Since The Saucy Songs (1928-1938) was released by DRG in 1992, numerous collections have appeared specializing in vintage recordings of sexually charged performances leaving little or nothing to the imagination. By comparison, most of the recordings on DRG's collection are hallmarks of subtlety. The old-fashioned word "saucy" conveys the nature of this stuff and its day, as most of these artists were operating within a tightly controlled media environment where anything more than remotely suggestive was likely to be ...
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Since The Saucy Songs (1928-1938) was released by DRG in 1992, numerous collections have appeared specializing in vintage recordings of sexually charged performances leaving little or nothing to the imagination. By comparison, most of the recordings on DRG's collection are hallmarks of subtlety. The old-fashioned word "saucy" conveys the nature of this stuff and its day, as most of these artists were operating within a tightly controlled media environment where anything more than remotely suggestive was likely to be censored. No one in mainstream pop culture stood up to that kind of puritanical pressure more bravely and brazenly than Mae West, who is pictured on the cover and featured on four of the collection's 18 tracks. In a triumph of gender-bending, "Come Up and See Me Sometime," which for awhile practically served as West's theme song, is performed here by Cliff Edwards, professionally known as Ukulele Ike: his voice was used by Walt Disney to animate the cartoon character Jiminy Cricket. Sophie Tucker, who sings "Life Begins at Forty" and "Oh! You Have No Idea!" is remembered as "The Last of the Red Hot Mamas," whereas Ethel Waters was at one point known as "Sweet Mama String Bean." Bessie Smith was more candid and expressive about her own libido than anyone else on this album. "I'm Wild About That Thing" conveys her current with the directness of a buried high-voltage cable. Helen Kane, on the other hand, whose pouting persona inspired Max Fleischer's animated creation Betty Boop , was addicted to flouncy fits of demonstrative naughtiness like "Is There Anything Wrong in That?" This is somewhat similar to "You Can't Blame Me for That," which was recorded in 1930 by Jack Davies' Kentuckians with a vocal by guitarist Max Miller. The rest of the playlist is peopled with pleasant personalities like British comedians George Formby and Ronald Frankau: banjoist Joe Roberts who sings "Bessie Couldn't Help It" with a Minnesotan dance band led by pianist Slatz Randall, and Jeannie Lang, whose "I Like to Do Things for You" had her backed by an orchestra under the direction of C-melody saxophonist Frankie Trumbauer. Sauciness was tempered with cleverness and cuteness in "Say, Young Lady" by George Olsen & His Music and "Pu-Leeze! Mister Hemingway!," which was recorded in 1932 by both Ann Suter (as heard here) and the Lombardo Brothers. In 1938, Louis Armstrong's "Ol' Man Mose" was covered by Eddie Duchin's Orchestra with a vocal by Patricia Norman, along with a nice version of Harold Arlen's "Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea." Incredibly, when Duchin's single was released on Parlophone, the producers separated "Ol' Man Mose" from its flipside (according to discographer Brian Rust): "...owing to the alleged use of an obscene word in the lyric...To any normal listener, however, the lyrics are as unexceptional on this record as on any of the other versions." Luckily, DRG included this harmless-yet-controversial recording in an entertaining set which neatly hints at lewd sensibilities that lurk beneath the surface while maintaining levels of acceptability, which make it presentable to virtually any audience; and by today's standards, this material is as safe as chocolate milk. ~ arwulf arwulf, Rovi
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