I listen to a lot of old time radio so I'm bound to hear a lot of weird mid-century novelty songs. Occasionally I get a yen to share a particularly strange one.So here's Arthur Godfrey singing "Slow Poke," which was apparently a big hit for him in the '50s. This was actually recorded sometime during the late '60s or early '70s -- hence the distinctive reverb -- and I think the guy singing with him was named "Cy." He was probably one of the ex-"Little Godfreys."
"Slow Poke" was actually a pretty popular song -- read about it here -- and it was covered by anybody and everybody. But nobody could sing a weird song like Arthur Godfrey, probably because he was such a creepy guy to begin with.
To future visitors: the link to the song will probably break in a month or two.
6 comments:
I couldn't even listen to the whole song--I hated that old so-and-so, who was emblematic of all the other no-talent should-have-stayed-nonentities like "Lonesome George" Gobel and Garry Moore who infested TV in the 1950s and whom children were forced to watch because few homes had more than one television set.
If George Harrison and Paul McCartney had grown up watching him, they never would have come within 100 yards of a ukelele.
Commen consensus is that Godfrey was a top-notch a-hole. After hearing his on-air firing of Julius LaRosa -- and noticing that ALL of his "Little Godfreys" sounded pretty terrified -- I have to agree.
That said, he could play a mean ukulele near the end. In one of his last shows, he performs a 7-minute ragtime improv with his band, and wow.
"Slow Poke," however, is awful, which is why I've posted it. Be thankful I didn't post the Carmen Miranda "western medley."
I was about to extol the virtues of a slow poke, but then that picture of The Skipper holding a ukelele really unnerved me. I mean, if he was stranded on an island, how did he get his hands on any musical instruments not made exculsivly out of coconuts?
Doesn't he look like The Skipper? I think the picture was taken B.I. (Before Island).
I can't believe it was a hit during '50s because that man didn't have voice to singing, well I know that music in that time was terrific but mot this man, just listen him.
You people are confused. It was Alan Hale Jr. who played the part of Skipper on Gilligan's Island, not Arthur Godfrey.
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