Dave Franklin

American composer and pianist.

Born 28 September 1895 in New York City.

Died 2 February 1970 in Los Angeles, California.

Tin Pan Alley songwriter. His best known (co-)composition is probably [i]The Merry Go Round Broke Down[/i], the theme song to the Looney Tunes cartoons.

Lyricist [a=Cliff Friend] was his primary collaborator, other collaborators include [a=Al Dubin], [a=Isham Jones] and [a=Irving Taylor].

He charted thirty-two times in the U.S. and once in the U.K. between 1934-68: having consecutive #1's with "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down" by Shep Fields and His Rippling Rhythm and "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down" by Russ Morgan in 1937 (co-written by Cliff Friend). "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down" charted five times that year by different artists. Similarly, that same year he and Friend's "You Can't Stop Me from Dreaming" charted four times, including hitting #1 by Teddy Wilson & His Orchestra. All told, sixteen of the songs landed in the top 10 and thirty-one landed in the top 20.