If I Didn't Care

"If I Didn't Care" is a song written by Jack Lawrence that was sung and recorded by the Ink Spots featuring Bill Kenny in 1939.

Background

The Ink Spots recording became the 10th best selling single of all time with over 19 million copies sold making it one of the fewer than forty all-time singles to have sold 10 million (or more) physical copies worldwide. According to Lawrence, he mailed the song before showing it to some of his friends. His friends' reaction to the song was almost unanimously negative, but he remained positive on it and later it became one of his biggest successes.

History

The cultural impact of If I Didn't Care includes:

• Its addition to the Grammy Hall of Fame
• No. 271 on the Songs of the Century list
• A background track in the 2007 video game BioShock.
• The Ink Spots' recording selected in 2018 for preservation in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress
• Inclusion in the soundtracks of films:
  • Radio Days (1987)
  • Men Don't Leave (1990)
  • The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
  • Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (2008)
  • Get Low (2009)
  • Hyde Park on Hudson (2012)

Other recordings of If I Didn't Care include:

• A No. 17 hit in 1954 by the Hilltoppers
• A No. 22 hit in 1959 by Connie Francis
• A No. 30 hit in 1961 by the Platters
• A No. 44 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1970 by The Moments (later known as Ray, Goodman & Brown) and a No. 7 on the Best Selling Soul Singles chart.
• A No. 9 hit on the UK Singles Chart in 1974 by David Cassidy
• Addition to their 1999 album Wonderful by ska-pop band Madness.