Web Page  No 2338

21^st January 2017

Top Picture: An icon of the 1960s The Readers Digest

Second Picture: Teresa Brewer,

Third Picture: Bernard Breslow’s record of ‘ You need feet’.

Bottom Picture: Alma Cogan

Novelty Songs

In the 1950s and the 1960s one of the staple form of song was the Novelty Song. So how many can you remember. I will start in the 1030s as some of these songs were popular for years and years and then go on through to the 1960s pop era, but ignoring the rock ‘n roll ones.

Bee Song (Arthur Askey, 1938)

The Big Rock Candy Mountain (Burl Ives, 1949)

Buckingham Palace (“They’re Changing Guard at”) (Anne Stephens, 1941)

I Know an Old Lady (Burl Ives, 1949)

I’m a Lonely Little Petunia in an Onion Patch (Arthur Godfrey, 1940s)

The Laughing Policeman (Charles Penrose, 1922, but still going strong in the 1950s)

Mairzy Doats (Merry Macs, 1944)

My Grandfather’s Clock (Radio Revellers, ?1940s)

Puffin’ Billy (Melodi Light Orchestra, 1940s?)

Sparky’s Magic Piano (Henry Blair, 1947)

Swinging On A Star (Bing Crosby, 1944)

The Teddy Bears’ Picnic (Henry Hall & His Orchestra, 1932)

The Three Billy Goats Gruff (Frank Luther, 1933?)

Tubby the Tuba (Danny Kaye, 1945)

Woody Woodpecker (Kay Kyser with Gloria Wood, 1948)

Now the 1950s

A — You’re Adorable (The Alphabet Song) (Perry Como, 1950?)

Any Old Iron (Peter Sellers, 1957)

Baby It’s Cold Outside (Dean Martin,1959)

Ballad of Bethnal Green (Paddy Robert, 1959)

The Ballad of Davy Crockett (Bill Hayes, 1955)

Beep Beep (“His Horn went Beep Beep Beep”) (The Playmates, 1958)

Big Rock Candy Mountain (Burl Ives, 1950s)

Catch a Falling Star (Perry Como, 1957)

Charlie Brown (The Coasters, 1959)

The Chipmunk Song (David Seville & the Chipmunks, 1958)

The Clapping Song (“Clap-pat clap-slap”) (Shirley Ellis, 1965)

Come On-a My House (Rosemary Clooney, 1951)

The Deadwood Stage (“Whip Crack Away”) (Doris Day, 1953)

Delaware (“What did Della Wear, Boys?”) (Perry Como, 1959)

Freight Train (Chas McDevitt skiffle group with Nancy Whiskey, 1957)

Ghost Riders in the Sky (Burl Ives, 1950s)

Giddy-Up-A Ding-Dong (The Bell Boys, 1956)

Gilly Gilly Ossenfeffer Katzenellen Bogen by the Sea (The Four Lads, 1954)

Happy Wanderer (Obernkirchen Children’s Choir, 1953)

Hernando’s Hideaway (“I know a dark secluded place”) (Archie Bleyer, 1954)

High Hopes (Frank Sinatra, 1959)

How Do You Like Your Eggs in the Morning (Dean Martin & Helen O’Connell, 1951)

How Much is that Doggie in the Window? (Beverley Sisters, after Lita Roza, 1953)

I Am a Mole and I Live in a Hole (The Southlanders, 1958)

I Can’t Tell A Waltz From A Tango (Patti Page, 1954)

If I Knew You Were Comin’ I’d’ve Baked a Cake (Eve Young & The Homesteaders, 1950)

Istanbul (Not Constantinople) (The Four Lads, 1953)

I Taut I Taw a Puddy Cat (Mel Blanc, 1951)

It’s Illegal or Immoral or It Makes you Fat (The Beverley Sisters, 195?) (after an earlier hit by Edmundo Ros)

I’ve Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts (Billy Cotton, 1950)

Kookie Kookie (“Lend me your comb”) (Edd Bynes with Connie Stevens, 1959)

Last Night On The Back Porch (Alma Cogan, 1959)

Last Train to San Fernando (Johnny Duncan & Bluegrass Boys,1957)

Lay Down Your Arms (“Come to the station, jump on the train”) (Anne Shelton, 1956)

Life Is Just A Bowl Of Cherries (Jaye P. Morgan, 1953)

Lipstick On Your Collar (Connie Francis, 1959)

Little White Bull (Tommy Steele, 1959)

The Little White Cloud That Cried (Johnny Ray, 1951)

Mad Passionate Love (Bernard Bresslaw, 1958)

The Man from Laramie (Jimmy Young, 1955)

Me And My Teddy Bear (Rosemary Clooney, 195?)

