Continuing 5 facts about 5 songs about prostitutes . . .
JUST A GIGOLO
Artist:
Bing Crosby
Year:
1931
Link:
Link to Louis Armstrong version:
Link to Marlene Dietrich version:
(From the film Just a Gigolo. That’s David Bowie in the tux).
Link to Village People version:
Lyrics:
Was in a Paris cafe that first I found him
He was a Frenchman, a hero of the war
But war was over
And here's how peace had crowned him
A few cheap medals to wear and nothing more
Now every night in the same cafe he shows up
And as he strolls by ladies hear him say
If you admire me, hire me
A gigolo who knew a better day
Just a gigolo, everywhere I go
People know the part I'm playing
Paid for every dance
Selling each romance
Every night some heart betraying
There will come a day
Youth will pass away
Then what will they say about me
When the end comes I know
They'll say just a gigolo
As life goes on without me
Just a gigolo, everywhere I go
People know the part I'm playing
Paid for every dance
Selling each romance
Every night some heart betraying
There will come a day
Youth will pass away
Then what will they say about me
When the end comes I know
They'll say just a gigolo
As life goes on without me
Facts:
1.
"Just a Gigolo" is a popular song, adapted by Irving Caesar into English in 1929 from the Austrian tango "Schöner Gigolo, armer Gigolo", composed in 1928 in Vienna by Leonello Casucci to lyrics written in 1924 by Julius Brammer.
2.
The original version is a poetic vision of the social collapse experienced in Austria after World War I, represented by the figure of a former hussar who remembers himself parading in his uniform, while now he has to get by as a lonely hired dancer.
3.
The success of the song prompted publishers Chappell & Co. to buy the rights and order an English version from Irving Caesar, a very popular lyricist of the time. Caesar eliminated the specific Austrian references and, in the often-omitted verse (but included in the 1931 recording by Bing Crosby), set the action in a Paris cafe, where a local character tells his sad story. Thus, the lyrics retained their sentimental side but lost their historic value.
4.
"Just a Gigolo" appeared in a 1931 film, a 1932 Betty Boop cartoon and a 1993 TV series, all titled after the song. The song was recorded by many musicians of the time, including Louis Armstrong and (in German) Richard Tauber.
The film Schöner Gigolo, armer Gigolo, directed by David Hemmings in 1979, was titled after the first verse of the original lyrics, but the Just a Gigolo title was used for US distribution. In this film, the song was performed by Marlene Dietrich, in her last film appearance.
5.
"Just a Gigolo" is best known in a form recorded by Louis Prima in 1956, where it was paired in a medley with another old standard, "I Ain't Got Nobody". This pairing links the life of a gigolo ("people know the part I'm playing, paid for every dance.."), to the outcome for singer ending up alone ("I ain't got nobody"). The popularity of Prima's combination, and of Village People's 1978 and David Lee Roth's 1985 cover versions of the medley, has led to the mistaken perception by some that the songs are two parts of a single original composition.
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NEVER ON SUNDAY
Artist:
Melina Mercouri
Year:
1960
Link:
Lyrics:
Oh, you can kiss me on a Monday, a Monday,
a Monday is very, very good,
or you can kiss me on a Tuesday, a Tuesday
a Tuesday in fact I wish you would.
Or you can kiss me on a Wednesday, a Thursday a Friday,
and Saturday is best,
but never ever on a Sunday, a Sunday, a Sunday,
cause that’s my day of rest.
Come any day, and you’ll be my guest,
Any day you say but my day of rest.
Just name the day that you like the best,
only stay away on my day of rest.
Oh, you can kiss me on a cool day, a hot day, a wet day,
whichever one you choose,
or try to kiss me on a gray day a May day, a pay day,
and see if I refuse.
And you can make it on a bleak day, a freak day, or a week day,
be my guest,
but never, never on a Sunday, a Sunday, the one day
I need a little rest.
Never on a Sunday when the church is full of people and
bells are ringing in the steeple, la la la la, la la la la, la.
Oh, you can kiss me on a Monday, a Monday, a Monday
is very, very good,
or you can kiss me on a Tuesday, a Tuesday, a Tuesday
in fact I wish you would.
Or you can kiss me on a Wednesday, a Thursday a Friday,
and Saturday is best,
but never ever on a Sunday, a Sunday, a Sunday,
cause that’s my day of rest.
Facts:
1.
Never on Sunday" was first sung by Melina Mercouri in the film of the same name, starring Mercouri.
2.
The song won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1960, a first for a foreign-language picture.
3.
"Never on Sunday"’s original Greek lyrics, along with the foreign translations in German, French, Italian and Spanish do not mention "Never on Sunday" (as found in the English lyrics), but rather tell the story of the main female character of the film, Illya (Mercouri).
