(From 6/7/2019). “Moonlight Serenade,” which was Glenn Miller’s signature opening instrumental number in 1938 and probably the most famous of all his recordings, only reached #3 on the Billboard charts in 1939. It was originally the B-side to “Sunrise Serenade” which also became a big hit, but not nearly as big as “Moonlight.”
Upon the radio broadcast news reports that Miller’s plane had disappeared over the English channel on December 15, 1944, it was this song most stations played immediately following the announcement. To this day the status of Major Glenn Miller remains “missing in action.”
Like the Beatles, he had somewhere in the neighborhood of 130 hit singles … but over a period of only four and half years. “In The Mood” is ranked as #1, but “Moonlight Serenade,” ranked at #2, is clearly the romantic leader and one of the most popular hit singles of all time, inducted into the Music Hall of Fame in 1991. It was a sound no one had ever heard: using reed instruments, Miller’s band simulated a string section, but with a superior mixture of emotion and pure loveliness no amount of violin and cello could ever duplicate. The immortal music of Glenn Miller and his Orchestra…enjoy!
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