Eitzel
  Mark Eitzel is a musician, best known as a songwriter and lead singer of the San Francisco band American Music Club.-History:Eitzel spent his formative years in a military family living in Okinawa, Taiwan, Ohio and the United Kingdom. He moved to America in 1979.He started making music while he was...
  
   of American Music Club
  American Music Club
  American Music Club is a San Francisco-based alternative rock band led by singer-songwriter Mark Eitzel.-History:Although born in California, Eitzel spent his formative years in Okinawa, Taiwan, Great Britain and Ohio before returning to the Bay Area in 1981...
  
   released a version in 2002 on his solo CD of covers, Music for Courage and Confidence
  Music for Courage and Confidence
  Music for Courage and Confidence is the seventh solo album by American Music Club singer/songwriter Mark Eitzel. One of two cover song releases in 2002 , this was released by NewWest Records and was a collection of songs by different songwriters.-Track listing:#"Snowbird" #"Ain't No Sunshine"#"Do...
  
  .
• Liane Carroll
  Liane Carroll
  Liane Carroll is an English pianist/vocalist who grew up in a musical family. She has played professionally since she was 15....
  
   on the album Standard Issue 2004.
• Yonderboi
  Yonderboi
  Yonderboi is a Hungarian electronic music artist whose real name is László Fogarasi. He was born in Mernye, Somogy, Hungary in 1980.He experimented with music on his computer during high school. After his 16th birthday he sent a demo to "Juice Records". It was quickly followed by an EP called...
  
   released a track, named "Eyes for you", using just the line "I have only eyes for you", on his 2005 album Splendid Isolation.
• Lyn Paul
  Lyn Paul
  Lyn Paul is an English pop singer and actress. She came to fame as a member of the international chart-topping pop group The New Seekers in the early 1970s...
  
   recorded it on her 2006 album Late Night
  Late Night
  Late Night is shorthand for several different things:*Late night television - generally United States programming airing after 11:30pm EST**Late-night talk show, the most common type of late night television in the United States...
  
  .
• Alex Willner, with his techno project The Field (musician)
  The Field (musician)
  Axel Willner, better known by the stage name The Field, is a techno artist based in Stockholm, Sweden.-Background:In 2005, Willner submitted a demo tape the German indie label Kompakt and was subsequently signed. He released his first 12", a demo mixtape of Annie's "Heartbeat" in 2005 as well as a...
  
  , used samples of the song in the track "From Here We Go Sublime
  From Here We Go Sublime
  From Here We Go Sublime is the highly acclaimed debut album from Axel Willner under his alias as The Field. Produced by Willner, it was released on Kompakt in March 2007...
  
  ", from the acclaimed album with the same name, released in 2007.
• Kalil Wilson
  Kalil Wilson
  Kalil Amar Wilson is an American jazz, R&B, and classical vocalist and vocal coach.Wilson was born in Oakland, California and attended the Oakland Youth Chorus, and UC Berkeley's Young Musicians Program, before moving to Los Angeles in 2000 to attend UCLA. In 2006 he received his B.A...
  
  : On the album Easy to Love
  Easy to Love
  "Easy to Love" is the title of a R&B single by For Real, it was the second single from their debut album It's a Natural Thang. Billboard magazine noted "super-tight harmonies that are proiminent, but not overshadowing; instatly memorable melody stands as the cut's focal point.-Chart positions:...
  
  (2009).
• North Atlantic Oscillation
  North Atlantic Oscillation (band)
  North Atlantic Oscillation are a post-progressive rock and electronica band from Edinburgh, Scotland. They are signed to the Kscope record label and released their debut album Grappling Hooks on 22 March 2010...
  
  : On the album Call Signs EP (2009).
• Bette Midler
  Bette Midler
  Bette Midler is an American singer, actress, and comedian, also known by her informal stage name, The Divine Miss M. She became famous as a cabaret and concert headliner, and went on to star in successful and acclaimed films such as The Rose, Ruthless People, Beaches, and For The Boys...
  
  
• Martina Topley-Bird
  Martina Topley-Bird
  Martina Topley-Bird is a British vocalist and songwriter who first gained fame as the featured female vocalist on trip hop pioneer Tricky's debut album, Maxinquaye...
  
  
• Jamie Cullum
  Jamie Cullum
  Jamie Cullum is an English pop and jazz-pop singer-songwriter. Though he is primarily a vocalist/pianist he also accompanies himself on other instruments including guitar and drums. Since April 2010, he has been presenting a weekly jazz show on BBC Radio 2, broadcast on Tuesdays from 19:00.- Early...
  
  
• Rachael Price
  Rachael Price
  Rachael Price is a jazz vocalist from Hendersonville, Tennessee. She is a graduate in Jazz Studies at the New England Conservatory in Massachusetts...
  
  
• Carly Simon
  Carly Simon
  Carly Elisabeth Simon is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and children's author. She rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records, and has since been the recipient of two Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, and a Golden Globe Award for her work...
  
  
• Rosemary Clooney
  Rosemary Clooney
  Rosemary Clooney was an American singer and actress. She came to prominence in the early 1950s with the novelty hit "Come On-a My House" written by William Saroyan and his cousin Ross Bagdasarian , which was followed by other pop numbers such as "Botch-a-Me" Rosemary Clooney (May 23, 1928 –...
  
  , featured on commercial for Lipitor.
• Rod Stewart
  Rod Stewart
  Roderick David "Rod" Stewart, CBE is a British singer-songwriter and musician, born and raised in North London, England and currently residing in Epping. He is of Scottish and English ancestry....
  
  .
• Zapp
  Zapp (band)
  Zapp is a soul and funk band formed in 1978 by brothers Roger Troutman, Larry Troutman, Lester Troutman, Terry Troutman, Bobby Glover and Gregory Jackson [Cincinnati Ohio Funk Keyboardist]...
  
  
• Carmen McRae
  Carmen McRae
  Carmen Mercedes McRae was an American jazz singer, composer, pianist, and actress. Considered one of the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th century, it was her behind-the-beat phrasing and her ironic interpretations of song lyrics that made her memorable...
  
   on the album Diva
• The Southland
  The Southland (band)
  The Southland is a rock band from Los Angeles. They feature Jed Whedon on keyboards and vocals, Ethan Phillips on bass guitar, and Andy Crosby on drums.The Southland's debut album, Influence of Geography, was released in June 2005...
  
  , on their debut album Influence of Geography.
• Timothy B. Schmit
  Timothy B. Schmit
  Timothy Bruce Schmit is an American musician and songwriter, best known for his work as bass guitar player and singer for Poco and the Eagles. Schmit has also worked for decades as a session musician and solo artist.-Early career:Raised in Sacramento, Schmit began playing in the folk music group...
  
   as featured in the film Don't Tell Mom The Babysitter's Dead
  Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead
  Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead is a 1991 comedy film directed by Stephen Herek starring Christina Applegate.Applegate stars as a teenager whose mother leaves for a two-month summer vacation in Australia, putting all five siblings in the care of a strict tyrannical elderly babysitter...
  
  
• Billie Holiday
  Billie Holiday
  Billie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing...
  
  
• Dinah Shore
  Dinah Shore
  Dinah Shore was an American singer, actress, and television personality...
  
  
• Rahsaan Patterson
  Rahsaan Patterson
  Rahsaan Patterson is an American singer and actor, best known for portraying "The Kid" on the popular 1980s television show Kids Incorporated. He is a native of The Bronx, New York. He was named after '60s jazz saxophonist Rahsaan Roland Kirk...
  
  from the album "Bleuphoria"