Middle of the House (Alma Cogan, 1956)

Mocking Bird Hill (Burl Ives, 1950s)

Music, Music, Music (“Put Another Nickel In”) (Teresa Brewer, 1950)

The Naughty Lady of Shady Lane (The Ames Brothers, 1954) – also a hit for the Beverley Sisters

Nellie the Elephant (Mandy Miller, 1956)

Never do a Tango with an Eskimo (Alma Cogan, 1955)

O my Papa (Eddie Fisher, 1950s)

Poppa Piccolino (Diana Decker, 1953); also Petula Clark version, 1953

Pretty Little Black Eyed Susie (Guy Mitchell, 1953)

A Pub With no Beer (Slim Dusty, 1959)

Put Your Shoes on, Lucy (Anne Shelton, 1952)

The Purple People Eater (Sheb Wooley, 1958)

Que Sera Sera (Whatever Will Be) (Doris Day, 1956)

Ragtime Cowboy Joe (The Chipmunks, 1959)

Rock and Roll Waltz (Kay Starr, 1956)

The Roving Kind (Guy Mitchell, 1951)

The Runaway Train (Michael Holliday, 1956)

St George and the Dragonet (Stan Freberg, 1953)

Seven Little Girls (The Avons, 1959)

Sh-Boom (The Chords, 1954)

She Wears Red Feathers (Guy Mitchell, 1952)

Sing Little Birdie (Teddy Johnson & Pearl Carr, 1959)

Sixteen Tons (Tennessee Ernie Ford, 1955)

Somebody Bad Stole de Wedding Bell (Eartha Kitt, 1954)

Sparrow in the Treetop (Guy Mitchell, 1951)

Sugartime (Alma Cogan with Mike Sammes Singers, 1958)

Takes Two To Tango (Dean Martin, 1952)

Thank you very much (The Scaffold, 1967)

This Ole House (Rosemary Clooney, 1954)

Twenty Tiny Fingers (The Stargazers, 1952) and also version by Alma Cogan (1955)

Two Lovely Black Eyes (Stanley Holloway, 1950s, originally recorded by him in 1934)
(there was another version, however, with the line “Only for kissing another man’s wife”)

The Typewriter (Leroy Anderson, 1950)

Ugly Duckling (Danny Kaye, 1952)

Veni Vidi Vici (Ronnie Hilton, 1954)

Victory Calypso (“Cricket Lovely Cricket”) (Egbert Moore (Lord Beginner), 1950)

The Wayward Wind (Tex Ritter, 1956) (Also a hit for Jimmy Young)

The Wheel of Fortune (Kay Starr, 1952)

Where Will the Dimple Be? (Alma Cogan, 1955)

Why Does Everybody call Me Bighead? (Max Bygraves, 1953)

Yakety Yak (The Coasters, 1958)

Yes, We Have No Bananas (Spike Jones, xxxx)

The Ying Tong Song (The Goons, 1956)

You Need Hands (Max Bygraves, 1958)

You’re a Pink Toothbrush (Max Bygraves, 1954)

The 1960s

Ahab the Arab (Ray Stevens, 1965)

Ally Oop (The Hollywood Argyles, 1960)

Baby Sitting Boogie (Buzz Clifford, 1961)

A Boy Named Sue (Johnny Cash, 1969)

The Ballad Of Bonnie & Clyde (Georgie Fame & The Blue Flames, 1968)

The Ballad of Jed Clampett (The Beverley Hillbillies theme) (Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs, 1962)

Bangers and Mash (Sophia Loren & Peter Sellers, 1960)

Big Bad John (Jimmy Dean, 1961)

The Birds And The Bees (Alma Cogan, ?1965)

Boom Oo Yata-Ta-Ta (Morecambe and Wise, c.1964)

Come Outside (Mike Sarne & Wendy Richard, 1962)

The Court Of King Caractacus (Rolf Harris, 1965)

D-I-V-O-R-C-E (Tammy Wynette, 1968) (Billy Connolly also had a hit with a parody on Tammy’s song)

Do the Funky Chicken (Rufus Thomas, 1969)

Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavour on the Bedpost Overnight? (Lonnie Donegan, 1961)

Donald, Where’s Your Troosers? (Andy Stewart and the White Heather Group, 1961)

Don’t Jump Off the Roof, Dad (Tommy Cooper, 1961)

Down Came the Rain (Mitch Murray, 1965)

English Country Garden (Jimmie Rodgers, 1962)

Fings Ain’t What They Used to Be (Max Bygraves, 1960)

Folk Song (Bernard Cribbins, 1960)

