Harry James And His Orchestra
-- A side from "Road To Morocco" - Vocal chorus by Johnny McAfee
-- B side from "Youth On Parade" - Vocal chorus by Helen Forrest
A mx: HCO 852; recorded Hollywood, CA, July 15, 1942.
B mx: HCO 912; recorded Hollywood, CA, July 31, 1942.
Billboard - #1 Pop (13 weeks - Harry James' biggest hit), #1 R&B (1 week) - I've Heard That Song Before
Billboard, December 5, 1942, page 25: This Week's Records (Released November 27 Thru December 4)
Images
Number:410511 THUMBNAIL Uploaded By:W.B.lbl● Description: Columbia 36668 A side label (Bridgeport, CT)
Number:410510 Uploaded By:W.B.lbl● Description: Columbia 36668 B side label (Bridgeport, CT)
Although "I've Heard That Song Before" would become Harry James' biggest hit, "Moonlight Becomes You" was apparently the intended "A" side, see its first mentions in Billboard, December 5, 1942, p. 25 (This Week's Records) and 66 (Possibilities) and December 26, 1942, p. 60 (Coming Up). As the song "Moonlight Becomes You" was featured in the film Road To Morocco, starring Bing Crosby, Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour, it seemed natural that the "tune should break very shortly for coin machines". It was, however, Bing Crosby himself who made it a chart hit (#3), despite competing versions of Glenn Miller (for Victor) and Bobby Sherwood (for Capitol) besides James.
. . . until it was beat out in 1995-96 by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men's "One Sweet Day," also on Columbia - for the longest US charted #1 in history (16 weeks - I can imagine both parties, at the time, probably saying "Take that, Harry James!" :- ).