The best-known version in the United States was recorded by the Four Lads with teenage girl Lillian Pasciolla and others[3] on February 27, 1954.
[2] Released in May that year,[4] it first reached the Billboard Best Seller chart on July 3, 1954, peaking at number 18.
[5] The best-known version in the United Kingdom is by Max Bygraves, with his performance recorded on 23 June 1954, with a children's chorus and orchestra directed by Frank Cordell,[6] and released in the UK by HMV in September 1954[4] as catalog number B 10734.
[citation needed] The song has been featured in the game known as "One Song to the Tune of Another" in the long-running BBC Radio 4 radio comedy panel game, I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue, such as in Series Nine, Episode 1, where it was performed by Willie Rushton.
Bibi Johns und Die Starlets, with Franz Thon und das Tanzorchester des NWDR, Hamburg,[9] recorded it in Hamburg on September 5, 1954.