Hollywood Sings!

The musical history of Hollywood and the Academy Awards goes back to 1934, when "The Continental" from The Gay Divorcee won the first Oscar for Best Original Song. Since then, Oscar-nominated songs have come from every genre, including dance numbers, serious compositions, and rock and roll. Author Sackett lists the songs nominated each year through 1993, listing lyricists and composers, the film each appeared in, and historical information and inside anecdotes. Appendixes list title songs, films that songs have been nominated from, most Oscar nominations by lyricist (first is Sammy Cahn with 26) and by composer (James Van Heusen, 14), and other Oscar factoids.