I stumbled across the above picture in a recent Tumblr-scrolling-haze (as is my wont), and that prompted me to revisit an eternal "house favourite" of ours here at Dolores Delargo Towers!
Ruth Wallis (for it is she), according to her New York Times obituary [coincidentally, tomorrow would have been the 16th anniversary of her departure for Fabulon]...
...began her career performing jazz and cabaret standards, [but] soon became known for the novelty songs - more than 150 of them - she wrote herself, all positively dripping with double entendre. Even today, only a fraction of her titles can be rendered in a family newspaper, among them The Hawaiian Lei Song, Hopalong Chastity, Your Daddy Was a Soldier and A Man, a Mink, and a Million Pink and Purple Pills. Her signature number, The Dinghy Song, is an ode to Davy, who had “the cutest little dinghy in the Navy.”
So let us start this compendium with that, shall we?
Here's another wonderful number for which she was famous notorious:
We are eternally thankful that so much about Miss Wallis has been preserved by the fabulous Internet Archive, including this drag queen favourite!
...and a faboo tribute to the lady on the sadly now-defunct Queer Music Heritage website [archived by the Internet Archive Wayback Machine]
We adore Boobs [bet you never thought you'd read those words here, did you?], but there is another of her classics that also gained a "life of its own" when it was featured in 1994's "Gay answer to Ghost", To Die For (or as it was renamed, Heaven's A Drag):
I have, of course, featured the lovely Miss Wallis before - here, and here [a post that even had a comment of thanks from her son Alan, which was very touching].
Some artistes deserve to have their memory preserved, and Ruth Wallis is most definitely one of 'em!
Remarkably, her CD Boobs - Ruth Wallis' Greatest Hits is yours for $100 on Amazon!
Fascinating.. know nothing about her. Thanks for sharing. How fun. Queer culture - my kind of history.
ReplyDeleteWe whooped with joy a couple of decades ago when we discovered Ruth Wallis - courtesy of the collector of all things esoteric Miss April Winchell. We know have three of her albums. She's simply faboo! Jx
DeleteWhat fun! Thanks for the introduction. I knew I was in love as soon as I heard about Johnny's Yo-Yo going up and down.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
There's so much more innuendo to discover, Janie - and nowadays there's a lot of Miss Wallis's back catalogue on YouTube. Worth investigating... Jx
DeleteI had never heard of her, but I'm now in love. Great numbers.
ReplyDeleteSo happy to be able to share the love! Jx
DeleteOh, thank you for this! She has long been a favourite and I did feature her on Idle Thoughts some years ago https://moreidlethoughts.wordpress.com/2010/09/29/mons-meg-big-bertha-and-the-sixteen-inchers-2/. And was very surprised when her son, Alan, popped up in comments. Not just dirty ditties, she had a great voice .
ReplyDeleteHow fabulous! Great minds think alike, eh Dinah? Jx
DeleteHello Dolores: I'm always thrilled when I find somebody keeping Mom's music alive. Many people don't realize that Ruth Wallis was not a "one trick pony". With close to 200 compositions to her name, Mom's works spanned the gamut, from her risque humor (what she is most known for) to calypso and her 'Love is for the Birds' collection. Thank you so much for remembering. Merry Christmas - Alan Pastman
ReplyDeleteMerry Xmas,. Alan!
DeleteI am eternally bewitched by your Mum's musical output. As I said in a comment above, we have three of her albums in our collection, and it's not going to stop there. Have a great time this season, and a Happy New Year! Jx
I adore Ruth Wallis and we need more of her work in our collection.
ReplyDeleteWe can never have too much! Jx
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