"Pretend" is a popularsong, written in 1952 by Dan Belloc, Lew Douglas, Cliff Parman and Frank Levere.
The best-known recording, by Nat King Cole, was released by Capitol Records as catalog number 2346. It first reached the Billboard Best Seller chart on January 31, 1953, and lasted 20 weeks on the chart, peaking at No. 3. It also reached No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart in May 1953, just behind Frankie Laine's chart topping hit, "I Believe". Cole would later re-record the song for his 1961 album The Nat King Cole Story.
The recording by Ralph Marterie was released by Mercury Records as catalog number 70045. It reached the Billboard Best Seller chart on February 7, 1953 at No. 16, its only week on the chart.
https://youtu.be/RtgOZcdJr9I
The recording by Eileen Barton was released by Coral Records as catalog number 60927. It reached the Billboard Best Seller chart on March 7, 1953 at No. 18, its only week on the chart.
https://youtu.be/Eabrd0vExVE
On the Cash Box chart, where all versions of the song were combined, the song reached a peak of No. 5 in 1953.
The song was subsequently recorded by Tab Smith, reaching No. 89 on the Billboard chart in 1957,
https://youtu.be/CetHNeRx_RM
and by Carl Mann (issued as catalog number 3546 by Philips International), reaching No. 57 on Billboard and No. 56 on Cash Box in 1959.
https://youtu.be/I0bE_00ee5M
Alvin Stardust's cover version was a popular hit in the United Kingdom in 1981, when it reached No. 4 in the UK Singles Chart. This cover was largely based on Carl Mann's 1959 version of this song.
https://youtu.be/-FQx1awDN_8
Recorded versions
Henri Rene & His Orchestra feat Franz Dietschmann (zither solo) (1953)
(original recordings) – January 30, May 6, September 30, 1958, April 1959, March 1, 1960 (new recordings) – March 22–24, 27, 29–30, April 3, July 6, 19–20, 1961[1]
The Nat King Cole Story is a 1961 album by Nat King Cole. The album was a retrospective of Cole's recording career, designed to present many of his earlier hits in new recordings featuring stereo sound. Cole is accompanied on the re-recordings by many of the notable arrangers and bands that had appeared with him on the original records.
Of particular note is Cole's re-recording of "The Christmas Song". This was Cole's fourth, and final, recording of the song, and also the first version recorded in stereo. This recording of the song was subsequently added to a 1963 reissue of Cole's 1960 LP The Magic of Christmas (the album concurrently retitled The Christmas Song and given new cover art), and remains one of Cole's best-known recordings and among the most-played Christmas tunes on radio each December.
In 2011, the Analogue Productions label reissued the album as a 2-disc hybrid SACD set and a 5-disc 45 rpm vinyl set. Both versions feature a new stereo mix of the entire album by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, while the SACD also includes a discrete three-channel mix of most songs. Two bonus tracks ("Ramblin' Rose" and "Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days of Summer") are also included on both versions.
Personnel
Performance
Nat King Cole – vocals (1.01–05, 1.08, 1.11, 1.15, 1.18, 2.09, 2.12, 2.15, lead on 1.06-07, 1.09–10, 1.12–14, 1.16–17, 2.01–08, 2.11, 2.13–14, 2.16–18), piano (1.01–05)
Dale Anderson – percussion (1.08–09, 1.15, 1.17–18, 2.07–09, 2.14)
“Pretend” is a popularsong, written in 1952 by Dan Belloc, Lew Douglas, Cliff Parman and Frank Levere.
The best-known recording, by Nat King Cole, was released by Capitol Records as catalog number 2346. It first reached the Billboard Best Seller chart on January 31, 1953, and lasted 20 weeks on the chart, peaking at No. 3. It also reached No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart in May 1953, just behind Frankie Laine‘s chart topping hit, “I Believe“. Cole would later re-record the song for his 1961 album The Nat King Cole Story.
The recording by Ralph Marterie was released by Mercury Records as catalog number 70045. It reached the Billboard Best Seller chart on February 7, 1953 at No. 16, its only week on the chart.
1953 HITS ARCHIVE: Pretend – Ralph Marterie
The recording by Eileen Barton was released by Coral Records as catalog number 60927. It reached the Billboard Best Seller chart on March 7, 1953 at No. 18, its only week on the chart.
Eileen Barton – Pretend (1953)
On the Cash Box chart, where all versions of the song were combined, the song reached a peak of No. 5 in 1953.
The song was subsequently recorded by Tab Smith, reaching No. 89 on the Billboard chart in 1957,
Tab Smith and His Fabulous Alto Sax – Pretend (1957)
and by Carl Mann (issued as catalog number 3546 by Philips International), reaching No. 57 on Billboard and No. 56 on Cash Box in 1959.
