#11: I’ve Got Bells On My Heart by Jane Morgan

City: Hull, QC
Radio Station: CKCH
Peak Month: June 1958
Peak Position in Hull ~ #1
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #21
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “I’ve Got Bells On My Heart”
Lyrics: “I’ve Got Bells On My Heart”

Florence Catherine Currier was born in 1924 in the suburbs of Boston. Her family moved to Florida when she was four-years-old. When she was five, Florence started taking voice lessons as well as piano. In the summertime, she was a child actor in theater productions at the Kennebunkport Playhouse in Kennebunkport, Maine. The Playhouse was founded by her brother. At the age of 17, in the summer of 1941, she was listed as the Treasurer of the Kennebunkport Playhouse. During her years at school, she competed in singing competitions with other students across Florida and the Southeast. Upon graduating from high school in Daytona Beach, she was accepted into the Juilliard School of Music in Manhattan. She had plans to become an opera singer, and studied opera at the school.

In order to help her pay for her schooling at Juilliard, Florence Currier sang in nightclubs, restaurants, at bar mitzvahs and other private functions. This led to a steady job as the singer at the high society Roseland Ballroom at 1658 Broadway at 51st Street. She was paid $25 a week ($383 in 2021 dollars), and worked six nights a week. While still at the music school, bandleader Art Mooney heard her in 1944 and hired her. It was Art Mooney who  changed Florence Currier’s name to Jane Morgan. The name was drawn from the first name of his vocalist, Janie Ford, and the last name of another of his vocalists named Marian Morgan.

In 1948, French bandleader Bernard Hilda invited her to come with him to Paris, and perform at his new nightclub by the Eiffel Tower named the Club des Champs-Élysées. Morgan gave two shows a night of a set of American songs. As she had learned French and Italian from her mother, Morgan brushed up on her French and soon her concert song list of Cole Porter, George Gershwin, and some popular French songs, were all performed in French.

Her recordings with Hilda, including “Mon blond”, “C’est Tout” and “La Raspa”, became hit singles in France and elsewhere in Europe. In 1949 Morgan and Hilda had a weekly variety show on French TV, and her record contracts included French Polydor, Parlophone and Philips. 

In 1952 Jane Morgan appeared as a solo act bilingual at the Ritz-Carlton Montreal. She returned to New York that year with regular performances in upscale nightclubs and her own radio show on NBC, which featured the 50-piece NBC Symphony Orchestra. Morgan  additionally had regular performances at the St. Regis Hotel across from Central Park. In 1954, Jane Morgan travelled to London for shows at the Savoy Theatre and the London Palladium.

As she was pegged as a French singer, her new label – Kapp Records – had her record “Baseball, Baseball” in 1954. Her debut album in 1956 was titled The American Girl from Paris. It featured pop standards that included “I Didn’t Know What Time It Was”, “It Might As Well Be Spring”, “I’ll Be Seeing You”, “Thanks For The Memory” and “When The World Was Young”. Her first charting single in the USA was “Two Different Worlds” in 1956.

In early 1957 Jane Morgan charted “From Our First Hello To Our Last Goodbye” on the CKWX Top Fifty in Vancouver (BC). Later that year Morgan joined The Troubadors to record “Fascination”. Although written in 1904 by F.D. Marchetti as “Valse Tzigane”, the song was modified in Paris at the Folies Bergère as a “strip” number. English lyrics were added in 1932 by Dick Manning in 1932, and French lyrics in 1942. The song was played throughout the 1957 film Love in the Afternoon. Morgan’s recording was released in late 1957 and remained on the Billboard charts for 29 weeks. It peaked at #5 in Vancouver.

Late in 1957, she had a Top 30 hit in Vancouver with “I’m New At The Game (Of Romance)”, which charted for 14 weeks. In 1958 Jane Morgan charted “I’ve Got Bells On My Heart” to #21 in Vancouver.

