Other [Carl Sigman] songs that have sounded as welcome to movie and concert goers as the old familiar phrases on which the lyrics were based include "Ebb Tide," which he originally wrote in 1953 to Robert Maxwell's instrumental melody; "Bongo, Bongo, Bongo (Civilization)," from Sigman's 1947 Broadway musical "Angel in the Wings;" and "Buona Sera," memorable in the movies "Big Night" and last year's "Mickey Blue Eyes."

Television, too, loved Sigman's work. When CBS brought "The Adventures of Robin Hood" to the small screen from 1955 to 1958, starring Richard Greene as the good bad guy of Sherwood Forest, it was Sigman who introduced him each week with, "Robin Hood, Robin Hood, riding through the glen; Robin Hood, Robin Hood, with his band of men. . . . " For those too young to remember, the group Deep Purple recently featured the ballad on an album.

Singers like Sigman songs, recording them repeatedly and incorporating them into stage acts. In addition to [Perry Como], Sigman songs have been recorded by Frank Sinatra, Louis Prima, Herb Alpert and his Tijuana Brass, Sonny and Cher, Danny Kaye, the Andrews Sisters, Vic Damone, Tony Bennett and Nat King Cole. And now a younger generation is recording them. Cole's daughter, Natalie, brought out Sigman's assertive "If You Could See Me Now" on her 1997 CD "Stardust."