Browse by Title V W X Y Z #    After The Ball   Charles Harris
"After The Ball" was the first ever million seller; it is
credited to American songwriter Charles K. Harris (1867-1930),
although it is possible that it was written at least in part by
someone else. The song was probably penned in 1891, and was
published the following year, becoming an absolutely massive
hit. In 1893 it was published in London by Howard & Co, arranged
by J.Clauder; the following year it was published in Sweden, and
as well as being widely recorded has been parodied. "After The
Ball" is sometimes credited with beginning the commercial
exploitation of popular music or even with the music industry
itself. The story behind the song is that Harris watched two
young lovers at a dance in Chicago quarrel and leave separately,
which prompted him to make a note "Many a heart is aching, after
the ball." Later, although using that same line, he altered the
story to that of an old man relating the tragic tale of a lost
love to his young niec