"Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive" is a popular song which was published in 1944. The music was written by Harold Arlen and the lyrics by Johnny Mercer. The song was nominated for the "Academy Award for Best Original Song" at the 18th Academy Awards in 1945 after being used in the film "Here Come the Waves". It is sung in the style of a sermon, and explains that accentuating the positive is key to happiness. In describing his inspiration for the lyric, Mercer told the Pop Chronicles radio documentary "[my] publicity agent ... went to hear Father Divine and he had a sermon and his subject was 'you got to accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative.' And I said 'Wow, that's a colorful phrase!'"
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Mercer recorded the song, with The Pied Pipers and Paul Weston's orchestra, on October 4, 1944, and it was released by Capitol Records as catalog number 180. The record first reached the Billboard magazine charts on January 4, 1945 and lasted 13 weeks on the chart, peaking at number 2. The song was number five on Billboard's Annual High School Survey in 1945.
On March 25, 2015, it was announced that Mercer's version will be inducted into the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry for the song's "cultural, artistic and/or historical significance to American society and the nation’s audio legacy".
Other recordings
Within a matter of weeks, several other recordings of the song were released by other well-known artists:
A few months later, another version was recorded by Johnny Green in the United Kingdom on April 6, 1945, and released by Parlophone Records as catalog number F-2069.
Connie Francis added the song in 1960 to her "Swinging Medley" (sometimes also referred to as "Gospel Medley"), where she combined it with three other songs: "Yes, indeed", "Amen", and "Lonesome Road". Three versions of this medley were recorded on different occasions in 1960. The first recording was broadcast in a mock-live radio show of National Guard Radio early that year. The two other recordings were intended for release on Francis's label MGM Records but remained unreleased until 1996 on Bear Family Records.
The song was included by Roy Hamilton on his 1960 album Come Out Swingin'. Ella Fitzgerald included the song on her 1961 double album "Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Harold Arlen Songbook" on Verve Records.
The song has twice been recorded by Perry Como: once on February 19, 1958 and later in July, 1980. Both were primarily made for albums. Neither version was released as a single in the United States, though the 1958 version was released in Germany by RCA as a single (catalog number 47-9243-A).
Aretha Franklin recorded it for The Electrifying Aretha Franklin album for Columbia Records in 1962, and it features in her many re-releases on that label. Soul great Sam Cooke recorded it for his Encore album.
Dave Van Ronk covered this song on his 1971 album, Van Ronk.
Included by Susannah McCorkle on her 1993 From Bessie to Brazil album
The American rock band NRBQ made another version of this song.
The Vindictives, a Chicago punk band, released a version on their 1999 album Hypno-Punko.
John Boutte of New Orleans also released a version of this song.
Singer Al Jarreau released a version of this song on his 2004 album, Accentuate the Positive.
The song has been used for many years as the theme for the television program Faithville, in a version by the Spitfire Band.
Cliff Richard recorded this song on his album Bold as Brass.
Billy Gorilly released a recording of the song as a single in January 2012. This version was used as the soundtrack for the animated children's cartoon music video released in October 2012.
Paul McCartney covered it on his 2012 album, Kisses on the Bottom.
Jools Holland covered this on his 2012 album, The Golden Age Of Song with Rumer (musician) on vocals.
Barry Manilow covered the song on his 2014 studio album Night Songs.
The Puppini Sisters recorded and covered the song for their 5th studio album, The High Life.