Which song did Frank Loesser write that became a popular American New Year’s Eve standard?
Answer
“What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?”
Frank Loesser wrote “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?”, a popular American New Year’s Eve standard.
Loesser wrote the song in 1947. Instead of describing a midnight countdown or a public ceremony, its lyric is a romantic question about spending the coming holiday with someone special. That conversational premise helped distinguish it from celebratory anthems and made the song suitable for intimate performances.
The song has been recorded by many singers in jazz, pop, and traditional-pop settings. Early prominent recordings helped establish it as a seasonal favorite, and later versions have continued to appear on holiday albums and in New Year programming.
Loesser also wrote major songs for musical theater and film, including “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” and the musical “Guys and Dolls.” Because his Christmas and winter songs are often grouped together, listeners sometimes misattribute this New Year song to another holiday songwriter.