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 The Merry Go Round Broke Down, the theme song to the Looney Tunes cartoons. Lyricist Cliff Friend was his primary collaborator, other collaborators include Al Dubin, Isham Jones and 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.