“I’ve Got Bells On My Heart” was written by Sunny Skylar. He was born in 1913 in New York City. His birth name was Selig Sidney Shaftel. Sunny Skylar began his professional singing career at the age of 18, with the Harold Stern band at a resort known as “Manhattan Beach” in 1932. He was a much sought after vocalist and sang for the CBS House Orchestra, bandleaders Abe Lyman, Ben Bernie, Jack Denny’s band at the Waldorf-Astoria in Manhattan, George Hall and His Hotel Taft Orchestra, Paul Whiteman and others. In 1940, bandleader Vincent Lopez persuaded Selig Sidney Shaftel to bill his name as Sunny Skylar. In addition to singing, he began to write songs. His first hit song was “Fifteen Minute Intermission”, a Top 30 hit for Cab Calloway in 1940. He hosted a weekly Sunday radio show during the 1940s on New York’s WKBB, singing popular song requests. A songbook of sheet music was published with all of Skylar’s favorite songs from this time period, titled Sunny Skylar’s Radio Song Favorites.

In 1941, his song “Just A Little Bit South Of North Carolina” was a #9 hit for Gene Krupa. In 1942, Glenn Miller & His Orchestra recored the jazz standard, “It Must Be Jelly (‘Cause Jam Don’t Shake Like That)”. The single charted to #16 on the Billboard pop chart. In 1944, Skylar’s tune “Besame Mucho” was a number-one hit for Jimmy Dorsey with vocals by Bob Eberly and Kitty Kallen. Later that year, “Amor” was #2 hit for Bing Crosby and a Top 5 hit for Andy Russell. While in 1945, “Gotta Be This Or That” was a #2 hit for Benny Goodman, and also a Top Ten hit for bandleaders Sammy Kaye, and Glen Gray. Later in 1945, Peggy Lee had a #4 hit with “Waitin’ for the Train to Come”. In 1946, “Atlanta G.A.” was a Top Ten hit for Swing and Sway with Sammy Kaye. In 1946, “It’s All Over Now” was a Top Ten hit for Frankie Carle and His Orchestra, as was “Hair Of Gold, Eyes Of Blue” for Gordon McRae in 1948.

In 1949, Sunny Skylar had his biggest hit with “You’re Breaking My Heart”, a number-one smash hit for Vic Damone, and a Top Ten hit for the Ink Spots, and also Buddy Clark. On August 28, 1949, Sunny Skylar appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, and sang several of his notable hit songs. In 1951, Skylar’s “And So To Sleep Again” was a #4 hit for Patti Page. In 1964, the Spanish song “Cuando Calienta El Sol” was translated into English as “Love Me With All Your Heart”. Sunny Skylar is credited by some for the English translation, though this is disputed (Wikipedia).

Between 1946 and 1954, Skylar’s compositions “Gotta Be This or That”, “All The Time”, and “I’d Be Lost Without You”, appeared in several episodes of Warner Brothers’ Looney Tunes cartoons. Between 1943 and 2010, Skylar’s songs have been featured in over thirty feature films. These include Bugsy, The Glass Menagerie, The Quiet American, Valentine’s Day, The Man I Love, Home Before Dark, Moon Over Parador, and The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear. Sunny Skylar died at the age of 95 in 2009.

“I’ve Got Bells On My Heart” is a song about the power of touch to evoke heartfelt emotions and love. All that needs to happen is for this suitor to 1) touch my hand, 2) hold me close, 3) kiss me sweet. The outcome: “I’ve got bells on my heart tonight.” The same magic occurs when she sits with her sweetheart holding hands by a brook. As a result of all this hoped for affection: “On my lips there’s a song song song, For I know where my dreams belong.”

“I’ve Got Bells On My Heart” peaked at #1 in Hull (QC), Toronto, #3 in Caribou (ME), #5 in Albany (NY), #7 in Pittsburgh and Jackson (MS), #8 in Washington (DC), #10 in Milwaukee, and #21 in Vancouver (BC).

In West Germany, Ernie Bieler recorded a German-language cover of the song in 1958 titled “Wenn Die Glocke Der Liebe Erklingt”. In addition, “I’ve Got Bells On My Heart” was recorded in 1958 by Don Cornell, Don Rondo, The Three Pennies and The Smeed Trio.

