April 19, 2016 (Tuesday)
Last week I had some blogs about old music. I didn’t mention the old novelty songs that were very popular during the 20th Century. No one took them seriously; they were tongue-in-cheek songs and just for fun. They came in all kinds of packages–you never knew what else someone was going to think up.
Do you remember the “three little fishes in a little bitty pool?” Actually, it was “fee itty fishes in a itty bitty poo.” How about “The Streak?” Or “The Purple People Eater?” Oh, there were lots of them, probably hundreds.
One of my favorites was by Jo Stafford, a very popular singer with a remarkable and beautiful voice. The one novelty song she did was under an assumed name. The juke box in my parents’ restaurant in the 1940’s played the novelty version of the song, “Temptation” many times every day.
One of the most popular songs of Jo Stafford and Gordon MacRae was a hymn, “Whispering Hope,” which also played many times every day on that same juke box.
First, please listen to Jo and Gordon sing, “Whispering Hope.” Then listen to Jo Stafford’s humorous version of “Temptation.”
Click here to hear “Whispering Hope”
Click here to hear a novelty version of “Temptation”with Cinderella G. Stump (Jo Stafford).
The silly songs of the 20th Century were especially helpful during war time and hard times. It never hurts to laugh.