Football Results (Michael Bentine, 1960)

Going to the Zoo (Julie Felix, 1960s)

Goodbye (Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, 1965)

Goodness Gracious Me (“O doctor, I’m in trouble”) (Sophia Loren & Peter Sellers, 1960)

Gossip Calypso (Bernard Cribbins, 1962)

Hard Day’s Night (Peter Sellers, 1965)

Harvest of Love (Benny Hill, 1961)

Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh (A Letter from Camp) (Allan Sherman, 1963)

Hev Yew Gotta Loight, Boy? (The Singing Postman, 1966)

Hold Out Your Hand You Naughty Boy (Alma Cogan, 1963)

Hole in My Shoe (Traffic, 1967)

Hole in the Ground (Bernard Cribbins, 1962)

I’m Henery the Eighth, I Am (Herman’s Hermits, 1965)

I’ve Been Everywhere (Rolf Harris, 1963)

I’ve Lost My Mummy (Rolf Harris, 1963)

Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka-dot Bikini (Brian Hyland, 1960)

I Was Kaiser Bill’s Batman (Whistling Jack Smith, 1967)

Jake the Peg (Rolf Harris, 1965)

King of the Road (Roger Miller, 1965)

Lah de Dah (Jake Thackray, 1967)

Lily the Pink (The Scaffold, 1968)

Little Boxes (Peter Seeger, 1963)

The Lumberjack Song (Monty Python, 1969)

Mambo Italiano (Rosemary Clooney, 1965 in UK)

Mr Custer (Charlie Drake, 1960)

My Boomerang Won’t Come Back (Charlie Drake, 1961)

My Old Man’s a Dustman (Lonnie Donegan, 1960)

On Top of Spaghetti (Tom Glazer with the Do-Re-Mi Children’s Chorus, 1963)

Pop Goes The Weasel (Anthony Newley, 1961)

Puff the Magic Dragon (Peter, Paul and Mary, 1963)

Right Said Fred (Bernard Cribbins, 1962)

Seven Drunken Nights (The Dubliners, 1967)

Shame and Scandal in the Family (Lance Percival, 1964)

Thank U Very Much (The Scaffold, 1960s)

There’s a Hole in the Bucket (Harry Belafonte & Odetta, 1960)

They’re Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa! (Napoleon XIV, aka Jerry Samuels, 1966)

Three Wheels on My Wagon (The New Christy Minstrels, 1965)

Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport (Rolf Harris, 1960)

Tiptoe Through the Tulips (Tiny Tim, 1968)

Transistor Radio (Benny Hill, 1961)

When I’m Cleaning Windows (George Formby, re-released in 1960)

Where Did You Get That Hat? (Stanley Holloway, 1960; first recorded by him in 1940)

Who Do You Think You are Kidding Mr Hitler (Dad’s Army theme) (Bud Flanagan, 1968)

Windmill in Old Amsterdam (“I saw a mouse”) (Ronnie Hilton, 1965)

World Cup Willie (Lonnie Donegan, 1966)

You’re Driving me Crazy (The Temperance Seven, 1961)

Right, how many did you remember? And of those how many could you remember the words?

Keep in touch

Peter

gsseditor@gmail.com


YOU WRITE:

David writes:- you made me smile when I remember "borrowing" workman's paraffin lamps to place alongside  my car and often forgetting it was there  leaving it in the middle of Chatsworth Ave when I went to work the next day.

On this Day 23th January 1960-1965

On 23/01/1960 the number one single was Why - Anthony Newley and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was not listed and the box office smash was North by Northwest. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Burnley were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was First Rome Synod.

On 23/01/1961 the number one single was Poetry in Motion - Johnny Tillotson. The top rated TV show was The Russ Conway Show (ATV) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was Bootsie & Snudge (Granada).

On 23/01/1962 the number one single was The Young Ones - Cliff Richard & the Shadows and the number one album was Blue Hawaii - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Lawrence of Arabia. A pound of today's money was worth £12.89 and Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was Film Jules et Jim premieres in Paris.

On 23/01/1963 the number one single was Dance On - The Shadows and the number one album was Out of the Shadows - Shadows. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Great Escape. A pound of today's money was worth £12.64 and Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 23/01/1964 the number one single was Glad All Over - Dave Clark Five and the number one album was With the Beatles - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Steptoe & Son (BBC) and the box office smash was Dr Strangelove. A pound of today's money was worth £12.24 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 23/01/1965 the number one single was Yeh Yeh - Georgie Fame and the number one album was Beatles For Sale - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Sound of Music. A pound of today's money was worth £11.69 and Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was Winston Churchill dies.