My Funny Valentine

14 Feb 2011 - "My Funny Valentine" is a sow tune from the 1937 Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart musical Babes in Arms. After being recorded by Chet Baker, Frank Sinatra and Miles Davis, the song became a popular jazz standard, appearing on over 1300 albums performed by over 600 artists. Babes in Arms opened at the Shubert Theatre on Broadway on April 14, 1937 and ran for 289 performances. In the original play, a character named Billie Smith sings the song to Valentine "Val" LaMar ^.  In the song, Billie pokes fun at some of Valentine's characteristics, but ultimately affirms that he makes her smile and that she doesn't want him to change. The song first hit the charts in 1945, performed by Hal McIntyre with vocals by Ruth Gaylor. It only appeared for one week and hit #16.In a 2006 survey of people between 10 and 49 years of age in Japan, Oricon Style found My Funny Valentine to be the fifth most popular Valentine's Day song in Japan. The most popular song was Sayuri Kokusho's 1986 debut single Valentine Kiss, followed by Love Love Love from Dreams Come True, Valentine's Radio from Yumi Matsutoya, and Happy Happy Greeting from the Kinki Kids.