Carl Mann – Pretend
Alvin Stardust‘s cover version was a popular hit in the United Kingdom in 1981, when it reached No. 4 in the UK Singles Chart. This cover was largely based on Carl Mann’s 1959 version of this song.
Alvin Stardust – Pretend
Recorded versions
Henri Rene & His Orchestra feat Franz Dietschmann (zither solo) (1953)
(original recordings) – January 30, May 6, September 30, 1958, April 1959, March 1, 1960 (new recordings) – March 22–24, 27, 29–30, April 3, July 6, 19–20, 1961[1]
The Nat King Cole Story is a 1961 album by Nat King Cole. The album was a retrospective of Cole’s recording career, designed to present many of his earlier hits in new recordings featuring stereo sound. Cole is accompanied on the re-recordings by many of the notable arrangers and bands that had appeared with him on the original records.
Of particular note is Cole’s re-recording of “The Christmas Song“. This was Cole’s fourth, and final, recording of the song, and also the first version recorded in stereo. This recording of the song was subsequently added to a 1963 reissue of Cole’s 1960 LP The Magic of Christmas (the album concurrently retitled The Christmas Song and given new cover art), and remains one of Cole’s best-known recordings and among the most-played Christmas tunes on radio each December.
In 2011, the Analogue Productions label reissued the album as a 2-disc hybrid SACD set and a 5-disc 45 rpm vinyl set. Both versions feature a new stereo mix of the entire album by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, while the SACD also includes a discrete three-channel mix of most songs. Two bonus tracks (“Ramblin’ Rose” and “Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days of Summer“) are also included on both versions.
Personnel
Performance
Nat King Cole – vocals (1.01–05, 1.08, 1.11, 1.15, 1.18, 2.09, 2.12, 2.15, lead on 1.06-07, 1.09–10, 1.12–14, 1.16–17, 2.01–08, 2.11, 2.13–14, 2.16–18), piano (1.01–05)
Dale Anderson – percussion (1.08–09, 1.15, 1.17–18, 2.07–09, 2.14)
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alongside console screenshots of code examples:
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Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus), “H” (headings), “F” (forms), “B” (buttons), and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements.
Disability profiles supported in our website
Epilepsy Safe Mode: this profile enables people with epilepsy to use the website safely by eliminating the risk of seizures that result from flashing or blinking animations and risky color combinations.
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Blindness Mode: this mode configures the website to be compatible with screen-readers such as JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, and TalkBack. A screen-reader is software for blind users that is installed on a computer and smartphone, and websites must be compatible with it.
Keyboard Navigation Profile (Motor-Impaired): this profile enables motor-impaired persons to operate the website using the keyboard Tab, Shift+Tab, and the Enter keys. Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus), “H” (headings), “F” (forms), “B” (buttons), and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements.
Additional UI, design, and readability adjustments
Font adjustments – users, can increase and decrease its size, change its family (type), adjust the spacing, alignment, line height, and more.
Color adjustments – users can select various color contrast profiles such as light, dark, inverted, and monochrome. Additionally, users can swap color schemes of titles, texts, and backgrounds, with over 7 different coloring options.
Animations – epileptic users can stop all running animations with the click of a button. Animations controlled by the interface include videos, GIFs, and CSS flashing transitions.
Content highlighting – users can choose to emphasize important elements such as links and titles. They can also choose to highlight focused or hovered elements only.
Audio muting – users with hearing devices may experience headaches or other issues due to automatic audio playing. This option lets users mute the entire website instantly.
Cognitive disorders – we utilize a search engine that is linked to Wikipedia and Wiktionary, allowing people with cognitive disorders to decipher meanings of phrases, initials, slang, and others.
Additional functions – we provide users the option to change cursor color and size, use a printing mode, enable a virtual keyboard, and many other functions.
Browser and assistive technology compatibility
We aim to support the widest array of browsers and assistive technologies as possible, so our users can choose the best fitting tools for them, with as few limitations as possible. Therefore, we have worked very hard to be able to support all major systems that comprise over 95% of the user market share including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Opera and Microsoft Edge, JAWS and NVDA (screen readers), both for Windows and for MAC users.
Notes, comments, and feedback
Despite our very best efforts to allow anybody to adjust the website to their needs, there may still be pages or sections that are not fully accessible, are in the process of becoming accessible, or are lacking an adequate technological solution to make them accessible. Still, we are continually improving our accessibility, adding, updating and improving its options and features, and developing and adopting new technologies. All this is meant to reach the optimal level of accessibility, following technological advancements. For any assistance, please reach out to
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