Dave Franklin

Who was Dave Franklin?

Dave Franklin was an accomplished American songwriter and pianist. A member of Tin Pan Alley, Franklin co-wrote "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down," which was adopted as the theme song to the Looney Tunes cartoon series. His primary collaborator was lyricist Cliff Friend. His other collaborators included Al Dubin, Isham Jones, Irving Taylor. Franklin worked in vaudeville and night clubs in the U.S. and Europe. According to The Complete Encyclopedia of Popular Music and Jazz, 1900–1950, by Roger Kinkle, he left school at 13 to work as a pianist in a publishing house. Some of his songs were recorded by Glen Gray, Isham Jones, Guy Lombardo and Frankie Trumbauer.