Song · Frank Sinatra
“(theme From) New York, New York” by Frank Sinatra
Released 1980
“(theme From) New York, New York” by Frank Sinatra appears on 10 radio countdowns from 7 stations between 1991 and 2024. It was first released in 1980. Its best result is #30 on The Colorado Sound Top 800 Songs About Places. In the combined RockLists rankings it is #5,457 alternative song of all time.
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Frank Sinatra took on "Theme from New York, New York" two years after Martin Scorsese's 1977 film New York, New York introduced it, and made it so thoroughly his own that the song is now tied as tightly to him as to the city. John Kander wrote the music and Fred Ebb the words, and they only wrote it because Robert De Niro heard their first title song, took Scorsese aside and talked him into demanding something stronger. The pair turned out the replacement in a hurry, and in a fury.
Sinatra's recording goes all the way up: Don Costa arranged it and Sonny Burke produced, with Pete Jolly on piano, Al Viola on guitar and Irv Cottler on drums, and a full orchestra of strings, trumpets, trombones and woodwinds, right down to Tommy Johnson's tuba, swelling behind the voice.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 541 | CFNY 102.1 The Edge | CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (1991 Edition) | 1002 |
| 2001 | 50 | WFPK | WFPK 2001 Greatest Songs of All Time | 2000 |
| 2005 | 44 | WFPK | WFPK Top 100 Party Songs | 100 |
| 2007 | 680 | WTMD | WTMD Top 897 Songs of All Time | 897 |
| 2009 | 878 | WXPN | WXPN 885 Desert Island Songs (2009) | 885 |
| 2012 | 233 | WYEP | WYEP Top 500 Songs Countdown | 500 |
| 2020 | 1198 | WXPN | WXPN 2020 Greatest Songs of All Time | 2020 |
| 2021 | 540 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '80s | 909 |
| 2023 | 30 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 800 Songs About Places | 800 |
| 2024 | 949 | WYEP | WYEP Best Songs of the Past 50 Years | 1049 |
Also listed as: New York, New York; New York New York; Theme From New York, New York; Theme from New York New York.
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