"Lullaby of Broadway" is a popularsong with music written by Harry Warren and lyrics by Al Dubin, published in 1935.[1] The lyrics salute the nightlife of Broadway and its denizens, who "don't sleep tight until the dawn."
Unlike the song "Manhattan" and many others, "Lullaby of Broadway" does not name-check any Broadway locations. The line, "The daffydils who entertain / At Angelo's and Maxie's" references a fictitious place (or places). "Daffydils" — often sung as "daffodils" — was a slang term for chorus girls (or indeed boys, depending on the venue).[2] Since the song was written, several real establishments have opened on or around Broadway, adopting the name from the song, rather than vice versa.
1956 Bing Crosby recorded the song[5] for use on his radio show and it was subsequently included in the box set The Bing Crosby CBS Radio Recordings (1954-56) issued by Mosaic Records (catalog MD7-245) in 2009.[6]
2016 Swing revivalists the Cherry Poppin' Daddies recorded a version for their album The Boop-A-Doo, a cover album of 1920s and 1930s jazz standards, taking its title from a lyric from the song.
In 1976, Wini Shaw's original recorded version of the song was released as a 45 rpm single and made no. 42 in the UK charts.[12] Subsequently, the BBC interviewed Wini Shaw O'Malley in New York about her new success with it. She could not believe it.
The song was used in a commercial for the Milford Plaza Hotel, where it was called the "Lullabuy of Broadway".
In Lisa Stansfield's 1990 music video for her cover of Cole Porter's "Down in the Depths (On the Ninetieth Floor)", the beginning and ending are both references to the song. The video begins with her disembodied head zooming in, while singing the opening to the song, and ends with it zooming out, while singing the outro.
Linda Lavin and Martha Raye sang this song in the 1970s TV show Alice in the episode "Sharples vs. Sharples".