Marie 2 is the second notable version of Irving Berlin’s 1937 big-band novelty tune Marie. The original tune was written by Irving Berlin and popularized by Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra in 1937 with Jack Leonard on the vocal and the band delivering a lively call-and-response chant. It sits in the swing/big band genre and was not released on a single studio album but as a 78 rpm single and later appeared on various compilations and performances. Marie 2 is part of Berlin’s Marie cycle, a string of eight variations recorded between 1937 and 1941 that reimagined the same playful story of a dawn wake-up and romantic tension, often with a new lead vocal or arrangement. The tune and its sequels helped propel the Dorsey-Sinatra collaborations and spawned later live and film appearances, including a 1947 theatrical version in The Fabulous Dorseys and later TV performances in the early 1950s. A notable fact is that the cycle also gave rise to other Berlin pieces tied to the same concept, such as Who and Blue Moon, performed in a similar Marie-inspired style.
