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In the 1935 MAE WEST comedy "Goin' to Town," there are several favorites on the soundtrack.
• • "Love Is Love" — Music by Sammy Fain; Lyrics by Irving Kahal; Sung by Mae West
• • "He's a Bad Man" — Music by Sammy Fain; Lyrics by Irving Kahal; Sung by Mae West
• • "Now I'm a Lady" — Music by Sammy Fain; Lyrics by Irving Kahal and Sam Coslow; Sung by Mae West
• • Past columns have focused on both Sammy Fain and Sam Coslow so let's get better acquainted with Mr. Kahal.
• • Born in Houtzdale, Pennsylvania in the month of March — — on 5 March 1903 — — Irving Kahal was initiated into variety and, eventually, performed with a troupe led by Gus Edwards [1879 — 1945]. During this time Kahal met vaudevillian songwriter Sammy Fain in New York City. That meeting began one of the most prolific collaborations from Tin Pan Alley and lasted until Kahal's death in 1942. In 1927 they produced their first song, "Let a Smile be Your Umbrella," a chart-topper covered by many vocalists.
• • In 1930, Paramount Pictures signed Kahal and Fain to write a song for the Maurice Chevalier movie The Big Pond. They traveled to Los Angeles, composed "You Brought a New Kind of Love To Me" (written with Pierre Norman), and adopted that California city as their new base of operations.
• • For the remainder of their partnership, Kahal and Fain worked for several movie studios, mainly focused on providing one or two numbers to be included in a variety of films. They continued to create instant classics and they also wrote for Broadway musicals.
• • Unfortunately, 38-year-old Irving Kahal died at the height of his success on 7 February 1942 in New York, New York. Kahal was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • 1935 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
NYC
Mae West.
It was April 1924 and MAE WEST was back in vaudeville shakin' it and taking her twitches and bewitchment on the road. Hawaiian themed music was once again trendy and the sassy Brooklynite knocked on many doors along Tin Pan Alley looking for just the right material that would suit her. She found a funky new composition at Ager, Yellen & Bornstein, music publishers who had established their firm at 1595 Broadway in Manhattan in 1922. Since these hit-makers were riding high during the jazz age, it was quite a big deal to be featured on their song sheets — — and Mae grabbed the chance whenever she could. 
• • During her marriage to handsome Guido Deiro — — a popular accordionist also in demand as a recording artist — — Mae became aware of the financial rainbows that brightened the lives of the top singers and musicians. But as her own career prospects continued to sink during 1923 and 1924, and since no record companies pursued her, Mae gamely trouped on and continued to entertain the southwestern wheel of the vaudeville circuit — — trying to sell sheet music with her picture on the front cover. Which swings the conversation around to "Hula Lou."
• • The song sheet was designed by Frank E. Phares with a clever inset that made each individual personalization quite simple.
• • Holy Honolulu! Not for Mae the gooey romantic yearning numbers such as "My Hawaiian Melody" nor "Honolulu Eyes." Nor would she have ever chosen a lightweight love ballad such as "Honolulu Honey" nor a harmless hula tempo such as "Hawaiian Sandman." The girl had gumption and looked for lyrics suitable for a flirt — — a self-confident seductress who could put across a sultry kootch onstage. Could any chart-topper be as suitable for the singing comedienne as this come-hither bragging and posing? Here's an excerpt.
• • • • • "HULA LOU" • • • • •
• • Lyrics: Jack Yellen; Music: Milton Charles & Wayne King
• • Copyright 1924 by Ager, Yellen, & Bornstein, Inc., 1595 Broadway, New York City
• • • You can talk all you want about women
• • • Said a sailor known as Dan McCann
• • • And if you really want to know about women
• • • You've got to talk to a sailor man.
• • • Now I don't know how many women the sailor met
• • • And I hope there isn't that any he'll regret
• • • For if he'd only met me I'd a given him some trimmin'
• • • I'm one gal he'd never forget.
• • • (Band): Well, who are you?
• • • Who am I? I'm Hula Lou.
• • • I'm the gal that can't be true.
• • • I do my nestin' in the evenin' breeze
• • • 'Neath the trees
• • • You oughta see me shake my BVDs.
• • • I never knew
• • • A man who wouldn't hula dance or woo
• • • And sail across the briny blue to who
• • • The lady known as Hula Lou. That's me.
• • • (Rap):
• • • Now you ask any sailor and he'll tell you
• • • That this lady is the greatest dancer he ever knew.
• • • There isn't a ship in the Navy
• • • That I haven't got a friend in the crew.
• • • There's not a cruiser on the waves
• • • Without someone who is my devoted slave
• • • And I don't care how nasty I may be
• • • I'm the one gal the sailors all crave. ...
• • Sophie's choice . . .• • In January 1924 Sophie Tucker discovered this gem and recorded it with Miff Mole on Okeh Records. All by herself, however, Sophie was featured on the sheet music version.
• • On 13 February 1924 The Varsity Eight recorded their version of "Hula Lou."
• • While many vocalists posed on this song sheet, the lyrics are so well-suited to Mae West that it's a shame she didn't sing it in a motion picture so we'd have a record of it in her voice. • • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/________
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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • 1924 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWestNYC
Mae West.
It was on 9th February 1927 that MAE WEST was arrested in New York City. And coincidentally or not, Mae also had a lot of her screen and stage projects opening on the ninth day of February.
• • Keeping Mae in mind is the actor and vocalist Bill Krakauer [born in 1926], who will perform "Songs by Women of Tin Pan Alley" in Manhattan on two upcoming evenings.
• • The songs — — either composed by females or performed by women — — will feature the famous Mae West number "My Old Flame" from the motion picture "Belle of the Nineties" [1934].
• • Other favorites will be "Starting at the Bottom," "Can This Be Love," and "Nobody Breaks My Heart" [1930] from "Fine and Dandy" by Kay Swift; "Baby's Birthday Party" [1930] by Ann Ronell; and "Moanin' Low" sung by Libby Holman and featured in "The Little Show" [1929]; and the stirring "Love Me or Leave me" made famous by Ruth Etting in "Whoopee" [1928]; and many more.
• • You can enjoy this salute to both famous and forgotten female songs, directed by Jonathan Cerullo, on Monday, 16 February and again on Monday, 2 March 2009 at 8:00 PM. The venue is The Cell Performance Salon, located in Chelsea at 338 West 23rd Street [between 8th and 9th Avenues], NYC 10011.
• • The Cell — — operated by THE CELL THEATRE COMPANY — — is a new performance salon located in a former art gallery on West 23rd; it provides a space for artists from multiple disciplines to present their work.
• • For info about this show, phone 212-724-7933 — — and tell them you heard about all this whoopee from the Mae West Blog.• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Source:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • 1934 • •
NYC
Mae West.
In the 1935 MAE WEST comedy "Goin' to Town," there are several favorites on the soundtrack.
