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Happy Talk (song)

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For other uses, see Happy Talk (disambiguation).
"Happy Talk"
Song
Published1949
Songwriter(s)Oscar Hammerstein II
Composer(s)Richard Rodgers
From top: Juanita Hall as Bloody Mary singing "Happy Talk", Betta St. John as Liat, and William Tabbert as Lt. Cable in the original Broadway cast of South Pacific (1950).

"Happy Talk" is a show tune from the 1949 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific. It is sung by Bloody Mary to the American lieutenant Joe Cable, about having a happy life, after he begins romancing her daughter Liat. Liat performs the song with hand gestures as Mary sings.

Ella Fitzgerald recorded this song with Gordon Jenkins and his orchestra for Decca and it was included on her 1955 album Miss Ella Fitzgerald & Mr Gordon Jenkins Invite You to Listen and Relax.

"Happy Talk" is occasionally cut from productions of South Pacific on the grounds that the song is racist, citing the fake pidgin in which it is written. [citation needed] It was omitted from the made-for-TV remake of South Pacific in 2001.

Captain Sensible version

"Happy Talk"
Single by Captain Sensible
from the album Women and Captains First
Released26 June 1982 (1982-06-26)
Recorded1982
GenreSynthpop, new wave[1]
Length3:24
LabelUniversal Music Group
Songwriter(s)Richard Rodgers (music)
Oscar Hammerstein II (lyrics)
Producer(s)Lou Adler
Captain Sensible singles chronology
"Jet Boy, Jet Girl"
(1977) 		"Happy Talk"
(1982) 		"Wot"
(1982)

In July 1982, The Damned's guitarist Captain Sensible reached the No. 1 position on the UK Singles Chart for two weeks with his version of the song,[2] featuring backing vocals by the band Dolly Mixture. This version also peaked at number 35 in Australia.[3]

Other cover versions

Samples

  • In 2004, UK grime MC Dizzee Rascal sampled Captain Sensible's version on the single "Dream", which reached No. 14 on the UK Singles Chart.[5]

Film

  • A brief clip of the song, played on an organ, can be heard in The Wrong Trousers, in a sequence where Gromit is unable to sleep because of loud music.
  • The Don Shirley Trio plays the song during a concert scene in Green Book (2018).
  • The 2014 movie Welcome to Me opens with this song.[6]

See also

References

  1. ^ Deming, Mark. "Captain Sensible – Women & Captains First". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 5 May 2015.
  2. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 410. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  3. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 54. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  4. ^ Автор: Claudine:Released (2008-07-06). "Claudine:Released: Claudine Longet "Love Is Blue" 1968 US Reel To Reel Tape (AMX 142)". Claudinereleased.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2012-01-06.
  5. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 158. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  6. ^ "Welcome to Me (2014) - IMDb * The song plays in the background in the Netflix show Sex Education, season 2 episode 3". IMDB. Retrieved 24 August 2020. {{cite web}}: line feed character in |title= at position 29 (help)
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