1957 Nat King Cole – Ballerina
Songwriter Carl Sigman wrote lyrics for a long list of songs while Sidney Keith ‘Bob’ Russell composed the music for his own long list. The pair only wrote one successful song together. That song was 1947’s Ballerina (which is often mistakenly referred to as Dance, Ballerina, Dance).
Vaughn Monroe recorded a version of the song that topped the US music charts in 1947.
The song must have been very popular: Buddy Clark, Bing Crosby, and Jimmy Dorsey all released versions of the song that reached the top ten in 1948. While others recorded the song, it only reached the charts again for one last visit in 1957.
Nat King Cole released four singles that peaked between #11 and #21 in 1956, and he began 1957 with a cover of Ballerina. This was one of over two hundred recordings that Nat made with Nelson Riddle leading the orchestra behind him. The song reached #18 on the Hot 100.
Nat followed that release with four more singles that year, but the only one that reached higher than #30 on the Hot 100 was the top ten hit Send For Me.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_King_Cole
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_King_Cole_discography#Chart_singles
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballerina_(Sidney_Keith_Russell_and_Carl_Sigman_song)
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