In the fall of 1958, Morgan released “The Day The Rains Came”, which became her most popular hit.

In 1959 she also had a Top 30 hit in the UK with “If Only I Could Live My Life Again”. As well, she charted “Love Is Like Champagne” to #2 in Hull, Quebec, and #6 in Ottawa (ON). And “With Open Arms” was a number-one hit in Hull, staying in the Top Ten for 22 weeks from July to November in 1959. In 1960, Jane Morgan released a single titled “Where’s The Boy (I Never Met)”.

She released an English-version of the 1960 Italian Eurovision Song Contest entrant, “Romantica”, originally performed by Renato Rascel. The single was a Top 40 hit for Morgan in the UK. On the West Coast, Morgan had a Top 30 hit in Vancouver with “Lord And Master”. The lyrics included “You are my Lord and master. I am the slave of your heart.”

In 1961, Jane Morgan performed “The Second Time Around” at the 33rd Academy Awards, a Best Song nominee from the film High Time. One more single titled “It Takes Love” made the pop charts in Vancouver (BC) in the summer of 1961.

In the the 60s Morgan appeared in numerous Broadway, including Kiss Me Kate, Can-Can, The King and I, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Anniversary Waltz, Bells Are Ringing, Hello Dolly, Affairs of State and more.

Morgan performed at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal in 1964. That year she was on Broadway as a lead singer in a run of the Ziegfield Follies. And in 1969, Morgan succeeded Janis Paige in Mame. She recalled later, “Being on Broadway was one of the most exciting things in my life because I had always dreamed of it.”

In 1966 Jane Morgan appeared at the 38th Academy Awards and sang Best Song nominee “I Will Wait For You”, from the film The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. That year she began to have hits on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. These included classy covers of Len Barry’s “1-2-3” and Bob Lind’s “Elusive Butterfly”. In March 1968 she appeared on ABC for a tribute to Edith Piaf in The Jane Morgan Special.

In 1970 Jane Morgan recorded his 32nd and final album titled In Nashville. In addition to tracks like “Make The World Go Away”, was a spoof on the Johnny Cash single “A Boy Named Sue”, titled “A Girl Named Johnny Cash”. On February 15, 1971, she performed a duet-medley with Johnny Cash on his TV show, with Cash singing lines from “A Boy Named Sue”, and Morgan interspersing lines from “A Girl Named Johnny Cash”.

Morgan performed for French President Charles de Gaulle, and for five U.S. Presidents: John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush. During her career she appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show on over fifty occasions. Jane Morgan also also was a guest on The Colgate Comedy Hour, The Jack Benny Show, The Patti Page Oldsmobile Show, twice on The Jackie Gleason Show, The Jonathan Winters Show, The George Jessel Show, The Laraine Day Show, American Bandstand, The Red Skelton Show, The Joey Bishop Show, The Gary Moore Show, The Val Doonican Show, The David Frost Show, The Bob Newhart Show, six times on Perry Como’s Kraft Music Hall,  three times on both The Jimmy Dean Show and The Dean Martin Show, nine times on The Mike Douglas Show, and fifteen occasions as a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, twelve occasions on The Merv Griffin Show. Her career also included a few dramatic roles in episodes of Peter Gunn and It Takes A Thief, as well as What’s My Line.

Jane Morgan retired from performing in 1973, but has appeared occasionally over the years at special events and benefits. In 2011, she got her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. On May 3, 2024, Jane Morgan turned 100-years-old.

October 30, 2024
Ray McGinnis

References:
“Jane Morgan,” Wikipedia.org.
“Jane Morgan,” IMDb.com.
“Roseland Ballroom,” matchpro.org.
Jane Morgan, “A Girl Named Johnny Cash,” RCA, 1970.
“Sunny Skylar obituary,” Las Vegas Review-Journal, February 6, 2009.

CKCH 970-AM Hull (QC) Top Ten | June 7, 1958