Makin 'whoopee
Makin 'Whoopee is a song written by Walter Donaldson (music) and Gus Kahn in 1928 .
Donaldson and Kahn wrote the song for the Broadway show Whoopee! where it was sung by Eddie Cantor . Love Me or Leave Me , also penned by Donaldson / Kahn, was first interpreted by Ruth Etting . The show, produced by Florenz Ziegfeld junior , saw 379 performances; in the show played the George Olsen Orchestra, which was replaced after two months by the Paul Whiteman Orchestra. Ziegfeld sold the film rights to Samuel Goldwyn and Eddie Cantor, whose first film Whoopee! was, became a star back then. Cantor's singing in the musical was described by Thomas S. Hischak, author of the American Musical Theater Song Encyclopedia , as follows:
- "The hypochondriac Henry Williams sings to a sextet of lovely ladies his views on marriage: what starts as nerves and lust soon turns to dreary married life and eventual infidelity, with both partners out looking for new 'whoopee.' The song's euphemistic title had been coined by columnist Walter Winchell not long before, and Cantor's wide-eyed rendition of the number brought out all the naive and salaciousness of the expression ".
Makin 'Whoopee hit the US charts in the following versions:
- Eddie Cantor (1929, with the Nat Shilkret Orchestra, # 2)
- Paul Whiteman Orchestra (1929, with Bing Crosby , Jack Fulton, Charles Gaylord and Austin Young (vocals), # 8)
- Ben Bernie and His Hotel Roosevelt Orchestra (1929, with Scrappy Lambert (vocals), # 16)
1944 saw the song again use in the film Show Business , in which Eddie Cantor played the leading role; also in the film I'll See You in My Dreams (1951) with Danny Thomas and Doris Day , in The Eddie Cantor Story (1953), in which Cantor himself lends the voice to the actor Keefe Brasselle . Michelle Pfeiffer last sang him in The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989). Makin 'Whoopee , which is also said to have been Winston Churchill's favorite song , was u. a. several times by Art Tatum , the Count Basie Orchestra and Chet Baker / Gerry Mulligan , Ella Fitzgerald , Don Senay / Charles Mingus , Buddy Collette , Roland Kirk / Jack McDuff , Frank Sinatra ( Songs for Swingin 'Lovers , 1956), Oscar Peterson , Esther Phillips , Dinah Washington and Branford Marsalis ( Trio Jeepy ) interprets. The duo version by Dr. John and Rickie Lee Jones was awarded a Grammy in 1990. Helmut Gardens wrote a German lyrics ("Because I love you"), interpreted in 1960 by Inge Klaus and Paul Kuhn
In 1981, Donaldson Publishing Company and Gus Kahn Publishing Company made copyright claims against Yoko Ono's song I'm Your Angel ; this largely corresponds to the song Makin 'Whoopee . The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) added Makin 'Whoopee in Eddie Cantor's version to their list of Songs of the Century .