Doris Day first heard " Secret Love " when its co-writer Sammy Fain visited the singer 's home and played it for her , Day being so moved by the song that she 'd recall her reaction as being : " I just about fell apart " . Day recorded the song on 5 August 1953 in a session at the Warner Bros . Recording Studio ( Burbank ) , overseen by Warner Bros. musical director Ray Heindorf . On the day of the recording session for " Secret Love " , Day had done vocal exercises at her home . Then about noon — the session being scheduled for 1 p.m. — she had set out on her bicycle to the studio . Heindorf had rehearsed the studio orchestra prior to Day 's reaching the studio ; upon her arrival , Heindorf suggested that Day do a practice run-through with the orchestra prior to recording any takes , but acquiesced to Day 's request that her first performance with the orchestra be recorded . Day recalls , " When I got there I sang the song with the orchestra for the first time ... That was the first and only take we did . " ... " When I finished Ray called me into the sound booth grinning from ear to ear and said , ' That 's it . You 're never going to do it better . ' " The single of " Secret Love " was released on 9 October 1953 - three weeks prior to the premiere of the '' Calamity Jane '' film - by her longtime record label , Columbia Records in both 45 and 78 rpm format ( cat . no. 40108 ) . The single entered the Top 20 bestselling singles survey - at number 17 - on '' Billboard '' magazine dated 9 January 1954 with the single reaching number 1 on the Top 20 survey for the week ending 17 February 1954 , the week in which the song 's Academy Award nomination for Best Song had been announced , the nominations for the 26th Academy Awards for the film year 1953 having been announced two days earlier . Day 's " Secret Love " , having spent three weeks ranked as the number 1 bestselling single by '' Billboard '' , was still ranked as the number 4 bestseller the week of the 26th Academy Awards broadcast which occurred 25 March 1954 . However , Day herself declined to perform the nominated - and ultimately victorious - " Secret Love " at the Academy Awards ceremony , later stating : " When they asked me to sing ' Secret Love ' on Academy Awards night I told them I could n't - not in front of those people " . ( Ann Blyth performed " Secret Love " at the Academy Awards ceremony . ) Day 's refusal to perform " Secret Love " on the Academy Awards broadcast resulted in the Hollywood Women 's Press Club " honoring " the singer with the Sour Apple Award as the most uncooperative celebrity of 1953 : this put-down occasioned a bout of depression which kept Day virtually housebound for several weeks , and which Day eventually had to qualify her Christian Science outlook to deal with , consulting with a medical practitioner
26th Academy Awards
26th Academy Awards
Secret Love (Doris Day song)