Mad About the Boy
This article needs additional citations for verification. (September 2009) |
"Mad About the Boy" | |
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Song by Joyce Barbour, Steffi Duna, Norah Howard, Doris Hare | |
Published | 1932 |
Songwriter(s) | Noël Coward |
"Mad About the Boy" is a
Lyrics
The song expresses the adulation of a
On the silver screen
He melts my foolish heart in every single scene (original version)
Coward later wrote additional verses for the New York production, to be sung by a male character. The lyrics make explicit reference to homosexual feelings with lines such as:
When I told my wife
She said "I've never heard such nonsense in my life!" (Broadway version)
The lyrics also make camp humorous reference to the supposed effeminacy of the character, who is likened to the contemporary film actress Myrna Loy, and to his repeated unsuccessful attempts at conversion therapy with his psychiatrist. The verses were never performed, as the management thought them too risqué.[1]
"The boy" was rumoured to be actor
Dinah Washington version
"Mad About the Boy" | |
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Single by Dinah Washington | |
Released | 1992 |
Recorded | 1961 |
Genre | Jazz, easy listening, traditional pop |
Length | 2:47 |
Label | Mercury |
Songwriter(s) | Noël Coward |
Producer(s) | Quincy Jones |
8 time arrangement for voice and jazz orchestra by Jones omits two verses and was recorded in the singer's native Chicago on the Mercury label.[3]
Her 1952 version was released as a single, but the 1961 version was not given a single release until 1992. The song was one of the 40 songs she recorded with Quincy Jones in 1961. Some of these were issued on two albums: I Wanna Be Loved and Tears and Laughter, both released in 1962. The song "Tears And Laughter" was released as a single, but "Mad About the Boy" remained unreleased until Golden Hits – Volume One, a 1963 compilation. By that point, Washington had moved from the Mercury label to Roulette. The recording was also issued on other Washington compilations.
Washington's version was popularised for a new generation when it was used as a backing track in a 1992 television advertisement for
Other recordings
This section needs additional citations for verification. (June 2018) |
- Noël Coward with orchestra conducted by Ray Noblein London on 20 September 1932. The recording was not issued at the time but has been included on CD collections.
- Caro Emerald with Jools Holland's Rhythm and Blues Orchestra on the album 'The Golden Age of Song' (2012).[4]
- Phyllis Robins with Jack Hylton & his Orchestra in London on 3 October 1932.
- Anona Winn with the Blue Lyres in London in October 1932.
- Elsie Carlisle with Ray Starita & his Ambassadors Band in London on 5 November 1932.
- Maxine Sullivan on 1 May 1940.
- Patti Page on the album The Waltz Queen
- Jessica Biel on the soundtrack for the film Easy Virtue (adapted from the Noël Coward play)
- Helen Forrest in 1949, later used in the video game Fallout: New Vegas
The song has been performed by a number of other artists, including:
- Belle Baker
- Georgia Brown – Georgia Brown (1963)
- Yul Brynner, in drag, in the 1969 film The Magic Christian
- Blossom Dearie
- Buddy DeFranco
- Marianne Faithfull
- Frances Faye
- Maria Friedman
- Jackie Gleason
- Gogi Grant
- Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra
- Joyce Grenfell
- Dick and Kiz Harp – At the 90th Floor (1960) 90th Floor Records
- Lena Horne
- Greta Keller
- Eartha Kitt
- Cleo Laine
- Gertrude Lawrence
- Amanda Lear – Let Me Entertain You (2016)
- Beatrice Lillie
- Julie London – London by Night (1958)
- Andrea Marcovicci
- Billy May – The Ultimate (2002)
- Marian McPartland – At the Hickory House (1996)
- Carmen McRae
- Anita O'Day
- Esther Ofarim 1968[5]
- Cybill Shepherd, as the title track for her 1978 album with Stan Getz
- Romance & the Stage
- Miss Piggy (as Mad About the Frog)
- Tom Robinson – Cabaret '79 (1982)
- Dinah Shore
- Sheridan Smith
- Jeri Southern – The Dream's on Jeri (1998)
- Cécile McLorin Salvant
- Adam Lambert (2022)
See also
References
- ^ ISBN 978-1-904341-88-8. Retrieved 28 September 2009.
- ISBN 978-0-226-34512-3.
- ^ "Sold on Song: "Mad About The Boy"". BBC Radio 2. Retrieved 29 September 2009.
- ^ "Jools Holland and His Rhythm & Blues Orchestra - the Golden Age of Song". Discogs. 2012.
- ^ "Esther Ofarim - Esther and Abi Ofarim - Esther & Abi Ofarim - Ofraim אסתר עופרים".