Ilya, a self-employed, free-spirited prostitute who lives in the port of Piraeus in Greece, meets Homer, an American tourist and classical scholar who is enamored of all things Greek. Homer feels Ilya's lifestyle typifies the degradation of Greek classical culture, and attempts to steer her onto the path of morality, while, at the same time, Ilya attempts to loosen Homer up.
4.
As a politician, Mercouri was a member of the PASOK and the Hellenic Parliament. In October 1981, Mercouri became the first female Minister of Culture and Sports. She was the longest-lived Minister of Culture in Greece - serving during the years 1981-89 and 1993 till her death in 1994, in all PASOK governments.
5.
Every recent prostitute film from 'Irma la Duce' to 'Pretty Woman' owes a lot to this work. It was one of the first films that shed light on the idea that prostitution was a respectable and acceptable way to make a living.
The underlying theme of the film is that one should strive to be happy in what you do and more importantly, who you know. There is an interconnection between people in a small town, and disrupting those connections may lift some people up, but is not good for the whole of society. Regardless of his meddling, the towns people never turn on Homer, or blame him for anything. At their core, they know that life is to be enjoyed and blaming people for your troubles is just not part of the mix.
------oOo------
SWEET GEORGIA BROWN
Artist:
Brother Bones and His Shadows
Year:
1949
Link:
Brother Bones version:
Beatles:
The Beatles, with Roy Young, as a backup band recorded it again for Tony Sheridan on May 24, 1962, in Hamburg, Germany, using the original lyrics. This was released in Germany, on Sheridan's EP Ya Ya in 1962 [7] and in Greece as the b-side of the single Skinny Minny. This recording was rereleased as a single in 1964 during the wave of Beatlemania with Sheridan having re-recorded the vocals with tamer lyrics and the additional verse: "In Liverpool she even dares/to criticize the Beatles' hair/With their whole fan-club standing there/oh Sweet Georgia Brown". This version can be heard on the German compilation album The Beatles' First! and it's numerous reissues. The song was edited as a single for the American market with added guitar and drum parts.
Lyrics:
Original 1925 lyrics:
She just got here yesterday
Things are hot here
Now they say there's a big change in town
Gals are jealous there's no doubt
Still the fellows rave about
Sweet, sweet Georgia Brown
And ever since she came
The colored folks all claim, say
No gal made has got a shade on sweet Georgia Brown
Two left feet but oh so neat has sweet Georgia Brown
They all sigh and wanna die for sweet Georgia Brown
I'll tell you just why, you know I don't lie
Not much
It's been said she knocks 'em dead
When she lands in town
Since she came why it's a shame how she cools 'em down
Fellers she can't get are fellers she ain't met
Georgia claimed her
Georgia named her sweet Georgia Brown
Brown skin gals you'll get the blues
Brown skin pals you'll surely lose
And there's but one excuse
Now I've told you who she was
And I've told you what she does
Hand this gal her dues
This color'd maiden's prayer is answered anywhere
Say
No gal made has got a shade on sweet Georgia Brown
Two left feet but oh so neat has sweet Georgia Brown
They all sigh and wanna die for sweet Georgia Brown
I'll tell you just why, you know I don't lie
Not much
All those tips the porter slips to sweet Georgia Brown
They buy clothes at fashion shows with one dollar down
Oh boy, tip your hats, oh joy, she's the cat's
Who's that mister? 'Tain't her sister.
Sweet Georgia Brown
Facts:
1.
This is famous as the theme song of the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team, who officially adopted it in 1952. They use it for their "Magic Circles" when the players stand in a circle and pass around the ball, displaying their impressive techniques and dexterity.
2.
This was written in the 1920s by Maceo Pinkard and Ken Casey. It was popularized by the big bandleader Ben Bernie in the 1920s, and he was given a co-writer credit for recording it.
3.
The most famous version, with whistling and bone-cracking, was a 1949 instrumental recorded by Brother Bones & His Shadows. This is the version used by the Harlem Globetrotters.
4.
The original version had lyrics that were about a black prostitute. Many people and groups have covered this with lyrics, including Bing Crosby, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, The Beatles, and The Grateful Dead, and the lyrics seem to vary by cover. The Beatles' version contains the line "In Liverpool she even dared to criticize the Beatles' hair with their whole fan club standing there." The Grateful Dead only performed their version live.
5.
Reportedly, Ben Bernie came up with the concept for the song's lyrics – although he is not the credited lyricist – after meeting Dr. George Thaddeus Brown in New York City. Dr. Brown, a longtime member of the Georgia State House of Representatives, told Bernie about his daughter, Georgia Brown, and how subsequent to the baby girl's birth on August 11, 1911, the Georgia General Assembly had issued a declaration that she was to be named Georgia after the state. This anecdote would be directly referenced by the song's lyric: "Georgia claimed her – Georgia named her."
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