Joseph Raymond "Ray" Conniff (November 6, 1916 – October 12, 2002) was an American bandleader and arranger best known for his Ray Conniff Singers during the 1960s.
Conniff was born in Attleboro, Massachusetts, and learned to play the trombone from his father. He studied music arranging from a course book.
After serving in the U.S. Army in World War II (where he worked under Walter Schumann), he joined the Artie Shaw big band and wrote many arrangements for him. After his stint with Shaw, he was then hired by Mitch Miller, then head of A&R at Columbia Records, as their home arranger, working with several artists including Rosemary Clooney, Marty Robbins, Frankie Laine, Johnny Mathis, Guy Mitchell and Johnnie Ray. He wrote a top 10 arrangement for Don Cherry's "Band of Gold" in 1955, a single that sold more than a million copies. Among the hit singles he backed with his orchestra (and eventually with a male chorus) were "Yes Tonight Josephine" and "Just Walkin' in the Rain" by Johnnie Ray; "Chances Are" and "It's Not for Me to Say" by Johnny Mathis; "A White Sport Coat" and "The Hanging Tree" by Marty Robbins; "Moonlight Gambler" by Frankie Laine; "Up Above My Head," a duet by Frankie Laine and Johnnie Ray; and "Pet Me, Poppa" by Rosemary Clooney. He also backed up the albums Tony by Tony Bennett, Blue Swing by Eileen Rodgers, Swingin' for Two by Don Cherry, and half the tracks of The Big Beat by Johnnie Ray.
"Wouldn't It Be Loverly" is a popular song by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe, written for the 1956 Broadway play My Fair Lady.
The song is sung by flower girl Eliza Doolittle and her street friends. It expresses Eliza's wish for a better life.
In addition to pronouncing "lovely" as "loverly", the song lyrics highlight other facets of the Cockney accent that Professor Henry Higgins wants to refine away as part of his social experiment.
In the stage version it was sung by Julie Andrews. In the 1964 film version, Marni Nixon dubbed the song for Audrey Hepburn. Both Andrews' and Nixon's versions are available on the original cast and soundtrack albums, respectively, and Hepburn's original version is available in the specials for the DVD of the film.
Andy Williams released a version of the song on his 1964 album, The Great Songs from "My Fair Lady" and Other Broadway Hits.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s the song was used in television advertisements for Commonwealth Bank of Australia home mortgages
Frosty the snowman
Was a jolly happy soul
With a corn cop pipe
And a button nose
And two eyes
Made out of coal
Frosty the snowman
Is a fairy tale they say
He was made out of snow
But the children know how
He came to life one day
There must of been
Some magic in
That ol' silk cap
They found
For when they placed it
On his head
He began to dance around
Frosty the snowman
Was alive as he could be
And the children say
He could laugh and play
Just the same
As you and me
Frosty the snowman
Knew the snow
Was hot that day
So he said lets run
And have some fun
Before I melt away
Down to the village
With a broom stick
In his hand
Runnin' here and there
All around the square
Sayin' catch me
If you can
He led them down
The streets of town
Right
To the traffic cop
And he only
Paused a moment
When he heard him
Holler stop
Frosty the snowman
Had to hurry on his way
But he
Waved goodbye sayin'
Please don't cry
I'll be back again