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- Release Date: February 27, 1996
- Type: Collection (various artists)
- Genre: Soundtrack
Review
Originally released as a box set, Rhino released the five discs that comprised The Envelope Please: Academy Award Winning Songs as individual volumes a year after the set's initial release. It was a wise move, since only a handful of collectors will be interested in both Fred Astaire's "The Continental" and Berlin's "Take My Breath Away," songs that won in the '30s and '80s, respectively. Also, the fact of the matter is that the initial winners for Best Song turned into classics, but by the late '50s, the songs rarely transcended their times. The Envelope Please...Academy Award Winning Songs, Vol. 1 (1934-1945) is one of the best volumes in the series, containing such songs as Fred Astaire's "The Continental," Dick Powell's "Lullaby of Broadway," Fred Astaire's "The Way You Look To-night," Bing Crosby's "Sweet Leilani," Bob Hope & Shirley Ross' "Thanks For the Memory," Judy Garland's "Over the Rainbow," Cliff Edwards' "When You Wish Upon a Star," Kate Smith's "The Last Time I Saw Paris," Bing Crosby's "White Christmas" and "Swinging On a Star," and Dick Haymes' "It Might As Well Be Spring." Most of these songs are landmarks of pop music, and these are the recordings that became hits, making this an excellent portrait of Hollywood at its best. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music GuideTracks
| Track Title | Composers | Performers | Time |
| The Continental [From The Gay Divorcee] | Con Conrad, Herbert Magidson | Fred Astaire | |
| Lullaby of Broadway [From the Film gold Diggers of 1935] | Al Dubin, Harry Warren | Dick Powell | |
| The Way You Look Tonight [From Swing Time] | Jerome Kern, Dorothy Fields | Fred Astaire | |
| Sweet Leilani [From the Film waikiki Wedding] | Bing Crosby, |
||
| Thanks for the Memory [From the Film The Big Broadcast of 1938] | Ralph Rainger, Leo Robin | Bob Hope, |
|
| Over the Rainbow [From the Film The Wizard of Oz] | Harold Arlen, E.Y. "Yip" Harburg | Judy Garland, |
|
| When You Wish upon a Star [From Pinocchio] | Cliff "Ukelele Ike" Edwards, |
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| The Last Time I Saw Paris [From Lady Be Good] | Jerome Kern, Oscar Hammerstein II | Kate Smith | |
| White Christmas [From the Film holiday Inn] | Irving Berlin | Bing Crosby | |
| You'll Never Know [From the Film hello Frisco, Hello] | Mack Gordon, Harry Warren | ||
| Swinging on a Star [From the Film going My Way] | Johnny Burke, James Van Heusen | The Williams Brothers, Bing Crosby, |
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| It Might as Well Be Spring [From State Fair] | Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II | Dick Haymes |
