- Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive
"Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive" is a popular
song . The music was written byHarold Arlen , the lyrics byJohnny Mercer . The song was published in 1944. It is sung rather like a sermon, and explains that accentuating the positive is key to happiness. In fact, Mercer told thePop Chronicles that his inspiration for the title came when "I went to hearFather Divine and he had a sermon and his subject was 'you got to accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative.' And I said 'Wow, that's a colorful phrase!'" [http://www.sfradiomuseum.com/audio/ksfo/1972/Trib_Pop-Chronicles-Article-2_1972.pdf]Mercer also recorded the song (with
The Pied Pipers andPaul Weston 's orchestra), as well as theArtie Shaw Orchestra andBing Crosby withThe Andrews Sisters .The
Johnny Mercer recording was recorded onOctober 4 ,1944 , and released byCapitol Records as catalog number 180. The record first reached theBillboard magazine charts onJanuary 4 ,1945 and lasted 13 weeks on the chart, peaking at #2. cite book
last = Whitburn
first = Joel
authorlink = Joel Whitburn
title = Top Pop Records 1940-1955
publisher = Record Research
year = 1973 ]The
Bing Crosby /Andrews Sisters recording was recorded onDecember 8 ,1944 , and released byDecca Records as catalog number 23379. The record first reached theBillboard magazine charts onJanuary 25 ,1945 and lasted 9 weeks on the chart, peaking at #2.The
Artie Shaw recording was released byRCA Victor Records as catalog number 20-1612. The record first reached theBillboard magazine charts onJanuary 25 ,1945 and lasted 5 weeks on the chart, peaking at #5.Another version was recorded by
Johnny Green in theUnited Kingdom onApril 6 ,1945 , and released byParlophone Records as catalog number F-2069. Soul greatSam Cooke recorded it for his "Encore" album.The song has twice been recorded by
Perry Como : once onFebruary 19 ,1958 and later in July, 1980. Both were primarily made for albums. Neither version was released as a single in the United States, though the 1958 version was released inGermany by RCA as a 45rpm single (catalog number 47-9243-A).Aretha Franklin recorded it for Columbia Records in the early 1960s, and it keeps showing up in her many re-releases on that label.
The song has been used for many years as the theme for the program "Faithville", in a version by the Spitfire Band.
Appearance in film soundtracks
The song was covered by
Dr. John for the 1992 movie "The Mighty Ducks ".The song features in the American police drama "L.A. Confidential", the 1999 movie "Blast from the Past" and the final episode of time-travel television series "Quantum Leap." It is also part of the soundtrack for "
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil ", where it is covered by Clint Eastwood.It was also used in commercials for
Australia nhealth insurance providerMBF in the early 2000s, and UK gas and electricity provider npower in 2008.References
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