Dick Van Dyke’s Top 10 Music Moments as He Turns 100

In 1960-61, Van Dyke starred on Broadway as Albert F. Peterson Bye Bye Birdie (1960), a musical that was inspired by a real-life event, Elvis Presley being drafted into the army. He performed “Put on a Happy Face,” a song that perfectly captured his optimistic personality. The song became a pop standard of the 1960s, sung on TV variety shows and recorded by such artists as Nancy Wilson, Johnny Mathis, The Supremes and Tony Bennett.

Van Dyke starred in the musical alongside Chita Rivera, Dick Gautier and Paul Lynde. The role brought Van Dyke a Tony Award for best featured actor in a musical, one of four Tonys the show won, along with best musical, direction and choreography. Van Dyke reprised the role in the 1963 film. The Broadway cast album reached No. 12 on the Billboard 200. The soundtrack did even better, reaching No. 2 for two weeks in October 1963.

Dick sings “Put on a Happy Face” on The Ed Sullivan Show in November 1960: Watch here

Dick sings “Put on a Happy Face” in the 1963 movie: Watch here

Music sequences were fairly common on The Dick Van Dyke Show, especially in the show’s early seasons. The producers were playing to the natural strengths of both Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore, who was a trained dancer. The music-stuffed Christmas show is a memorable example, but the numbers “Mountain Greenery,” “You Wonderful You” and “I Am a Fine Musician” are also popular on YouTube.

Two episodes were take-offs on pop music phenomena, but they weren’t among the show’s best efforts. The 1962 episode “The Twizzle” was a take-off on the popularity of such dance hits as Chubby Checker’s “The Twist.” Veteran songwriters Mack David and Jerry Livingston wrote the grating song heard in the episode. The 1965 ep “The Redcoats Are Coming” was a send-up of the British Invasion and featured real-life hitmakers Chad & Jeremy, who had a top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1964, “A Summer Song.” They played The Redcoats, who needed to hide out from their rabid fans in the Petries’ house. A few weeks after they filmed the Van Dyke show, the pair was part of a very similar storyline on an episode of ABC’s The Patty Duke Show. (Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.)

The cast performs “I Am a Fine Musician”: Watch here

In 1963, with The Dick Van Dyke Show heading into in its third season, Van Dyke released his first studio album, Songs I Like, on which he teamed with orchestra leader Enoch Light and the Ray Charles Singers (assembled by vocal arranger Ray Charles, not the R&B legend of the same name). The album included “Put on a Happy Face,” “Wives and Lovers” — the Bacharach/David song that Jack Jones had a big hit with that year — and no fewer than three songs by George & Ira Gershwin: “Nice Work If You Can Get It,” “They All Laughed” and “I’ve Got a Crush on You.” The album didn’t make the Billboard 200.

In 2017, Van Dyke released his second solo album, Step (Back) In Time. The album was produced by Bill Bixler (who also played sax), with arrangements by Dave Enos (who also played bass), and featured John Ferraro (drums), Tony Guerrero (trumpet & vocal duet), Mark LeBrun (piano), Charley Pollard (trombone) and Leslie Bixler (vocals). The album featured classic songs from the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s.

Van Dyke played Bert, the cockney chimney sweep in the 1964 Disney movie musical Mary Poppins, for which he was nominated for the Golden Globe for best actor in a motion picture – musical or comedy. (He lost to Rex Harrison for My Fair Lady, who would go on to win the Oscar as well.)

Van Dyke played a second role in the film – the much older bank chairman Mr. Dawes Senior. For his scenes as the chairman, he was credited as “Navckid Keyd.” At the end of the credits, the letters unscramble into “Dick Van Dyke,” a gimmick which was repeated in Mary Poppins Returns.

“Chim Chim Cher-ee,” one of the Sherman Brothers songs that Van Dyke performed in Mary Poppins, won the Academy Award for best original song. Another, “Super-cali-fragil-istic-expi-ali-docious” reached No. 66 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 14 on Billboard’s Pop-Standard Singles chart (now called Adult Contemporary). The single was credited Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke and The Pearlies.

