Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive

Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive or Accentuate the Positive is a song written by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer. It was recorded by Bing Crosby with John Scott Trotter and his orchestra and is heard on Diamond City Radio in Fallout 4.

Although Bing Crosby's most famous rendition was a duet with the Andrews Sisters in 1944, it is not the one used.

The song in-game is 1 minute and 8 seconds, particularly short for a commercial recording. It comes from a 1945 radio broadcast of the Kraft Music Hall.

Background
The song premiered on December 18, 1944, in the film Here Come the Waves starring Bing Crosby, Betty Hutton and Sonny Tufts. The story centers on a WAVES recruitment center. The song is performed in blackface during a variety show as a duet between Crosby and Tufts.

The composer, Johnny Mercer, had recorded his version of the song on October 4th while the Andrews Sisters and Bing Crosby recorded theirs on December 8th.

To promote the film, Bing Crosby sang "Accentuate the Positive" on several episodes of his radio show for NBC, the Kraft Music Hall.

This particular version of the song aired on February 1, 1945. As the film was entering its seventh week in theaters, Bing Crosby sang an entire medley from the movie: "There's a Fellow Waiting in Poughkeepsie,” "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive" and "Let's Take the Long Way Home.”

The complete setlist for the broadcast is as follows:

Lyrics
You've got to accent-uate the positive Eliminate the negative

Latch on to the affirmative Don't mess with Mister In-Between

You've got to spread joy up to the maximum Bring gloom down to the minimum

Have faith or pandemonium Liable to walk upon the scene

To illustrate my last remark: Jonah in the whale, Noah in the ark

What did they do Just when everything looked so dark?

Man, they said we better accentuate the positive Eliminate the negative

Latch on to the affirmative, Don't mess with Mister In-Between

No, don't mess with Mister In-Between!

Oh yeah!

I'm fine.

Video


Here Come the Waves medley clip from the broadcast. "Accentuate the Positive" starts at around 4:25.

Behind the scenes

 * The entire February 1, 1945, broadcast is available to listen in its entirely on various OTR (Old Time Radio) sites.
 * The performances were recorded on John Scott Trotter's personal acetates. However, the transfer is of poor quality with many pops, crackles and prominent skipping. By contrast, the version provided for the game is in much better condition.
 * The end credits indicate the song was licensed by HLC Properties, Ltd. which has frequently collaborated with Bing Crosby Enterprises to release new Crosby recordings. In 2013, they announced the discovery of tape archives in the so-called "Bing's Basement.” They were rebroadcast on internet radio.