(I've Got a Gal in) Kalamazoo
| (I've Got a Gal in) Kalamazoo | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Glenn Miller and His Orchestra with Tex Beneke | |
| publication | 1942 |
| length | 3:19 |
| Genre (s) | Film music , pop , swing |
| text | Mack Gordon |
| music | Harry Warren |
| Label | RCA Records |
| Award (s) | Oscar nomination |
| album | Film music for Orchestra Wives |
(I've Got a Gal in) Kalamazoo is a song by Mack Gordon and Harry Warren from 1942.
background
Mack Gordon and Harry Warren wrote the song for the film Orchestra Wives (1942). Gordon later claimed to have been to Kalamazoo once many years ago. The first version was recorded by the Glenn Miller Orchestra, the background vocals were taken over by Tex Beneke , Marion Hutton and The Modernaires and released as a single with the B-side At Last . In the film itself, Glenn Miller plays Gene Morrison, and his orchestra is introduced as "Gene Morrison's Orchestra". The Nicholas Brothers can also be seen as dancers.
The lyrics of the song are about the first-person narrator adoring a girl in the town of Kalamazoo , Michigan , whom he knows from his school days. He continues to long for her and decides to get on a plane to fly to Kalamazoo. The song hit the nerve of its time and picked up the mood of many soldiers on the front lines of World War II who longed for their loved ones at home.
success
The film was released in US cinemas on September 4, 1942. Just eight days later, the single reached number 1 on the then US Billboard sales charts and stayed there for seven weeks. In total, the song was in the charts for 20 weeks. The song received 1943 Oscar nomination for Best Song , but lost to White Christmas by Bing Crosby , the only song which sold 1,942 more. The song popularizes the city of Kalamazoo. In the same year, students from the local college chose their “Gal in Kalamazoo”, 19-year-old Sara Wooley, who was then appointed the mouthpiece of the city.
In Kalamazoo, the song serves as the anthem for local basketball and football teams.
Allegations of plagiarism
In 2002, Christine Allman Fetter, the daughter of Charles Allman, a United States Navy soldier, claimed that her father wrote the song in Pearl Harbor . The lyrics would be about his old high school lover, Christine's mother, whom he later married and with whom he would have five other daughters in addition to Christine. This story was reprinted in the Kalamazoo Gazette .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Julie Mack: 'I've Got a Gal in Kalamazoo' marks 70th anniversary as No. 1 hit (with video). Mlive.com, September 24, 2012, accessed February 12, 2013 .
- ↑ Orchestra Wives in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- ↑ lyrics of the song to Mlive.com
- ↑ a b Beth A. Scott: That Gal in Kalamazoo. Kalamazoo Public Library, October 1997, accessed February 12, 2013 .