Andrews and Van Dyke received a Grammy Award in 1965 – best recording for children – for their work on the soundtrack. It beat covers of Poppins songs recorded by other famous artists – Mary Martin and the Do-Re-Mi Children’s Chorus’ A Spoonful of Sugar and Burl Ives and Children’s Chorus’ Burl Ives Chim Chim Cheree and Other Children’s Choices. (The fact that three of the five nominees were Poppins-related shows how big that movie was.)

The soundtrack topped the Billboard 200 for 14 nonconsecutive weeks, longer than any other album in 1965. The album first hit No. 1 on March 13, displacing Beatles 65. Poppins’ long run on top was ended on July 10 by another Fab Four album, Beatles VI.

The film received 13 Oscar nominations — just one shy of the all-time record. In 2013 the film was inducted into the National Film Registry. The following year, the soundtrack was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

“Chim Chim Cher-ee”: Watch here

“Super-cali-fragil-istic-expi-ali-docious”: Watch here

Four years after Mary Poppins, Van Dyke reteamed with that film’s songwriters The Sherman Brothers, and choreographers, Marc Breaux and Dee Dee Wood, for a musical version of Ian Fleming’s Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. The film co-starred Sally Ann Howes.

The soundtrack reached No. 58 on the Billboard 200 and logged more than six months on the chart. (So it was no Mary Poppins, but a moderate success.) The title song received a Golden Globe nomination for best original song. Paul Mauriat, who had a smash 1968 instrumental with “Love Is Blue,” covered “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” and made both the Hot 100 (No. 76) and Easy Listening chart (No. 24).

“Chitty Chitty Bang Bang”: Watch Here  

Van Dyke starred in the sketch comedy show Van Dyke and Company, which featured Andy Kaufman, two years before he achieved stardom in Taxi. The show featured many musical guests: The pilot episode, which aired in October 1975, featured Ike & Tina Turner. The series, which launched in September 1976, featured several other guests from the music world, including John Denver, The Sylvers, KC and the Sunshine Band, The Spinners, Donna Fargo and Bobbie Gentry.

The show was canceled after just three months. Even so, the show won an Emmy Award for outstanding comedy-variety series, beating Saturday Night Live, which had won the previous year; The Carol Burnett Show, which had won in three of the four years before that; The Muppet Show and Evening at Pops. Van Dyke also received two Emmy nods as one of the writers on the show. Steve Martin was a fellow nominee for writing on the special, just before he burst to stardom with his comedy albums.

Compilation of clips from Van Dyke and Company: Watch here

Since 2000, Van Dyke has sung in an a cappella group called Dick Van Dyke and The Vantastix. The quartet has performed several times in Los Angeles, as well as on Larry King Live and The First Annual TV Land Awards. Van Dyke was made an honorary member of the Barbershop Harmony Society in 1999.

Van Dyke recorded a duet single for Christmas 2017 with actress Jane Lynch, a fellow Primetime Emmy winner. The song, “We’re Going Caroling,” was written and produced by Tony Guerrero for Lynch’s KitschTone Records label.

Watch here

In 2018, Van Dyke portrayed Mr. Dawes Jr., the retired chairman of Fidelity Fiduciary Bank, in Mary Poppins Returns. The character was portrayed by Arthur Malet in the original film. In the sequel, Van Dyke performed a reprise of “Trip a Little Light Fantastic” along with other cast members, including Emily Blunt and Lin Manuel Miranda. As in the original film, Van Dyke is credited as “Navckid Keyd,” which unscrambles during the credits.

Trivia Note: The sequel arrived 54 years after the original film, the longest interval between a live-action film and its sequel in film history.

In December 2024, Van Dyke starred in the music video for Coldplay’s “All My Love,” the third single from the band’s album, Moon Music. He produced the video with his wife, actress Arlene Silver. Its director’s cut, led by Spike Jonze and Mary Wigmore, came out on Dec. 6, 2024. Coldplay published a shorter version on Dec. 13, celebrating Van Dyke’s 99th birthday. The music video received a best rock prize at the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards. Martin and Van Dyke appeared together on Jimmy Kimmel Live! to promote the video.

This wasn’t the first time Coldplay worked with a top rock band: In 2010, he appeared on a children’s album titled Rhythm Train, with Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith and singer Leslie Bixler. Van Dyke rapped on one of the tracks.

Watch here