Top Hat, White Tie and Tails

"Top Hat, White Tie and Tails" is a popular song written by Irving Berlin for the 1935 film Top Hat, where it was introduced by Fred Astaire.

The song title refers to the formal wear required on a party invitation: top hat, white tie, and a tailcoat. Popular recordings in 1935 were by Fred Astaire and by Ray Noble and his Orchestra (vocal by Al Bowlly and The Freshmen).

Other notable recordings

 * The Boswell Sisters recorded the song on October 8, 1935 for Decca Records.
 * Carroll Gibbons with the Savoy Orpheans (1935)
 * Fred Astaire included the song in the album The Astaire Story (1952)
 * Mel Tormé included the song in the album Mel Tormé Sings Fred Astaire (1956)
 * Louis Armstrong - for his album Louis Under the Stars (1958)
 * Ella Fitzgerald – Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Irving Berlin Songbook (1958)
 * Fred Astaire recorded the song again in 1975 and it can be found on the album The Complete London Sessions.
 * Tony Bennett - Steppin' Out (1993)
 * Cherry Poppin' Daddies – The Boop-A-Doo (2016)

Other appearances

 * The popular Norwegian meteorologist Kristian Trægde sang the song (and step-danced to it) on the TV show Skjemtegauken, in 1968.
 * In 1977 ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev sang the song on The Muppet Show, complete with tap dancing.
 * In Episode 1 of the ninth season of M*A*S*H, "The Best of Enemies", the character Hawykeye is singing "Top Hat, White Tie, and Tails" in the first scene.
 * In a 1981 SCTV television skit, "Al's Sanitone Drycleaning", Eugene Levy sings the song and tap dances as he promotes the fictional company in a mock commercial.
 * In the 1995 film Batman Forever, the character Edward Nygma sings a brief parody of "Top Hat, White Tie, and Tails" using the lyrics "I'm, sucking up your I.Q., vacuuming your cortex, feeding off your brain!"
 * Jim Carrey also parodied the song at the 69th Academy Awards when referring to Dirt Devil vacuum commercials featuring Fred Astaire footage: "I'm, sucking up the lint balls, getting in the corners, dump it out the back!"