Does anybody know where I can find two tracks used in the Stooge shorts, "I Thought I Wanted You" by Archie Gottler and "Frederic March" by Howard Jackson and Raphael Penso?
If you mean recordings other than what's in the films, unfortunately I don't believe there ever were any. I've done extensive research on these tunes as well as many others used in The Three Stooges and other Columbia shorts and have found no evidence that these songs were ever released on records by any singers or bands back in the 1930's or at any time later. But, what a missed opportunity! They're both quality compositions and could have been popular hits. Certainly "I Though I Wanted You" has what it takes to have been a success as a hit record. And I always thought "Frederic March", although apparently written only for use as a "generic" march to be used incidentally in Columbia films, was every bit as good as many of the standard marches everyone knows by the classic composers.
So the only way to get recordings of these two songs would be to figure out which version you like the most from a Stooges or other Columbia film in which they are heard, and record them from the film soundtrack (or of course, video or DVD, whatever you may have).
There is a Columbia short that includes the complete version of "I Thought I Wanted You" with lyrics (never heard in its three usages in Stooges shorts) but unfortunately it's a rare one and not available commercially on video, DVD or shown on TV. It's the short that the song was written for and introduced in, a "Musical Novelty" short entitled LOVE DETECTIVES (2-28-34). Betty Grable sings it in the film. The short does exist in a beautiful restored 35mm print and as of now the only way to see it is at a theatrical screening. I have been hoping and requesting for years for Columbia to release the full series of eight "Musical Novelties" shorts on DVD. As we know, only WOMAN HATERS has been available since the series was released in 1934. With The Stooges appearing in WOMAN HATERS (although already available on Stooges DVD's) and Betty Grable starring in two of them and in a co-starring role in a third I believe there would be enough commercial potential for a set of these fun musical shorts to do relatively well if Columbia/SONY would release them. And then you and other fans of the song can finally get to hear the complete original version of "I Thought I Wanted You".
