A Fine Romance (song)

"A Fine Romance" is a popular song composed by Jerome Kern with lyrics by Dorothy Fields, published in 1936.

The song was written for the musical film, Swing Time, where it was co-introduced by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Astaire recorded a solo version of the song on July 28, 1936 for Brunswick records (catalog 7716)^[5] and it topped the charts of the day for five weeks.^[6] Billie Holiday recorded the song for Vocalion Records on September 29, 1936^[7] and this too reached the charts of the day as did versions by Henry King and Guy Lombardo.^[8]

• Henry King and his Orchestra with vocals by Joe Sudy (1936)^[9]
• Bing Crosby and Dixie Lee Crosby with Victor Young & His Orchestra (recorded August 19, 1936)^[10]
• Marian McPartland – Lullaby of Birdland (1952)^[11]
• Fred Astaire – The Astaire Story (1953)^[12]
• Count Basie and Joe Williams – The Greatest!! Count Basie Plays, Joe Williams Sings Standards (1956)^[13]
• Mel Tormé – Mel Tormé Sings Fred Astaire (1956)^[14]
• Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald – Ella and Louis Again (1957)^[15]
• Sammy Davis Jr. and Carmen McRae – Boy Meets Girl (1957)^[16]
• Margaret Whiting – Margaret Whiting Sings the Jerome Kern Songbook (1960)^[17]
• Frank Sinatra – Ring-a-Ding-Ding! (1961)^[18]
• Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gormé – Cozy (1961)^[19]
• Ella Fitzgerald included a solo rendition on her Verve Records album, Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Jerome Kern Songbook, produced by Norman Granz. (1963)^[20]
• Lena Horne – Lena in Hollywood (1966)^[21]
• Susannah McCorkle – How Do You Keep the Music Playing (1985)^[22]
• Kiri Te Kanawa – Kiri Sings Kern (1993)^[23]
• Johnny Mercer and Martha Tilton – 1946 single, The Song Is You: Capitol Sings Jerome Kern (1994)^[24]
• Sylvia McNair – Sure Thing: The Jerome Kern Songbook (1994)^[25]
• Jerry Hadley and Frederica Von Stade – Puttin' on the Ritz with Erich Kunzel / Cincinnati Pops (1995)^[26]
• Ann Hampton Callaway – To Ella with Love (1996)^[27]
• Billie Holiday – 1936 single, A Fine Romance (1997)^[28]
• Stacey Kent – Let Yourself Go: Celebrating Fred Astaire (2000)^[29]
• Marilyn Monroe– Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend (2006)^[30]

• In the film Till the Clouds Roll By (1946), the song is performed by Virginia O'Brien.
• In a version sung by Judi Dench it also became the theme song of A Fine Romance, a British television series starring Dench and her husband Michael Williams.
• A recording by Lena Horne features in the film The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994). The song also features in the stage musical Priscilla Queen of the Desert – the Musical.