Leroy Anderson (June 29, 1908 May 18, 1975) was an American composer of short, light concert pieces, many of which were introduced by the Boston Pops Orchestra under the direction of Arthur Fiedler. John Williams described him as "one of the great American masters of light orchestral music." "Blue Tango" is a popular song with music by Leroy Anderson and lyrics by Mitchell Parish. It was published in 1952.
An instrumental version of "Blue Tango" recorded by Anderson (Decca Records catalog number 27875, with the flip side "Belle of the Ball") reached #1 on the Billboard charts in 1952. It first reached the Best Seller chart on December 21, 1951 and lasted 38 weeks on the chart. (According to other sources, the Anderson recording first reached the charts on December 29, 1951.) The same recording was released 1952 by Brunswick Records (United Kingdom) as catalog number 04870, with the same flip side. A vocal version was recorded by Alma Cogan in the United Kingdom the same year. It was also featured on the first UK singles chart in another instrumental recording by orchestra leader Ray Martin. In the radio series Peeling Back The Years, John Peel.