Sing to me Guitar (1943)

The Tale of the Oyster (1929)

After all I’m only a schoolgirl (1929)

Wow-ooh-wolf (1944)

When it came to cultivating sentiment there was no more sophisticated operator than Cole Porter, who enjoyed the double distinction of being the most unlikely pupil of Vincent d’Indy at the Schola Cantorum and by far the most successful lyricist-composer of his time. One of his most popular shows, Mexican Hayride, ran for nearly 500 performances after it opened in New York in 1944 and, in a recording by Bing Crosby, one of its most sentimental songs, “I love you,” retained a place at the top of the hit parade for weeks on end. “Sing to me Guitar” is a rather brisker number for a Latin singer called Lolita and, in its rumba rhythm, an effective item of Mexican local colour.

“The Tale of the Oyster” is not sentimental at all. Indeed, the story of “that bivalve social climber” proved to be so offensive to the audience of Fifty Million Frenchmen at the Lyric Theatre in New York in 1929 that it had to be dropped from the show. Originally called “The Scampi” before it hit Broadway in its proud-little-oyster version, it never really found a home after it was regurgitated into Oyster Bay. “You do Something to Me” was much more acceptable.

The hit of Wake up and Dream, first presented as Charles B. Cochrane’s 1929 Revue at the London Pavilion, was “Let’s do It.” It still is, and its companion “What is this thing called Love? “ is not far behind. “After all I’m only a Schoolgirl” is scarcely less witty than the one, however, and no less tuneful than the other. And with a sentimental winner like “Every time we say Goodbye” to compete with in Seven Lively Arts a wide-awake number like “Wow-ooh-Wolf” was not going to emerge as the popular favourite, for all its feisty personality. The difference between them, however, indicates the breadth of Cole Porter’s genius at the height of his powers in 1944.

Gerald Larner

The Tale of the Oyster (1929)

After all I’m only a schoolgirl (1929)

Wow-ooh-wolf (1944)

When it came to cultivating sentiment there was no more sophisticated operator than Cole Porter, who enjoyed the double distinction of being the most unlikely pupil of Vincent d’Indy at the Schola Cantorum and by far the most successful lyricist-composer of his time. One of his most popular shows, Mexican Hayride, ran for nearly 500 performances after it opened in New York in 1944 and, in a recording by Bing Crosby, one of its most sentimental songs, “I love you,” retained a place at the top of the hit parade for weeks on end. “Sing to me Guitar” is a rather brisker number for a Latin singer called Lolita and, in its rumba rhythm, an effective item of Mexican local colour.

“The Tale of the Oyster” is not sentimental at all. Indeed, the story of “that bivalve social climber” proved to be so offensive to the audience of Fifty Million Frenchmen at the Lyric Theatre in New York in 1929 that it had to be dropped from the show. Originally called “The Scampi” before it hit Broadway in its proud-little-oyster version, it never really found a home after it was regurgitated into Oyster Bay. “You do Something to Me,” Mrs Hoggenheimer might have said to her oyster, but that was another song in the show.

The hit of Wake up and Dream, first presented as Charles B. Cochrane’s 1929 Revue at the London Pavilion, was “Let’s do It.” It still is, and its companion “What is this thing called Love? “ is not far behind. “After all I’m only a Schoolgirl” is scarcely less witty than the one, however, and no less tuneful than the other. And with a sentimental winner like “Every time we say Goodbye” to compete with in Seven Lively Arts a wide-awake number like “Wow-ooh-Wolf” was not going to emerge as the popular favourite, for all its feisty personality. The difference between them, however, indicates the breadth of Cole Porter’s genius at the height of his powers in 1944.

Gerald Larner