Editing Steve Allen (section)

=== Composer ===
According to his own estimate, Allen was a prolific composer who wrote more than 8,500 songs, although only a small fraction of them were ever recorded. In one famous stunt, he made a bet with singer-songwriter [[Frankie Laine]] that he could write 50 songs a day for a week. Composing on public display in the window of Wallach's Music City, a Hollywood music store, Allen met the quota and won $1,000 from Laine. One of the songs, "Let's Go to Church (Next Sunday Morning)" became a chart hit for the duo of [[Jimmy Wakely]] and [[Margaret Whiting]], hitting #13 pop and #2 country in 1950.

Allen began his recording career in 1951 with the album ''Steve Allen At The Piano'' for [[Columbia Records]]. He then signed with [[Decca Records]], recording for their subsidiaries [[Brunswick Records]] and then [[Coral Records]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bQoEAAAAMBAJ&q=%22but+officer%22+%2B+%22steve+allen%22&pg=PA18 |title=Billboard |date=September 12, 1953}}</ref> Allen would release a mixture of novelty singles, jazz recordings and straight pop numbers for Decca throughout the 1950s, before switching to [[Dot Records]] in the 1960s.

In 1953 Allen added lyrics to "South Rampart Street Parade," a 1938 instrumental hit for [[Bob Crosby]], written by [[Bob Haggart]] and [[Ray Bauduc]]. The vocal was introduced in the [[Donald O'Connor]] musical film ''[[Walking My Baby Back Home (film)|Walking My Baby Back Home]]'' (1953). Though the song is best known as an instrumental, [https://4-in-a-bar.bandcamp.com/track/south-rampart-st-parade] Allen's lyrics are occasionally performed.
 
Allen's best-known song, "[[This Could Be the Start of Something]] (Big)", dates from 1954. Though it was never a hit, the song was recorded by numerous artists, including [[Count Basie]], [[Tony Bennett]], [[Bobby Darin]], [[Ella Fitzgerald]], [[Mark Murphy (singer)|Mark Murphy]] [[Judy Garland]], [[Aretha Franklin]], [[Lionel Hampton]], [[Claire Martin (singer)|Claire Martin]], and [[Oscar Peterson]]. Allen used it as the theme song of ''The Tonight Show'' in 1956-57, and as the theme song to many of his later television projects.

Allen wrote the lyrics for the standard "[[Theme from Picnic]]" from the film ''[[Picnic (1955 film)|Picnic]]'' in 1955; the song was a No. 13 U.S. hit in a vocal version for The [[McGuire Sisters]] in 1956. The song, however, is chiefly remembered as an instrumental, often performed in a medley with "[[Moonglow (song)|Moonglow]]," a popular song from 1933. Two instrumental versions charted in the U.S. top 5 in 1956, including a No. 1 hit version by [[Morris Stoloff]]. Because he did not write the music, Allen was not credited as a songwriter on the instrumental versions.

In 1957, [[Jerry Vale]] had a minor hit (US #52) with the Allen composition "Pretend You Don't See Her". The song was later covered by [[Bobby Vee]], who would also chart with it (US #97) in 1965, and Vale's recording would later be heard in the 1990 gangster film ''[[GoodFellas]]''.

"Gravy Waltz" was composed and originally performed by [[Ray Brown (musician)|Ray Brown]] as an instrumental in the early 1960s. Allen later set words to it, and the collaboration won the 1964 [[Grammy Award for Best Original Jazz Composition]]. Issued as an instrumental single in 1963, it hit No. 64 on the US Billboard charts. Though the single version was credited to "Steve Allen With Donn Trenner And His Orchestra," Allen did not play on it. As well, though Allen was credited as co-songwriter for his lyrics, the hit single version was strictly an instrumental performance.

In the realm of theatre, Allen wrote the music and lyrics for the Broadway musical ''Sophie'', which was based on the early career of the woman long billed as "The Last of the Red-Hot Mamas," entertainer [[Sophie Tucker]]. The book for the show was by Philip Pruneau. [[Libi Staiger]] and [[Art Lund]] were featured in the leading roles. "Sophie" opened at the Winter Garden Theatre in New York, after tryouts in three other cities, on April 15, 1963, to mostly unfavorable critical notices. It closed five days later, on April 20, after just eight performances. As [[Ken Mandelbaum]] noted in his 1991 book ''Not Since Carrie'':

<blockquote style=font-size:100%>The show received consistently negative reviews in Columbus, Detroit, Philadelphia, and New York, and its problems were obvious: a cliché-ridden standard show-biz bio book, and an ordinary score&nbsp;... The score went unrecorded (by the cast), although several months later Judy Garland sang three songs from ''Sophie'' on her CBS television series.</blockquote>

Though Mandelbaum doesn't mention it, Allen was a guest on that episode of ''[[The Judy Garland Show]]'' in which she featured Allen's songs from ''Sophie''. Later, a "compiled" recording of ''Sophie'' was released with vocals by Allen, Libi Staiger, Garland, and others.

Allen's other produced musical was the 1969 London show ''Belle Starr'', which starred [[Betty Grable]] as the American West character. Allen wrote the music, and was one of three credited lyricists. ''Belle Starr'' also received poor reviews in both its Glasgow tryout and in its London run, and closed after 12 performances. Like ''Sophie'', the score went unrecorded by the cast. No compiled recording of the score has been made.

Allen also composed the score to [[Paul Mantee]]'s [[James Bond]]–inspired film ''[[A Man Called Dagger]]'' (1967), with the score orchestrated by [[Ronald Stein]].

By the 1970s, Allen was no longer actively recording his music. He continued to compose material, however, and in 1985, Allen wrote 19 songs for [[Irwin Allen]]'s television mini-series ''[[Alice in Wonderland (1985 film)|Alice in Wonderland]]''. The series starred his wife [[Jayne Meadows]] as the Queen of Hearts, among dozens of other celebrities.

After a long layoff from recording, in 1992 Allen issued the instrumental album ''Steve Allen Plays Jazz Tonight'', which included interpretations of jazz classics as well as a handful of new original compositions.