Take the "A" Train recorded an intentionally inept interpretation of the song under the pseudonym Darlene Edwards. In 1999, National Public Radio included this song in the "NPR 100", in which NPR's music editors sought to compile the one hundred most important American musical works of the 20th century. Take the "A" Train "Take the 'A' Train" is a jazz standard by Billy Strayhorn that was the signature tune of the Duke Ellington orchestra. The use of the Strayhorn composition as the signature tune was made necessary by a ruling in 1940 by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP). When ASCAP
Duke Ellington his list of 100 Greatest African Americans. His compositions have been revisited by artists and musicians around the world both as a source of inspiration and a bedrock of their own performing careers. There are hundreds of albums dedicated to the music of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn by artists famous and obscure. "Sophisticated Ladies", an award-winning 1981 musical revue, incorporated many tunes from Ellington's repertoire. A second Broadway musical interpolating Ellington's music, "Play On!", debuted in 1997. Ellington earned 14 Grammy awards from 1959 to 2000, three of which were posthumous and a total of 24 nominations Recordings of