Jack Jones -- "I've Got Your Number" (2013)

We'll break the rules a lot

We'll be damn fools a lot

But then why should we not?

American Hustle was my pick for the Academy Award for Best Picture this year.  It had everything, including two fabulous babes -- Amy Adams and Jennifer Lawrence (both of whom were Oscar nominees) -- in the primary female roles.

Jennifer Lawrence and Amy Adams

Am I a bad person because I really had no interest in seeing 12 Years a Slave?  (When she co-hosted the Golden Globes award show, Amy Poehler said, "I loved 12 Years A Slave, and I can honestly say that after seeing that film, I will never look at slavery the same way again."  I'm pretty sure that was a joke.)

I'm sorry, but I don't need to go to a movie to know that life as a slave in the antebellum South was often horrific.  I also don't need to see a movie about pedophiles or people who get their kicks from torturing animals.  Life presents you with plenty of really unpleasant experiences, so I don't go out looking for more.

American Hustle also has a dy-no-mite soundtrack.  2 or 3 lines has already featured two songs from that soundtrack -- the Electric Light Orchestra's "Long Black Road" and the Duke Ellington Orchestra's "Jeep's Blues."  Other songs you'll hear when you see the movie include the Tom Jones hit, "Delilah," an Arabic cover of "White Rabbit," and today's featured song.

"I've Got Your Number" is probably the best-known number from the 1962 Broadway musical, Little Me.  The music for that musical was composed by Cy Coleman, and the lyrics were written by Carolyn Leigh.  

Coleman and Leigh had previously collaborated on Wildcat, which starred Lucille Ball and which featured the very popular "Hey, Look Me Over."  (It seemed like "Hey, Look Me Over" was played during the halftime of every single college football game I watched on TV in the sixties.)  

Coleman later paired up with Dorothy Fields to write the music for Sweet Charity, including "Hey, Big Spender."

You might assume that the version of "I've Got Your Number" featured on the American Hustle soundtrack was done by Jack Jones many years ago, but that's not the case.

In fact, the 75-year-old Jones recorded the song especially for the soundtrack, and actually flew to Boston to appear in the movie singing the song.  (Click here to read the whole story.)

Jack Jones

Jones had three singles that reached #1 on the Billboard "Adult Contemporary" chart in the sixties.  The most famous of his hits was "The Impossible Dream" from the Broadway musical, Man of La Mancha.

Jones was a really good-looking guy, and he hung out with some major babes.  For example, he was married briefly to Jill St. John, and was also romantically linked to Susan George, who was quite a little minx in the seventies.  

Who can ever forget the toothsome Ms. George in Straw Dogs and Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry?

(Speaking of the Academy Awards, how could they have overlooked that fine film back in 1974?)

Here's "I've Got Your Number":

Click below to buy the song from Amazon: