Hal Borne

Biography

Songwriter ("Tenement Symphony", "I'm Building Up to an Awful Letdown"), composer and conductor. Educated at Northwestern University and the University of Illinois Music School. He worked at RKO for Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers for seven years, and was musical director for Tony Martin 1949-1956. He served in the US army in WW II. He joined ASCAP in 1942, and his chief musical collaborators were Johnny Mercer, Ray Golden, Sid Kuller, Paul Francis Webster, Sammy Cahn, Mort Greene, Gus Kahn, Ray Gilbert, Buddy Kaye. He wrote the revue "Jump For Joy" with Duke Ellington in 1940 and his other songs include "I Ain't Hep to That Step, But I'll Dig It", "So Long Joe","Roulette", "If You Catch a Little Cold", "It's Only a Man", and "Christmas in America".