How novel were your musical tastes?

How many of these one-time hits did you know?

Finish the song lyric or title, and tell the author or where it comes from.

1. 'Young Molly who lives at the foot of the hill
   
   Whose fame every virgin with envy doth fill
   
   Of beauty is blessed with so ample a share
   
   Men call her the lass with. . . '
   . . .the delicate air. With a de-e-uh-uh-uh-e-uh-uh-uh-el-i-cate ay-rrrr. . . you get the idea. A big hit by Michael Arne in 1762. (Now why wasn't that featured at the Olympics opening?) Here's a delightful amateur version by an aspiring young singer. (Check Youtube yourselves for Julie Andrews and other professionals raising the roof.)
2. From 1891: 'A sweet tuxedo girl you see
   
   A queen of swell society
   
   Fond of fun as fond can be
   
   When it's on the strict Q.T.'
   What's the chorus sound like? Oh, and what the blazes is a 'Q.T.'?
   Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-re, Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-re, Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-re. . . and etc, well, you get the idea. Authorship of this runaway hit has always been disputed – a lady named Lottie Collins made it famous, and it was declared 'public domain' in the 1930s. 'On the Q.T.' is an old expression meaning 'on the down-low'. Shhh! Here's Mary Martin with an updated version from 1943. The song gets parodied a lot – check out these schoolyard wags.
3. ' She was engaged,
   
   As a picture for to pose,
   
   To appear each night,
   
   In abbreviated clothes. . .'
   These lyrics appeared to a very famous tune in 1895. You have heard it. You know you have. What lyrics do you usually sing to it?
   
   Probably: There's a place in France where the alligators dance. Okay, that's the Baptist version: you probably sang 'where the ladies wear no pants', you naughty things. The original lyrics were composed for The Streets of Cairo, a piece of sheet music by James Thornton. Sol Bloom wrote the original tune for the (choke) 'anthropological' exhibit of the same name at the Chicago Columbian Exposition. It was danced by 'Little Egypt', a famous hootchy-kootchy dancer. Although Bloom claimed the tune was 'ancient Algerian', we detect klezmer influences, as Bloom was the son of immigrants. Enjoy this erudite discussion of whether self-respecting belly dancers (quiet in the back) should use this in their repertoires. Here's a stirring amateur performance.
4. The 1890s were great times for novelty songs. Try this one from 1898:
   
   'Who threw the overalls in…?'
   '. . . Mrs Murphy's chowder'. We think you had to have been there, though, as the lyrics say, 'it's an Irish trick, that's true'. (There's some sort of weird social commentary in there. We leave you to find it.) Check out this vintage recording.
5. The darker the times, the sillier the music. In 1943, everybody was singing:
   
   'Mairzy doats and dozy doats and liddle lamzy divey
   
   A kiddley divey too, wouldn't you?
   
   What did this mean?
   'Mares eat oats and does eat oats, and little lambs eat ivy,
   
   A kid'll eat ivy, too, wouldn't you? This plea for more greens in the diet came from the song-writing team of Milton Drake, Al Hoffman and Jerry Livingston. Hear it here and wonder at bygone musical taste.
6. In 'Tan Shoes and Pink Shoelaces', the girl's bf takes her 'fishin' in a submarine'. What colour is his hatband?
   Purple, of course. Check out the cool lyrics to this 1950s hit for Dodie Stevens. Apparently, it's suitable for dancing the Lindy Hop.
7. Why was she 'afraid to come out of the water' in 1960? (Hint: What was she wearing?)
   An itsy-bitsy teenie-weenie yellow polka dot bikini, naturally. By Brian Hyland. Bikinis were new. They were scandalous. They made you, er, nervous and/or excited. Check it out. (This is a fun song to teach foreign students.)
8. 'Does your chewing gum…? (Who sang that, Brits?)
   '. . .lose its flavour on the bedpost overnight?'   Lonnie Donegan, of course, in 1958.
9. Finish this from Right Said Fred: 'I'm too sexy for. . . '
   '. . .my love, my shirt, Milan, New York, Japan, your party, my car, my hat'. We get the idea.
10. All-time great novelty song: What was Chuck Berry playing with in 1972, and why wouldn't some stations play the song?
    He was playing with his 'ding-a-ling'. For some reason, some people objected. We're not sure why – maybe they misheard him. Check out this version, ukulele fans.

If you enjoyed this, pass the word to your friends. If you don't like your friends, pass it on anyway – the songs will get stuck in their heads, and they will probably want to kill you about 3 am.

Dmitri Gheorgheni

13.08.12 Front Page

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