"Three Little Words" 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

Song

In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...

 with music by Harry Ruby

Harry Ruby

Harry Ruby was a Jewish American songwriter and screenwriter.After failing in his early ambition to become a professional baseball player,...

 and the lyrics by Bert Kalmar

Bert Kalmar

Bert Kalmar was a Jewish American lyricist.He was born in New York, New York. He ran away from home at the age of 10 to become a magician at a tent show, and retained an interest in magic all his life. He never got much of an education, but decided to make a career in show business...

, published in 1930

1930 in music

-Events:*February 16 - al which opens to rave reviews. Of the film's song, "When The Little Red Roses Get The Blues For You", becomes a hit. Al Jolson records this song from the picture for Brunswick Records....

.

The Rhythm Boys

The Rhythm Boys

The Rhythm Boys were a male singing trio consisting of Bing Crosby, Harry Barris and Al Rinker. Crosby and Rinker began performing together in 1925 and were recruited by Paul Whiteman in late 1926. Pianist/singer/songwriter Barris joined the team in 1927. They made a number of recordings with the...

, accompanied by the Duke Ellington

Duke Ellington

Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...

 orchestra, sang it in the Amos 'n' Andy

Amos 'n' Andy

Amos 'n' Andy is a situation comedy set in the African-American community. It was very popular in the United States from the 1920s through the 1950s on both radio and television....

 film Check and Double Check

Check and Double Check

Check and Double Check is a 1930 comedy film made and released by RKO Pictures based on the then-popular Amos 'n' Andy radio show. The title was derived from a catchphrase associated with the show.-Production:...

. It also figured prominently in the film of the same name

Three Little Words (film)

Three Little Words is a 1950 American musical film biography of the Tin Pan Alley songwriting partnership of Kalmar and Ruby and stars Fred Astaire as lyricist Bert Kalmar, Red Skelton as composer Harry Ruby, along with Vera-Ellen and Arlene Dahl as their wives, with Debbie Reynolds in a small but...

, a biopic of Kalmar and Ruby.

A recording with Sid Philips and his Orchestra Refrain: Johnnie Eager was made in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 on September 25, 1950. It was released by EMI

EMI

The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...

 on the His Master's Voice label as catalog number BD 6077.

Al Martino

Al Martino

Al Martino was an American singer and actor. He had his greatest success as a singer between the early 1950s and mid 1970s, being described as "one of the great Italian American pop crooners", and also became well known as an actor, particularly for his role as singer Johnny Fontane in The...

 used this song in his Las Vegas and touring shows as an encore and band solo signature tune.

In the mid 1970s the Advertising Council

Ad Council

The Advertising Council, commonly known as the Ad Council, is an American non-profit organization that distributes public service announcements on behalf of various sponsors, including non-profit organizations and agencies of the United States government....

 used a fully orchestrated instrumental version of the song in a series of PSA

PSA

PSA may refer to:* PSA International , world's second largest port operator* PSA Peugeot Citroën, French vehicle manufacturer...

s about seat belt safety; the tag line of these spots were "Seat belts: a nice way to say 'I Love You'."