Cheek to Cheek

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"Cheek to Cheek" is a song written by Irving Berlin, and first performed by Fred Astaire in the movie Top Hat (1935). His 1935 recording with the Leo Reisman Orchestra was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2000.

The song is probably most famous for its opening lines, "Heaven, I'm in heaven, and my heart beats so that I can hardly speak..." and quickly became a standard of the Great American Songbook.

The song, as sung by Astaire, and separately by Fitzgerald, is featured in the movie The English Patient. It is sung by Kenneth Branagh in Love's Labour's Lost. The original Astaire version is also featured in The Green Mile, Rain Man and The Purple Rose of Cairo when Top Hat is being viewed.

[edit] Recorded versions

Larry Adler Ambrose Julie Andrews Ray Anthony Louis Armstrong Fred Astaire (1935 #1 hit) Chet Atkins Count Basie Tony Bennett - Bennett/Berlin (1987) Polly Bergen Irving Berlin Stanley Black Pat Boone Boswell Sisters Connee Boswell Sam Browne Charlie Byrd Carmen Cavallaro Eva Cassidy June Christy Rosemary Clooney Alma Cogan Ken Collyer Desi Arnaz Ray Conniff Taco Bing Crosby

Vic Damone Sammy Davis Jr. Doris Day Buddy DeFranco Tommy Dorsey Roy Eldridge Ziggy Elman Eddie Fisher Ella Fitzgerald Erroll Garner Sara Gazarek Carroll Gibbons Benny Goodman Stephane Grappelli Buddy Greco Roy Hamilton Dick Haymes Billie Holiday Marilyn Horne Harry James Joni James Al Jolson Shirley Jones Steve Lawrence Peggy Lee Guy Lombardo

Sanjaya Malakar Billy May Susannah McCorkle Sir Yehudi Menuhin Glenn Miller Jane Monheit Matt Monro Sara Montiel Red Norvo Pasadena Roof Orchestra Joe Pass Donald Peers Oscar Peterson Louis Prima Regine Rosie Ribbons Buddy Rich Ginger Rogers George Shearing Frank Sinatra Lew Stone Mel Tormé Sarah Vaughan Teddy Wilson

"Cheek to Cheek" is also the name of a different song recorded in 2007 by the Swedish rock band Sahara Hotnights and another released in 2002 by the band The Starting Line.

[edit] References in present pop culture

• In an episode of Arthur, Arthur's puppy, Pal day-dreams of eating bacon and sings a parody of the song, imagining eating the bacon, "cheek-to-cheek".